Friday, October 24, 2014

Welcome S.L. Baker


My interview with S.L Baker 

on  

Scarlett and The Mobster


  1. 1.   What prompted you to write a sexy read such as Scarlett and The Mobster?
    The popularity of the genre and my fascination with the Mob, and knowing that combining the two would be a great read.


    2.       What chapter is your favorite and why? Give me the sexiest line in the chapter.
    Chapter 6 is their first sex scene, but it wasn’t just vanilla sex its true erotica.
    ‘My hands restrained, at his mercy, and command. I was nearly out of control.’

    3.       Does your children know that you write erotica, and if so how do they feel about it?   Yes, but a different degree my youngest just knows they kiss a lot. He’s still at that age where girls are annoying. My two teenagers know they can’t read it. All three are proud that their mom got published and are hoping it makes it to the big screen, so they can play the kids roles.

    4.       Are the names of the characters in your novels important?
     Scarlett is the funniest and sassiest character and since this book has ties to the South the name Scarlett in my eyes conjures an image of the South.
    Angelina is the name I wanted to name my middle daughter.

    5.       What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer?
    Don’t force it and put yourself under unrealistic deadlines. All of us have busy lives and I’d rather push the release date then rush and not have it be the best.

    6.       What advice do you have for aspiring romance/erotica authors?
     Throw your inhibitions and worries about what others may think.  Reading for many people is their escape, their fantasy, what gets them through? Try to stay away from the cliché. Let your imagination be your guide, what are your fanites, idea of what true carnal erotica is and if this was your own person romance how would it play out?

    7.       Do you research your novels? How does one prepare them-self to write a book like this? Watch movies, visit shops, bedroom experiments?
    This has two answers yes and no. I did some research on the Mob component of the book as far as the erotic part I was single at the time of writing this so it was a combination of my past marriage, fantasies. I did spend time at my local Adam and Eve shop and they were great in giving a tour and explaining how different products worked, my imagination took it from there.

    8.       Do you think there is snobbery against erotica in the U.S.A?
    I believed that before fifty shades stormed the market, there was. I was flipping through the TV the other day and Nine and a half weeks was on, and I watched it. I realized how ahead of its time it truly was. But Fifty Shades of Grey just blew the lid off of the erotica market and brushed aside any snobbery that existed.




Thursday, October 9, 2014

Welcome Piper Kay- M/M Erotica Author


 1.     What prompted you to write a sexy read such as the Invicta series? 
     It was just something that danced around in my head for about a year. To have these guys, that fought their way through some hard times and made it, despite all the odds. They survived, and the two of them were undefeatable no matter what came their way, as long as they were together.  They wanted to show others that they didn’t have to go down their path, and despite any situation, there was always a way out. Kade and Holt do this for a group of guys, all having their own issues. They give them that safe haven and who would have ever thought that it would take place in a go-go club, that these strangers would find family there.
2.       
     What chapter is your favorite and why? Give me the sexiest line in the chapter.  
      Hmmm… okay, Just one?   Ch 12. That kiss floored me. Reaching for him, I cradle his face in my palm, and make my way up to his ear. "Your mouth tastes so fucking good," I whisper in his ear.
   
3.       Do your children know you write erotica, and if so how do they feel about it? 
     My two oldest kids have known since the beginning what I write. They like seeing mom happy and passionate about something, plus they tell their friends, which makes me turn beet red. They like that part the best I think-little heathens. Lol. My youngest only recently found out and she’s good with it too. I’m mom and they are 100% supportive of it, of everything I do. Perks of being the mom.

4.       Are the names of the characters in your novels important? 
      They’re important to me in the fact that I like something different and unique. I do look up the meanings and try to associate it to a character trait related to them.

5.       What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer? 
      There is no such thing as a sane writer. It’s all a myth. No kidding. We really have a dungeon we hide in. Okay, really, you have to find a way to turn off the outside world and all the distractions. The most important thing of all is you have to have your head and heart in sync. As writers, we feel so passionate and believe in something so whole heartedly. It can’t be helped, it just is built into us. We have to have support and balance also. Us writers think we suck at writing, or most of us do, yet we still do it. We never think it’s good enough, that it could have been better and that is where support comes in many forms. Especially reviews, because we know in reviews that may be left for us, it’s from complete strangers, with no reason to lie. It’s why we plead for them, to know the truth. That gives us the reassurance that we’re not insane. Even bad reviews can tell us that too. Balance is a matter of juggling things around until you find out how to put it on a schedule between writing, promoting it, family life-any life outside of our writing lives. It’s not easy at all, so whichever dummy said that, well they just flat out lied. hahaha

6.       Do you research your novels? How does one prepare them-self to write a book like this? Watch movies, visit shops, bedroom experiments
      Oh, I love research, and I honestly do research for every book I write. For my Invicta Series, it was a lot of time on youtube, google, urban dictionary, asking friends, etc. There are also parts of it that we draw from personal experience whether ourselves or from friends and people we know.

7. Do you think there is a snobbery against erotica in the U.S.A? 
Yes and no. I think as a whole, the majority of people that live in the USA are more laid back than a lot of other places, but also within the USA, the snobbery part varies from person to person. Some love it, others think it’s wrong maybe based on their upbringing, religious and some even political. Overall, I think it’s more the difference in erotica vs erotica romance where things get pulled in different 
directions.

Piper has a brand spanking new solo release on Tuesday 10/14/14.Invicta: Sanctuary

Be sure to join her upcoming release party on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/305303122969638/


Stalk her @





Sunday, August 24, 2014


On the 29th August a new book is launched. 
Writers of horror and erotica come together to explore dark erotica in this sexy volume. Those of us who like a little fear with our fun can take a trip to the shadows beyond the rainbow where we'll find vampires and demons and murder, oh my!
  • The book is for 18+ readers only and delves into many aspects of human (and demonic) sexuality. It is not for the sheepish or easily offended.
    Demons, zombies, vampires, werewolves, ghosts and murder are just some of the characters and plots you will find within these pages and the erotica is full on – hot, hot, hot!
    The anthology will be released for sale at only 99c or 77p. This is an introductory price so hurry, don't wait. Why would you want to wait?  
    • Excerpt 
    • From Sex Magic, by Carmilla Voiez -
      I knew I was in trouble when she strode across the room towards me, her hair pulled back into a ponytail so tight that it seemed to stretch her almond-shaped eyes even wider. I tried to look busy, picked up the phone and put it back down again with a grimace as she landed heavily in the chair on the other side of the desk and pouted. As her legs crossed one way then the other I saw a flash of stocking-tops. Keep calm, I told myself, don't get flustered again. You're a professional. “Lily.” Her voice was like a warm sunset, as the purple sky above and the crimson light below met and melted into each other. I nodded, swallowing hard. “I need you.” My flesh tingled and I couldn't believe my ears. “You...” “Bloody Hera has fucked off sick again and two important clients are coming at eight.” My stomach crashed to the floor, of course, she needed me to work late, that was all. I was a fool to think she needed anything else. She would be able to get everything she needed and more. Her clothes screamed wealth while her polished fingernails, glossy mouth and impossibly high stiletto heels promised a wild hunger that could not be tamed; this was a woman who was never left unsatisfied. I blushed. “I don't...” “You're just meeting and greeting. Bring them into the executive suite then wait outside. You can do that, can't you?” I gulped and my eyelids felt heavy. I nodded mechanically. I could do that, yes, but I could do so much more if she let me. “Get yourself something to eat and come back at seven.” “What should I wear?” She glared at me and I felt my body tighten under the weight of her stare. She shook her head. “That, nothing, who gives a shit? You'll be wearing a robe over the top of it anyway and they aren't here for you...” They would be here for her. I understood. I had known since a week after I started how Robin earned her living. If the furtive voices at the other end of the telephone line hadn't been evidence enough I had peeked into the executive suite once before. She had left the door ajar, probably thinking she was alone in the office and I couldn't resist. What I had seen still made me shiver. It wasn't simply terrifying, it was the promise of something greater, something so potent that it would raise a person out of their humdrum life and transform them, although into what I wasn't quite sure. “Seven,” I repeated, nodding. “Well hurry up then,” she growled. I grabbed my handbag and scurried away.
    Bios
    • Carmilla Voiez Carmilla Voiez is a new voice in the world of horror. While imagery harks back to the writings of Clive Barker and H P Lovecraft, her voice is uniquely female. Starblood is perhaps the first true female horror story ever written, dealing with both sexual violence and the struggle of a woman trying to make sense of a senseless world. Carmilla grew up on a varied diet of horror. Her earliest influences as a teenage reader were Graham Masterton, Brian Lumley and Clive Barker mixed with the romance of Hammer Horror and the visceral violence of the first wave of video nasties. Fascinated by the Goth aesthetic and enchanted by threnodies of eighties Goth and post-punk music she evolved into the creature of darkness we find today. Living in North East Scotland, she finds inspiration in the wildlife, castles and desolate places which surround her. She lives with her two children by the sea. http://www.carmillavoiez.com
    • Glen W. Hunter Glen W Hunter (aka - screamofconsciousness) has been writing lyrics, poetry and short stories for 15 years. Initially a song writer and rap performer, he took to the spoken word scene in Glasgow in his early to mid twenties, performing regularly at spoken word events throughout Glasgow, including the west end festival on two occasions. In 2010 Glen wrote an academic book called Hegemony From The Heavens - The military industrial complexes' plans for Full Spectrum Dominance (Available for free here - https://archive.org/details/HegemonyFromTheHeavens-TheMilitaryIndustrialComplexesPlansForFull) In 2014 two of Glen's spoken word pieces appeared in Basement Beauty written by Carmilla Voiez. The pieces were written for the character Daniel. Currently Glen is working on two short horror stories to be published towards the end of the year. One micro story called The Room, about isolation and a descent into madness. The second story, called Villains, is about a deranged serial killer whose childhood obsession with comic books, mixed up with the brutal murder of his parents, results in a gory spree of murder and cruelty. Spoken word and poetry pieces can be found at http://ascreamofconsciousness.wordpress.com/ Glen's work can also be followed on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Glen-W-Hunter-Screamofconsciousness/488673231208743?ref=hl

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Welcome Author Felicia Starr

 
Author Felicia Starr lives minutes from her favorite Jersey Shore destination with her amazingly supportive family. She loves to spend time creating special memories with her husband and two young boys.
Everyone expected her first publication to be a cookbook, but her love for writing has surpassed her love for cooking.
Felicia graduated magna cum laude from Kean University with a bachelor's degree in psychology and a post baccalaureate in elementary education. She is a licensed real estate sales person, a certified yoga instructor, and most importantly, a stay-at-home mom.
Reading because she wants to, writing because she has to... always thinking and dreaming in scenes.


A Breaking the Darkness Series Novella...

While Kasha gets ready to graduate from college, her grandmother, Magenta Alexander, prepares for her return. Mage wanted Kasha to grow up and have a normal life, even knowing there was a possibility that Kasha would be anything but normal. Mage has kept things from her granddaughter, secrets that she must be told.

Dangerous pacts are made, while magic and darkness lurk around every corner, and even those with the purest intentions must make tainted choices to protect the ones they love.

Deals are struck, secrets are revealed, sacrifices will be made...but will it be enough to ward off the darkness?

Warning: This book is intended for readers that have read Taken; there are spoilers in this book.

Amazon Buy Link- http://amzn.com/B00KJ7QIJ6
 

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Welcome back the lovely Author  Carmilla Voiez

 

Starblood Trilogy Blog Tour

 
Carmilla Voiez is a pioneer in horror writing. Her visceral and violent no-holds-barred descriptions of magic, sex, demons and obsession might remind some readers of Clive Barker's wonderful works of horror and dark fantasy, however he stories are told from a uniquely female perspective. Old tropes of hapless female victims pursued by psychotic male killers are reversed or expelled and the result is disturbing yet at the same time refreshing.
 
Starblood has been released as a trilogy in three separate books Starblood, Psychonaut and Black Sun previously and these are all still available for Kindle or in paperback. However, on the 16th May 2014 a new volume, beautifully edited and perfected, of all three stories in one huge package will be available on Kindle, bringing Voiez's work to a whole new generation of horror readers.
 
There will be a release party on Facebook to celebrate the launch. Once the book goes live on Amazon this link will take you to that page. In the meantime it will direct you towards the party event where you can find out more. http://smarturl.it/TheStarbloodTrilogy
 
 
 

Author's bio

Carmilla Voiez is a new voice in the world of horror. While the imagery harks back to the writings of Clive Barker and H P Lovecraft, her voice is uniquely female. Starblood is perhaps the first true female horror story ever written, dealing with both sexual violence and the struggle of a woman trying to make sense of a senseless world.
 
Carmilla grew up on a varied diet of horror. Her earliest influences as a teenage reader were Graham Masterton, Brian Lumley and Clive Barker mixed with the romance of Hammer Horror and the visceral violence of the first wave of video nasties. Fascinated by the Goth aesthetic and enchanted by threnodies of eighties Goth and post-punk music she evolved into the creature of darkness we find today.
 
Living in North East Scotland, she finds inspiration in the wildlife, castles and desolate places which surround her. She lives with her two children by the sea.
 
Her books are both extraordinarily personal and universally challenging. As Jef Withonef of Houston Press once said - "You do not read her books, you survive them."
 
Signed to Vamptasy Publishing in 2012 three books in the critically acclaimed Starblood Trilogy have been published and she is currently working on a vampire tale. She has also edited and compiled a collection of psychological horror from the best new talent in the world of horror writing "Broken Mirrors, Fractured Minds". Carmilla Voiez is a name to watch.
 
You can find Carmilla's full bibliography at Amazon – http://smarturl.it/CarmillaOnAmazon
her blog can be found at http://carmillavoiez.wordpress.com
 
 

Excerpt from The Starblood Trilogy

 
 
The more Satori practises the more he realises that he has gone beyond what Paul can teach. Paul’s books, however - opening them, absorbing their musty pages and archaic language, he can smell power. Energy lifts from each paragraph and crackles in the air around him. He doubts their owner has read even a tenth of them. The secrets they hold: power beyond reckoning. He will learn how to defeat Lilith, he is certain of it. But how long will it take? Will I run out of time? He could spend an entire lifetime in these books and still leave some pages unturned.
 
The room has settled again. His eyes are ready to focus once more. Instantly, Satori forgets the idea of coffee and returns to the book on his lap. He sits cross-legged on the floor. His eyes pore over the words. A noise behind him makes him jump.
 
‘Paul, you scared me.’
 
‘Sorry Satori. I brought you some water and I’ve made lunch. Would you like to eat?’
 
Satori shakes his head. ‘Your library is amazing, but I can’t find the answers I need. These books just don’t cover battling anything as powerful as Lilith.’
 
‘Well think about it, Satori. What is Lilith? If it’s a demon then it’s as powerful as Asmodeus or Satan. But the Kabbalists call it a god. I’m not sure we’ll ever find the answer,’ Paul says. ‘You might as well rest for a while. I’m worried you’ll burn out.’
 
‘There is always an answer. We just need help. Maybe to fight a god you need a god. But who? One of the old pre-Christian ones? Do you really have no ideas?’
 
‘I have one.’ Paul walks across the room to a black lacquer cabinet. Taking a key from a chain around his neck, he unlocks the door. On a shelf at chest height Satori sees something covered with black linen. Paul beckons him over. Even covered, Satori can feel the object’s power. It frightens him.
 
‘What is it?’ he whispers.
 
Paul pulls the material away and Satori faces a clay head. Glyphs are carved across the forehead, cheeks and on either side of the chin. The eye sockets are filled with obsidian and the mouth, opened in an eternal scream, is stuffed with red clay.
 
Satori lifts his hand towards it.
 
‘Careful,’ Paul says.
 
‘What is it?’ Satori asks. ‘It feels … powerful.’
 
‘It’s a vessel of Balon,’ Paul answers, staring at the head. ‘And if you break the seal, the demons inside it will tear me apart. It’s an oracle of sorts. If I ask it a question it has to tell me the truth.’
 
‘Ask it about Lilith,’ Satori says.
 
‘What precisely do you want me to ask?’
 
‘Can I destroy her?’
 
Paul lifts the head and sets it on a low table. He pauses then turns it a few degrees anti-clockwise. His movements are gentle and full of reverence. A thread of sweat trickles down his brow as he concentrates. ‘Vessel of Balon, I have fashioned you with my Art. I have given you life. Now answer in truth. If the sorcerer Satori battles Lilith, can he destroy the demon?’
 
The room is silent. The glyphs on the head glow red. Its obsidian eyes shine as if lit by an internal fire. Satori’s ears strain to hear the answer. Holding his breath, he watches the head. Every hair on his body stands on end. In spite of his fascination and desire for knowledge, his body tells him to run from the room and never return. A trio of cold, powerful voices echo each other. ‘No.’
 
 
 

Praise for Starblood

 
 
“In a market flooded with badly written supernatural romances passed off as horror, Carmilla Voiez is a prophet of the uncanny. Not since Clive Barker has any author mastered pure, visceral atrocity, and yet her characters maintain an elegance and humanity that turns what could just be a blood sport into a Shakespearean tragedy. Starblood may be the only true female horror novel in existence, and within its pages a reader is forced at knifepoint to see the world through the eyes of the raped, the abused, and the unloved with hateful clarity. She makes us bear witness to the demons we ourselves create. You don't read her books. You survive them.
” Jef Withonef, Houston Press.
 
 

Praise for Psychonaut

 
 
"Carmilla Voiez is more of a singer than a writer. She tells her compelling story in a hypnotic, distinctive voice that brings her eerie world vividly to life." Graham Masterton

“Psychonaut is a book of mad impulses, inner vision, sadism, escape and belief. You feel uncomfortable reading it, like Alex strapped to the chair in Clockwork Orange being taught to feel sick at atrocity. Rather than leave us crippled by response, though, Psychonaut bears you through the hurt towards the only paradise we can be assured of...a love past fault.” Jef Withonef, Houston Press.
 
 

Praise for Black Sun

 
“This is the concluding novel in the Starblood trilogy. Satori has brought Star back to the physical world, and the second novel, Psychonaut, could well have ended on that happy note, but as we know by now, Carmilla Voiez doesn't do clichés. Satori and Star have not returned alone: insidious influences from both the astral plane and the physical world intermingle in a web of deceit and betrayal of Wagnerian complexity. Even that which is not what it seems is not what it seems.
If you are a horror fan, the Starblood Trilogy has everything to recommend it. If you are not, you will enjoy having your comfort zone challenged - I certainly did.” J.R.B.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, April 16, 2014


Re-released Recently under Vamptasy Publishing

Brand new cover under a new publishing house. Pick the ebook up on Amazon now!
 
I thought I had life all figured out. We live. We suffer pain. We die. Death never bothered me much. It was love that scared the hell out of me, because love made you weak, and in my line of work there was no room for that. My name is Gianna Botticelli. I am the daughter and only female employee of a Los Angeles mafia boss. Today was supposed to be like any other day until Caleb walked into my life. He is sexy and mysterious and knows things he shouldn’t. I don’t like it at all, but I can’t help the way he makes me feel inside. There is something different about him. What is he? All I know is that after meeting Caleb things will never be the same as he introduces me into his world. A world unknown where the battle of good versus evil rages on. Sacrifices will be made, hearts will break and lives will be taken. How far am I willing to take this journey I keep asking myself? If I have to sacrifice myself to save everyone and everything, then the answer is easy. All the way.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Welcome Author Brad Stevens

 
 

Brad Stevens - Biography

Brad Stevens is a film critic based in the UK. He is the author of Monte Hellman: His Life and Films (McFarland, 2003 - http://www.amazon.com/Monte-Hellman-His-Life-Films/dp/0786414340/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396390056&sr=1-3) and Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision (FAB Press, 2004 - http://www.amazon.com/Abel-Ferrara-Moral-Vision-Directors/dp/190325406X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396390031&sr=1-1&keywords=abel+ferrara). He writes regularly for Sight & Sound: his 'Bradlands' column appears every month on the magazine's website. (http://bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/comment/bradlands)
He has also contributed to Cahiers du Cinema, Video Watchdog, The Dark Side, The International Film Guide, the Senses of Cinema website and Chris Fujiwara's Defining Moments in Movies (Cassell Illustrated, 2007 - http://www.amazon.com/Defining-Moments-Movies-Greatest-Scenes/dp/1844036049/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1396390105&sr=1-3&keywords=chris+fujiwara). He recorded commentary tracks for the Masters of Cinema DVDs of Nosferatu and Tabu, has appeared in several documentaries (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0828282/?ref_=fn_al_nm_6), and can be seen interviewing Christopher Lee on VCI's DVD of The City of the Dead. He has also written many DVD sleeve notes. He co-authored the English subtitles for F. J. Ossang's Dharma Guns (2010), and was on the jury at the Oldenburg Film Festival in 2007.
The Hunt is his first novel. He is currently working on a sequel entitled A Caution to Rattlesnakes.

 

The Hunt

THE HUNGER GAMES meets FIFTY SHADES OF GREY in this dystopian science-fiction novel.
Great Britain in the year 2068. A totalitarian government has passed laws victimizing racial minorities, prohibiting homosexuality, and preventing women from voting or having abortions. When a feminist group launches a terrorist attack, the state responds by creating the Hunt, a weekly contest in which ten randomly selected females are pursued by ten male Hunters across an abandoned district of London.
Mara Gorki is a successful crime novelist trying to keep her lesbian relationship with film critic Yuke Morishita a secret. Horrified by what is happening in the country, she seldom leaves her apartment, attempting to create a private universe in which she and her lover can hide. But the external world comes crashing in when Mara is conscripted into the Hunt. After discovering what Hunters do to the women they capture, Mara enters the contest determined to elude her pursuers. The odds may be against her, but the consequences of failure are too terrifying to contemplate.

Excerpt from The Hunt.

At nine-thirty, Mara changed into the uniform and headed towards her local church. Although British citizens could follow whatever religion they pleased, they were also required to spend at least two hours every month 'worshipping' in a Christian house of prayer. Mara usually chose Monday mornings, since they were quieter than other times. As she walked through the large doors of St. Pancras Parish Church, she placed her thumb on the scanner, which registered her attendance and collected an obligatory 'donation'.
A nun standing by one of the pillars near the entrance gave her a friendly smile. Nuns were exempted from wearing the uniform, and much as Mara despised the ideology she represented, she found this woman striking in her long black habit. Something about her suggested she might be one of those rare professional Christians who actually followed Christ's teachings, and wished to make everyone feel welcome. By contrast, the priest who conducted Monday morning services seemed to have modelled himself on the God of the Old Testament. He had a long white beard, and addressed his flock in a booming voice.
As Mara took a seat in the back row, he was declaiming a passage from Deuteronomy. A Bible lay open on the stand before him, but this section was one of his favourites - Mara had heard him recite it half-a-dozen times - and at no point did he refer to the text. "If the charge is true and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found," he roared, staring at his captive audience as he did so, "she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death.
She has done an outrageous thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you. If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel. If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you."
If Mara hadn't already been a militant atheist, these mandatory church visits would have turned her into one. She sat in the back row, listening to the priest drone on, glancing at her watch every few minutes. She'd have brought a book, but reading secular texts here was a criminal offence. She noticed a pair of orthodox Jewish men sitting a few rows in front of her, looking uncomfortable and out of place. Eventually, the priest closed his Bible without so much as looking at it, cleared his throat, and delivered the day's sermon. “Many years ago,” he began, “there lived a woman who thought of nothing but the joys of this world. She drank to excess, gorged herself on food, and copulated frequently, even with those of her own sex. Worse, she loudly proclaimed her defiance of God, denying His very existence.
When death came to her, as it must to all of us, she was cast directly into Hell. There, she was hung naked in flames, her tongue removed with pincers, her eyes gouged out, her ears cut off, the flesh torn from her body, a hot poker inserted into the place from which she had derived such pleasure during her lifetime of sin. When this process had been completed, her body instantly regenerated, and the torture started anew, as it would continue to do forever. But still she defied God. She now admitted His existence, but declared this existence to be an abomination.
Was it not God who had sentenced her to an eternity of suffering? God, she decided, was an immensely powerful sadist from whom there could be no escape. And for the first time, she knew the fear of God. She feared not the unending torments to which she was subjected, but rather that even in this place, where sinners were cast out of God's sight, He might reach down and pluck her out, like a rock buried in the ground, and thus bring her face to face with Him. Hell is so arranged that those condemned to a lower circle may never ascend to a higher, but there is nothing to prevent those on the higher circles descending to the lower. And so it was that this woman, acting on her demented beliefs, made a deliberate choice to sink further into the Pit.
As she passed from one circle to the next, her agony increased, but the pain bothered her less than the idea that she was being pursued by God. Finally, she came to rest in the last of the nine circles, in the middle of which Satan himself squatted like a toad. Here, in addition to everything she had previously endured, cackling demons forced her to consume her own intestines, then her limbs, then the rest of her body. In the final seconds before regeneration occurred, her mouth turned inside out and consumed itself. But although she had now sunk as far as possible, the woman's greatest fear was that she had not sunk far enough, could never sink far enough. Even in the deepest pit of Hell, she was still not safe from God.”
     Mara wasn't sure whether to be more alarmed by the content of this vile lecture, or the priest's conduct while delivering it, for although she'd positioned herself at the rear of the church, she had no trouble seeing that he was vigorously masturbating under his cassock. Finally seeming to remember where he was, the man staggered out of his pulpit and disappeared through a door located behind the altar while the choir broke into He Who Would Valiant Be. As the congregation rose to its feet and made a desultory attempt to join in with the singing, Mara noticed that two hours had passed since her arrival. She walked back to the entrance and once more placed her thumb on the scanner, confirming she'd stayed the required length of time. For some reason, the sermon echoed in her head. She didn't believe in Hell or Heaven, but try as she might, she couldn't shake the feeling that this dreadful tale contained an element of prophecy.

Buy Link- http://amzn.com/B00JJYGBZG

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Welcome Author Carmilla Voiez


Milla V is the more gentle alter ego of Carmilla Voiez. Milla's YA and NA novels have more universal appeal than her somewhat extreme form of horror writing. The Ballerina and the Revolutionary, to be released on April 1st, is her first full length novel that can be regarded as Magic-Realism rather than horror.

Carmilla Voiez, a British horror writer, resides in Scotland and writes from her home in Banff, where she lives with her daughters and cats. Carmilla sold her Gothic Clothing business in 2012 and has been writing and releasing top selling books and short stories since then. A Goth for over 20 years, her books are inspired by the Gothic subculture, magic and dark desires, exploring sexual obsession and violence in often hard-hitting ways.

The first book, Starblood, which has been nominated for the Commonwealth Book Prize, is set partly in the beautiful Cairngorm mountains and partly in the city where she grew up, in South West England, she finds inspiration in local beauty, stately homes, the Moray Firth and woodlands around the Scottish town where she has lived the past 10 years.
Carmilla Voiez won the title Horror Author of the Year 2013 from HFA and FearVenture Author of the Year 2014. 

 

Interview

 
 
Me:What inspired you to write this book?
Carmilla: I had been reading a book about freestyle shamanism by Jan Freis and it made me wonder about how much one might achieve by travelling into the mindscape in the way that happens in The Ballerina and the Revolutionary. I was also living with someone suffering from schizophrenia at the time and writing Vivienne's character helped me deal with what was happening in my own life.
 
Me:Were any characters based off of real people and if so- which character?
Carmilla: None of the characters were based on real people, however they all have aspects of myself and the people around me to give each of them a spark of life.
 
Me:Was there any part of the book you had a hard time writing?
Carmilla: It took me from 2008 to finish this book. I suspect that answers your question.
 
Me:What one song would sum up this book?
Carmilla: Tainted Love

"Sometimes I feel I've got to Run away I've got to Get away From the pain you drive into the heart of me The love we share Seems to go nowhere And I've lost my light For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night
(chorus) Once I ran to you (I ran) Now I'll run from you The tainted love you've given I give you all a girl can give you Take my tears and that's not nearly all Oh...tainted love Tainted love
Now I know I've got to Run away I've got to Get away You don't really want any more from me To make things right You need someone to hold you tight And you think love is to pray Well I'm sorry I don't pray that way"
 
Me: How to you deal with writers block?
Carmilla:Writers block definitely caused me to move onto other projects like the Starblood Trilogy before returning to finish this one. Usually I will take a shower or go for a run or a walk to stimulate my creative juices. If that doesn't work I'll usually switch to research for a while, but if I still find myself blocked I'll switch to a different story until I'm ready to tackle this narrative again.
 
Blog for Milla V and Carmilla Voiez – http://carmillavoiez.wordpress.com
 
Readings can be heard on Room 13 Radio Podcast - https://soundcloud.com/carmillavoiez/carmilla-voiezs-room-13-radio
 
Blurb - Vivienne realises she is dying. All she wants to do is see her daughter Giselle one last time and apologise. But Giselle no longer exists and it is Crow, a gender-queer anarchist, who returns to a family home that is plagued by ghosts and violent memories. Crow unravels terrifying secrets, hoping to find closure at last. But can anyone survive the shadows that lurk behind the fairy tales?
 
 
Excerpt
 
My body was like flotsam, tossed about in the crowd. My throat, dry from shouting, felt full of razorblades. Where was everyone? The bodies, bouncing beside me, crashing against me, were strangers. All my friends scattered in the first surge, not long after the rioting started and the police descended. Above our heads, damp with sweat and water spray, towered a dozen mounted police. Glossy, chestnut mares gazed haughtily down at the crowd as their riders tapped batons against body armour, menacingly. The bodies of fellow anarchists and others pressed in around me. The tide was turning. We were moving back, retreating, scurrying away like frightened rats. A sweaty chest crushed my face. As the man moved so my jaw and nose moved too, pinned between it and an arm behind me. I gasped for breath.
It was always the same. Two steps forward, one step back. Our comrades had been occupying the closed school for months, providing free education to adults and children alike in this deprived area of London, but the landlords wanted them out. Answering their call for help, we stood with them. Dressed in black and red, we created a buffer between those grass-roots heroes and our moneyed oppressors with nothing other than property values, profit and fast turnarounds on their minds. Our standoff displeased the Metropolitan police, and here they were again, determined to move us on. Comply or die – that should have been their motto.
Amidst the chaos, I heard a shout and recognised the voice. Jumping, I accidentally bludgeoned a man’s ear with my elbow as I rose. He yelped in pain and shock then acknowledged my existence, at last.
‘I need to see,’ I told him.
He supported my weight, lifting me proud of the crowd. Outside the tightening ring of protestors was Chrissie. She was being tackled by three policemen and wrestled to the ground.
The man withdrew his support and I slid between bodies and dropped to my knees. Beyond the forest of legs, Chrissie’s face was being pushed against concrete, a heavy boot pressed between her shoulders. Our eyes met. Wrapping my fingers around a rock from the ground, I rose to my feet, leaned forwards and pushed my way towards the front of the crowd, weaving between hot bodies. The smell of anger and fear tainted the air. Sweat and tears dripped like rain.
At last, my body fell clear of the crush of protestors. Chrissie craned her neck and stared back at me. My shout of rage was cut short as a riot shield slammed against my cheek and I crumpled on the ground beside her.
In the flashing lights of my dazed vision, her face faded. I reached out and grasped her wrist. A smile lit up her face and she mouthed one word, ‘Crow,’ before all light extinguished and I passed out.