It's all about sex! #books #bookworms #sex #mustread

What is it about sex that sells? Why does my science fiction romance sell more than my 'nice' romances? Is it the sex? The aliens? The idea of dangerous sex? Or just sex in general?

Don't get me wrong, my 'nice' romances do have sex they just don't have that element of dangerous sex or helpless heroines at the mercy of bad men. Instead, they have feisty women and men who haven't a clue what to do with them!

Eden came out ten years ago, and was followed by its sequel Hunted a few years later. In between I've written a romantic comedy with A Proper Charlie and a darker comedy romance with Oh No, I've Fallen in Love. Then this year came, Wide Awake Asleep, which is a time travel romance set in my home town, Northampton.

All, with the exception of Wide Awake Asleep, have sex scenes (A Proper Charlie does bad sex very well!) But Eden and Hunted portrays a vulnerable woman with a potential dangerous man and a will-she-be-raped-or-not situation. They weren't intended to be titillation reads but I can't help to think that this is what entices my audience.

Eden (book 1)   |   Hunted (book 2)

Fly became an unwilling experiment and was dumped on an unknown planet, while Jenny’s ship crashed there. Two different species. Two different reasons for being there. Survive or die?

Fly became an unwilling experiment and was dumped on an unknown planet, while Jenny’s ship crashed there.
Two different species.
Two different reasons for being there.
Survive or die?

Wide Awake Asleep

Is she awake or is she dreaming?

Reality or nightmare? 

Julie Compton can’t believe she’s escaped a terrible car crash… it’s impossible, in fact. A tree branch had impaled her to her seat, yet here she was, unharmed and looking down at her crashed car.

A Proper Charlie

What’s a girl to do when she discovers her boss is a wanted man?

Become a honey trap, that's what!

 Oh No, I've Fallen in Love!

A bitter-sweet story of an ordinary woman stuck in a chick lit novel.

Is it destined for disaster or can the flamboyant characters colour Valeria's otherwise grey world?

WWBB brings you THE RED GLEAM a story of #lust and #murder

The Red Gleam

by

Monique Pitzer

Kathy is a young student, living in Dusseldorf, Germany. But behind the normal life, she is hiding her lust for blood. She knows that once the door to murder is opened, she won’t be able to close it again. 

But there is more lurking deep inside her…

Kathy is happy with her new life and her new hobby, but when she falls in love her outlook on life changes.

Can she stop hunting? 

Or is she already caught up too deeply? 

Amazon

Five Facts about The Whitechapel Virgin

by

Carla Acheson

1. The book idea exploded with the Wikipedia discovery of 'Harris List of Covent Garden Whores.' A real 17th century publication which offered gentlemen a discreet listing of local ladies, their services offered as well as costs. There were a million story ideas in that one discovery alone.
2. I don't write historical fiction to teach people about history. I like teaching about people, no matter what era they lived in. My readers will walk away having learnt something interesting and amazing about 'people', and the best way to do that is to give them characters with the worst possible lives, where the odds are really stacked against them.
3. My first ever published 'piece' was an article in a writers' magazine. Ironically, it was entitled 'How to cope with rejection'.
4. I go for grit. There isn’t anything interesting in a wooden stick unless it has texture or emotion. Hell, just give a stick emotions rather than watch it sit there doing nothing! Why are they important in writing? Because they are the elements by which we frame our existence and self-awareness. Without feelings and emotions what are we doing? Well, we are either asleep, or not living.
5. I live on a Rock in the Mediterranean sea, which is as far removed from Victorian London as you can get. For that reason I have to travel there for research, and strive harder to create the imaginary canvas which I weave into my stories. There is always a journey that astounds, not only the reader, but the writer as well. After finishing my first novel, ‛The Last Gift,’ I realised that the journey was so wonderful, I had to do it again.

Introducing...

 The Whitechapel Virgin

Catherine, a fifteen year old runaway, stumbles into a seedy brothel-house tavern in the back streets of Whitechapel, London. She hesitates at the scene before her, one filled with low class prostitutes and drunkards, but it is late, and the dimly-lit labyrinthine alleyways are filled with deviant fellows and petty criminals. 

Weary and hungry, she meets Eddie, the rugged young tavern boy who shows her to a room for the night. She settles down only to be awoken in the early hours by piercing cries from the room next door. Arising to find the cause of the commotion, she becomes witness to a gruesome abortion. 

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon - Paperback 

 Filled with revulsion, Catherine decides to flee as soon as daylight arrives, but Eddie quickly soothes her fears and convinces her to stay, arranging for her to meet Madame Davenport, the nefarious brothel-mistress who employs Catherine as a serving girl, under the proviso she begins work ‛servicing’ men once she is settled in. 

Difficulties arise, however, when Eddie’s growing romantic affections for Catherine clash with her sudden infatuation for the dashing middle-class gent, Mr Cross. Unknown to Catherine, the lothario is keeping a diary of his affairs with Whitechapel’s whores, with the dishonourable intention of turning his writing into a successful ‛gentleman’s, publication.’ Mr Cross quickly seduces the fresh young virgin, allowing his sexual fantasies to escalate into an unfathomable obsession. 

As Catherine tries her hardest to fit into the ways of life at the lodging house, she encounters only jealousy from Eddie, and resentment from the other prostitutes who reside there. Annie, in particular, dislikes the new girl who has blossoming beauty and youth on her side. 

Unexpectedly one night, a crime occurs within the narrow landing of George Yard Buildings. Local prostitute Martha Tabram is found brutally hacked to death by a cruel assailant. The police can unearth no explainable motive. The Victorian crime stuns the entire Whitechapel district, causing widespread panic amongst the prostitutes who each fear for their own lives. 

Catherine’s anxiety increases when Edward Cross begins to show signs of ‘odd’ sexual behaviour and mental decline, as he brutally tries to expunge the girl of her virtues. When two more gruesome murders occur in the area, the prostitutes realise that there is no escape from the vicious killer who calls himself Jack The Ripper. But who is he? And who will be the next Jack victim? 

 

Carla Acheson lives in Gibraltar with her family and is a member of the Freelance Writers Association. She works as a book reviewer and has interviewed and published book reviews and articles for best-selling and award-winning authors. Her articles and reviews have been featured in various press publications, as well as Waterstones Quarterly UK Magazine. 

Her debut fiction novel ‘The Last Gift’ released October 2012, is available on both Kindle and paperback. 

Carla is also the founder of the Rock Writers Group formed in Gibraltar in 2009. 

Music production, singing, reading and writing have always been the main essential ingredients in Carla’s life. 

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Getting an agent - Mortal Kombat style

by 

Emlyn Chand

Do you like to play video games? Have you ever played Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, or Super Smash Brothers?

If you’re a writer who has attempted to land a literary agent, then you have to some degree. Securing a literary agent is one part fight and one part game, and there are many rounds to this battle.

I’ve made it through the first match alive but slightly worse for the wear. Rather than explain my literary agent submission experience in lengthy, dramatic prose, I thought it would be more fun to turn it into a video game script.

Welcome to Book Basher Super Fiiiight Time—Hiyaah!

Deep in the snowy wasteland of the mid-January Midwest, our hero boldly prepares for battle. With nothing more than a six-time-revised manuscript and a dash of hope, she sets forth on her journey toward publication.

Meanwhile in the magical urban forest called “New York,” an army of battle-weary agents also prepare for their day’s journeys. They have emerged victorious many times before and think nothing of today’s show-down.

Within the space of the cyber realm, at last they shall meet.

Our hero goes forth, query in hand, with minimal armor to protect her feelings. Although she has honed her skills for more than one year, nothing could have prepared her for this first battle.

Emlyn vs. The Literary Agents—Battle 1—Fiiiight!

OUR HERO: “I’m calling on my strength.” She circles her arms and performs a sun salute.

AGENT #1:  "He, he. I will make you cry!" She looks at our hero from over her shoulder, sticks out her tongue, and winks.

OUR HERO inches forward, hesitantly, toward her opponent

AGENT #1 performs a swift maneuver, pulling a red rejection stamp out of her pocket and bringing it to rest on our hero’s manuscript—KO—“You die too easily, hmmpf!”

Out in MAY!