(Aside: I don’t remember Halloween lasting like three weeks when I was a kid, but apparently it does now. Or at least it does for my three year old. The baby doesn’t really understand candy beyond the occasional M&M and refused to wear his costume [though he likes dressing up in daily life when it’s his own idea], so Halloween for him lasted about fifteen minutes. But his elder brother made up for that just as hard as he could.)

Anyway, I did finally get some downtime kid-free so I could have a listen this morning, and as usual I was very impressed by the quality of the podcast. Nobilis hires excellent readers, and I think Honey Rambler did a great job.

I’m really happy to have “Leila” out again in some form, and I hope you all will enjoy it!

I thought I’d post an excerpt to try and encourage some more votes, and I’ve decided on the first kiss between our heroine, Mary Bennet (yes, that Mary Bennet), and the incubus she has accidentally summoned and bound to her, who calls himself Nick. Romantic, eh?

As we join them here, they are finishing up a crash course in magic that Nick has been giving Mary in hopes of fulfilling the terms of the spell she cast. There’s a bit of saucy language in the scene I’ve chosen, as well as the kissing, but nothing too scandalous. So read on for an excerpt from “A Woman of Uncommon Accomplishment,” originally published in Circlet Press’s Sense and Sensuality:

They made speedier progress than Nick had gloomily anticipated. Within ten days, they had covered all of the spells in the book. And though Mary had not tried to cast all of them–there were some she would never wish to attempt, and others that she felt no immediate need for–those she had tested worked just as they were meant to.

She closed the book with a happy sigh. “I thank you, sir,” she said, with a touch of the dramatic. The moment seemed to call for it. “You have truly done me a service.”

But Nick was frowning, pacing back and forth across the room. “I’m afraid I have not, no.” His form wavered, becoming transparent for a moment before solidifying again. He groaned, and cast himself violently onto the bed, where he covered his eyes with one forearm. “Bloody fucking arse!”

Mary was too shocked to reply. She stood up and, her cheeks burning, left the room.

Perhaps Nick would benefit from some time to compose himself, she thought. And in the meantime, she would go for a walk, and consider the problem.

After a quarter of an hour touring one of Pemberly’s gardens, she was no nearer to a solution than she had been when she left her room. Her idea of substituting one kind of service for another had seemed sound, particularly when Nick examined the spell which had summoned him and said that it was constructed rather obscurely. But it had not worked, as evidenced by Nick’s… passionate complaint.

Still, perhaps there was some merit in the idea of skirting the conditions of the spell.

When Mary returned to her room, Nick was in much the same state as when she had left it, though he had moved his arm and replaced it with a pillow that more fully covered his face. Mary sat down next to him, perching on the side of the bed. It was astonishing, how quickly she had become used to Nick’s presence in her room. The idea of being anywhere near both a man and a bed at the same time would have seemed so scandalous to her only a fortnight ago.

“What if I let you kiss me?” she suggested.

The pillow shifted slightly. “I beg your pardon?”

Mary leaned over and removed the cushion. “A kiss,” she said, looking into Nick’s face. “Only a kiss, mind you. But could it be enough to satisfy the spell?”

Nick’s expression was thoughtful. “Possibly.” He sat up. “Are you certain?”

Mary took a deep breath, steeling herself, and closed her eyes. “Yes. You may proceed.”

She thought she heard Nick chuckle, but then she felt the bed shift as he moved, and his breath against her cheek, and gave no further thought to it. His lips were dry and warm against hers. It was not unpleasant. She had allowed one of the Lucas boys to kiss her once and regretted it heartily. His mouth had been sticky, he had been rough, and the experience was wholly disgusting. But Nick was all gentleness, soft and light.

And then the dry brush of his mouth over hers changed slightly, a thin line of moisture passing over the seam of her lips, and Mary opened her mouth without thought. As soon as she realized that she had done it–that Nick’s mouth was open, too, and his lips pressing to hers more firmly–his tongue had slipped between her teeth, and she was too fascinated to make him stop. What was he doing? It felt… good. Strange, but agreeable.

His scent, which she caught clearly now that their bodies were so close, was agreeable, too. As was the heat of his body, and a low sound he made in the back of his throat as she slid her tongue against his.

One of his hands went to her waist, drawing her closer. The other curved over her breast, fingertips questing dexterously under her fichu within the space of a breath.

Mary jerked backward and slapped him with as much force as she could manage.

He laughed, and raised his hands. “I apologize, Miss Bennet. I found I could not help myself.” Seeing that she did not intend to slap him again, he relaxed, and rubbed the side of his face. “You served me out soundly for it. My compliments to your boxing teacher.”

Mary’s palm was stinging; she hoped that it had hurt him. The skin of her bosom felt as if he had branded it with his touch. “Did it work?”

Nick’s violet eyes went hazy for a moment as he focused on something Mary could not see. “No.” He looked at her again, and grinned, the light from the window glinting on his earring. “But we could try again.”

Mary picked up the pillow he’d been using earlier, and held it in front of his face. Then she pushed, hard, until Nick fell over backward on the bed, his protests that he “hadn’t meant it, Miss Bennet, take pity!” muffled in cotton and feathers.

Angry and embarrassed, she left the room in a hurry for the second time in one day, and did not return until well after midnight.

***

If you enjoyed that, please go and vote for ” “A Woman of Uncommon Accomplishment” by Elizabeth Reeve (from Sense & Sensuality)” in the poll!

So head over to this link to vote: http://www.circlet.com/?p=3777

And pick me! Pick me! By which I mean, please vote for “A Woman of Uncommon Accomplishment” by Elizabeth Reeve (from Sense and Sensuality). As much as I love each and every one of my stories, that one is probably my very favorite, and I would be so, so thrilled to see it in this collection.

I would also like to recommend to your attention “Ink” by Bernie Mojzes (from Whispers in Darkness) and “Hunter, Prey” by Marie Carlson (from Like Tooth and Claw), which are two stories on that (excellent) list that I adore.

Amanda Gannon of Adventurotica described Whispers in Darkness as “a rock-solid anthology,” and has written an in-depth review. Here’s what she said about my story:

No description of this story’s particulars can convey its appeal. It is definitely the odd story out; it’s a college story, and the setting and voice are more frankly modern than any of the others. It’s also a sweet story, not horrific at all. And it’s extremely hot.

It’s a beautiful exploration of the vulnerability of revealing yourself to another person – how we are all to some degree alien to ourselves and each other. It’s odd that a Lovecraftian erotica story should be touching, but it really was; terrible secrets, if shared, can lead to great intimacy. And, apparently, mind-blowing tentacle sex. The attention to detail in the sex scene is first-rate. It feels real, and if it doesn’t make you at least a little envious, I will mail you a dollar.

The author took a risk submitting a story that is not meant to be horrifying, and the editor took a chance including it. I am so glad they did, and enjoyed the pleasant surprise.

AncientHistory at Yog-Sothoth also wrote a review, saying of my story:

Short but brilliant, set in the modern day and reads like National Lampoon’s sequel to The Dreams in the Witch House. Actually, this is probably the only story of the bunch I would love to see a sequel to, since the eponymous Laundromat is never visited directly in the story. Reeve’s dialogue and college-think is clever and fun to read, and refreshingly honest for the brand of horny college student we all wish we’d run into. The phrase “Arkham-bad” has now entered my personal lexicon.

One of the other authors in the anthology, Annabeth Leong, described “The Dreams in the Laundromat” as “the sweetest, most romantic tentacle sex story I’ve ever read.” (She includes a nice, lengthy excerpt from her story, “The Artist’s Retreat,” in that post which is well worth checking out, by the way – I love the way she echoes Lovecraft’s writing style, and you can see a lot of that in the segment she’s chosen.)

I’m glad to see that what I was aiming at with “The Dreams in the Laundromat” – weird, sexy, sweet (and more than a little goofy) – seems to have hit the mark with more than one reader. And I’m not gonna lie…the idea of writing a continuation of “The Dreams in the Laundromat” has occurred to me. We’ll see!

Tentacles!

Whispers in Darkness is a collection of erotica inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and should be available later this month.

I wasn’t sure I could – or wanted to – write this story when I started, since I’d never done anything historical before and was a little daunted by the research, but I had a hell of a lot of fun, and totally fell in love with my characters. (To the point where I started a novel that picks up where the short story ends, though I don’t know what I’ll do with it when I finish!) My beta readers loved them, too, and I’m proud to say that Mary and her incubus companion, Nick, won over at least one reader who is definitely not a fan of Regency-era fiction.

You can read an excerpt from “A Woman of Uncommon Accomplishment” on your way to purchasing Sense and Sensuality at Circlet Press, or at All Romance Ebooks. The anthology is also available at Amazon.com.

Pretty, isn’t it? The release date is probably going to be in late July – I’m so excited!

When college student Megan hits the library, she’s looking for sources for a paper on Carmilla, an early vampire story. But in gorgeous librarian Leila, she finds much, much more. It’s no surprise that Leila haunts Megan’s dreams, but as her fantasies heat up, she begins to wonder — is Leila really who she seems to be?

You can buy “Leila” at this link.

I said on my tumblr that “Leila” is kind of my love letter to literary analysis, and it’s definitely my most meta-textual romance to date. If you’ve read Carmilla, you’ll be able to see the ways I’ve borrowed and reinterpreted a couple of things. If you haven’t and “Leila” has made you curious, you can check Carmilla out for yourself at Project Gutenberg, among other places.

I’m super-excited to be a part of the anthology, and even more excited to be able to share my story, “A Woman of Uncommon Accomplishment,” with readers. I had a ridiculous amount of fun writing it, even though it was somewhat out of my usual genre range; I’m hoping that people will enjoy reading it at least as much.

“A Woman of Uncommon Accomplishment” picks up not too long after the end of Pride and Prejudice, and follows Mary Bennet as she discovers that magic is real, and sets about learning to use it. There are, of course, complications, the most alarming of which is an accidentally-summoned incubus who calls himself Nick and won’t go away.

I’ll share more as publication approaches!

I’ll be doing a quick revision and clean-up this afternoon, and then I’ll be sending the story off to first readers for their feedback. Revise a couple more times, submit to anthology, annnnd done! End of my historical romance career.

Except, apparently not. Whilst writing this story, I had a sudden, intense desire to take the main characters on another adventure. Perhaps a novel-length adventure. With action and intrigue as well as romance and demons. The working title is “Mary Bennet and Nick the Incubus Fight Crime,” which should give you an idea of what I’m thinking, here.

And you know what would make this even more fun? If I write it in 30 days! That’s right, dear readers – I’m doing NaNoWriMo. If you are, too, feel free to look me up. My user name is ElizaReeve. We can be buddies!

In the meantime, it’s back to the research mines for me. I’ve got a copy of Harriette Wilson’s memoirs and a highlighter, and I’m not afraid to use them.