Here comes great guest blog post from Willsin Rowe, one of our amazing and very talented Excessica authors. He’s teamed up with Katie Salidas, who has had great success herself self-publishing her erotica romance novels. In this post, Willsin thanks me for the opportunity to publish with Excessica, to which I can only reply – it has been one of my greatest pleasures to bring new author voices to the genre over the years.
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In early 2009, my erstwhile career as a writer was in freefall. I’d had two books published, but so few had sold that I never saw a royalty payment. And then my publisher folded.
All that changed when I found Excessica. The brainchild of the esteemed Selena Kitt – maybe you’ve heard of her! – Excessica was more an author collective than a regular-style publisher.
I mention all that because, without Excessica, I would be quite a different writer, and indeed a different person, than I currently am. And I would rather be who I am now.
Excessica turned out to be far more than just a place to house my stories. Because of the nature of the business, all writers were encouraged (but not required) to contribute in any way they could to the running of the place. With a background in the graphic arts, I offered my services as a cover artist.
With strong encouragement from Selena, I developed my skills and experience to a level I never imagined. And through my cover art work I met a whole lot of other writers and gained some insight into different people and how their personalities work – invaluable tools for a writer
All Excessicans were also encouraged to contribute to the publisher blog. Through my contributions there, I was “poached” to contribute to another blog, Coffee-Fueled Erotica, which is where I met Katie Salidas. Little did I know at the time how important THAT little meeting would b
Over the past almost-three-year period, Katie and I have been blog buddies, reading buddies, critiquing buddies and even family-life buddies. All without ever seeing each other in the flesh or speaking to each other directly!
It just seemed a natural development that Katie and I would start writing together. We knew each other’s strengths (and weaknesses), we understood each other’s styles and habits.
So one day in 2010, I found myself with a first – very rough – draft of a story. I was confident it was a nifty idea. It had a beginning, a middle and an end, and they were even in the right order. It had a bunch of good sentences and a nice pace. But it just wasn’t working, and I couldn’t find the story’s pulse points.
That’s where Katie came in. I sent the story to her with a big “HEEEEEELP!” message, and she got it straight back to me with some really smart tweaks, some wonderful additions, and some amazing deletions. After that, it was only a couple of little to-and-fro drafts and we were set!
I believe all the best stories have a cyclical nature. This blog hardly qualifies as a good story, but it is cyclical. Because tomorrow, August 31, marks the release of the story that Katie and I wrote. And it’s being published by Excessica, the place that really helped to “make” me.
So I wanted to publicly thank Selena for her support and her generosity. Writing is a business these days, which can easily lead writers to adopt a dog-eat-dog mentality. Selena is the diametric opposite to that. She’s always the first to offer brilliant advice and opportunities to other writers.
And Katie and I are honored to launch our “Patience” blog tour right here.
*****
Patience may be a virtue, but the reward is sin! 5,000 word short erotic story.
Publisher: Excessica
Blurb:
Donelle Fortier is no billionaire. She runs her ad agency with passion and scruples…and it shows in her bank balance.
Edan Dalca is the cocky young hotshot Donelle hired to pump life into her business. He’s intense, passionate…and downright hawt.
But when his arrogance threatens the agency’s future, Donelle realizes he needs to be taught one very important lesson: patience.
And with Donelle’s consummate skills, it’s a lesson that Edan will never forget.
This title contains graphic language, older woman/younger man nookie, and an intriguing use of confectionery
Excerpt:
“You still have so much to learn, boy.”
“Don’t call me boy. I’m 24 years old.”
“In every way possible.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Look, we need to present a united front. Yes, we probably lost the pitch. But those people up there rely on me, and now you, to bring business in. They need to believe in us.”
“Then untie the apron strings! Let me take more control.”
I rested my hand against his chest. Even through the thick wool of his suit, I fancied I could feel the heat of his skin, and I nearly lost my train of thought. “This is not the time for that discussion, Edan.”
“It never is.”
“Stop. I mean it, this is not the time. We need to radiate calm, give off a positive vibe. Can you do that?”
He shook his head and puffed out a resigned chuckle. Finally his cool eyes met mine. “Maybe. What’s it worth to you?”
The warmth of his hand was all too real as he cupped the fullness of my breast through my blouse. I’d been so focused on his eyes I hadn’t seen him move. My breath tripped up as he squeezed my hardening nipple.
“Edan…” The simple urgency of my own voice sounded like a betrayal. With my hand over his I rested my head on his chest, just to take the weight off my untrustworthy knees. With my eyes closed and the heat of his body against me it was easy to forget he was born the year I finished school.
Suddenly he was all hands and breath, all heat and muscle, and lord, did it feel good. I clutched at his belt for balance and he pushed his mouth onto mine.