Coming Out of the Smut Closet

I've been thinking a lot lately about this weird area romance/erotica writers occupy. I mean, it isn't exactly a surprise to my mom that at age 30, I know about sex. Or that I've had it. I think she would be far more concerned if I hadn't by now. I must assume most of our parents, siblings, co-workers, and friends feel the same.

But then, if you tell any of them you WRITE about this stuff, you get judgey-face. Wtf, for reals, guys. We are all allowed to do it, and thanks to shows like Sex and the City, we are allowed to freely discuss it, but when we write descriptions of two fake people doing the same deed, we get embarrassed and nervous.

I read an erotica book just last week and really enjoyed it, which led me to the author's blog. One post said something like "I always thought I would write something incredible, but turns out I just wrote sex." WHY. WHY do we feel like we have to apologize for this?

When Nicholas Sparks makes people cry, when Bill Bryson makes people laugh, when Chuck Palaniuk makes people cringe... Do you think they say sorry for causing Feels in their readers? So why the hell are we?

Welp, the only people who can change this is us. So here's my tiny contribution. I'm not Lucy Stark. Lucy Stark is dead. My name is Kayti McGee, and I write smut.

Xoxo,

Kayti

Unwrapped Cover Reveal (we love revealing ourselves)

COVER REVEAL

A New Adult Romance

Six different novellas

by the NAturals

Laurelin Paige, Gennifer Albin, Melanie Harlow, 

Sierra Simone, Kayti McGee Downey, and Tamara Mataya

Release: December 23, 2013

Cover designed by Tom Barnes Design

Six romance authors present six very different novellas in this anthology of new stories: Ménage a tango lessons. A bride DYING to say, 'I don't.' A horny college boy at a purity rally. Time-traveling graduate students meet Victorian playboys. A rugby player who's as dirty off the field as on. And kissing under the mistletoe with a Scottish exchange student. Something for everyone, the NAturals present sweet, funny, and erotic tales of new adults meant to be Unwrapped all year long and not just at Christmas.   About the Authors Laurelin Paige, Gennifer Albin, Melanie Harlow, Sierra Simone, Kayti McGee Downey, and Tamara Mataya are the six authors who blog for TheNaturalAuthors.blogspot.com. They each write romance and adore pushing the boundaries of the genre. Above all, they love reading smut, looking at pictures of hot men, and making up names for the band they’re always talking about forming. Blog | Facebook | Twitter  

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Best Laid Plans AKA Self Publishing: You're doing it wrong!

Many of you who follow my twitter, or know me, may have known I was planning on self pubbing my manuscript, The Best Laid Plans, a sexy contemporary romance. I had a few manuscripts on submission, and had a bit of a life changing experience with the flash flood in June. I decided to take the bull by the horns and self publish. I wanted to have a book Out There where people could read it!

So, it might come as something of a surprise that I signed a 3 book deal with Swoon Romance for that book! Heres the cover, done by the fabulous Genn Albin! <3

Self Publishing: I'm doing it wrong!

The thing is, if my Editor's vision for the book hadn't matched mine - if she'd wanted to make the book into something it wasn't - then I'd have turned down the deal. At the end of the day, it's about what's right for YOU and for the BOOK.

And you can enter to win a print copy!
Goodreads Giveaway!

I'm SO happy right now! Today is the official release day, but it came out a couple days ago.

The Best Laid Plans on Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Goodreads

Thanks for reading! <3

SPEAK LOW by Melanie Harlow. Good God, it's finally here!

If you read SPEAK EASY by our very own Melanie Harlow, then you've probably been dying for the hotness that are Tiny, Enzo and Joey to continue. If you haven't read it yet, you'll want to. As soon as is humanely possible because the sequel, SPEAK LOW, is here!!

Here's the blurb:

July, 1923

After bootlegging enough whiskey to free her father from the DiFiore crime family, twenty-year old Tiny O'Mara is determined to leave home and take control of her own life.

But it’s going to cost her.

Her alliance with sultry Enzo DiFiore is based more on their intense physical attraction than any loyalty or trust. When he offers her an apartment and nights spent together where anything goes in exchange for some information, she's tempted beyond measure.

But taking Enzo's side means betraying gorgeous childhood pal Joey Lupo, the only man she trusts. And even though they spend most of their time at each other's throats, the heat simmering between them is becoming too hard to ignore--then one night, it boils over.

And won't stop.

As Enzo’s greed and deception escalate and her feelings for Joey deepen, Tiny realizes her mistakes. She just hopes she gets the chance to fix them before it’s too late.

To make it super easy, SPEAK EASY is on sale through the month of November for 0.99.  Hot gangsta's, people. Hot gangstas.'

Alpha This, Alpha That

Alpha males are an indispensable part of romance, and they have been since Edward Rochester locked his wife in the attic and decided to seduce a nineteen year old (spoiler alert.)  And I've read a lot of great Alphas lately, which has led me to wonder about the appeal.

What do we readers (and writers) like so much about this archetype that we keep coming back to it over and over?  Is it the freedom that having a dominant lover brings?  Freedom from choice?  The freedom of knowing you'll be taken care of emotionally and sexually?  Is it something instinctual within women?  Something engineered in us from back when having an alpha mate was necessary to our (and our host of cave-babies') survival?

I think these are unanswerable questions because the answers will be different for every woman.  Some women might find the physical attributes of the Alpha the best while others might crave that emotional dominance.  And some women might find the idea of the Alpha altogether repulsive--after all, we aren't living in caves any more and more women than ever are the heads of their households and relish the role.  I'm somewhere in between.  I am the breadwinner and I wouldn't trade my marriage with its foundation of mutual respect and equality (both in the bed and out) for anything.  BUT, the Alpha presents a fantasy for me.  A fantasy of being swept off my feet, of having everything taken care of so that I'm free to love and pleasure as much as I can.  An escape, a vacation from reality.

What about you?  Why do (or don't) you like the Alpha in romance?