A Taste for Blood

Lucy Westenra has had a poor deal from Bram Stoker and his followers.  She's depicted as Dracula's passive victim.  I think there's more to her than that, so I've written this story from her point of view, to set the record straight.   

It begins where Lucy is helping Mina to say an amorous farewell to her fiancé before he leaves for Transylvania, to meet with Count Dracula.  Lucy tells her own tale, of love between her and Mina, her own fiancé Arthur, and of course, the extremely male Count himself.

Re-reading Bram Stoker's excellent Dracula, and other novels written at the time, I find that servants are barely mentioned, yet they must have played an important part in the lives of the protagonists.  To redress this balance, I have created a maid-servant, Ida, to look after Lucy, to protect and comfort her when she can.  Ida is a woman of the world, and with her robust attitude and good humor makes Lucy's life happier and more exciting than it would otherwise have been.

I've submitted my novella, A Taste for Blood, to Torrid Books today.

Garden of Thorns: Cover

Here's the cover for my next novel, to be published in October 2013.  I'm delighted with it.

I wanted sexy, and that's what I've got. 

 

The Torrid Books editor has read it and passed his edits on to me.  I've revised it and provided some changes of my own, including replacing "pert, round butt" with "bare butt".  Butts in fiction are always pert and round unless specified otherwise.

Contract Signed!

I've just signed a contract with Torrid Books for publication of my twelfth title: Garden of Thorns.

Here's the blurb:

q  “It isn’t easy, being a dominatrix.”  Tormented by a love she cannot even declare, Jennie flees to the city, where she’s fired from her job, betrayed by her boyfriend, and can’t pay the rent.  Her landlord offers a solution: she can be nice to him—and to all his friends.  She meets black-clad Galatea and her sullen chauffeuse, who take her to their home. They offer her work, training, and a place to stay.   But she must work as a dominatrix, train as a slave, and there are fetters chained to her bed.  Has Jennie forsaken the frying-pan for the fire?  If she escapes the dungeon must she sell her body to pay the rent?  Can she win through her troubles and rediscover love?

I'll post when I hear the publication date.  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Love, Yvonne

Garden of Thorns

I've just sent my novel off to Torrid Books.  I hope they like it.

The Background

My heroine Jennie fled from her Shropshire home to live in Manchester, in my short story Everyone Gets Frisky at Weddings (Torrid Teasers #56).  Now she's finding things don't always go well in the big city, despite help from her friends Rhoda and Terry, whom she met in Everyone Gets Frisky at Weddings.  

Choosing the Title

It began life as Jennie, and this has been the working title for over a year.  Lately, I decided something more informative was required, and toyed with the title, It Isn't Easy, Being a Dominatrix.  But this is a bit cumbersome, and perhaps a little too humourous, too, though it describes the book very well.  I finally hit on Garden of Thorns, which suggests what the novel's about, and fits well among my other Garden novels: In an English Country Dungeon, In a French Country Vineyard, The Japanese Knot Garden, In a Welsh Country Garden.

The Right Length

At 78,000 words, Garden of Thorns is a little long for Torrid Books, but I hope they'll approve it.  I wrote 91,000 but have cut 13,000 of a parallel story strand told from the point of view of Carol.  I'll probably develop this into a short novel.

It Isn't Easy, Being a Dominatrix

First draft complete.
I've discarded a separate story strand because it did not add to the central story, which is Jennie's struggle to establish a fulfilling life, so the wordcount is now 77,000.  I'm doing a continuity edit now, making sure that things happen consistently in time, and sorting out my colours(!)  Then the book will lie fallow for a week or two before I edit through again and submit it for publication.  So please be patient!
Love, Yvonne 

End in Sight for Jennie

I'm starting what I think will be the final chapter, though I've not finished the penultimate one.  I know where I'm going with both, so this is not a problem.  I started writing this novel in January 2012, so it's taking a long time - and this is only the first draft! Sorry this is only a short post - I want to get on with the novel!

It Isn't Easy, Being a Dominatrix

Tormented by a love she cannot even declare, Jennie flees to the city, where she’s fired from her job, betrayed by her boyfriend, and can’t pay the rent.  Her landlord offers a solution: she can be nice to him—and to all his friends.  She meets black-clad Galatea and her sullen chauffeuse, who take her to their home.  But Galatea has a set of manacles in the garage and a whip at her belt.  Has Jennie forsaken the frying-pan for the fire?  Must she sell her body to pay the rent?  Can she win through her troubles and rediscover love?

This is the blurb for my current novel, working title: It Isn't Easy, Being a Dominatrix, which is nearing completion.  Jennie was previously heard of in Everyone Gets Frisky at Weddings, a short story in Torrid Teasers #56. 

I had an email from my publisher, Torrid Books, saying they'd not heard from me for a while, and had I got anything for them?  I had to oblige!  I now have over 80,000 words and expect to complete the first draft in the next couple of weeks.  It's a romantic but strict BDSM novel, which I hope you will enjoy.

Love,
Yvonne.