Reviews!

We’ve been pretty lax about updating recently. The reason is we have a pet hedgehog.

Well, not really. But one’s taken up residence in our garden and we give it a bit of dog food each evening. Apparently they do eat the occasional vegetable but their main diet is slugs and snails, which makes them a gardener’s friend. And since their digestion is designed to cope with primarily meat, the ‘traditional’ offerings of bread and milk that people used to give them actually makes them very ill.

Apart from that we found another house we really like, and (just as importantly) can afford. We’re not completely impoverished writers but neither are we unimaginably wealthy… The place we’re after has a large garden, big enough for a dedicated summerhouse/playspace at the end of it, and backs onto fields.

Our current house is now on the market, and getting to that point meant de-perving it. ‘De-perving’ usually means putting the whips under the bed – which we have done, along with the canes, a mile or so of rope, chains, a leather sling and a bunch of other stuff. But in our case it also meant disassembling the dungeon equipment and trucking it back to the lockup. It was a whole big deal and took a while.

Anyway… oh yeah, reviews. Fulani commented a post or two ago that often, reviews seem to take forever to come out. But in this case, apparently not.

Fulani’s novella, Addicted to Rope, is available from Xcite, and on Kindle from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk (and a few other places). And it’s been reviewed by Sizzling Hot Books. The reviewer says:

It sucked me in quickly and I wasn’t ready to let go at the end. Fulani is very good at giving Ruth and Leo a lot of depth in a short amount of time. The transformation that overcomes Ruth is quick, but detailed. You can get a good feel for how her mind is working as she accepts and challenges what Leo presents to her.

Addicted to Rope is hot. The pages sizzle with anticipation, fantasy, and intimacy. I would recommend Addicted to Rope to anyone who likes reading a lot of the mindset of characters exploring being submissive and anyone who likes the psychological development of a character in their erotica.

Read the whole review here.

Meanwhile another piece just out is ‘Andi in Chains’, a short story in Lucy Felthouse’s edited collection Seducing the Myth – available on download from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and elsewhere.

This has reviews by NightOwl Reviews, who says of Fulani’s story:

Andi in Chains by Fulani – Re-imagining of Perseus and Andromeda’s meeting was certainly different! Andromeda–better known as Andi–was into bondage and kink, Perseus was a tough son of a gun mercenary and well virgin sacrifice took on a different twist. This story amused me and was possibly my favorite.

and of the collection as a whole:

Overall I have to say I was pretty pleased with this anthology. The stories were on the fairly short side, but were by in large really hot.

It’s also reviewed by Mitnik at Erotic Whispers, who says:

Andi in Chains by Fulani was a tale of bondage and kink and certainly hit the mark with its very unique take on the meeting of Perseus and Andromeda. Full of fire and passion that is sure to get your imagination sparking and ready for the rest of this erotic ensemble.

and of the whole collection,

Overall this is an interesting and varied collection with a variety of tales, a true cornucopia of endings, beginnings and middles with lots of lusty passion, tantalizing intrigue and witty charm to keep you coming back time and time again to dip into this treasure trove and pull out a fresh gem.

Finally, JBP Reviews says of the book,

A collection of short stories filled with erotic intent with tons of mystical creatures this book is a great read! I found myself reading each story in earnest and wanting more and more.

So all in all, it’s good feedback on the novella, the story, and the collection the story is in.

And now back to the mundane world of buying and selling houses… and finishing another novella and the next novel, both promised to publishers by next week…

Dangerous Sex

Would it surprise you to know that one in ten adults say they or their partner have fallen off the bed during sex at some point during their adult lives and one in fifty have fallen off the washing machine? That’s only the tip of the iceberg.

According to The Telegraph (OK, it’s an old article from 2010!), the most common injuries are;

1. Pulled muscle
2. Injured back
3. Carpet burns
4. Cricked neck
5. Bashing elbows / knees
6. Bruised shoulder
7. Twisted knee
8. Sprained / strained wrist
9. Sprained / strained ankle
10. Bending fingers back

We think between the two of us, at one time or another we’ve experienced all of these.

The most dangerous locations were:

1. Sofa
2. Stairs
3. Car
4. Shower
5. Bedroom
6. On a chair
7. Kitchen table
8. Garden
9. Lavatory
10. In a work cupboard

And the most commonly broken items were:

1. Bed frame (yup, done that)
2. Wine / pint glass (ditto)
3. Picture
4. Chair
5. Tea cup (you can tell it’s an English survey, can’t you…)
6. Wall
7. Chest of drawers
8. Door
9. Window
10. Vase

From personal experience we’d add that indoor practice with a bullwhip can result in damage to lampshades and light fittings.

The Telegraph doesn’t, unfortunately, give the source of the report. Another equally unreferenced report suggests you should remove your pets from the room before embarking on sex. Apparently, cats are especially prone to clawing at genitals if present (if the cat’s present, that is, not the genitals) when there’s action going on. Ouch! Avoiding oral sex after spicy food is also recommended, after a woman ended up in casualty with burns in a delicate place when her boyfriend went straight there after a hot curry. And of course, be careful what foreign objects you introduce into sensitive areas! Bottles, light bulbs and other glass objects are not a good idea. One report tells of a man’s lucky recovery, which required an operation, following an exploded light bulb in his rectum!

Many didn’t realise they were injured until the following day, when passion (and possibly alcohol) had worn off. If you’re into BDSM and topping or domming, you should have full control of your faculties, but subs beware – both alcohol and painkillers might leave you unable to tell how much pain/pleasure you are actually having.

So take safety seriously if you don’t want to end up recovering from a session for much longer than you anticipated! Clear the room you intend to use, have safe toys available, put the cat out and make a soft landing for yourselves if you’re going to climb on furniture.

So have fun and play safely!

A voice from the past!

Well, not literally. But about 15 months ago I had a story, ‘The Incubus Candle’, in a paranormal erotica collection ‘Spirit Lovers’ that was published by Xcite.

I’ve just been told (because I don’t often go looking for reviews, I spend my time writing new stuff) that the collection was reviewed by Rachel Sparkes, on Amazon.com, in April last year. Of the book as a whole, the headline comments were: “Wow – what an amazing collection of stories. I had high expectations of this book and I was not disappointed in any way. From start to finish the pace is fast and furious with no let up. The sex is relentless and each story is beautifully written. I literally could not tear myself away from it […] I can’t recommend this enough; it’s a ‘must-read’. Download it now!”

Of my story she says: “The Incubus Candle is a brilliant romp through every girl’s fantasy, erotic and naughty, and incredibly sexy and is a fabulous beginning to a brilliant book, which just goes from strength to strength.”

So that’s a nice thing to discover on a day that’s been spent largely trying to find time to write even a word or two of the next novella and/or finish off a novel that’s only a couple of chapters from being done. And presumably in the next few months I might start seeing some reviews of things I published at the back end of 2010??

Just for reference, the review has been reposted on a new erotic book review site, rudereads.wordpress.com, which in its ‘About’ section clearly indicates its affiliation to Xcite but does review books from other publishers as well.

Still not had a chance to put any flash fiction on here. Many ideas, just not enough time to put electrons in the right order on the screen… But maybe some instructional bondage-related stuff next, because I have it more or less to hand?

Have fun
– Fulani