Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Original Marketplace Trilogy is Back in Print!

I'm pleased to announce that the original Marketplace trilogy, The Marketplace, The Slave, and The Trainer, is now back in print, thanks to Circlet Press, where the motto is Celebrating the erotic imagination. 
The third book in the Marketplace Series brings us into the House of Anderson, the Trainer of Trainers, where Chris Parker and a few clients are in residence. Michael LaGuardia loves being part of the Marketplace and loves the sex slaves he regularly trains. After a couple of years in California, Michael thinks he is ready for a step up, ready for an apprenticeship with Anderson. (He's wrong.)
To read an excerpt from The Traienr, click here.

The Trainer was originally published fifteen years ago by Masquerade Books. At the time, I felt that I had given the lead character, Michael LaGuardia, short shrift. When Masquerade left the publishing business, I moved the Marketplace series to Mystic Rose Books, and expanded The Trainer by nearly a third, adding more to Michael’s story.
Now that I’m settled at Circlet Press, I’ve been expanding my series even further. I’ve developed thematic short stories for each of the Marketplace novels, and including them in the e-book editions. The “Life is a Party” stories are, as the title implies, short stories that all take place at parties which happen during the timeline of the novel.
In the case of The Trainer, the short story features a sex party complete with slave auction at the home of handsome, controversial Master Trainer Geoff Negel, where Michael launches his career in the Marketplace.

“California Dreaming” is only available in the e-book edition of The Trainer. However, the first two short stories, “For Want of a Nail,” published in the new edition of The Marketplace; and “That’s Harsh!” in The Slave, are now available for separate download for just 99 cents! You can download them here.
Once The Academy: Tales Of the Marketplace, is published (winter 2011), “California Dreaming” will also be available for separate download. The same will happen for The Reunion, (spring 2012) and for the long-anticipated Book Six in the Marketplace series, The Inheritor (summer 2012).

Friday, July 01, 2011

Summer Stealthiness

My summer has been wonderfully busy, with a combination of writing, presenting, and even a few stealth readings.
Stealth readings? You ask. What are stealth readings? Well, I’ve been writing up some new material, and from time to time, I want to gauge how readers might react to it. So when I’m at an event, I invite attendees to gather a group of their friends, and invite me to come to their room and read to them. Or, if there’s a lot of interest, we ask the event organizer if we can borrow a room after the workshops and presentations are done.
I started doing these at The Floating World in 2010, because I was writing That’s Harsh, and wanted to get feedback from the bootblacks. A few members of the Bootblack Brigade tweeted the time and location to their friends, and *boom* I had an audience.
Since then, I’ve read portions of other short stories that will be published later this year, as well as chapters from two other book projects I’m working on: a paranormal series, and a comedy murder mystery that takes place at a leather contest. Because these stealth readings are entirely fan-driven, it’s a great time for me to connect with people, and for my fans to hear fresh work.
If you’re interested in holding a stealth reading at an event I’ll be attending, please don’t hesitate to let me know. And if you’re wondering where I’ll be in the next few months, here’s the list:
July 8-10
Denver
Thunder in the Mountains
I’ll be presenting two relatively new workshops at this wonderful event in the Mile-High City. 
Whatever YOU Want: The Lifestyle of a Pleasure Slave will discuss service through pleasures beyond sex and play. The second, Have a Cookie! Using Rewards in your SM Relationships is part of my series on establishing and maintaining protocols – and enforcing a system of rewards and punishments to strengthen a relationship dynamic based in dominance and submission.
July 29-31
Edison, NJ
The Floating World
I’m returning to this wonderful event, and teaching three classes:
Unscheduled Maintenance: Keeping your SM Relationship Purring
Meet the Parents; Familial Relationships in SM & Play
, andService with a Smile: Tactics for Overcoming Temporary Obstacles in Being Your Best
September 9-10
Las Vegas
This is the first convention designed for readers, authors and those who enjoy the erotic side of life. Join me along with other authors, artists, publishers and fans for an amazing weekend of readings, panels, classes and industry networking. I’ll be teaching a class entitled Writing a Series: The Marketplace . How can you develop a continuing series, or perhaps more importantly, sell one? I’ll talk character arcs, bibles, making a codex, the dreaded trilogy trap, and the temptation to repeat your first success 20X.
Each of the above events offers chances for me to meet up with fans, either at the event or off-site. So don’t hesitate to contact me about your interest in having me do a stealth reading!