Wednesday, December 3, 2008

No one's leaving until I get a few answers...

by Kate Pearce




Scene: The Lust Bites Dungeon
The players: various Lusties tied up, bright lights shining in their eyes.
Asking the questions: Kate (the quiet ones are always the worst) Pearce, and Grumpy David Beckham.






Cool I finally get to ask the questions, show off all my favorite pictures like this one and all my new book covers!!

Aren't you all excited? Oh, I forgot, you're all tied up...anyway, let's start with an easy one.

1. What has been your favorite thing about Lust Bites?

Olivia Knight:
Being part of a community of writers, not just one isolated writer with a sole point of contact (The Editor) and no idea what else is happening ~discovering other people's tastes, writing styles, and ideas about erotica ~being converted to man candy, wet men, and the joy of muscles ~ having a place to natter, witter, and argue ~ social contact, frankly: it's a rarity in a writing day."

Madeline Moore
My favorite thing about membership in Lust Bites has been getting to know so many of my peers. Writing is a solitary business and writing erotica in Canada is entirely solitary – no readings, no conventions to attend, no book signings. It means the world to me to have been a part of this blog and I hope we’ll keep in touch.

Janine Ashbless
Meeting other writers (some in the flesh, most online), some of whom I like very much. Getting my blogging wings. The regular readers (Huck L Berry, t'Sade, Jothemama etc etc) who, albeit fleetingly, seemed like friends it was always a pleasure to hear from. Having my eyes cranked open to other forms of pleasure. The chat behind the scenes as well as in front. Compliments about my posts. Jeremy Edwards' jokes.


Being first shown the link to www.provocateuse.com very early on. The mutual support in times of despair. The sexy pictures. The wit.

Nikki Magennis
The great sparkly whoooshy feeling that I'd found a place full of clever, witty, brave and creative women who were so much fun and so full of ideas and - no, look, I want to say spunk but I really can't in this context ...

Dayle Dermatis
The wide range of authors and ideas we had. We really proved that "erotica" can mean different things to different people, and is such a huge, varied genre. Some people wrote light-hearted, some wrote dark. Some had lush prose, others mastered the art of crafting a story with spare, sparse, yet evocative brush strokes. Some wrote paranormal, some wrote contemporary, some wrote historical, some write combinations thereof. We could disagree on who was hot and who was not, on what turned us on or off, and yet we all had a common thread: healthy, hearty, enjoyment of our genre.

Okay, all the discussions about sexy rock stars and science fiction hotties are at the top of the list, too!


Erastes
I love the enthusiasm from the Lusties for their wonderful smutty and beautifully written work. I love the gratuitous photo posts and the range of different subjects covered - there may be a lot of smut but there's so much interesting stuff too - travelogs and history and interviews and industry news.


Portia Da Costa
Choice excerpts of some great novels that I hadn't yet had chance to read, interesting guests, and also the sillier stuff that people posted just for the hell of it.

Kate Pearce
Getting in touch with my British roots and learning so much about what turned other people on. I especially loved all the pictures and the links to the gay porn sites.
Ooh look a new cover! This is for my next Kensington Aphrodisia book which comes out next April :)





2. What surprised you most?
>

OK: For myself - I discovered for the first time that I can write light and I can write funny. I'd never really let my sense of humour onto the page before and then, thanks to frantically cranking out a few last-minute articles, discovered I could just switch on the funny button. And promptly wrote a comic novel, with my newfound skill! More generally - that I was
not the Last Time Lord travelling through the vast stretches of space-time in noble isolation but that there were a whole lot more out there like me. It's like the Doctor suddenly landing on Gallafrey and saying, "Well, bugger me! Mum! Dad! Hi!"


MM: I was surprised by how many women write m/m erotica, and by the number of Lusties who enjoy gay porn. It never occurred to me to troll the gay porn sites for pictures but now I do and I have the virus alerts to prove it.

JA: The fact that even when you've got a basket of free sexy books to give away, barely any of the hundreds of blog lurkers (yes - we know you're there!) will stick their hands up and say "Yes Please!"

NM: How wildly (and sometimes violently) different everybody's backgrounds and opinions were, how there were so many things I'd never known or thought carefully about before, and how incredibly and endlessly rich and varied sexuality can be.

DD: I came into the fold expecting there would be more discussions about the writing process, about craft and a little about business and all that. Don't know why, though! :-) Also, as a former reporter, I was surprised at how hard it was to write nonfiction again!

E: Being invited! I wasn't a Black Lace writer and I write gay erotica and I nearly wet myself with excitement.

PDC: Nothing really. The world of blogging is crazy and I've learnt to expect anything.


KP: It surprised me how what turned some people on absolutely horrified others. It also surprised me because I discovered I liked a lot more than I'd been prepared to admit to in public, (cough cough gay porn anyone?)





3. What annoyed you most?

OK: Blogger's mad-as-a-bag- of-rats html variations, insane picture-insert function, and refusal to allow the align="center" attribute for the image tag. And what the hell are they doing with that backslash when a tag closes? Huh? HUH? Yes: this troubled me deeply.

MM: It annoyed me when a fine post received a paltry number of comments. Sometimes this happened because of a holiday in the UK or US, sometimes because of technical difficulties, and other times – who knows? So much work goes into a Lust Bites post, and it’s extremely discouraging when it hangs there with a humiliating dearth of posts. I always try to bump a post up to at least double digits, but sometimes even I run out of things to say.

JA: The fact that I'm not as intelligent, articulate or funny as Olivia Knight or Kristina Lloyd, lol!

NM: htmbloodyl, and all the fights! But mostly, the enormous amount of time and energy it took.

DD: Meh. Water under the bridge. Why bring it up again? I like that we're all parting as friends as well as business associates!

E: The gradual lack of response from the readers, and the way that it all the work seemed to end up being done by the same few people - although having done a couple of other blogs now, it seems this is fairly normal! It was gratifying to see the people saying "Oh No! - We love you, don't go!" but if they had supported us a little harder while we were open, we may not have taken the decision to close down. It's not something that annoyed me, but I
was often frustrated that I couldn't come up with as many blog ideas as I'd have liked - the muse just rarely visited me and I applaud those more frequent posters than I.


PDC: Better not answer that one. Suffice it to say there have been things that have annoyed me.

KP: It's hard when you've labored over a post and it seems that no one is interested. it's also hard when personalities clash, although with such a talented group of writers it seems that this is inevitable. I'm sure we'll all laugh about it one day LOL-Oh look, I'm laughing now...
>




4. What will you miss?

OK: Behind-the-scenes witter, displacement activity, a place to express my wit and wisdom / burble at random, and the beautiful, beautiful, beautiful men. I can't say "the people" because they're not dead, but the group.

MM: I’m pretty sure I’m a Lust Bites addict so it’s safe to say I’ll miss everything about it. But I’ve learned a lot about writing erotica and what turns women on and marketing and promotion, so I think the one thing I’ll miss the most is the information Lust Bites provided – in an entertaining and provocative manner.

JA: The individual people. A social life - How am I going to get my chat fix? Seriously, some of you had better come round my blog sometime or I'm going to devolve into a batshit old lady muttering to myself...


NM: I think the feeling that we were all discovering brand new things all the time. At least, I was! And for a writer, it was fabulous to feel part of a community, even though in real life it was scattered all over the world. Thanks all of yous! xxx

DD: Oh, the camaraderie, definitely. It's what was drawing me back, as I got past my months of travel and busy-ness, when I got the news that Lust Bites was coming to an end. I raise a glass (or maybe two. Possibly even three.) of champagne to the fabulosity that was Lust Bites!

E: I'll miss the chat behind the scenes, for certain - I've made some good online friends and I hope that some of them will keep in touch. And I'll sure miss those pictures - goodness knows people found them!!

PDC: Really nice people who posted and commented.

KP: I'll miss the chat, the anticipation of opening up the site and never quite knowing what I was going to find out and learn (well except on my own post days and even then it was a close run thing.)

Psst: And while they're all still tied up I'll take the opportunity to tell you that I sold 3 more books to Kensington last week-2 more 'Simply's" and a contemporary!!-What was that Grumpy David? You want to let them go now? Do we have to??

34 comments:

Megan Kerr said...

Mmmmpphhh. Neurrmmgppphhh. MMMMPPHHH!!

Janine Ashbless said...

Thank you for tying me up, Mistress Kate, Master David!
:-D

(Can there be more smacking next time?)

Erastes said...

Yay! Great answers all - amazing what we can do with ball-gags in our mouths.

Hope some readers have more questions!

Deanna said...

Loved all your answers ladies, and apologies for not taking part. The last few months I have been tied up - metaphorically - in a wheelchair, and being restricted, when it isn't for anything exciting, just ain't fun. Even my imagination and my typing fingers seem to have been curtailed by the necessary restrictions imposed on my life.

It was lovely to get to know all and read your amazing posts. I never found them easy to write unfortunately but it was fun trying.

I hope that cyberspace and our readers will miss us all just a little, and that we brought some fun and titillation into many peoples lives.

Madeline Moore said...

>Blinking in the sunlight<

I'm not ready...I'm sure I have more things to say...

Janine Ashbless said...

We missed you Deanna!

Hope things are getting better.

Kristina Lloyd said...

Great post! LB was a fabulous experience for me. I learned so much and got to know some wonderfully smart, supportive, funny, passionate and talented people, both virtually and actually. Reading this brought back many memories of what it was like being a member of LB. It was fuelled by an amazing amount of energy and belief.

And, yikes: *Suffice it to say there have been things that have annoyed me.* I still get scared when Portia puts on that coolly menacing, serial-killer tone of voice. Um, she is putting it on, isn't she?

:: backs away slowly ::

Anonymous said...

Ha. Great interviews and it really was no trouble at all making David suitably grumpy for all of you.

*also wants to know about the 'things' that annoyed PDC - but is too scared to ask*

Jeremy Edwards said...

Wow, thank you for the shout-out, Janine! : ) : ) Also very honored that you used my Erogenous Zones! (Er ... the image thus entitled, I mean.)

I have so much to say about the ways in which LB has enriched my life. Please save me two scoops of bandwidth for Friday (and tissues and booze; oh, and I'll have some of those strictly-friendly-but-nice-and-sloppy kisses, please).

In the context of today's discussion, I especially want to say how much I, as a freeloader—er, visitor, appreciate how much work the hosts have put into making this joint thrive. Thank you.

And Olivia, how dare you write a comic novel and not pre-sell me a collectible, autographed copy at an inflated price!

Nikki Magennis said...

(It's just as well I'm tightly gagged or I'd start getting all emotional.)

Deanna - sorry to hear you've not been well - wishing you a speedy recovery and all the best.

Unknown said...

You see you're all reading things into the scenario that aren't there? Did I gag you? Okay, I did in the first version of this post, but I realised that would be silly so I took the gags out. Just because some of you like them, and the slaps, doesn't mean you get to keep them.

I loved compiling this, although it took me 2 hours because I kept stopping to read everything again and sob into my keyboard.

thanks to everyone who participated-I particularly liked the answers to what annoyed you-all that British stiff upper lip politeness-you need to 'share' more-watch Jerry Springer for ideas on this :)

Megan Kerr said...

And on that subject, here's how to maintain more than a stiff upper lip. This is how we manage such matters in England.

"Sharing" - honestly. A little repression goes a long way, thank you.

Anonymous said...

Although I'm not a member (and now never will be, just as I'm getting somewhere that might let be a member- gah!), I just want to say that I've enjoyed this blog so much ever since I discovered it a few months ago. And it was nice that at least one thing with my name in it was featured here!

Thank you to the people who ran it and gave me a little insight into the world I'm gradually approaching being a part of.

Unknown said...

Charlotte-promote yourself my dear-what little thing was that?

Dayle A. Dermatis said...

Erastes said: "I've made some good online friends and I hope that some of them will keep in touch."

And I want to second that!

Unknown said...

Dayle, my corner suite is your corner suite-although I don't think I'll get so lucky next year in Washington LOL

Madeline Moore said...

I live with an Englishman so I get the stiff upper lip thing, now. My introduction to it was through a supervisor in a research company I worked at. We brought in a new girl (a friend of mine) who could speak French. We were analyzing the content of the media coverage of the 2,000 Federal election. (Turning words into numbers...please...

Anyway we're all coding away at the big table and my friend says, "I was a stripper in Montreal."
Beat.
The supervisor says, "Oh really?
What part of Montreal?"

Speaking of turning words into codes, part of our job was to perform at the company parties...yes, we code, sing and dance...so we wrote a Xmas carol:

Joy to the world, 999 has come
Let 5 be friends with 5
and so on...

Anonymous said...

The insight, or the thing that was featured? I'm in Lust At First Bite, for the the thing that was featured. As for insights into the world of sexybooks- the interviews (especially) with authors and their articles on writing and genres have been brill. It's such a shame!

Nikki Magennis said...

"Oh really?
What part of Montreal?"


I love it!

And Kate, no gag, huh? Must have been a stiff upper lip all along ... but I'm with Olivia. I'm sure all that seething repression improves my writing.

; )

Unknown said...

Charlotte-thanks for the reminder! I've heard Lust at First Bite' is excellent!

Megan Kerr said...

A quick reminder that although we'll be singing the Lust Bites Farewell Song (scroll down to the angels), we're not dying as individuals... Friday's final post will carve all our forwarding addresses, blogs, and Most Likely To Be Found At spots in stone.

~ waving at Charlotte ~ Damn, girl, it would have been great to have another newbie on board. (Am I allowed to mix a pirate theme with your bondage theme, Kate? I realise I already screwed up your continuity with my ball-gag.) The stuff about doing the writing is one of my favourite aspects of Lust Bites. I keep meaning to index the blog (in a witty amusing way, naturally, ah-ha!-ha-ha) but my work-in-progress is going brilliantly, so that sort of avoidance-activity is out the window right now... But if I suddenly hit rock, this putative index will include our crush wednesdays, our interviews and guests, our smut slots, our hot excerpts, our biggest bun-fights over contentious issues, and the writing-box (like a tool box but with more paint inside). And then, of course, in my mind it became completely comprehensive covering all two years' worth of thrice-weekly-posts-plus-some, swelled to gargantuan proportions, exploded, and ceased to ever exist.

It's almost a parable of the problem of perfectionism. (It would be a better parable of sheep and goats were involved. Or seeds, maybe.)

Unknown said...

Olivia I loved that youtube link! I also enjoyed the one about Women using their brains too much LOL

Unknown said...

Speaking of stiff upper lip, I'm going with Mr Kate Pearce and one of my kids to see AC/DC tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

Kate- LAFB IS fabbo. My own contribution pales, tho, in comparison to the awesome might of everyone else.

Olivia- thank you! It makes me feel silly, tho, for being too afraid to post earlier. I think that may have been the issue, however, for a lot of people with regard to not many people commenting, etc. It's intimidating, with all you fabulous peeps swanning about the place.

Not that any of you actually swan.

I mean, I've been a fan of a lot of you for years and years. Black Lace stuff, in particular, I've been reading for ten years.

Hope peeps don't mind me asking, but is it just a time/contributor issue, as to why the blog is closing?

Unknown said...

Chralotte-it's bloody hard work LOL and what usually happens is that people come and go, have to write to a deadline, have other life issues, etc etc, etc, so a few people end up taking on too much and then they get fed up and then sometimes that causes rows and people move on, or stop writing for BL, or stop writing, period.
The reasons are many and varied but basically it's a lot of work to sustain a high quality blog.
For instance, yesterday I had 3 appointments to go to with my kids, I had to pick up 3 times from various schools, write my own book which is due Feb, promote book which is out now, and then write this blog, which took me 2 hours... and that's just a normal day.

Janine Ashbless said...

Hey - we haven't had a row in months.

Not that I'm suggesting that this would be a good time to start one...

Anonymous said...

I just found this blog and I am very sad it is closing. I have been going through the posts and I think you guys are brilliant. Thanks so much for great work!!!

Unknown said...

Ashbless...do I have to tie you up again? LOL

Unknown said...

Thanks Julie!, but think, you have 2 years of posts to go through at your leisure!!

Kristina Lloyd said...

Oooo, now might be a good time to mention that a dirty filthy post I wrote for Lust Bites on erotic degradation was selected by Rachel Kramer Bussel for inclusion in her Best Sex Writing 2009. I signed contracts a few months ago and I think it's out in the US around Xmas time - over here a bit later, I guess. Anyway, hurrah! LB (I'm pretty sure) will be credited and I'm thrilled to be in RKB's book (but, um, you know, that cover ...)

Caffey said...

Whew, what a great post Kate!!! And more SIMPLY books, That SHAMELESS cover rocks!

Oh now those pics were sizzling. I loved reading what you all wrote. I know that as a reader I met a bunch more of you to get to read and its been soooo good! Thanks for all ladies!

Jo said...

Ah crap, I feel so guilty now! I'm sorry for fading away - I didn't realise there was disquietude.

And I missed all the fights! What fights!?

James Koss said...

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"The story of two young lovers, as they experience our modern day ways of romance online and in person." - Authored by Assaf Koss.

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