Do You Remember the First Time?

By Mathilde Madden

Black Lace is 15 years old. To celebrate the big wigs at HQ have given us two super dooper goodie bags each containing copies of the two Black Lace novels out this month: a reprint of the first ever Black Lace - Cassandra's Conflict by Fredrica Alleyn and our own Madelynne Ellis's storming Phantasmagoria. Plus numerous other special Black Lace goodies.

What do you have to do to be in with a chance of grabbing the goodies? Simple. Tell me about the first Black Lace book you ever read. And to get you in the mood, I asked a few friends to tell me how they lost their Black Lace virginities.

Let's start with someone who's work is at the forefront of the celebrations. Our own Madelynne Ellis:
"My first brush with Black Lace was back in 1996. I´d been working my way through the local bookstall´s collection of Victorian erotica eg The Pearl, and there were some Black Lace books mixed in amongst it.

The first one I read was Ace of Hearts by Lisette Allen. It´s a Regency set historical featuring rather a lot of fencing and a fight over an inheritance. Its most memorable scene is near the start where the heroine, having come off her horse, is tied to a heavy saddle in the middle of a field by the hero and roughly taken from behind.


I guess it made an impression as I sent off for the Black Lace writing guidelines shortly afterwards.

I´m not going to tell you how many of them I´ve now read. Let just say it´s a lot."

Next up, Anne Tourney:
"There are so many classics I recall, but the two that had the most impact on me creatively -- the novels that opened up a world of possibilities for combining an honest portrayal of sexuality with the exploration of the author's imagination -- were Artistic License, by Vivienne LaFay and Gothic Blue, by Portia Da Costa.

I had been writing erotic short fiction for a few years when I first found the Black Lace series, but it had always been my dream to write erotic novels. Discovering these two books, both written from a thoroughly feminine perspective, with vividly atmospheric settings, compelling plots, and characters I could identify with and care about (oh, and did I forget to mention the hot sex?) was revolutionary to me.

Artistic License is a historical novel about a young woman in Renaissance Italy who poses as a boy so she can fulfill her dream of being an artist.

Gothic Blue, of course, is the erotic classic by our own Portia Da Costa, a story of supernatural machinations in an eerie castle, with a sexual obsession that crosses the boundaries of time. They're both incredible novels which deserve to be in print for years to come."

And here's Teresa Noelle Robert's confession:
"I think the first one I ever read was The Crimson Buccaneer by Cleo Cordell - a historical lavishly laden with flagellation and d/s, which made me forgive some lapses in the history - which I bought at the airport.

I confess I bought it because I was so pleased to see obvious erotica on the shelf, albeit the top shelf where I had to stretch, in an airport bookstore."

When I told Kristina Lloyd (gone but not forgotten) what I was doing - she was keen to add her first time with Odalisque by Fleur Reynolds:
"Odalisque was published in 1994, back when there were only two types of BL books: historicals and posh contemporaries. This is a Posh, steeped in that godawful cold, aspirational, 80s aesthetic. It’s all glamour, wealth, chauffeurs and unpleasant, bossy women. This was so removed from my life I could’ve been reading about aliens.

However, chapter 2 is a wild, gratuitous, 20-page long, MFM and for that I adore it. As far as I can remember, two of the characters don't even appear in the book again but who cares? The scene feels like it’s about to burst out of the pages and reading it felt like hearing from a woman who’d finally been allowed to speak. And she was saying stuff like: ‘If you lie on the desk,’ said Kit to Gerry, ‘this dirty bitch can suck your cock while I’m screwing her arse.’

Fabulous!"

God, Kristina's really changed, hasn't she?

One person we can always rely on for an opinion at Lust Bites is Janine Ashbless. I had to ask her how she popped her BL cherry:
"My first Black Lace was Avalon Nights by Sophie Danson (which was actually originally published by Nexus, as Knights of Pleasure). It was given to me by my friend Chris and it's not an exaggeration to say that it changed my life.

It's a collection of tales told by various Knights of the Round Table, strung together (just about) by a story-arc. Each individual knight has their own kink so there are stories themed around male dom, femdom, lesbianism, big dick romps, BDSM etc - and a very naughty bit involving a horse. I thought it was great - and it inspired me to write down my own fantasy stories and submit them as Cruel Enchantment. And so Janine Ashbless was born...

I've still got the book. It has one of those classy old sepia-tinted covers that I still think are the best Black Lace ever did. And the very first line is "It was a stormy night." Which, frankly, requires balls of brass to get away with!"

And for some final recommendations from the early days, I tracked down AWOL Lustie, Alison Tyler:
"15 years. It’s a long time. It’s as long as I’ve been professionally writing porn. Which is why I can’t remember what my first Black Lace book was. I mean, I have read so many of them, dog-eared the pages, rumpled the covers, dropped them into the bubble bath. But thinking back, my virgin Virgin title was probably Kerri Sharp’s collection of women’s fantasies, which I remember adoring and passing onto a friend, and then having to buy again.

Much better, I remember my last Black Lace read—Mathilde Madden’s intense and amazing The Silver Collar—which I also adored and lent to a friend and had to buy again.

You’d think after 15 years, I would have learned something, if only this: never lend your favorite porn. Happy Birthday, Black Lace!"

Ah, you wouldn't believe how much it cost me to get her to say that. Our much-missed trollop might look cheap, but she drives a hard bargain.

So tell me about your first time. How was it?

Mat x

Phantasmagoria

by Madelynne Ellis


Following the publication of A Gentleman’s Wager, the phrase I heard most often was: “So when are you writing the sequel?”

Sequel, thought I. I don’t think so. You see as much as I loved the characters (and Vaughan is still my favourite out of all the characters I’ve created), I’d reached the close of their story. I knew roughly what happened to them in future, but I didn’t feel any desire to flesh out the details for an audience. None whatsoever. And that’s how it remained for the best part of five years.

So, what changed?

Coincidence mostly… It went something like this.

1. Ms Mathilde Madden informs me over lunch that I really do want to write about Vaughan again. She also mutters something about gothic and vampires.

2. While researching a location for a story (for Love on the Dark Side), we happen to drive through the village of Pennerley... the same village from which Vaughan’s title is derived. I’ve never been to this place before. I originally chose it at random by browsing a map of the UK. (NB: I never did finish the story I was researching.)

3. At the end of the same day, we decide to take a minor detour on the way home to visit a castle. As we approach the castle, I’m struck by the realisation that this is where Vaughan lives. In each room, I see him laughing, prowling, brooding.

4. I start dreaming about Vaughan, nothing concrete mind, just impressions and vagaries.

5. I get on with writing other stories (see #2).


Some weeks later…

6. I go in search of a dictionary and instead sit down and write the outline of Phantasmagoria. It comes out of nowhere and leaves me feeling shocked and excited. I contact Black Lace and ask them if they’re interested in a sequel to A Gentleman’s Wager. They are.

7. OMG! They want it by when?

Sequels, it turns out are damned hard to write, especially when the world decides to go to hell in a hand basket around you.

Phantasmagoria is released in the UK on the 6th March, and US on 29th April. A Gentleman’s Wager is reprinted on 1st April. I hope you’ll consider reading both…

Here's the blurb and a teaser.

1800 – Three years after escaping to London with her bisexual lovers, Bella Rushdale wakes one morning to find their delicate ménage a trois about to shatter. Vaughan, Marquis of Pennerley, has left without any explanation. Determined to reclaim him and preserve their relationship, Bella pursues him to his family seat on the Welsh Borders, where she finds herself embroiled in his preparations for a diabolical gothic celebration on All Hallows Eve – a phantasmagoria. Among the shadows and phantoms, Bella and her lovers will discover shocking truths about each other.


EXCERPT

‘Let go!’ Bella fought against Vaughan’s hold, but remained trapped between the flexing steel of his warm body and the wall. Vaughan quashed her cries, forcing his tongue into her mouth and kissing her hard.

She melted.

Nobody else ever kissed her with the same knee-buckling intensity, with a taste that washed straight to her quaint. She’d never been able to resist his kiss. Never.

‘Get off me,’ she snarled, when he finally pulled back for air.

‘Not yet.’ He locked an arm across his chest, while his body still pressed against her as unyielding as pig iron, and with his free hand he lifted her hem.

Her arousal exposed, Bella turned her head away from his scalding breath. ‘I’m not your plaything. Not even your mistress.’

‘You’re my lover.’ His breath troubled the pulse point in her throat. ‘If not my mistress, what are you, some slattern that needed a bed for a night?

She snapped her teeth at him, but he merely laughed and pushed his fingers into her heat. His thumb worked bitter circles around her clitoris, driving her onto her toes, gasping for breath. Arousal so thick it felt like bellyache knotted her lower half. Slickly, his fingers worked their magic, driving her to the brink of joy, and transforming sharp words into sharper breaths.

She couldn’t speak. She felt his cock lying unbearably hard against her hip, so full of promise.

‘Sing for me, my nightingale. Come.’ He dragged his lips down the side of her neck and sucked. She couldn’t fight it. Shards of frosty hatred cracked into sparklers of delight. The swirl of his thumb, the twist of his fingers brought such sweet, swift pleasure, her limbs trembled.

Bella’s pulse raced with need and expectation. She managed to win one arm free, and immediately dug her fingers into his bottom. The muscles clenched and unclenched as he rocked against her thigh, taking his pleasure from the friction. The dance of their bodies slowed, as her breaths became shallow and ragged. Everything was concentrated in her clit and the tingle of her nipples. The whole world seemed to contract into one point as she gasped into his chest and her orgasm rendered her soft and pliant.

Bella snuggled against his shoulder, her eyes wet with tears, content for a moment to simply exist in his embrace.

‘Now you’re even.’ Vaughan disentangled their bodies, and stepped back. ‘Don’t ever presume to tell me whom I can bed in my own house.’

She felt the blood return to her face. Her eyes narrowed, but so did Vaughan’s. Was this battle of wills really what she wanted? She longed for Lucerne’s easy smile, the safety of his embrace.

Vaughan was the most exciting, sexually aggressive man she’d ever met. The most perverse, the most infuriating, and it hurt to love him.

God, how it hurt!

***
Fancy more? You can read the Prologue here. You might also like to check out Indiscretions, a short story which bridges the gap between A Gentleman’s Wager and Phantasmagoria.

Madelynne Ellis

PS: Leave a comment for a chance to win a signed copy of Phantasmagoria.

Ten Erotic Books We Couldn't Live Without. (This one goes up to eleven)

In honour of World Book Day (yes, that's today), the girls and I here at Lust Bites thought we'd celebrate by sharing a few of the top erotic picks from our bookshelves. We're a diverse bunch, with widely differing tastes, and I think the list below reflects that. So, here without further ado, in no particular order are the books that we admire, aspire to, and take to bed.

1. Macho Sluts by Pat Califa.

This book was a favourite with at least three of our members.

Mathilde says: 'Macho Sluts is unbelievably good and my copy is well-worn and much loved. All kinds of whizzy things going on with gender in that book. Seriously ground breaking at the time it was published.'


2. Toward the End of Time by John Updike.

Nikki says: 'The central character is married but has this strange sort of affair with what could be a woman or could be a roe deer! Slightly futuristic, and very earthy at the same time.'


3. Ishtar Rising by Robert Anton Wilson.

Janine says: 'A slightly bonkers book about why women's breasts are really really great and how we should all love them. By one of the world's more famous pagan anarchists.'




4. Mr Benson by John Preston.

Mathilde says: 'My all time personal favourite book. The story of a cute little twink, Jamie, who goes looking for a Master and finds more than a master, he finds: Mr Benson! I want to be Mr Benson when I grow up. (And by 'grow up' here, I mean grow a penis.)


5. Lord Wraxall's Fancy by Anna Lieff Saxby.

Kristina says: 'The man you love to hate.'

Madelynne says: 'The man you hate to love.'





6. Beauty's Punishment by Anne Rice (A N Roquelaure)

Alison says: 'The second in the series. I always liked this one the best, with the townspeople and the pony boys... there is one stable scene I'll never forget.'




7. My Secret Life by 'Walter'.

Kristina says: 'Disturbing, compelling, infuriating, darkly sexy, & truly pornographic in its fascination for detail.'






8. Yellow by Makoto Tateno

Madelynne says: 'Two drug snatchers, one gay, one straight. Edgy, complex, funny and absolutely riveting, and I just love the way Taki extracts himself from all those clinches.'




9. Dominant by Felix Baron

Madeline says: '...decidedly masculine in style, yet surprisingly gentle in its
description of a sensitive man who longs to share his perversity with an
eager, honest woman. And the sex is explicit, stylish and hot.'



10. The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon by Tom Spanbauer

Shanna says: 'This lyrical, sensual, almost-cowboy book about a bi-sexual boy named Shed will break your heart, turn you on, and break your heart again.'



11. Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil) by Charles Baudelaire

Alison says 'I was seduced by the translated words of this poet, eg...

"As others might with tenderness
Rule your life and your youngness
I shall rule you with a fear."

Or "I shall beat you without rage
Or hate, as Moses struck the rock,
As a butcher strikes his block,

I shall make your tears assuage."

So, there you have it. Now it's your turn to share some of your favourites with us, and recommend some titles we may not have discovered yet. There were plenty of other books we considered but couldn't quite squeeze onto the list, but I'm sure the girls will tell you about those in the comments.

Then, when you're finished here, why not nip over to http://www.worldbookday.com/ and celebrate the literary form by helping preserve the world's greatest book collection by adopting a book at the British Library. There's a whole range of titles to choose from, including everything from Wuthering Heights to Trainspotting to Where the Wild Things Are. (Hmm, I might have to adopt that one myself.)

love

Madelynne
www.madelynne-ellis.com

Now I know my ABCs…

I first had the idea more than ten years ago. A slew of sexy little anthologies you could slide into your purse or backpack, whipping one out when you wanted to lose yourself in a brief burst of primal pleasure:

A is for Amour.
B is for Bondage.
C is for… well, it was originally Carnal. And then Concubine. I dabbled with Cunt and Climax, but finally settled on Co-Eds.
D is for Dress-Up.

And it was over a table in the Cleis offices in San Francisco when I got the nerve to pitch them. What publisher would sign on to 26 books at once? Cleis would. There was a bit of shuffling at first, over cover designs and layouts. A bit of discussion on the topics themselves. K is for Kissing? No… too sappy. Kinky? Yes, much better. And if O is for Orgies then M can’t be Menage. Should A be for Anal? Or is that too in-your-face? (To play around with body images for a moment.) If P is for Panties, then U can’t be for Underwear and K can't be for Knickers…. You get the picture.

Even beyond the titles, this was one of the most difficult series I’ve ever worked on, because the books are so short. Only 12 stories per tome. You might think that would make things easier, yet sometimes I received more than 300 submissions for a theme. But cream rises, and ultimately I chose my favorites. Stories that were sexy and sophisticated, like Pervertable by fellow LustBiter Mathilde Madden, featured in B is for Bondage:

You look so big—tall and bulky—filling the shop’s doorway in your leather jacket, with your shaved head and slightly greying moustache. Every inch the old school master. You smile at me, a little indulgent smile that I hope means that you find me as dream-fulfilling as I do you, and then you give a little jerk of your head that makes me trot after you, as if the response is already hardwired.
I've known you less than twenty-four hours.


And College Reunion by Andrea Dale from C is for Co-Eds:

“Count them off,” Grant growled.
I wanted to giggle, my predicament was so clichéd. But no laughter was able to bubble past my lips. It wasn’t so much fear as anticipation that caused my breathing to quicken. Pressed against the hard, polished wood of the old desk, my nipples were taut and swollen. My cunt quivered, my clit throbbed, and I could smell my slick arousal.
Any moment now, the hallowed halls of my alma mater would resonate with the sound of Grant’s broad palm making sharp contact with my mostly bare ass.
Hell of a college reunion!

And Puss-in-Boots by Shanna Germain from D is for Dress-Up:

I found them by accident. I’d given up the search, days and days, maybe a week ago even. Then, the night before his birthday, there they were, in the window of a second-hand store: the boots. Knee-high, black leather with at least a five-inch heel. Even through the window glass, I could tell the leather was that soft, stretchy kind, something with enough give to slide over my muscled calves. I leaned in closer to the window, put one hand up to block out the glare from the street lamp. The toes were long, but not pointed. Jesus, they were perfect, just what my husband had asked for. I’d been so sure I wasn’t going to find these boots that I’d already bought him an expensive back-up gift. Who cared? I’d been given a last-minute blessing and I wasn’t about to turn it away.

And from my own story, Above You, in A is for Amour:

It’s as if he’s never seen a girl with dyed black hair before. Never seen pale skin or dark eyes, all of the things that make me an aberration in Hollywood where blonde and blue are the only colors in the crayon box. But I’ve seen people like Adam before. Tall, lean, and handsome in a hick sort of way. He’s probably very suave (in Erie, Pennsylvania), but a little bit more earnest than the type I go for. Read between the lines: I’m just like Adam. I yearn for the ones who ignore me.
Adam says that he loves me.
And he says it even before I go down on him in the elevator.

So here they are. The first of the series. Four luscious, lovely little books. With perfect pin-up princesses adorning the covers. So divine. So damn sweet. Ready for the plucking…

And now that you know your ABCDs. Next time, won’t you play with me?

XXX,
Alison

P.S. Post a comment sometime this week, and I’ll choose from the group to win a copy of the first four books….signed by me and sealed with a kiss.