Dance of Desire

House Tales (Books 1-4) Released!

August 28, 2016 by scarletdarkwood

House Tales (Books 1-4) In ONE Collection!

I’ve been toying with this for quite a while, and finally took the plunge: I’ve placed books 1-4 of the House Tales under one roof. There is now a companion book to Pleasure House. Just to note, Pleasure House will always be sold separately. This companion book, House Tales, contains the books, Dance Of Desire, Master Of The House, Mistress Of The House, and Taming Bad, all under one decadent, steamy roof. I not only have this book in ebook, but in print as well.

The beauty of the House Tales is that a reader can continue enjoying the adventures of the patients/admits who come to The House or who have left The House, and continue using their skills for capturing the heart of one they love. There are romantic elements, but these stories are not the tropes a reader finds everywhere these days. Just like Pleasure House, House Tales books still contain the high-level kink inspired by the very first book to kick off the collection.

I’m extremely excited about this book, and hope readers don’t stop at just Pleasure House. There are so many other stories to read that intersect with the world of The House. The books will still be available in their individual ebook formats, and I still have a few copies of the print versions of the books left, but once they are sold, you’ll only be able to get the individual stories via ebook. But remember, you can’t read just one! So get the whole enchilada instead.

The Name Game: Crazy, Fun Asylum Dancing

June 2, 2013 by scarletdarkwood

If you’ve read the works I’ve been creating, the scenes either take place in an asylum, or the character is leaving the asylum to return home. Though I try to hint at the time period without coming right out and saying it, the stories are set anywhere in the 1920’s and 1930’s, a time where anyone could be dumped off at the local “crazy house” and left there to stay–forever until death did they part.

You’d think when Asylum came on, I’d have watched that show like a hawk. But like I’ve said in other posts, I didn’t faithfully watch American Horror Story: Asylum, though I did catch a few episodes. If you read Pleasure House and Dance of Desire, you’ll notice that I include dancing as part of my work. When I present Master Of The House, you’ll still read scenes with dancing.

Why this intrigue with dance? Because it’s not only fun to watch, it’s fun to do. Dancing has been around since the creation of time, used in ritual and ceremony, including the ceremony of wooing someone of the opposite sex. Dancing is healthy, but it’s also sexy, alluring, and guaranteed to get the lust boiling, if performed a certain way.

From dancing in the buff to sparkling, flowing costumes, a dancer can express an array of emotions to happiness to sadness, to “come hither if you dare.” In Asylum, the creators added in the dance scene with Jessica Lange performing “The Name Game”–which she performed herself, if you hadn’t guessed already. I love this scene, not only because it’s dancing, but I like the way the creators of Asylum showed the craziness of the human mind, and how we all can free associate in an instant, with only a few words spoken or the vision of an item as a small hint to get the mind rolling in all kinds of directions. I’ve included a link to that Name Game scene performed by Jessica Lange. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Name Game: Asylum: American Horror Story

Lady On The Outside, Sensual Slut On The Inside: Amazon Censoring Erotica

May 1, 2013 by scarletdarkwood

They, say men want a woman who acts like a lady on the outside, but can be a slut in bed . . . or something to that effect. Apparently, that’s appearing to be a sentiment by Amazon and their latest trek on filtering erotica authors and their works from showing up in the “General Search” function (or “All Departments”) on their site.

According to the media and Selena Kitt, an award-winning erotica author, Amazon is now censoring adult books so that the titles do not show up in the general search, or “All Departments” section on their site. So what does that mean to authors? It means their livelihood is decreased because fans cannot find their books as easily. What does it mean to you as a reader? You are not able to find the titles or reading material you’re looking for because the titles/products are hidden. Let’s face it, this sucks for both parties.

However, according to Selena Kitt, the filter seems right now to target covers with nudity and certain keywords and titles, which means that if an author can mask the slutty/porn/erotic lingo within the book with a “respectable” cover and title and keywords to match, then the content can be as smutty and steamy as it wants to be on the inside. Again, lady on the outside, slut in bed.

Curious, I went to Amazon and did a general search for Pleasure House and Dance Of Desire

Last week, when I first heard of this censorship, I was able to find my books by title under the “All Departments” section. However, on the date of this post, Pleasure House comes up, but Dance of Desire does not. When I check out my rankings on Sales Rank Express, I don’t see the red “Adult” filter noted beside the books. I do know one thing that was different, I did not get any sales from the UK (United Kingdom) for the month of April, and I always have sales from my British friends.

Hm-m-m, I’m not sure what’s going on. If you type in Scarlet Darkwood under “All Departments” both books come up. But it’s interesting that people don’t go straight to the category where their item might be found, just to narrow the results. When I search for MP3 music, I go to the MP3 category and start my search there. When I’m looking for a book, I go to the Kindle Store, because I have no interest in buying a print version of the book.

Nevertheless, here’s the nasty truth: Erotica writers are having their incomes threatened by censorship, and you as the reader are also affected by not being able to find the books you want to read. What can you do to help? If you do a search on Amazon and you don’t have the author’s name or title of one of their books, go straight to “Kindle Store” or directly to the “Erotica” category under the “Books” listings. You’ll find Erotica under the “Literature and Fiction” category, and from there, type in your search, whether it be author, title or keywords. Please help erotica authors continue to produce fun, sensual material you enjoy reading.

As for me, if you’ve bought Pleasure House and like it, please try Dance of Desire. It’s a fun story, and I personally like it a lot. If you’ve bought Dance of Desire, get Pleasure House to add to your collection. I know I’ve been grateful for all your purchases and support, and I hope you’ll continue to enjoy what I write.

What are your thoughts on censorship? How do you search for erotic literature? What entices you to buy a title? What turns you off?

Sassy Lusty Character Takes Over Erotic Dreams!

March 6, 2013 by scarletdarkwood

I’m sure I’m not alone in this experience, and that would be one where a writer has dreams about one of their characters. Let’s face it, our dreams are usually symbolic and people, real or created, can represent things in your life when you dream. In Dance of Desire, one of the main characters is Daren, my red-headed sexy attendant who works at The House. One night, after I’d been writing about him, creating him in my mind, I fell asleep and began dreaming about him–about us. When I woke up, I had to laugh, and then I wondered, do any other writers do this? Apparently it’s not that all uncommon for writers to have night-time experiences with their characters, especially if you write romance or erotica. After all, these characters are real to us. We conjur them up in our minds, and as we write out their scripts in our novels, they begin to take on what feels like a real walking, talking person.

Sometimes when I hear certain songs, I wonder how Daren, in his day and age–the 20’s-30’s–would react to the song. Would he like it? Would it make him want to sing or dance? How would he look in modern day clothing? After all, in my novels, he’s wearing nothing but a loincloth–or nothing! I can hear his voice in my mind when I write dialogue sentences for him. I can see his smile, his teeth, feel his touch. I wonder what he likes to eat. In my novels, he likes fruit, probably because it’s erotic and can be used/eaten in may ways! I think Daren would describe himself as a vegan or a health nut. He cares for his body very much.

Now for the big question as it relates to dreaming about your characters. Since Daren engages in lots of sex, have Daren and I had sex in a dream? Well . . . all I can say is It was good for me, and I’m hoping it was for him too. Oh, wait, he’s only a fictitious character, and I was just dreaming. Anyway, it’s an interesting concept as we writers breath life into each one of our characters, creating the way they walk, talk, dress, swagger . . . and fulfil our naughty desires.

What about everyone else–readers or writers? Do you ever dream about characters in novel? If you have, and you’re not too shy, tell me about it. I’d love to hear your experience.

The Erotica Genre: What’s In A Name?

February 25, 2013 by scarletdarkwood

I’ve posted my thoughts on some of the different camps of thought when it comes to the Erotica category. Other genres, no doubt, face similar issues. But what I’m learning is the ingredients that make up genres to start with. When you look at mysteries, you see certain elements, such as solving puzzling questions, going through due diligence to see if facts line up or not, using deduction to determine the killer. In romance you see the relationship between two characters and how it grows into love. In Steampunk you’ll see elements of a Victorian timeframe, engines and gears, and how characters in a past timeframe might view their world with futuristic eyes.

A well-known author noted in one of her writing courses that if a genre element takes up at least 50% of the novel, then the novel fits that particular genre. As I noted above, mystery, romance, and steampunk will need to have their particular elements fit at least half the novel to be true to its genre. So what about Erotica? I know for sure that sex and the issues of sex take up at least 50% of my erotic pieces–some will argue it takes up more than that. I tend to think I’m at a 50/50 split, with 50% being sex and the other 50% addressing the relationship between characters or a character’s sexual experiences, which help them grow into more powerful, self-assured individuals. It’s true, the romance element may play a lesser part, and the plot will only weave itself in and out and around sexual issues. Some readers won’t mind that, but those searching for more character connection and plot won’t like higher heat erotica much.

As for me, I’ve discovered that when I read Erotica, I want lots of spicy sex scenes and a story where I can just kick back, relax, and give my inner voyeur some exercise.

Take Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty Trilogy, for example. What I remember specifically about her novels is Beauty’s sexual adventures as she served out her training period. The story focused on the sexual aspect of this, and plots and relationships between characters did take more of a back seat. This was my first (accidental) foray into Erotica. I had no idea what I was purchasing when I bought the packaged set in the book store many years ago. However, her work made an indelible impression on me. You didn’t see much of a connection between Beauty and Tristan, until the end. I personally think their relationship seemed a little vague and in the end, a little hurried, but cute nonetheless.

In Louisa Burton’s Hidden Grotto series (my favorite of all Erotica) she seems to manage her stories in short story format, but woven cohesively into the chapters she creates. All throughout the book, sex is either active or insinuated, without too much connection between the characters like we may see in romance. Here’s the deal, though. In the Hidden Grotto series, the Follets are not supposed to fall in love with the guests who come to the castle to enjoy lusty time away from home. The goal of the immortal Follets is to propagate their seed to create beings who are “gifted” or merely satisfy their own carnal appetite. The big goal for all of them is to endure, and the goal of the one who owns the castle is to protect the Follets and give them a safe have so they can endure. He provides the guests as their sexual food for survival.

Pleasure House and House Tales From The Archives are in the same boat as the Hidden Grotto series: The attendants are not supposed to fall in love with the admits (patients). The goal of the attendants is to teach their admits empowerment through sexual liberation. Sometimes the attendants may present lessons for their admits, such as in Dance of Desire. Though I hint at Serena falling in love with Daren, I stop this (i.e. don’t explore it much) because I don’t need Daren falling in love. He needs to help Serena find her heart’s desire, even while she’s “imprisoned” at The House. I don’t go much into detail about Serena and her lover because she only has one shot at wooing him. I wanted the stakes to be high and for there to be some sense of urgency, a “get it right the first time” kind of thing.

What about you as the reader who has read my work or the authors I mentioned above? What do you like about what we write? What do you not like? Do you think our writing fits the Erotica genre the way it’s supposed to? Do you get your personal reading goals met when you read our work?

Erotica vs. Erotic Romance: An Arousing Conundrum

February 18, 2013 by scarletdarkwood

I learn something new all the time, and that’s the way it is with all of us, even the most experienced. Like I’ve probably mentioned before, I’ve been reading erotica off and on for many years, and I thought I knew what this genre was about.

You see, I’ve read mixed reactions from readers of Erotica, and I seem to find two camps of thought: The first camp complains that the plot and characters are not fleshed out, and that there doesn’t seem to be much of a deep soul connection between the characters. AND (hold on to your hats, folks), the sex is way too pornographic, purposeless, and the author has way too much of it in the story.

What? I thought erotica was supposed to have a lot of sex, and graphic to boot. Now here’s what camp two says: We don’t feel the stories are pornographic at all, the sex is described and written just right, and fits in there with most erotic writing. Though some scenes are a bit extreme the essence is captured in the most tactful way. In some scenes, what could have been seen as disgusting was actually written in an enticing, appealing way. We enjoy the storyline, which flows well, and the characters are engaging.

Okay, so now I’m confused. Or was confused, because I think I’m beginning to see the light to this whole thing. In most erotica stories I’ve read, many characters are found engaging in sex either through chance encounters where the lust is riding high, or the character knows someone who leads them on a carnal adventure. Many times these stories present characters who just want to have and enjoy sex: for the pure, simple fun of it.

Erotic romance, appears to focus more on the storyline, characters, and the few sex scenes that are added may be a little spicier than what you’d find in a regular romance novel. And there is the “happily ever after.”

In looking at this situation, I’m beginning to see, like most instances, there will be readers who want to enjoy a more simple, entertaining read, while others will want something with more depth. When looking at a piece of work, you’ll always get two camps of thought, no matter what you as the author set out to achieve. As I continue to write, I’ll still want beta readers to look at my work to make suggestions, but in the end, I’ll still find the need to write the stories the way I want them to be. People will either connect to and enjoy what I’ve produced, or not. It’s a mixed bag, for sure.

The more I look at my work, I see that my Pleasure House project and Dance of Desire fit in the Erotica category through and through. I’ve now even gone so far as to put a warning sentence at the beginning of my product description, indicating that if you’re looking for the traditional, sweet, soulful romance story with a few spicy sex scenes, this work is not for you. Or something to that effect. You see, I want my customers to know what they’re getting–or not.

Tell me what you think when you’re viewing a book in the erotica category. Are you wanting the true enticing, fun erotica, characters who just want to have sex and enjoy it? Are you looking for a deeper story line? Or are you looking for a nice, fuzzy-feeling, warm-your-heart romance story, with a couple of extra spicy sex scenes to flavor it up a bit?