Fifty Shades of Great(ness)
By Celine Chatillon
Readers are talking everywhere online about it. The recent buzz over Fifty Shades of Grey has brought a lot of attention to e-books, erotica/erotic-romance e-books in particular. While I’m glad to see the general reading public discovering the wide world of electronic books it does make me wonder: Do readers realize the e-book has been with us for more than two decades? Do they realize there are many thousands of unsung authors of e-literature that can write just as tantalizing—if not more so—a story than this relative newcomer on the scene?
If I were to list all the talented e-book authors I know personally, this blog would be miles long. I’m not kidding! In deference to time and space, I’ll just mention that I’m associated with some terrific e-book authors via my publishers eXtasy Books/Devine Destinies Books and Mojocastle Press. Yes, I’ll admit to being a bit biased, but generally the quality of fiction of my publishers’ releases is many, many more than fifty shades above the average fluff that receives the majority of the new e-reading public’s attention. It does make me despair that this wonderful group of e-fiction creative geniuses doesn’t receive the consideration they so rightly deserve. And I want to do more to help sing their praises and raise awareness of their greatness.
So my challenge to the e-reading public is this: Stop and check out the web sites of smaller e-presses like eXtasy Books and Mojocastle. Buy (don’t pirate) an e-book or two and give them a read. I know you’ll be pleasantly surprised. For instance, you’ll find that not every erotic heroine is without a spine. Brandi, from my humorous sci-fi erotic-romance series, Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures, is based on Fanny Hill of classic erotica legend. Brandi is a very brave lass and quite clever. She knows what she likes in the bedroom and isn’t afraid to ask for it or feel guilty about it later. There’s humor along with the sci-fi action in Brandi Whyne, and readers are guaranteed that a good time will be had by all—spanking included.
Is every erotic-romance hero a one-dimensional master manipulator with juvenile tendencies? If your only erotica-reading experience is with a recent e-bestseller you may think so, but I think not—and I’m sure many of my fellow erotica e-authors would agree. Vlad Drakul in Blood Betrayal is a non-sparkly vampire who faces life altering (or we could say “existence altering”) challenges and desires to protect his lover from a sociopathic psychic. There’s no playing around with emotions and messing with fragile minds for this paranormal hero! The blood-suckers are of the human variety in Blood Betrayal. The same holds true in the next story set in the Kindred vampire universe, Blood Bond, where three young lovers must escape the machinations of a determined vampire hunter in Edwardian England.
If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this blog it’s this: There is endless variety in e-books waiting for smart readers to discover and many are great reads. So, stop following the crowd and automatically buying whatever Amazon tells you to! Explore, browse, read and learn for yourself that your heart’s desire in fiction is available at the merest click of your mouse.
About the Author:
Celine Chatillon is the alter ego of multi-published romance novelist, Cynthianna. Celine finds writing erotica a very pleasant departure from her day job as a manuscript evaluator and freelance editor. Her erotic-romance tales with eXtasy Books include the next installment in the upcoming Kindred vampire series, Blood Bond, as well as Blood Betrayal. Her books with Liquid Silver Books include Help I'm Falling for the Vampire Next Door among others. Her collection of SF erotic short stories, Heavenly Bodies, is available from Mojocastle Press. You can read excerpts from her novels on her web sites: http://www.celinechatillon.com and http://www.cynthianna.com
Boldly going where no genre has gone before...
http://www.celinechatillon.com
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Blog: http://celinesdreams.blogspot.com
Brandi Whyne's blog: http://brandi-whyne.blogspot.com
3 comments:
Hi, I don't share my books but I do give my thoughts :)
Hi, I love to buy for myself and I have also recently bought to gift for friends (former co workers)..Thanks for highlighting the pirating issue. I know its hard for authors when there are ppl out there who do not pay and just give without thinking of the conquences.
Like Dina also said, I always give my thoughts on books that I have read and I like to encourage ppl to buy great books :-)
Thanks Dina and April for your comments. Yeah, I think more readers need to be aware of how pirating hurts authors (especially the non-best-seller/mega-sellers). I want us to encourage more readers to "think outside the box" and try new authors and publishers without following the crowd. :)
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