TJ Michaels

Carinian’s Seeker, Vampire Council of Ethics Book 1, is FREE for Nook and Kindle for the next two weeks! Get it from BN.com or Amazon.com from November 1 through November 14.

Also, Egyptian Voyage is on sale! Get it at BN.com or Amazon.com… but you can get it for 35% off at Smashwords with this code –> AQ73D

As you all know I’ve been exploring the BDSM scene in my area and plan to write a themed romance around what I learn. So I attended another local Munch last week and first off, I was thrilled to learn that they all remembered me though I’d only attended once, and that was some time ago. A very, very nice group of folks.

After dinner the meeting/learning session began and boy, oh boy did I ever learn some stuff!

As you can tell by the topic, this was definitely one I’m glad I didn’t miss. The folks that shared their stories were brutally honest and while some of the tales were ridiculously funny, some were absolutely horrific. I guess the old addage that “shit happens when you play naked” is definitely true. So here goes:

Story #1: Fire Play
A sub was on a table ready to enjoy some fire play. Now, fire play is about the sensation of the warmth, not pain. Typically what happens is that alcohol is swathed over the skin to the point where it is almost evaporated so when flame is introduced the alcohol, NOT THE SKIN, flares and is then immediately extinguished by the Top with a simple pass of the hand. The tool of choice is a fire flogger.

In this particular case the bottom was being topped by someone that was not her Dom. The person asked permission, as is correct, and both the Dom and Sub agreed (NOTE: Being a Sub doesn’t mean you’re a slave…unless you want to be. We’ll get into roles next time). The Dom stepped away, as was appropriate (RULE: You do not interfere with a scene unless you’re in it. Why? Because the Dom or Domme’s attention needs to be on the bottom at all times. Distractions can be a very very bad thing) and the scene started.

The problems began when the substitute Domme began to play to the crowd instead of paying attention to the sub. That was mistake number one. The second mistake was when the Domme chose to use lighter fluid instead of alcohol. Major blunder! Not only did the fluid cease to flame as alcohol would have, but since the Domme was playing to the crowd it took her a moment to realize that her sub was ON FIRE! The result: Second degree burns up the sub’s back. Second result – the sub won’t play with that Domme ever again…and neither will half the local D/s community.

Bottom line: Dom, you should be watching your bottom’s headspace. Is it where you need it to be or not? Pay attention. If the headspace isn’t there, call the scene done. Subs, if the Top’s eyes aren’t on you, use your safe word and call the scene done.

Story #2: Spanking
Is this particular scene the couple was outside. They planned to use a specific kind of bench for their speanking scene and had set it up on a concrete slab, but while they went back to their car to grab some blankets to drape over the bench for the sub’s comfort someone stole the bench! Gah! So they decided to simply use a plain old wooden chair. Can we say equipment malfunction, boys and girls? The chair collapsed and the sub goes tumbling off the edge of the concrete slab. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the slab hadn’t been…on the side of a very steep hill. The Dom went to grab her to keep her from falling and they both ended up tumbling down the incline naked into a ditch complete with brambles and trees! Luckily no one was hurt and they laughed their butts off as they made their way back up the hill.

Bottom line: Try to make sure that your equipment is in good working order and well away from any potential harmful areas, like cliffs or inclines ;D But sometimes “oops” is unavoidable and you’ve just got to laugh it off.

In the next installment of When Bad Scenes Happen to Good People I’ll tell you about how one Dom didn’t realize that a certain activity gave his bottom panic attacks, as well as the importance of risk assessment, after care, follow up and damage control. There’s alot of responsibility for Dom’s, but subs have their responsibilities, too. For example, there should ALWAYS be an agreed upon safe word between the bottom and the top. Sub, if your Dom doesn’t feel you need one…find another Dom. The bottom should already know what to expect from the top as surprises in this particular genre of play aren’t always a good thing; the top should know how to watch for headspace. If you don’t know the rules, learn them together or you may want to hold off on playing…

Til next time!

TJ

RWA – Romance Writers of America – has officially taken the stance to no longer recognize Harlequin as a publisher eligible to receive conference resources.

Holy crap, I must admit I never thought it would happen. Why? Because the RWA has been less than kind to the smaller presses by exhibiting a bit of ‘snooty-ism’ toward small press authors while brown nosing the big New York houses, such as Harlequin. It’s the main reason I happily let my RWA membership expire. My thought was, “Well, hell, if I’m not good enough to be recognized as a true pubbed author in your eyes, then why should I keep sending you my money?” Yes, I am a real author with real contracts and real royalties coming in. I’ve never paid anyone to publish a book, but have gone through the submission process just like the New Yorker’s. Yet being part of RWA was like trying to please the ever disapproving parent that was never going to recognize that you’d ‘made it’.

So why the fallout with Harlequin? Due to the powerhouse publisher’s launch of their self-publishing entity, Harlequin Horizons, a vanity press. Vanity presses require authors to pay to be published rather than the age-old (and wonderfully lovely model) of paying the author for their work via royalties and/or advances. And vanity presses are not recognized by the RWA.

Piggybacking on Ann Aguirre’s thorough post on the topic, here’s the skinny–>

TJ

I’ve been talking to some friends of mine about what I would like to see if my book, Carinian’s Seeker-Vampire Council of Ethics Book 1, was made into a movie. The topic of race came up.

The Vampire Council of Ethics series is a multicultural series. And when I say multicultural, I mean REALLY. In fact, the whole series is a nice mix of folks from various backgrounds, races and just about everything. The main couple is of different races. The secondary cast is multi-racial, and even the bad guys get into the mix a bit. In the end, there’s Black, White, East Indian, Japanese, Native American, African, etc.

So here is the question that sent me to the blogs to get your advice:

If the books were made into a TV series or movie (like True Blood) would it matter to you if the main couple in Carinian’s Seeker (white male, black female) was switched around to black male, white female?

The thought from the film maker chicklet was that it is more socially acceptable to see a white female with a black male than the other way around and that swapping the races might attract a larger audience.

But that made me think of the recent Star Trek movie. I mean Spock and Uhura had a seriously hot thing going on. Now how many of us saw that coming? Not me! But did I think it was cool and that the characters made it work? Sure did!

Personally, I like movies that stick as close to the book as possible, but the other argument is that if the acting is done well, will people really care if the races were switched?

What do you think?

TJ

Yes, it’s a controversial subject and I’ve been thinking long and hard about whether I actually wanted to jump into this fray or not. So here goes…

I recently read a book by a fellow author and guess what? It was based on a book and movie called Howl’s Moving Castle. How do I know? Because it’s one of my favorite movies. I’ve seen it a million times. So when I read this book and saw that from the beginning of the book through to the end was the plot and storyline of Howl’s I couldn’t believe it. While the names of the characters were different from the book and movie, the descriptions of the characters, their hair, dress, mannerisms and personalities were spot on to the characters in Howl’s Moving Castle.

Then the phone calls and e-mails started. Why? Because I’d recommended this author’s book to other folks (who happen to love anime, too) BEFORE I’d actually read the darn thing.

One of my reader friends was so outraged they even threatened to call the studio in Japan that created the movie, as well as contact the original author of the work. Now THAT put me in a less than welcome spot. What was I supposed to do?

Should I contact the publisher and let them know that one of their authors basically wrote a romance around someone else’s well-known work? Hmmm, not sure. What if the publisher decides I’m the troublemaker or simply claims that neither they nor the author was aware? Well, perhaps I should contact the author? Probably not – it’s not as if the author doesn’t know that the romance she wrote was based line-on-line and precept-on-precept on someone else’s work, right? Right.

So then where does that leave me? Frankly, I have no idea…