Celebrating the Life of Charlotte Boyett-Compo, Romance Author and Friend

Charlotte Boyett-Compo

On January 20th The Naughty Literati lost one of our own, Charlotte "Charlee" Boyett-Compo, one of our founding members who contributed her wonderful stories to every one of our releases since we all began to write together. Today we celebrate the life of this strong, charismatic, sarcastic, creative, prolific author and dear friend who touched each of our lives in indelible ways.

One of the things I cherished most about Charlee was her candid way of saying exactly what she thought without beating around the bush or worries of being politically correct. You always knew exactly where she stood on things.

I have fond memories of her intense dislike of polls, which we often use in the Naughty Literati to help so many opinionated women come to a group decision. In one particular case Suz asked, "Can everyone please weigh in on this so I don't have to do another poll and upset Charlee? (Snicker--please say 'no, we want another poll!' just because)." Charlee's response was classic and priceless. "Yeah, may the bluebird of happiness fly up your: (1. Nose (2. Ass (3. Other." 

People will hate you, rate you and break you. How strong you stand is what makes you. Charlee was one of the strongest women it has been my honor and privilege to know and work with. I love you and miss you, Charlee. Thank you for being my friend. I take solace in knowing you are once again in the arms of the love of your life.

-- Nicole Austin

Around 2007, after she had already pioneered an impressive backlist of books that stemmed back to the early beginnings of ebooks in the mid to late 1990s, Charlee first blipped onto my radar as Charlotte Boyett-Compo, author of the Reaper ™ aka WindLegends ™ book franchise… or “my creations,” as she referred to them.  I was thinking of trying to write a romance for arguably the largest epub in the romance market at that time when I happened upon several of her titles on said epublisher’s website. An avid romance-aholic with a penchent for dark fantasy, I gobbled up her entire backlist in short order.

Flash forward to near-end of 2014. By that time I was published with the epublisher in question and had “met” Charlee in a couple of online forums for the authors. When several of us authors decided to band together and indie publish our own short romance anthologies, I was very excited that Charlee wanted to be one of our founding members. The Naughty Literati was born. And from the first moment, Charlee was our Georgia peach who proved she was a real Steel Magnolia to boot.

Her direct, intelligent input and vast, published author experience was vital to the early formation of The Naughty Literati; I recall it was initially her idea to incorporate “Naughty” into every antho title as part of our brand. Her blog posts here were always insightful, bursting with her own, indelible writing voice, and usually held a message that possessed more gravitas than most romance blog posts ever hope to contain. Christmas Memories, Charlie's last blog post for this website, was December 21st. Just barely a month ago. In it she speaks so eloquently about her bittersweet Christmas memories as a child in Georgia where the beginnings of her social conscience were seeded and took root. It ranks as one of my top favorite pieces of her writing ever.

On our online group (and on Facebook), she often regaled with us with peppery tales of some residents in the small town of her adopted “Ioway.” She loved her country house with its wealth of cat “Overloards” who habitually lolled upon any given square inch where she wanted to sit or work.

She was annoyed yet resigned when people misspelled her name. Usually, people wrote “Campo” instead of “Compo,” but I once committed the faux pas of mispronoucing her maiden name before the hyphen. “It’s Boy-yett (emphasis on the yett). Boy-yay is the way a lot of folks pronounce it. It's actually German.”  She forgave me quickly, saying I was the least offender. “It's not a problem. I had an internet radio interview once and the lady announced me as Charleen Boyer-Campton. I took great delight in correcting her. To get all three names wrong was inexcusable.”

She loved to cook robust home meals for her loved ones, and shared some of her favorites with us - I’m drooling to try her Southern Chicken Dressing and her Lime Yogurt Pie soon. She was committed to doing service for her church and loved her sons, who relied on her and vice versa.

Perhaps the most revered corner of her heart was reserved for late husband, Tommy Compo, her high school sweetheart and love of her life whom she referred to always as “my Tommy.” She scoffed at the idea of dating again after his passing, declaring she’d already “had the best.” She believed he was her guardian angel, for she declared he always took care of her in life; why wouldn’t he continue to do so once he was in Heaven?

Now that her own epic love story with Tommy has resumed on the celestial plane, we are left with the unique worlds and fascinating characters she created in her books beloved by so many of her fans. As well as the memory of her friendship and the wisdom she imparted to us while she was here.

She always ended correspondence with, “May the Wind be always at your back…” A reference to an Irish prayer and also her own WindLegends ™ creations.

May the Wind always be at your back, Charlee. And thank you.

-- Belle Scarlett

I didn’t know Charlotte Boyett-Compo until about October 2014, when she and I were part of the group that became The Naughty Literati. Charlee wrote dark fantasy and paranormal romance which, generally, I don’t read simply because it’s not my taste.

Charlee had, and still has, a huge following. She built elaborate worlds involving Nightwinds, Reapers, Shadowlords, and WyndMasters – characterizations I cannot even fathom ever creating and still don’t quite understand. The sexuality of her worlds was dark, and I appreciate and applaud that direction in erotic romance. She was the consummate professional and a willing mentor.

I never met Charlee in person, I only knew her online. But nowadays, that is sometimes the only way we know colleagues. The lack of face-to-face interaction does not diminish the impact a person can have on another.

I learned a lot from Charlee, and was quite inspired by her example. She wrote prodigiously this past year, almost like she knew she had to get all the words out. She achieved new success this past year even in the face of some pretty aggravating publishing hurdles. She had health problems this year and yet soldiered on tenaciously.

Farewell, Charlee, and thank you.

-- Regina Kammer

Charlee on her wedding day to her high school sweetheart and love of her life, Tommy Compo.

I’ve known Charlee for ten years. Not a long time in the grand scheme of things, but it feels like a very long time indeed in the writing community where most of the people I knew five years ago have disappeared. I was thrilled when we both joined the Naughty Literati when it began, and I was able to spend time with her again. I love Charlee’s characters that leap off the page, her incredible, detailed and consistent world building, and her smart wit that enables her to be endlessly patient when explaining something to a newbie, yet still demonstrates her low tolerance for stupidity. Sometimes all in the same sentence.

-- Berengaria Brown

I first met Charlee when I ran a book review website, back in the late 1990s. She was one of the "go to" people that everyone recommended for dark fantasy, so I picked up one of her books and got lost in her world. Hours later, I came back to the world, disoriented. I'd devoured the book so thoroughly that the outside world ceased to exist. When I finally stumbled to my feet, it was with the knowledge that my reading world had changed. E-books were so young, so new, and while I was open to them, I can clearly point to reading Charlee as a turning point.

When we found ourselves at the same publisher, I was over the moon. With each and every release, she deepened the reader's experience and colored her world more vibrantly.

And who can forget the enduring love she had for Tommy. Her love and affection for him was a living and vital thing that just grew through the years.

In 2014, I was delighted to find myself working with Charlee in the Naughty Literati. Her stories were fantastic, and the trailers she made were just perfect. Charlee, we miss you more than words can convey. Thank you for everything.

--Alexa Silver

I first "met" Charlee online in 1999 when we were both writing for one of the very first epublishers. (I was writing under a different name at the time.) Her book with that publisher (and I'm sorry that I can't remember the title now) was also one of the first ebooks I ever read, on my clunky old laptop since even the early ereaders were still a couple of years away. It simply blew me away. At the time many people argued that ebooks weren't "real" books, that they were inferior, things the authors couldn't sell to "real" publishers. If ever a book demolished those denigrations, Charlee's book did. It blew me away with its depth, its ferocity, the brilliant, unforgettable characters, the marvelous writing, and a plot that left me in tears at the end. I can't remember the title, but I do remember the plot and characters quite vividly after all these years.

In 2002 or 2003 I was delighted when Charlee offered a few of her books to the publisher I was writing for at the time.  When a group of us became the Naughty Literati, I was even more excited that she was part of the group, too.

I never met Charlee in person, but from all the interactions we had on various author and fan lists, and occasional off-list exchanges, I felt like I knew her fairly well. Her acerbic wit found humor in unexpected places and her creative mind extended into many other areas of her life. We found common ground in the discovery that we were both practicing Catholics who found writing erotic romance an integral part of our extended world view and not something sinful or disgraceful (though we both had struggles with fellow Christians who didn't share our outlook on sexual activity as a vital and glorious part of God's creation). 

She had a talent and passion for writing that still fills me with awe when I read her stories. Pardon the innate sexism in this, but in the spirit of a "mankind" that is bigger than just male persons: "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind." The loss of Charlee leaves a huge hole in our lives.

-- Katherine Kingston

I think of all of us, I knew Charlee the least. The Naughty Literati brought us together and I wish I'd had more time to get to know her better. I did have the great pleasure of editing her. The hardest part was getting so wrapped up in her amazing words that I forgot to look for errors. I can't count the number of times I had to backtrack (not that I ever found much that needed changing). I think, as someone else intimated, our somewhat loosely controlled chaos drove her bats, but she was good about telling us exactly what her position was. I can't see a poll anywhere now without thinking of Charlee's aversion to them. 

The world is a little darker now, without Charlee in it. May her words and her creations live long into the future. 

The wind is always at your back now, Charlee. 

-- Terry Rissen

I'd seen Charlee's posts on an author loop I belonged to and I remember that she always had interesting things to say and helpful advice for those of us who were newbies and struggling. Back in 2009 or 2010 (I think, my memory is a little foggy), Charlee made big news. Or rather one of her books did. A print copy of one of her books was being listed for sale on Amazon at $75,000 dollars. I think it was an out of print book, but still that was insane and it was all over the place. It was at that point that I realized that she lived just down the road from me - I in Newton, IA and she in Grinnell, Iowa. I hesitantly emailed her and asked if she ever got over to my library in Newton. She showed up one day and we got a chance to meet. She was so sweet and kind, a real joy to talk to. We talked about her wildly priced book and she laughed. She said it made for good publicity as she'd been interviewed by local newspapers and a local tv station.

Since we've been working together on The Naughty Literati projects, I've been impressed by her great ideas, her work ethic, and her kindness. She will be truly missed. Good bye, dear lady. We who remain here will miss you, but I'm sure you're happily reunited with Tommy, the love of your life. A true romance if ever there was one.

--Francesca Hawley

Inspiration

As a writer, ideas come from all sorts of places.

Two weeks ago, my husband Mark went from having chest pain at work, to an ER visit, to an inpatient stay, to a cardiac catheterization, to bypass surgery. Most of this took place in the span of six hours, and then the change from catheterization to “needs bypass” to surgery taking place was less than two days. As you can imagine, I was completely overwhelmed.

Thank goodness, my husband is doing much better and is healing well.

It was a very long day when they did his surgery, starting with a rush to the hospital when they bumped his surgery up in the schedule, and ending that evening at his bedside. I brought a book, but couldn’t read at first, and I found myself looking at the other people in the family waiting area, and imagining their stories. Who was the loved one in surgery? How did they get along? What did they do in their everyday lives? That middle-aged man. Was he waiting for news about his sister? Mother? Wife? Was he alone because they didn’t have family nearby?

Strangely enough, wondering these sorts of things was a bit therapeutic for me. There was no way I had the concentration to put words on paper, but I was able to let my mind wander, focusing on something else beside my husband’s surgery. And I may have collected the gossamer threads of a story from those mental wanderings.

When Mark was moved to a room and seemed more like himself, my guard came down and creativity sparked. One of his nurses had a unique name and I asked her if I could use her name in a book. She said absolutely, and another gossamer thread of character added itself to the plot, another layer.

I have no idea when I’ll write this story, as the events are just too close to the surface right now. Still, I can’t deny that my imagination provided a very welcome respite from the stresses of the event.

And that book lingers on the creative horizon.

Too many people I care about are dying by Suz deMello a.k.a. Sue Swift

And they're dying of cancer.

(I can't say I cared about Rene Angelil, but I do feel sorry for Celine Dion.)

One expects the elderly and infirm to pass on during the winter months, and it's depressing to realize that this parade of celebrity deaths surely echoes what's happening in many families. Because my father and my brother died of cancer, I feel especially struck by the spectacle, which I would normally ignore--I'm not particularly interested in celebrities. And right now one of our writer buddies in the Naughty Literati is dying of cancer.

This has hit all of us pretty hard.

But moving on...

The death of a character is often a pivotal moment in a book. I write quite a lot of romantic suspense, so most often my characters die in a more colorful manner than by cancer. But in one of my earliest books, the inciting incident--the event that jumpstarts the story--takes place off the page, when the heroine's beloved sister died of cancer. In her Will, she asks the heroine to bear her child via the implantation of a fertilized embryo. During the pregnancy, the heroine falls for the baby's father.

This was His Baby, Her Heart, which was a RITA finalist for Best Traditional Romance of its year. Here's the blurb:

All Alex Chandler wanted was a child with his wife, and her dying wish made it come true — but with her sister as the surrogate.

But Alex and Dena had never seen eye-to-eye on anything, so having a baby together could end their relationship...or begin a whole new one.

http://tinyurl.com/HerBaby

So in this way, we writers take the bitterest lemons of life and make lemonade...often spiked by tears.

I've got a blank page. NOW what?

The late Alan Rickman reportedly once said, "What's interesting about the process of acting is how often you don't know what you're doing."

I stopped when I saw that because I know that feeling. When I'm writing, I often have only a glimmer of where a story's going, who the characters are, what the setting is. I have to sit down and start typing in order to find out what's going on because I have no idea. At that point in the process, it feels as if the story is what's in control, and I'm just the interface between story and computer.

My story, Bastard's Bonus is in the upcoming Naughty Literati anthology, Naughty Lovers, is a perfect example of a story that came out of nowhere. I'd been sitting at my computer and staring at the writer's worst enemy: a blank page. There was an anthology I'd wanted to submit to, but had been having a devil of a time coming up with a story for it.

I tossed around basic ideas for a while. I knew I wanted to do m/m, but then I asked myself, "Do I want science fiction? Contemporary? Fantasy?" When I thought about fantasy a little bell went off. But not urban fantasy, that's being well covered by my "winged rock star" stories and I didn't want to cross the streams, so to speak. So I settled on more traditional fantasy…but not too traditional.

I'm completely addicted to cooking shows and I'd seen one not long before I started Bonus that incorporated a lot of sugar art in the final product. I've always wanted to work with sugar like that, though I'd probably just make a huge mess. (Best part about cooking—you can eat your messes.) The spun sugar decorations were fanciful and beautiful, which led me to thinking about spun glass.

And magic.

And thus the Glass Spinner's universe was born. I "met" Ian through his work, but it wasn't until about page three before I knew anything about Zane. No one was more surprised than I was when the barrier to their relationship popped up. But it works. I was even more surprised when the story quickly outgrew the requirements for the anthology I was writing for. I ended up shelving Bonus for another time. On my third start I finally landed on a story that fit the requirements. The Stonemason was accepted and is happily ensconced in Dreamspinner Press's Bare Studs anthology.

Then I went back to Bonus. I sat down and finished it, then went back and rewrote it with an eye toward a larger story. This is definitely going to be at least one novel, but Bastard's Bonus easily stands alone.

One of the things I love most about writing short stories is going on the journey with my characters—seeing things through their eyes, feeling with their hearts. It's a rush! I still need to outline longer pieces, but for me, short stories pour themselves out and I just have to keep typing as fast as I can. 

Look for my story, Bastard's Bonus in Naughty Lovers, coming out on March 1! the

The Writer’s Life According To Jack Sparrow

When A New Idea hits you...

When the cat mocks your new idea... 

Writers block...

When the scene doesn't work...

When the cat's on the keyboard again...

 The first time someone asks about your book...

When a friend or relative outs you as a writer...

When you're forced to socialize...

The one time you have company over...

When someone criticizes your writing...

When you get a good review on your book...

Romance Story vs. Love Story by Marianne Stephens

The words Romance and Love seem to be interchanged for each other in "naming" books...but for me, they're two different types of stories.

I classify romance as the struggle to find love; that rocky road to happiness...with a happily-ever-after ending. Love stories can also be about falling in love; rocky road to get there...but can entail details not fit for romance stories.

Romance stories don't include married couples and cheating on your spouse. Somehow, people consider adultery "justifiable" and call having an affair a "love" event. Huh? Or, the hero or heroine have multiple partners throughout their coupled journey to "find" true love with each other. Sorry, I just don't get it!

I'm not talking about menage romances, which seem to have a big following. I'm talking about sneaking around and having sex with someone else, other than your "loved one/ones"...the main characters in the story.

Movies/Books to consider:
"The Bridges of Madison Country". Why would anyone consider this a romantic story/movie? Since when does a married woman having an affair become acceptable and turn into something other than what it is...total disregard for marriage vows and spouse. Okay. Maybe it's a "love" story, but I find nothing romantic or fun about it.

"Titanic": Great romantic scenes and the hero sacrifices himself to save the heroine. But, unhappy ending...a love story.

"Brokeback Mountain": Adultery. Doesn't matter if he cheats on his wife with another man...it's still cheating. Love story.

"Gone With the Wind": I wanted to strangle Scarlett throughout the book/movie. Nothing heroine-like, only selfish attitude. Rhett was a hero for finally leaving her. Love story, not romance.

"Casa Blanca": Oldie but goodie. Tear-jerker, unhappy ending. Love story.

"While You Were Sleeping". I love this movie. This is a romance. No one is married, and even though the heroine is faking an engagement to one brother who's lost his memory, she fights her attraction to the second brother...her true romance partner. And he fights the same attraction. Only after the truth is blurted out at the almost wedding do the hero and heroine face the truth and are free to love each other.

"Dirty Dancing": budding relationship, separation and sadness, but happy ending. Romance.

"Pretty Woman": magnetic pull of mutual attraction, rocky road leading to black moment, happy ending. Romance.

"Emma", "Pride and Prejudice", and the list goes on. Happy endings. No adultery. Romance stories.

The books we write as romance authors need that happily-ever-after to satisfy readers. I want it in a book I read and my books present it to readers. The outcome of any book or movie classifies it as romance or love story...and I see a definite dividing line between the two.

My opinions...and I bet others think differently. So, what about you? How do you differentiate between a Romance and Love story or movie?



http://www.mariannestephens.net
Entice Me - Luscious Love Stories Anthology  released by Romance Books '4' Us
Naughty Literati Anthologies

Photos: Flickr: endot, Sabrina Campagna, and emily792872's photostreams.

Romance in Exotic Destinations

Over the years my day job has involved a lot of travel, not just inside the state, or even in the United States, but around the world.
Now, before you start jealously sticking pins in a wax Berengaria doll, please remember that I went to these places for WORK. Mostly what I saw was a lot of airports, and far too many conference rooms, which all look pretty much the same. Sometimes I couldn’t even remember where I was because the surroundings were so similar to everywhere else. Think McDonalds. The McDonalds in Cleveland looks the same as the McDonalds in Akron, looks the same as the McDonalds in Baltimore, and in London, Paris, Nairobi—I’m sure you get the picture.
But every now and then I managed to carve out a few days of sightseeing between business meetings and to actually enjoy visiting the places where I was.
Like many authors, I’m always thinking “what if?” One day I thought, “What if a travel company sent people around the world looking for love? Where would they go?”
The characters that immediately arrived in my head clamoring for their happy ending were all male. I write MM, FF, ménage, and MF so I’m used to writing the HEA the characters demand, but I hadn’t actually pictured a Gay Travel agency, until I began to think how awesome that might be. And what problems gay lovers might have finding romance around the world.
It was hard to narrow down my favorite destinations to just four very different places, all extremely romantic. But hey, that leaves open the possibility that one day in the future, Tyler Robbins might decide to send out more men in search of their own romance.

Gay Travel Inc. Book 1: Gay Lovers in Paris (MM) by Berengaria Brown

Blurb: Sean Zagorc’s boss, Tyler Robbins the owner of Gay Travel Inc., sends him to Paris to write about gay romance in the City of Lovers. Tyler expects him to send multiple tweets every day about romantic scenery, romantic venues, romantic meals, romantic everything. How can Sean do that without a partner?
Elementary school teacher Antoine Dupre nursed both his elderly parents until they passed. Now he has a week’s vacation in Paris before selling the family home and finding a job. He’s on a very strict budget, and plans to spend most of his time in the Louvre looking at the exhibits.
Fate brings them together and Antoine is attracted to the American in the business suit. He agrees to help Sean take a few pictures, maybe spend a day together visiting somewhere suitable for Sean’s work like the Eiffel Tower. That should be romantic enough for Tyler, shouldn't it?

Buy link: http://www.bookstrand.com/book/gay-lovers-in-paris

Gay Travel Inc. Book 2: Gay Lovers on Safari (MM) by Berengaria Brown
Tyler Robbins, the owner of Gay Travel Inc., decides to send four of his best—and single—travel agents to different continents to report on romantic travel venues. He sends Preston Bennetts to Kenya on a safari. Preston is excited by the idea until he discovers that homosexuality is illegal in Kenya. How is he supposed to complete his assignment? Fortunately he meets Austin and Ryan Holder. Austin has always wanted to visit Africa and Ryan has accompanied him because the old man is getting frail. But they’re both great company and Ryan agrees to help Preston.
Their constant search for romantic photo opportunities has Preston and Ryan thinking lustful thoughts about each other. That absolutely can’t happen in Kenya though. Any sign of gay activity could have them sent to jail.
Will taking pictures of the Big Five game animals satisfy Tyler and prevent Preston and Ryan from touching each other?

Buy link: http://www.bookstrand.com/book/gay-lovers-on-safari

Gay Travel Inc. book 3: Gay Lovers Down Under (MM) by Berengaria Brown

Blurb: Tyler Robbins, the owner of Gay Travel Inc., decides to send four of his best—and single—travel agents to different continents to report on romantic travel venues there. Quentin Wood is sent to Australia but after twenty-two hours of flights and a fourteen hour time zone change he’s exhausted. Add to that he can’t understand a word of the mangled English his guide, Justin Cook, uses.
Juz likes the look of his sexy new client, if he’d just relax a little. Juz is determined to show the man he calls Woody all the sights, including some more intimate personal ones.
Quentin can’t get his head around the idea of driving two thousand miles in two days to visit some place where the temperature sits above one hundred degrees for six months straight. Tyler has sent him to Hell. But if this is Hell, that means Justin’s the devil, and he’s a mighty attractive devil.

Buy link: http://www.bookstrand.com/book/gay-lovers-down-under


For a boxed set of erotic vacation getaways, get your copy of Naughty Escapes: Eleven Naughty Vacation Getaways by the Naughty Literati. Take a naughty trip around the world with us to a penthouse playroom in San Francisco, the shore of Lake Superior, a deserted island in The Bermuda Triangle, a mob-controlled nightclub in pre-revolutionary Havana, along a river near Cambridge in England, a sex club in Paris, a nude beach in Barcelona, the ancient Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, a villa overlooking Lake Como in Italy, a honeymoon in Berlin, and a swanky condo in Zurich.

Berengaria Brown’s links:
Blog: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/
Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/berengaria-brown
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Berengaria-Brown/e/B00541R3YQ/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berengaria.brown?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BerengariaBrown
ARe: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html?searchBy=author&qString=Berengaria+Brown

Thinking About 2016

By Katherine Kingston

Resolutions have always seemed pointless to me. If you need to resolve to do something, it’s probably not going to happen. Important changes require motivation and if you’re motivated to do something, it’s probably already happening. If you’re not motivated, it likely isn’t going to happen.

But I do like to take some time at the beginning of the year to consider where my life has been, where I want it to go, and what needs to happen to get me there.

The year past has brought some significant changes to my life, including two new grandchildren and cutting back on my day-job to part-time. Part of the reason for the reduction in work time is that I want more time for travel and visiting family members, and I want more time for writing.

I also have gotten back rights to all of my published novels from Ellora’s Cave. I’m in the process of self-publishing some of those. Some will be released as part of anthologies. And there are a couple I’m not sure what to do with.

All of them will be re-edited before release. I wasn’t always happy with the language I was required to use for EC and some stories had sex scenes shoe-horned in to meet their guidelines. I hope to restore all my stories to where I wanted them to be.

One of my goals for 2016 is to re-release at least eight of those stories. Another is to finish two novels I have in progress. And then I plan to continue to write new stories for the Naughty Literati anthologies. I already have ideas for two future stories. I intend to stay busy!

Deadline Fast Approaching by Regina Kammer

This will be a very short post because I'm on deadline for the next Naughty Literati anthology, Naughty Lovers. I'm still not quite sure I'm going to meet that deadline!

But let's just say I do meet that deadline...

The hope and expectation is that my next Naughty Literati story, tentatively titled "Swing Follies", will be the third story in my Steampunk erotic romance series, The Ockham Steam-Works Laboratory Chronicles. In this installment Delia and Edward move their relationship forward and Sebastian falls in love. Plus we discover a little bit more about Edward's past and Newcastle’s Third-Wave Industrial Revolution.

Want to read Ockham Steam-Works Laboratory Chronicles numbers 1 and 2 first? Of course you do!

Ockham Steam-Works Laboratory Chronicles 1: One Cheek Or Two?

In an imagined Newcastle, an inventor and his new assistant discover mutual desire while testing a spanking machine.
Appeared in Valves & Vixens: Steampunk Erotica

Ockham Steam-Works Laboratory Chronicles 2: Delia’s Heartthrob

Gadzooks! Valentine’s Day is fast approaching – what’s a scientist to do? Edward knows naught of romance. Can steam power prevail over chocolates to win Delia’s heart?
Appeared in Naughty Hearts: Eleven Naughty Romance Stories

Wish me luck!!

About the Author

Regina Kammer is a librarian, an art historian, and an award-nominated, best-selling, multi-published writer of erotica and historical erotic romance. Her short stories and novels make history sexier, whether the era is Roman, Byzantine, Viking, American Revolution, or Victorian. She’s even sexed up contemporary settings, Steampunk, and Greco-Roman mythology. She has been published by Cleis Press, Go Deeper Press, Ellora’s Cave, House of Erotica, Story Ink, The Naughty Literati, and her own imprint, Viridium Press. She began writing historical fiction with romantic elements during National Novel Writing Month 2006, switching to erotica when all her characters suddenly demanded to have sex.

Keep up with Regina on her website

Follow her on Twitter @Kammerotica

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See what’s new on her Amazon Author Page

Happy New Year!

2015 was both a good year for me with a lot of ups and downs, mostly ups. But of course, life would be boring without challenges and obstacles. And without the bad to balance things out we wouldn't appreciate the good times as much.

Overall, I consider myself to be blessed! Today, I will put the past year behind me while remembering what I've learned and focus on the possibilities of the new year. No matter what happens it's sure to be an interesting ride.

Because I consider myself to be a continual work in progress, I do not make resolutions. Each day I try to be better and work toward improving myself and my art. And from what I've seen, most people don't honor their resolutions for long anyway.

What about you? Do you make resolutions? If so and you feel like sharing, what are your resolutions for the new year?

I wish you all a wonderful year full of joy, love and success. May your life be balanced and full, your blessings bountiful. Keep the hope and spirit of the new year alive in your heart. I hope many great things await you in 2016. And don't forget to be a bit naughty now and then. Happy New Year!