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

Mature Romance by Regina Kammer

It happens to the best of us. It happens to the worst of us. But we’re lucky if it happens to us at all.

Getting older.

As we tally off the years, we get a little soft around the middle, our knees creak when we climb stairs, our muscles complain if we try a new dance move, our fifty shades of youthful tresses dim to one shade of gray.

And yet, we still crave romance, we still yearn for love. Because, even though we’ve grown older, we’re still human. We may not have the raging hormones of youth, but the heart still desires emotional satisfaction.

So it is with romance novel characters.

Back in the day, romance novels mostly dealt with the idea of first love, that intense Romeo and Juliet passion that gripped a couple with such fervor they would do anything for each other. It’s great to read such novels that transport one back to teenaged or college days (although Regency heroes all seem to be about thirty-five, at which age they realize they must end their rakish ways). But we readers get older and sometimes it’s difficult to feel empathy toward a heroine whose biggest worry is what to wear to the ball or ohmygod is anyone going to ask me to dance because I’m so ugly when anyone over the age of forty knows that all eighteen-year-olds are beautiful. Every single damn one of them.

So, as romance readership grows older, they demand older characters with the worries and conflicts of maturity.

My first published story, "An Age Play", dealt with an older married couple shaken up by a proposal from a young man. I was in my early forties and had been married for at least a decade when I wrote the story, so could easily construct the characters and the what-if scenario. What’s interesting is that women readers like the story because the heroine does something she’ll probably never get a chance to do ever again because of her age. Male readers tend to not like the story probably because they identify with the middle-aged husband and not the youthful protagonist.

I’ve written ingénue heroines – Clara, Helena, Sophia (when she’s in Disobedience By Design) – but I do tend to gravitate to more mature characters. Why? I’m not on some mission to provide readership with older heroes and heroines, I just find their issues way more complex and interesting. There’s more backstory and there’s been more self-examination. All of this leads to confronting conflicts differently.

I’ll give some examples and try very hard not to include spoilers. Let’s start with Misterotica’s favorite hero, Paul Bridgers in The General’s Wife. Paul is in his thirties so he’s not totally in that mature character zone, but he’s probably in the mature demographic for 1777. Paul has a relationship with the heroine Clara that could go in many different ways, but, as he’s old enough to know a bit about himself and what he wants out of life, he chooses a particular path. His mature decision is the impetus that thrusts the story toward its happily-ever-after.

In Disobedience By Design, the young hero and heroine, Joseph and Sophia, take a huge risk with their lives and love despite knowing the consequences will tear Sophia’s family apart and upend aristocratic society. Twenty years later, in Where Destiny Plays, Sophia’s brother Arthur is faced with sacrificing his own heart to reunite the family torn asunder by the rashness of youth. Because Arthur is in his mid-forties, he approaches finding a solution with rationality and less risk-taking despite being tempted toward recklessness.

My mature heroines have different concerns than my younger heroines. While teenaged Clara, Annabella (The General’s Wife), and Helena have a world of endless possibilities before them, my mature heroines have already made choices along the way. Lavinia (Where Destiny Plays), Jean ("An Age Play"), and Jennie ("Silent Sky") each have chosen a child-free life. Laurie of "Window Display" is thoroughly committed to an academic career path. These heroines want romance to fit into their lives, not the other way around.

Likewise, my mature heroes have been settled in their bachelor ways for a lot longer than the canonical thirty-five-year-old Regency rake. Zeuster at the end of Hadrian and Sabina, Julius in Where Destiny Plays, and Arthur in Where Destiny Plays have resigned themselves to living the solitary male life, perhaps with a lover every once in a while.

But true love finds each and every one of my heroes and heroines despite their years. Because love is ageless and timeless. Unlike my knees.

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

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Reminiscing

On April 21 it was five years since Siren published my first erotic romance, “Intensity”. On 1 June my second erotic romance was released at a different publisher and in July I had an MF romance debut at a third publisher. Then in September my second erotic ménage was released by Siren. After five years publishing erotic romance I’m very aware that almost none of the authors I knew then are still writing. Or if they are, they’re using names I don’t recognize.
Today I have 110 unique titles published, not counting ones I’ve gotten the rights back to and self-published or made into anthologies, and not counting print books or audio books of ebooks. Five of the publishers I’ve been with have closed or I’ve no longer wanted to be associated with them. All but once I managed to get all my rights back in time. I’m still very happy writing for three different publishers, as well as doing some indi publishing.

Being part of the Naughty Literati is a new type of venture for me. I’ve self published some old books out of contract for which I’ve gotten my rights back. Some of them I even made into anthologies of similar kinds of books. I have one of male/male romances and another of lesbian romances for example.

I’ve written a story for each of the Naughty Literati’s boxed sets so far. A ménage for Naughty List, “Jewel’s Ménage Christmas”, and MM stories for the next three. “Chocolate-Coated Reunion” for Naughty Hearts, “The Loch Ness Monster, Romeo and Julio” for Naughty Flings, and “Fireworks at the Lake” for Naughty Escapes.
I enjoy reading across a range of genres so that’s the way I write as well, across genres.

Here’s a taste of “Fireworks at the Lake”.
Andrew didn’t want to spend the Fourth of July long weekend with the people from the office so he goes to Lake Superior instead.
There he sees Luke, a blond Viking who arouses every craving for love and lust inside him. But can he overcome his low self-esteem from when Rory rejected his love and open his heart to another man?

Excerpt
Andrew had spent most of the afternoon trying not to stare at the blond Viking stretched out on a lawn chair with the ripples from the lake running up and over his toes. The blond had removed his T-shirt and placed his Stetson over his face, but not before Andrew had seen the intense blue of his eyes and the sharp ridge of his nose. Since then Andrew had spent his time appreciating the Viking’s muscled arms and shoulders, his ripped abs and the long, long line of his legs—right down to the toes currently buried under an inch of water. Long, narrow toes, a fitting ending to the long, lean legs that disappeared inside baggy, knee-length shorts.
Likely, his view of the Viking was going to be the most exciting part of his Fourth of July weekend this year. Still, life wasn’t too bad. In fact, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. A bunch of the people from the office had planned to spend the day at a cookout in a city park. Andrew didn’t mind working with them, but he wasn’t ready to spend his vacation days with them as well, which was why he’d decided to come here to the lake for the three-day Fourth of July weekend.
Originally he’d planned to stay on the shore until the nine o’clock “family” fireworks display, then head back into the small tourist town for a meal before the midnight lakeside fireworks. But now his plans were liable to change. If the Viking stayed here, he’d stay. If the Viking went off with friends, that would be the end of his happy thoughts of getting to know the man. The only problem was, he hadn’t quite worked out how to get to know the blond yet.
Part of Andrew wanted to just sit and wait. The Viking had been lying there for a couple of hours already, and unless he planned to get quite wet, he’d have to move his lawn chair soon, as the tide was coming in. Likely when he stood up, Andrew could catch his gaze and say hello. Or something. On the other hand, it seemed rude to keep staring—or pretending not to stare—and not speak. But then, perhaps it would be safer to do nothing at all and just wait and watch. So Andrew waited and watched and tried to make up his mind what to do. Part of the problem was that his relationship with Rory had damaged his self-confidence.
He’d loved Rory passionately, far more passionately than Rory had ever loved him. Andrew had wanted them to live together, to settle down, to be a real couple, but Rory had never agreed to that. Gradually Andrew had realized that they were drifting apart, no matter how hard he’d tried to keep them together. Finally he’d understood that although Rory had been the man for him, he couldn’t fulfill Rory. After that had come a time of intense pain and anguish. A time when he’d wondered if he’d ever be enough to make another man happy. But that was last year, and Andrew was ready to try again. But only with someone who at least thought he might be able to love Andrew back.
Andrew stared at the Viking. He knew nothing about this man except that the blond was delicious eye-candy. However, something strong and powerful drew him to the Viking. Could this be his chance at happiness? Or would it be just another Rory who couldn’t return his love?

Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Naughty-Escapes-Eleven-Vacation-Getaways-ebook/dp/B00ZJJ1QSC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1434251533&sr=1-1&keywords=Naughty+Escapes

Berengaria Brown’s links:
Blog: http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/
Website: http://berengariabrown.com/
Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/berengaria-brown
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Berengaria-Brown/e/B00541R3YQ/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1419237103&sr=1-2-ent
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

Naughty Escapes video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG3buFFmJrw