While I’m away, I let my friends come out to play. Welcome Michelle Polaris…~DD

First off, I want to thank Delilah for allowing me to kidnap her blog while she’s away and so help pursue my plan for total world domination. Oops, did I say that out loud? Sorry Delilah-faithful, I’ll have to get back to you on the particulars of my plan, as its details are still quite fuzzy. I’m such a tease. Instead, I’m here today thankful for having a chance to pimp my book, Bound Odyssey, released by Ellora’s Cave this past fall.

But before I jump into shameless self-promotion, I wanted to share a few thoughts I had about why I love erotic romance. One thing fiction does stupendously is allow readers to a place to explore or connect to emotions or ideas in a less overwhelming way. Sexuality and all its flavors is a basic component of our species, but for many it’s difficult to acknowledge. Especially its less mainstream expression. Having a place to connect to our feelings about the varieties of expression is crucial if we’re to avoid crushing our own complex identities. A story that explicitly touches on emotion, relationship and sexuality is a mother load for doing this. As a writer of BDSM romance this strikes me as particularly true.

I am also a fantasy and science fiction reader by nature. I love world building. I adore speculative fiction. They provide the chance, just like erotic romance does for issues of sexuality, to explore a lot of provocative topics without triggering our human tendency to shut down about unpleasant realities. For instance, the threat to the environment. How sexy is it to tune into the news and listen to the debate about global warming, the melting polar icecaps and rising sea levels? Not too sexy. Or to issues about bigotry and violence in our world? I don’t see Cosmo covering these topics in their features about increasing sexual satisfaction in relationships. Not sexy.

Now is about the time I circle back around to my erotic romance novel, Bound Odyssey. It is a futuristic, post-apocalyptic, Femdom, m/m/f ménage which also includes male domination elements. Okay, maybe not for everyone, although it’s getting kick-ass reviews. But what I wanted to build for my readers was a way to reflect on current issues of environmental threat and the politics of hate, while allowing them the eternal hopefulness that comes out of lovers healing each others’ emotional wounds and finding their happily ever after. Life can be painful, but painting a picture of hope alongside dark reality is what keeps folks going. I better shut up now and let you read the blurb.
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