I want to share with you today some highlights from a wonderful vacation my family took last summer to Dubrovnik, Croatia. Dubrovnik is a charming small city on the Adriatic Sea (across from Italy). It was a major maritime power in medieval times. Today it is a fairy-tale tourist destination (but not overrun with crowds and high prices which you might find in more major European sites).

My top photo is the Old Town itself, which was built 500 years ago, and has been well-preserved. You can walk around the old walls, which served to protect the city, and were never breached until the Yugoslav war in the 1990s when airplanes dropping bombs did what medieval enemies never could. The citizens worked hard in the last twenty years to re-build their city, which was heavily damaged in the war. They did an excellent job.

Within the walls of the Old Town, you can find history, shops, restaurants, churches, medieval architecture and, most of all, people enjoying the outdoor spaces.

I knew I had to write a story here. We found an outdoor bar perched on a cliff overlooking the Adriatic Sea. You literally have to go through a small tunnel in the outer walls of the old city to reach the bar. It’s called the Buza Bar and is a fairly well known spot where you can only order drinks. (There is no plumbing at the Bar.) You can enjoy your drinks at the bar or down on the rocks. I knew this was the perfect setting in which my hero and heroine could meet.

Dubrovnik is just as romantic at night, with fantastic views in all directions. My daughter took a photo of a gorgeous yacht all lit up, which we could see from our windows. I knew that this is where my hero and heroine could have some fun. 😉 After all, the hero is a billionaire, and this yacht is just one of his toys.

Dubrovnik is the setting for my novella, Love Charm for Gillian.

Tall, Dark & Loaded

Gillian traveled to the Dalmatian Coast to close the door on tragedy. But an adventurer with a private yacht may be just the type of enticement she can’t resist…for better or for worse.

This story is available only in the all new anthology Tall, Dark, and Loaded, on sale for a limited time for only 99 cents.

Please check out the anthology at these sites:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/1XHwiea
iBooks: itunes.apple.com/us/book/tall-dark-and-loaded/id1067454022
Google: play.google.com/store/books/details/Mel_Curtis_Tall_Dark_and_Loaded?id=RhkuCwAAQBAJ
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/tall-dark-and-loaded
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tall-dark-and-loaded-mel-curtis/1123150457?ean=2940157675646

You can see more of my pictures from Dubrovnik (several of which feature in my story) on my Pinterest page: https://pinterest.com/carlycarson/

You can also find out more about me at:

Carly Carson newsletter: https://eepurl.com/zcLJL
Website: https://www.carlycarson.com
Facebook fan page: https://www.facebook.com/CarlyCarsonAuthor
Facebook Profile Page: https://www.facebook.com/carly.carson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Carly_Carson

Thanks for joining me at Delilah’s today. Have any of you ever been to Croatia? Would you like to go? Where is your favorite vacation spot, either that you’ve been to, or would like to visit? Which photo that I’ve shown is your favorite? Please share.

UPDATE: The winner of the contest is…Julie!

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First, thank you to everyone who purchased Frannie and The Private Dick! If you haven’t already done so, NOW’S THE TIME, because very shortly I will be raising the price to where it really belongs for the length of work it is. But thank you, you early purchasers. We writers don’t just appreciate kind words written in reviews, we appreciate you spending money for our stories, so that we can continue to afford to spend our time writing more stories. It’s just a vicious circle! 🙂

By the way, what do you think of that title? My daughter thinks I sometimes go too far—to which I reply, “Is there such a thing?” Maybe. I have a title for this smutty little office-sex-slave short-story series that might be too much. It will be coming after I finish all the “With His…” stepbrother stories.

For the Stepbrothers Stepping Out, so far I’ve done:

1. With His Partner
2. With His Boss
3. With His Professor

Right now, I’m writing With His Friends and I already have a sexy cover for With His Team. And then, I’m out of “With His…” titles.

Unless… You have suggestions… 

One lucky titler (yes, a made up word!) will
win a small Amazon gift card!

Have fun! ~DD

*~*~*

And while you’re thinking, here’s a little taste of With His Professor…

With my brother Darien’s paper crushed in my hand, I marched down the dimly lit hallway of the English Department, heedless of the fact I hadn’t changed after work. My four-inch heels clicked on the tiled floor like mini hammers.

From the moment he’d sat across from me in the club, his shoulders slumping and his expression dejected, I’d been alerted something was seriously wrong. Darien hadn’t wanted to worry me. Didn’t I have enough on my shoulders, supporting us both while he finished his degree? When I’d finally wormed the source of his distress out of him, I’d seen red.

I’d stared at the paper—recognizing the terse handwriting telling my brother that his work wasn’t good enough. The 57 points the professor had given him meant my brother would have to repeat the class, which he’d needed to pass because it was a prerequisite for another. And now, his graduation date was at risk.

Not without a fight. And since Darien was the quiet one, it was up to me to confront Professor Allcock.

“Don’t you want to change first?” my brother had asked, eyeing my costume.

“Does he still stay in his office until nine to see students?”

“Yes, but—”

“It’s eight-fifteen. No fucking time left for me to change.” I slid across the vinyl seat and reached for my furry coat. It only reached to the top of my hips, but the skirt of this particular costume at least covered my ass. “Can you walk home?”

He slid the keys across the table. “I should go with you.”

“You have a chem test to study for.” I bent and gave him a quick kiss on the mouth. “Dare, I’ve got this.”

I’ve got this. The adrenaline that had fueled my drive here fizzled. My steps slowed. I glanced up and down the hallway, then reached for the hem that peeked from beneath my coat and tugged it lower.

Good lord, I was walking into his office wearing pasties and a tear-away skirt. Standing in front of his door, I paused. The smells were the same—floor wax, polish, old books. His door was exactly the same thick wooden door. I’d spent several sessions in his office during my very short college career, begging for second chances, for him not to give me a bad grade because my dad would kill me.

I’d even opened my blouse, thinking I might be able to bribe him with a peek…or more.

Would he even remember? As handsome as he was, he probably had more coeds flashing their tits and asses than a construction worker on payday in a tittie bar—which was where I now worked. And I was the one flashing the dude with concrete dust in his hair and grime beneath his nails, hoping he’d ask me for a lap dance because I needed the money.

My hands fell to my sides. What could I say that would change his mind? Back when I’d been the student, unbuttoning my blouse had only gotten me shoved out his door with a stern reprimand. I glanced down at the paper I held again. I wasn’t here to beg for me. I was here to beg for my brother, for our future.

I raised my hand, preparing to knock when the door swung open. Caught by surprise, I blinked and stepped backward. The young man coming out of the door gaped at me, his gaze sweeping the expanse of my legs, my overly made up face. “Professor, you have another…student?”

I edged around him, getting through the door, then held the knob, waiting for him to move out of the doorway. At last, he shook himself and grinned. “Delta Zeta, right? Damn, girl. I’ll see you at the kegger.”

I took a deep breath and slowly turned to face Professor Allcock. I’d hoped he’d gone bald. Grown a gut. My heart fluttered in my chest as I stared across at the man I’d crushed on when I’d been a student here.

“Can I help you?” he asked in his deliberate way—softly spoken, but clearly enunciated. I’d always wondered if he’d commanded his women to bend over and take it in exactly that tone of voice.

I took a deep breath and raised the hand that still clutched Darien’s paper. “I’ve come to talk to you about this,” I said, my voice sounding uncertain, even to me. Which pissed me off. I tilted up my chin, and strode toward his desk, depositing the paper in the center.

He sat back, his gaze going to the crumpled sheets. “This is Darien Koslow’s paper. Why are you concerned?”

“I’m his sister.”

“And he has you to fight his battles?”

“He’s not…into confrontation.”

“And you are?” His eyebrow rose, and his gaze skimmed my thick coat and thin, short skirt.

“It’s a division of labor,” I muttered.

His gaze narrowed on my face. “Do I know you?”

Something about the way he said it, like he’d never in a million years know a piece of trash like me, fired my blood. “You might remember these,” I said, and tore open my coat, flashing him my boobs with the sequined stickers covering my nipples.

“Ah. Yes,” he said. “Miriam White. You were in my class…five years ago?”

“Four,” I said, slowly closing my coat. So, he didn’t quite remember my face, but he remembered my boobs? “I had to drop out.”

“A death in the family, I recall.”

“Two deaths. My father, Darien’s mother.”

“He’s your stepbrother? Half?”

“Step,” I said, beginning to shake because my anger once again was beginning to retreat, and I was tired and my brother was about to fail this class, and I couldn’t fix this. “I shouldn’t have come.”

“Have a seat, Miriam,” he said then tapped the paper. “Let’s talk about this.”

“You don’t give second chances. I remember that.”

“And I remember you. It was early in the semester. Still time for you to turn around your grade. But you wanted a quick fix.”

“You told me to read the damn book.”

His mouth twisted then straightened into a firm line. “What did you come to ask me for tonight?”

“I wanted you to let Darien resubmit the paper. He’ll do better. I promise.”

His gaze remained narrowed on my face.

I felt a blush creep across my cheeks.

“I have to ask…”

“Yeah, I’m a stripper.”

“Not what I was going to ask, but good to know. I was disappointed when you didn’t reenroll after your parents’ deaths.”

“My priorities changed,” I said, glancing at his bookcase, his diploma-covered walls, anywhere but at his all-too-keen eyes.

“I might be inclined to give your brother a second chance…”

My gaze shot back to him. “Really?” I sucked in a quick breath then stilled.

His gaze had dropped to my chest.

Did you know that there are 1,000,000 ants for every human in the world? Now, don’t you feel special? And yes, I have a yellow ant on my desk. And it’s a good thing I do, because without it sitting amid the clutter on my desk, I could have stared into space waiting for inspiration for this blog.

Take that, you folks who keep clutter-free desks! An empty desk is a sign of an empty mind!

How does one create without bits of color and wonder posted around their periphery? How does one keep from getting bored with their space? How can you not have three of those solar-powered statues that dance in the UV lamplight? Personally, I couldn’t stand to greet my morning without revving up the dancing hula girl.

Is she distracting? Maybe to someone else, because she is right there if I glance just barely to the side. But I don’t see her unless  I look right at her, and then I smile. And that’s why she’s there. Who can be depressed with a little hula girl in a grass skirt swishing her hips all day long?

Do I have a point to this blog? Not really. I just wondered how far from the ant I could get.

But I do have a question for you. Clean or cluttered desk? Which are you? 

Be sure to read further for news about Kishan’s giveaway and the contest she’s running! ~ DD

Music and I used to have a special kind of relationship. I could usually see myself as the one singing or the one being sung about. I spent a huge chunk of my teenage years locked in my bedroom, belting out Against All Odds by Phil Collins with a hairbrush stuck to my mouth. I only stopped long enough to hit rewind on the cassette player, so I could make another attempt at getting the emotion and inflection just right.  Most kids outgrow this stage once they mature – not me. That teenager grew into a college girl, who drove around town singing along to Bonnie Rait’s I Can’t Make You Love Me on the radio. Sigh, those were good times. Once a random guy in the car next to me was singing the same song. Ours eyes locked as we mouthed the words to each other until the red light turned green. It was fortunate for my then-boyfriend-now-husband that my car had manual windows. If they had been power, I’d have pushed that button, lowered the glass, and professed my undying love to the stranger.

Once I started writing, music became less egocentric. Instead of imagining myself as the person in the lyrical story, fictional characters took my place. This was both freaking awesome but also sad, because I was no longer singing or dramatically acting out the song. Nope, just staring out lost in space as the creative juices in my brain flowed. In fact, many of my favorite scenes have originated from those moments. When I wrote my contemporary romance, Blind Love, Taylor Swift’s Treacherous came on in the car. Suddenly, I was transported into my female character’s world. It wasn’t until I heard the sound of brakes that I came back to reality, just in time to see the woman driver, whose fender was just inches from my passenger door, making the sign of the cross. Likewise with Phillip Phillip’s Gone, Gone, Gone. So many scenes for my male MC in The Second Wife were inspired by the emotions in that song, and yes several stop signs and red lights were run in the process.

Although I love that music inspires me in this way, I miss the dancing and singing. It was an outlet for me. As a therapist, I’ve suggested to many stressed out clients to sing along in the car, because it helps relax them as it once did me. With balancing motherhood, a counseling practice, and a new writing career, I need stress relief more than ever. It took me a while, but I am finally able to find the balance. Emotional songs will probably always belong to my characters, but Eminem and PIttbull—they are all mine. One day, I may create a character that is “the original gangster” or a “biggity boy” who’s a “doggity dog.” If that day comes, I will have to find others to take their place because the booty-shaking and fist-pumping I do when I’m singing with them are so very important to my sanity.

*~*~*
About the Author

From daring escapes by tough women to chivalrous men swooping in to save the day, the creativity switch to Kishan Paul’s brain is always in the “on” position. If daydreaming stories were a college course, Kish would have graduated with honors.

Mother of two beautiful children, she has been married to her best friend for over seventeen years. With the help of supportive family and friends, she balances her family, a thriving counseling practice, and writing without sinking into insanity.

Her novella, Taking the Plunge, is currently available in the Love Least Expected Anthology on Amazon.

She can be found at:

Website: https://kishanpaulauthor.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KishanPaulAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@kishan_paul
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kishanpaul
Amazon: https://amzn.to/1JQBudd
Sign up for her newsletter at: https://mad.ly/signups/119110/join

*~*~*

Blind Love

 

She doesn’t need a hero. But a sexy Marine…that’ll work.

At twenty nine, psychologist Lauren Baxter has a successful counseling practice. Since becoming legally blind at fifteen, her world has been a blurry mess of colors. Her greatest fear is also her ultimate reality. One day that fuzzy realm will forever turn black. Refusing to let blindness define her, she builds a life for herself with her dog, Jack Sparrow, and best friend, Sunny Daye.

Lauren has no tolerance for pity or for Superman swooshing down and rescuing her. She is capable of saving herself just fine. That is until Gabe, the great smelling, former Marine, from Texas moves in next door. Her attraction to him is immediate and, unfortunately for her, mutual.

When Lauren’s ex-husband shows up begging for another chance, she is confused and fragile. She also finds herself in the arms of her secretive neighbor. Little does she realize that her decision for a steamy roll in the hay with Gabe will suck her into his mysterious past, thrust her ex-husband back into her life, put her in the middle of a murder investigation, and place her life in danger.

Gabriel Briggs has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Short term flings are all he can afford for more reasons than one – reasons he never plans to share. Until he moves in next door to the beautiful, green eyed, feisty, Lauren. One night with her and he’s reconsidering promises he made almost a decade ago. When a woman from his past is murdered, his world is turned upside down. Secrets are revealed and innocent lives are threatened. Can Gabe win Lauren’s love and save her life before it’s too late?

Product Warnings: Contains a blind therapist who doesn’t consider herself impaired; a meddling, erotic-novel-writing best friend; a hot ex-Marine with a shady past; and a loyal guide dog that howls “I love you” and is probably the sanest one of the bunch.

Add the book on Goodreads: https://bit.ly/1LDxXNx

Where to buy:

Publisher: https://www.samhainpublishing.com/book/5449/blind-love
Amazon: https://amzn.to/1JQAu8M
ARE: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-blindlove-1802895-149.html?referrer=5259b43e439d3
BarnesandNoble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blind-love-kishan-paul/1121848544?ean=9781619229549
KOBO: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/blind-love-31
Ibooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/blind-love/id991255390?mt=11
Blind Love Trailer: https://bit.ly/1JQAVju

*~*~*

The Second Wife

 

If you want to live, you must let go of the past…

Twenty-eight-year-old psychologist, Alisha Dimarchi, is abducted by an obsessed client and imprisoned in his Pakistani compound for over two years. Forced to change her name and live as his second wife, her life is filled with trauma and heartbreak. Thrust into a world of violence and oppression, Ally must fight not only to keep herself alive but to protect the lives of the people she now considers family. At night, she retreats into her memories of the only man she has ever loved—a man she believes no longer loves her.

Thirty-four-year-old handsome surgeon, David Dimarchi, has spent the last two years mourning the disappearance of his wife. After a painful and isolated existence, he begins the process of healing. It is then he is visited by a stranger, who informs him that Ally is very much alive and needs his help. In a desperate attempt to save her, David enlists the help of a mercenary. Together they find themselves in the center of more than just a rescue mission. Will he be able to reach her in time, and if he does, will she still want him?

Add the book on Goodreads: https://bit.ly/1JgPBTF

Trailer for The Second Wife: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zH8RRevEE4&feature=youtu.be

Where to buy:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/1WJsSd8
Barnes And Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-second-wife-kishan-paul/1122662622;jsessionid=E60DE7A16D77B14EDEB4ABB461BE9043.prodny_store01-va15?ean=2940152223033
ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1040692792
KOBO: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-second-wife-5

*~*~*

Taking the Plunge

Kishan Paul’s Novella, Taking the Plunge is FREE

Since graduating high school, Eve Cambridge has dropped ten dress sizes, became an RN, and dumped her jerk of a boyfriend—all on her own. So when her high school crush shows up in her life, she does what any normal self–reliant woman would do—pepper spray him.
Since inheriting the family plumbing business, Pete Russo has tried to make the best of a career he never planned for. He’s made his share of mistakes, but he’s worked hard to learn from them. Now that he’s run into Eve, he’s not so sure he isn’t making another one. After all, she did almost blind him.

When logic and emotion don’t agree, which path should they follow?

Add the book on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27270259-taking-the-plunge

 Where to buy:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Plunge-Kishan-Paul-ebook/dp/B0172DZ2YG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Barnes And Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/taking-the-plunge-kishan-paul/1122845075
ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/taking-the-plunge/id1051985092?mt=11
KOBO https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/taking-the-plunge-8

*~*~*

Rafflecopter Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

UPDATE: The winner is…ButtonsMom!

* * * * *

I have a new-old story out! One of the stories returned to me by a former publisher. I’ve been working hard to get them all revised/expanded/refreshed so that I can share them with a brand new audience.

This time, it’s Frannie and The Private Dick! If you’ve read the rest of the Night Fall stories, then you know what to expect—humor, some suspense, and lots of sexy bits. Frannie has an extra pinch of humor. I’m sharing the first chapter here for you to sample. I hope you enjoy it—my gift to you!

For a chance to win a free copy of one of Frannie’s prequel books,
tell me how you plan to spend your Saturday!

Hope you enjoy this peek inside! ~DD

Frannie and The Private Dick

Bent on catching her cheating fiancé in the act, Frannie Valentine got sidetracked by a little thing like dying. When she awakens, Frannie learns her pampered life will never be the same, so she turns to the man responsible for her undeadness and demands he take on the responsibility of giving her a little job training—in the PI biz.

Niall Keegan never intended to make himself a mate, but Frannie’s string of minor disasters, which ended with her dying in his arms, took the decision right out of his hands. While the mating part isn’t bad, making the disaster-prone Frannie a PI may just be the death of him.

FREE FOR KINDLE UNLIMITED SUBSCRIBERS!
Get your copy here: Frannie

Chapter One

Francesca Valentine had died and gone to hell. No other explanation made sense. She swam back to awareness through a molasses-thick void to find herself suddenly spat out from a dark womb into a cold, hollow space. Blind, and so still she knew she didn’t breathe, her mind turned over like a sluggish engine before revving into high gear.

Quickly, she assessed what she knew. She lay on a hard surface, covered with a scratchy square of thin fabric, unable to move a muscle. A low whine, like that of an air-conditioner, came from the opposite side of the space. Harsh light shone from above, warming her face, but hurting her closed eyes. So, she probably wasn’t blind after all. But she was definitely dead. Stone-cold. Her chest wasn’t moving in and out, but she didn’t feel starved for air.

She knew who she was and what had killed her, but hadn’t a clue what new fix she’d landed herself in. From nearby came the scrape of footsteps and a tentative humming, then… Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: The winner is Nancy G.!

* * * * *

I wrote a paranormal wolf shifter book. OMFG I loved writing it. Not gonna lie I wouldn’t do it unless I actually felt like I did the genre justice. I fell in love with the history behind the Swooning Shadow fable and this series is based on that story.

Violet’s Shadow – Book One is out now!!! And you know what that means…..A CONTEST!!! Comment below on what your perfect mate is. Man. Woman. What they look like. Sound like. Smell like. *swoon* Whatever creams your twinkie. Why are they perfect? And have you ever met this person???? I’ve met mine and he’s…..incredible.

I’ll pick my favorite to receive a brand SPANKING new e-book copy of Violet’s Shadow!! And please leave your email in your comment with some spaces in it. I’ve had a rash of winners that I haven’t been able to get in touch with and nothing is worse than trying to give stuff away and can’t. Here’s a taste of Violet’s Shadow while you think about the perfect man or woman you’re going to tell me about. And you never know…maybe it will show up later in the series….*GRINS*

Violet’s spent her whole life searching for where she belongs. When she finds it and her shadow comes to life, it’s only the beginning.

Two weeks alone in a secluded cabin is music to Violet’s ears, until she sees a shadow in the forest with red glowing eyes. Red eyes she’s seen in her dreams for as long as she can remember. Eyes that make her want to forget the rest of the world. But she doesn’t believe in fairy tales anymore.

Rayden was sent to protect her.  To keep her safe.  Nothing more than to guide her as she transitions into a Shadow and takes her rightful place in the pack.  What he finds instead is the mate he’s been unwilling to search for and a passion so fierce he’ll never be able to walk away.

Violet’s spent her entire life aching to belong and she finally finds it in the pack of Shadows she is destined to join.  Everything she’s ever wanted in life and love is finally at her fingertips if she’s brave enough to embrace…her Shadow.

The past. The future. Truth. Lies. Nothing is as it seems when two shattered hearts are finally given the chance to heal.

Buy Links
Amazon – https://goo.gl/dGhdfx
B&N – https://goo.gl/bZQHmK
Kobo – https://goo.gl/5Itoa5
Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/599487
Are Café – https://goo.gl/WBQHP3
Ibooks – https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/violets-shadow/id1067180804?mt=11

Hope you love it!!!

Mwah!!

Decadently Yours,
Jennifer Kacey

Other Novels By Jennifer Kacey
Beneath the Pages
Elite Metal – Book one in the Elite Warriors Series
Elite Ghosts – Book two in the Elite Warriors Series
Final Surrender – The Surrender Series
Violet’s Shadow – The Shadow Mates Series
Aslan’s Stranger – Fantasies A-Z Series

Jennifer Kacey is a writer, mother, and business owner living with her miniman in Texas. She sings in the shower, plays piano in her dreams, and has to have a different color of nail polish every week. The best advice she’s ever been given? Find the real you and never settle for anything less.

Website | Newsletter | Blog – The Decadent Divas | Facebook | Facebook Author Page  | Twitter | Amazon Page  | Goodreads | Pinterest

Writers, they say, often dread the question ‘where do you get your ideas from?’ Neil Gaiman has a lovely post about how he used to answer it and how he does it now. For me, I usually have a fairly concrete memory of how an idea came about, and in the case of Edras and the Dragon, I can even point to the book that sparked it off.

But first, a bit of a history lesson. Aelian, a Roman writer of 2^nd and 3^rd centuries CE (AD) came up with (or, more likely, collected) this tale:

Of the Gratitude of a Dragon.

Patræ is a City in Achaia. A Boy there had bought a young Dragon, and brought it up with care, and when it was grown bigger, used to talk to it as to one that understood him, and played, and slept with it. At last the Dragon growing to an extraordinary bigness, the Citizens turned it loose into the Wilderness. Afterwards the Boy being grown to a youth, returning from some Show with other youths his Companions, fell among Theeves, and crying out, behold, the Dragon came and slew them; which stung some, slew others, but preserved him.

(If you really want, you can read more of the original here)

As you can see, it’s one small paragraph. But it was enough that when Roger Lancelyn Green, famous for retelling Arthurian myths, decided to put together a collection of dragon stories (A Book of Dragons – see on Goodreads), he chose this as one of them. He extended it beyond the limits of the original and made it a touching story about friendship and loyalty. He of course mentions of Beowulf and Sigurd and other more famous dragons, but Lancelyn Green’s retelling and embellishing made it one of the most striking tales in the book.

Now, give something like that to an erotica writer… well, the possibilities begin to emerge. For me,

it felt a good start for something, something potentially erotic, that married the comfort and warmth of friendship with the excitement of something new and definitely unusual. A man and a dragon – definitely a bit unusual. (Though in these days of dinosaur erotica, perhaps not so much…)

My original idea was to take the tale and essentially extend it. My editors had other ideas. Not that I blame them – the first version wasn’t great. Luckily, they saw something in it could be worked on. After a bit of hashing it out (and a full draft of a very different story that I put aside because it was too awful) we finally arrived at the idea of the boy – or rather, a young man – not living with his family, but rather alone in the moutains, hunting and gathering to survive, and the dragon arriving already fully formed as well. Rather than a youthful story of growing up, it became about the development of a relationship between two vastly different creatures.

The setting remained Greek, but I didn’t want it to be ancient like the original, nor especially modern. And I wanted a forest-like setting rather than the rugged, arid hills that the country is often known for. Internet searches yielded a territory called the Pindus mountains, so I chose that, and for an era I settled on that of the Byzantine Greeks somewhere between 800-900 CE (AD).

But enough of this history: what will you, the reader, get out of it? It’s a love story, yes, but it’s also a friendship between a lonely man and a curious, adventurous dragon. It’s about the dangers that arise from living off the land and outside society, and also the beauty and power of the natural world. A story about how life is more than just mere survival, but also, dare I say, about friendship and love.

Edras has grown accustomed to his life alone on the mountain, hunting and foraging and selling animal skins in the nearby town. When Dragon falls from the sky, almost dying, Edras chooses to take him in and nurse him back to health. What blossoms is a friendship, and more. So when Dragon tells Edras of the real reason he was flying over the mountain, Edras fears another loss in a long line of many. (M/M)

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Excerpt

As he prepared to skin the rabbits he heard a rush of air followed by a heavy boom on the ground. Trees swished harshly, and there was a cry of birds and a flutter of wings.

Edras frowned. He’d never heard such a crash before. It couldn’t have been far from the cave, probably just near the copse. He picked up his spear and his short club, and left the cave, careful to replace the thatching once more.

Outside, the beech and fir trees of the copse were still swaying, needles and serrated-edged leaves falling, a strange sight for early summer. Rabbits dashed from the copse, birds continued to shriek – there was a deep sense that the world had been disrupted, everything running from its natural place. Edras trod lightly, prepared to defend himself if needed, and circled the copse to what he thought was the crash site.

There was something there, a kind of animal. It was camouflaged by the grass, lying across the rocks near the drop, as if it were part of the landscape. Edras came closer to get a better look, and halted. He’d never seen one before, but he knew from its shape and features, that it was a dragon.

Edras approached, every step measured, and circled it to get a better look at its face. The dragon’s head rested right on the edge of the cliff. Its head was long, and had two short, pale yellow horns. It had a nose like a crocodile and ears like a horse, and under its lulling jaw was a small beard. It was limp, and as Edras drew closer, he saw that its eyes were closed.

It was, however, still breathing.

Edras tried to recall what he knew about dragons, but his mind yielded very little. The only certainty was that they were magical creatures, and came from the lands south, beyond Mesegeios, the sea—Libya, was that what it was called? Apart from that, there were the various and contradictory tales he heard from travellers. He always thought dragons to be enormous creatures, the size of a rich man’s house, or even a mountain. This creature was much smaller. Its torso perhaps the size a small horse, though its neck and tail were both long and snake-like, especially its tail, twice the length of its body, and tapered to a point. One wing spread out from its body, about the same in length as the body itself but far wider. The wings were attached from what would have been its shoulder to half way down its back. The wings were bat-like, as he’d expected, but its skin was not especially scaly—more like that of a lizard than a snake. It was smooth, or seemed it. The other wing was tucked under its body, and from the angle, it looked like it was broken.

Some stories said dragons were peaceful. Others said they were cruel, and loved to eat human flesh.

Some of the tales told of dragons as if they had minds almost like humans, but others suggested they were like other wild animals, and wild animals were seldom safe when injured. As such, Edras wasn’t sure if he wanted to wake it or not.

He held his spear up and stepped closer. Cautious as he was, the creature dazzled him. Even in its fallen state, and despite being smaller than he’d have thought, it was strangely beautiful. Its very existence was amazing.

About the Author

Jacqueline Brocker lives and writes just north of Cambridge, England. Her short erotic fiction has appeared in anthologies such as More Smut for Chocoholics (House of Erotica), Best Bondage Erotica 2014, and Best Gay Erotica 2015 (both from Cleis Press). Her novellas Body & Bow and Gods Among Men, along with several short stories have been published by ForbiddenFiction. Originally from Australia, when not writing she is a Scottish Country Dancer and a dabbler in foreign languages (current dabblings being German, Korean and Spanish).

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