A little good news...

I recently joined the CTRWA (Connecticut Romance Writers of America). While I don't write category romance, the group is open to writers of all genres. I attended their "Fiction Fest 2011" and meeting this lively group of writers inspired me to join. There's a broad spectrum of interests and experience in the group, but I am most impressed with the  generosity of the members with their time, advice and support. 

Writers are writers - no matter what the topic. It's good to be among them again.

Oh... I have a bit of good news. I discovered recently that two anthologies that contain my work have been released for Kindle -

"Cream:  The Best of the Erotic Readers and Writers Association"

and...

"Who's Your Daddy?"

What a nice surprise!

I'm back

Hello again ...

Well, that NANO thing didn't work out. Life has a way of taking you in a completely different direction when you least expect it. I won't bore you with the details, but between work issues and health issues, the past year has been challenging to say the least.

I now have the time, energy and a whisp of a muse... so I hope to start some new projects soon. I'm not going to promise to post every day, or even every week. But I am here, and I appreciate those of you who hung in there with me.

Ciao,

~Dani

NaNoWriMo

I did it. Signed up for NaNoWriMo. I have been away from my fiction muse for far too long.

Not that I don't write every day - I do. My work requires me to write and lately, I have been concentrating on non-erotic works.

But, there are a few erotic stories that keep poking at me - and they need release. My hope is that NaNoWriMo will force me to focus and get one of them working. Not sure that 50,000 words is enough for any of them, or that they will fill 50,000 words - but we'll see.

And now that I've told you all that I'm doing this, the shame of failure is another impetus.

So, I am not quite sure yet which story I will focus on - but I will try to keep you posted.

Wish me luck,

~Dani

A 99 word flasher - "Communication Skills"

They’d been exchanging glances all morning. She crossed her legs and smoothed her skirt, fingers dancing over her thighs.

Another glance.

He smiled.

At lunch, they met in the coatroom. His hands slid her skirt up. Her hands slid his zipper down. He lifted. She spread. They joined. In silence, they rocked to completion.

Straightening their clothes, they returned to their seats.

In the office on Tuesday, her boss asked, “How was it?”

“How was what?”

“The Communication Skills seminar! Learn anything new?”

With a cryptic smile she replied, “Yes. And brushed up on a few old skills, too.”

Lost and Found - Flash Fiction in 99 words

She is lost.

His fingers slowly trace every curve. From her toes to her knees, from belly to breasts, his fingers travel the landscape of her body. Like an explorer, he climbs every peak. With each proprietary touch, he claims her, inch by inch.

His hands slip around her throat and his thumbs frame the hollow there. He leans forward to kiss the wildly beating pulse, singing her surrender.

She trembles uncontrollably as with each touch, each kiss he takes possession. He drinks her tears and with a whispered, “Mine,” she is found.

She is home.

She is his.

The Neighbors - 99 word flasher

"I wish we'd never told them. Now they behave like we're some alien species."

"It's only dinner."

"She keeps giving me pamphlets about women's rights. And he peeks over the fence when I weed the garden."

“Let’s give them a show. I’ll meet them at the door wearing a black leather mask and you serve dinner naked from your hands and knees. Or perhaps I will suspend you from the ceiling and suck grapes from your cunt.”

“You’re a wicked man. Now I’ll have that image in my head all evening.”

“Good. Save some of these grapes for later.”

In the Pink - 100 word Flasher

“Stop squirming.”

“This is so sexy, no one’s ever done this for me before.”

“Stay still, or I will restrain you.”

She clawed the sheets to keep herself from wriggling.

He dipped into the liquid and then with careful precision, stroked. Then again he plunged into the silky liquid and with excruciating slowness, using just the tip, he daubed. The pink spread with each feathery touch.

He inhaled and blew, his breath teasing her flesh.

“Oh God…” she groaned.

Satisfied, he admired her seashell-pink painted toenails.

He grinned.

“Now let’s see about making the rest of you pink to match.”

*******

This was originally written in 2003. It's been tweaked and IMO, improved.

2010

A new year - and a determination to post here more frequently. Below is one of my favorite flashers. I've also added a link to the reviews for "Enhanced" that I wrote with Mackenzie Cross.

Although the book is no longer in print, we're most proud of the reviews. And there's always the possibility of re-publishing with a sequel so ... who knows?

Happy New Year,

~DB

Masterpiece - A 100 word flasher

With a satisfied smile, she stretches languidly as her toes point and her arms stretch overhead, wrists crossing instinctively as if bound.

"Don't move."

From the foot of the bed, he slowly pulls the sheets, exposing her body.

He silently appraises the marks on the canvas of her flesh. From the faint bruises on her wrists to the light purple love bites on the creamy softness of her breasts, to the blue thumbprints left by his powerful hands on the rounded swell of her hips.

In the morning light…

He, the artist, drinks in the colors of her... his masterpiece.

© Copyright 2003, Dani Benjamin. All rights reserved.

Today's Cinquain

Gadgets
Mechanical
Toys that buzz and vibrate
Impersonal love. I prefer
Handmade.

Flash Fiction

Another exercise at ERWA is Flash Fiction.

Tell a story in 100 words or less. Now they've upped it to 200 but I find 100 more challenging. Sometimes I am successful, sometimes not. Not all of my flashers are complete "beginning-middle-end" stories but I like the structure and find that even if the story is not complete, I am able to capture a moment. Like this one:

*********

Dominion

She wakes slowly, careful not to move. Nestled within the circle of his arm, her cheek pressed to his shoulder, she studies him. How peacefully he sleeps, this man who owns her. She aches to wake him and feel his hands and lips and teeth claim her yielding flesh, to hear him growl as he enters her and fills her soul with his power. In this moment, she wants nothing more than for him to take her and remind her that she is his, but she does not.

For in this silent moment before he wakes... he is hers.


*********

Perhaps I should publish a book of "Moments" -- Flash Fiction, Poetry and Cinquains....

Something to think about.

To re-publish or not re-publish.......

Back in 2003, Mackenzie Cross and I published our first book, a novella titled "Enhanced" through Pink Flamingo Publications. The piece was well-received and the reviews were very favorable. Since this was our first endeavor together, we each had a lot invested in the story and the characters.

Since then, we've noodled around with the idea for a sequel and after a couple of false starts, we earnestly began writing book #2 tentatively titled "Beg."

As happens, life intervened and between his (life, that is) and mine, the project was set aside. Several times we have discussed the intent to re-publish "Enhanced" along with "Beg" as a package - we had ambitions of creating a series of stories along the same vein.

Now, Mackenzie has contacted me regarding his wish to include "Enhanced" in a volume of his own work (fiction and essays).

I have to admit, I'm a bit .... what's the word... conflicted. Yes, that's it, I'm conflicted as to what to do.

I still have not given up the wish that we could finish "Beg" and publish the two stories as a package (they contain the same characters).

On the other hand.....

I adore him and would love nothing more than to contribute to his success. I know at this particular moment in time, "Beg" is nowhere near completion and I'm thinking to deny him (Mackenzie) the permissions to use "Enhanced" would be selfish on my part.

On the other hand.....

I wonder if allowing Mackenzie to publish it in his volume would cause too much exposure and create a problem for us to market the two stories in the future.

On the other hand...

It would make my name and work visible again... Perhaps this is the impetus I need to make the time for writing again...

On the other hand...

I'm out of hands.