Ramblings From This Chick: Guest Post with Author Elizabeth Dunk and Giveaway

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Guest Post with Author Elizabeth Dunk and Giveaway

Meet Elizabeth Dunk, author of Release.

Elizabeth Dunk is the contemporary romance and erotica-writing alter ego of Nicole Murphy, who cut her teeth writing science fiction and fantasy. This is the third Elizabeth Dunk book — Arranged to Love and The Lies We Tell were published by Escape Publishing in 2013. As Nicole, she has dozens of short stories in print and has published an urban fantasy trilogy, The Dream of Asarlai. Her science fiction romance trilogy The Jorda Series will be published by Escape, with the first book Loving the Prince out in August.

Find Elizabeth at:

| Site | Facebook | Twitter |

The Places you Write

When you’re a writer, the dream is to have a special place to write. I have an office – I can shut the door, shut out the world and lose myself in my books. It’s ergonomically set up for me. I feel comfortable and free in there.

But sometimes, you don’t get the luxury of the office. You might not have one. You might have limited time to be in your office. So you have to work out how to write in other places.

You’ll hear a lot of writers talk about cafes and I’ll admit, they are a fun place to write. Not only because getting a great coffee is just a few steps away (and there is a saying – a writer is a machine for turning coffee into stories) but because you get to people watch. You overhear snippets of conversation, or better still the people are too far away to hear so you’re watching them and trying to guess the conversation. That gets the juices flowing.

I do a fair bit of writing with friends. I’m part of a writer’s group and we organise a retreat each year, where we disappear for two weeks and just write. Well, not just write, but we drink and talk and eat and visit beautiful spots as well. It’s glorious! We’ll often get together on long weekends.

One of the stories in Release, the collection of paranormal erotic novellas just released by Escape Publishing, was written on one such weekend (that story is Live and Let Go, the second for those of you reading along at home). Now, I’ll admit that while I’ve done a fair bit of writing in company, I’ve always found it a little difficult to get fully into writing sex scenes with my friends sitting around me. It’s a little difficult to become aroused in company. So writing erotica when they’re just metres away proved a real challenge. Particularly because the only person at that point actually sitting at the table with me was a male friend. At first he didn’t know what I was writing, until another friend (who was in her office – this was happening at her place) took great joy in informing him. The rest of the day was kinda uncomfortable. But it also unlocked in me the ability to put aside my surroundings and write sex whenever and whereever I needed to.

Which served me well because thanks to work commitments bumping up against deadlines and the like, the third story (Truth in Action) was written on a plane. Believe me, you need to not be worried about who is around you, what they’re doing, what they might read over your shoulder, when you’re writing erotica on a plane. Particularly when said erotica involves your first ever girl on girl sex scene.

There was a moment when a couple of rambunctious toddlers started up and down the aisle, their parents following, and I wondered what they’d think if they happened to look down at my screen and read what I was doing…

But I did it, and thanks to a conversation with some friends on Twitter later, even managed to work a little plane/flying pun into the scene to honour where it was created.

So it’s important that you develop the ability to push aside where you are, what people might think, in order to write. And the only way to do that is to put yourself into uncomfortable situations and then work your way through them.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering – that friend is still able to look me in the eye and talk to me. That said, he hasn’t read the book yet…

Four stories of eroticism, strength, experimentation, and ultimate salvation.

Cursed after death to live in grey nothingness until they atone for their sins, four spirits have spent centuries doing good for others. Finally they stumble upon the true key to their salvation — because they hurt women in their lives, they’ll only find release by now helping women to become all they should be.

One by one, the spirits meet a woman and as each sexual delight unfurls, the grey nothingness disappears a little more. As the women find their happily ever after, they grant the spirits a chance at peace for eternity.

Follow the journey of four remarkable women — Luisa, Anna, Cara, and Jan — and the four spirits that set them on a new path to sexual freedom and boundless pleasure.

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes |

‘I’ve never seen anyone kiss the house before.’

Luisa dropped the book and jumped to her feet, ready to run. But then she got a good look at her visitor and all thoughts of running faded. He was magnificent. And just a little familiar. Where had she seen him before?

She pushed the question away to focus on the beauty before her. Just over six foot, she would guess: black hair that curled around his ears and collar; bright green eyes set in chiselled features; full lips, and a body that was wide and muscular and pulled at the black jumper and slacks in a way that had her mouth watering.

She took two steps backwards, enjoying looking at him but knowing distance was a good thing until she was sure he was safe. She considered what to say and decided to remain silent until she felt less scared.

He smiled, and became even more gorgeous. ‘I am pleased that you like the house so much, Luisa Santelli. It’s important that the people who own this house love it.’

A ghost, she decided. The spirit of the house. That was why she hadn’t heard him come in, why she wasn’t scared of him. He was part of her house. The sexiest part of it.

She'd always been a sucker for dark hair and green eyes. Her first boyfriend had that colouring and until her parents had discovered what they were doing and whisked her off to Italy, he'd been doing an excellent job in teaching her the pleasure that came from two bodies joining.

She hadn't thought of Paul for ages — she wondered if he now looked anywhere near as good as the spirit of her house.

Those gorgeous, full, very kissable lips moved again. ‘I’m also very pleased that you aren’t scared of me. I thought you wouldn’t be. I don’t normally appear so blatantly to the owners. I’m generally more a see-me-in-your-dreams sort of guy.’ He grinned.

‘What sort of dreams?’ Luisa asked.

‘That depends on the person.’ He started to walk towards her. ‘I had tea and chats with old Mrs Wilson, and was the bearer of children for the Chandrams. With you, however, I think the dreams will be a little hotter than that.’ He stood right in front of her, close enough to touch, and he smelt as good as he looked – spicy, sultry and right.

‘I can feel your heat.’ His voice dropped to a whisper. ‘I know you see a side of this place that no one has ever seen before, the sensual side.’

Oh God, Luisa thought as heat rushed over her. Here he was — a man, sexy as hell, sounding more than willing to play with her. Why did he have to be a ghost? Why couldn’t he be someone she could touch?

Then he lifted his hand, stroked her cheek and she felt it, as real a touch as she’d ever had. Her heart thudded. His finger traced the side of her face, under her chin and then lifted it a little.

She looked up at him, green eyes glittering at her. Tremors moved through her body. He was real, and that meant she needed to consider whether she could let herself go, have fun with him, learn what pleased her and what didn’t.