REVIEWS

Here's the official press release for 4:Play @ Press Release Point.

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:: Reviews/Interviews/Stuff ::

01 Sept -- Review @ It's Basement Time

"...I was surprised that I ended up liking 'Wicked Lovely'...the fact that they were (step) brother and sister is overshadowed by their sheer desire to be with one another, that that other person is the only person for them. That made the story for me."

05 Sept -- Review @ Unlikely Aristotle

"...(4:Play) wasn't all just steamy one night stands or totally unrealistic lesbian encounters. The book encompassed the entire sexual spectrum from the mundane to the kind of gross to the kinky to the 'alternative' to the supernatural."

Dec 09 -- Review @ Charlotte Erotica Examiner

"...what is most interesting is that the stories are very clear in covering topics that challenge the reader to see sex, and love through a perspective that is more accepting of others' differences whether it's sexual orientation, or just the acceptance of being able to make a choice about who one loves or have sex with."

07 Sept -- Interview @ Wicked Redhead
08 Sept -- Discussion with Cynthia Vespia @ Authors by Authors
10 Sept -- Interview @ Interracial eBooks
10 Sept -- Q&A @ Declan Stanley's Blog
Oct 09 -- Interview @ Bare Back Magazine
Nov 09 -- Review @ Alternative-Read.com: "Erotica With A Message"
Nov 09 -- Interview @ Wicked Thorn and Roses
Dec 09 -- Interview @ Amanda Young's Blog [everything uncovered ;)]
Jan 10 -- Interview @ Sexy Women Read
Jan 23 -- Review + Interview @ The Cajun Book Lady
Feb 09 -- Review @ The Pen and Muse
Feb 10 -- GLBT author interview
Feb 10 -- Author Q&A on Incest Step Relations
May 10 -- Paranormal Romance Interview
Jun 10 -- Review @ Bitten by Books
Nov 06 -- Author Profile + Interview @ Erotica For All (UK)

4:Play Review

Review on 4:Play (full version / reader email):

So:

((((((( HUG )))))))

Jess, I'm really enjoying your writing, so far. For what it's worth, I happen to earn really good fees for being a "book doctor"/ "book whisperer" for other writers. Well, my honest opinion is that your writing is engaging, compelling, highly original, and... extremely well-crafted. Hope this doesn't make me sound too cynical as an editor, but not many writers have your combination of:

(i) creative genius and the originality; AND
(ii) the level of craft and skill to express that powerfully and effectively.

As a consultative editor/ "combat editor", I get hammered DAILY by examples of how really talented writers can fail to do justice to their talent because their craft is weak or because they are not aware that writing is a craft not a form of occupational therapy. Not you. So thank you for respecting me, as your reader, by mastering the "craft" side of your writing so well and using it to help your readers "get" your work!

In my humble opinion, you hit the sweet spot between "substance" and "entertainment". The fellow writer in me loves the blithe (but very assured) way in which you control ( absolutely control...) this balancing act, in a genre where it matters so much. Heh, I *love* your way with words ("glass practice weapon of choice" got an air punch from me, and I chuckled over the idea -- also in Oral Fixation -- of a guy thinking casually of jizzing all over his ex-GF's panty/ goodie drawer).

My favourite story so far is the (last) one about Yin and Julian; it's a serious piece but you control the "seriousness" so well that it kind of mugs your reader; I particularly like the you maintain certain level of "breeziness" so that your reader never feels like he/she is being taken hostage by the author's agenda:

"She knew she was safe with Yin. He'd never grope her, teabag her if he found her asleep or passed out with her mouth wide open, exploit her for his own gain."

:D

Okay, I'll "shut up" already! Take care.

-- XP | Reader/Customer Email, 2012 (Asia)

-- Short Version posted on 4:Play page on jessINK

Rockstar Fantasy

Book Trailer #2 is done (I took about 7-8 hours, LOL):

EXCERPTS

+ Here's the first story, Black Velvet.

+ An excerpt of Wicked Lovely.

+ A preview of random pages via Google Books and/or Book Buzzr.

+ Excerpts of 4:Play have appeared in the following publications: Bare Back Magazine, Blink Fiction, Clean Sheets, UnMasked Online, Yellow Mama, The Battered Suitcase/Vagabondage Press, Side of Grits/Rural Messengers Press, Oysters & Chocolate, and Nefarious Ballerina. You may hunt for them on the writing page @ my main website ;)

+ Freebies are below.

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'New Order' -- 27 downloads on first day, wow!:



New Order, ebook format on Smashwords.

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Appetizers is a sample of erotic/sensuous poetry excerpts. Poetry's good for the soul.

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ABOUT

Available in print and digital formats.

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Summary of 4:Play: A contemporary cocktail of erotic short stories

4:Play captures the deliciousness of sexual fulfillment, the adventure of conquest, and the mystery of unexplored territory.

Among these progressive stories, a step brother and sister try to make sense of the sexual love they share; a demure young woman encounters an incubus; and two friends strike up a stimulating discussion that acts as the perfect aphrodisiac.

With a scope and style that is fresh and compelling, 4:Play dives into the depths of navigating gender, sexuality, and the lines of desire.

ISBN: 978-1-4486-4766-8

Why 4:Play is Written This Way

I deliberately wanted to cross multiple genres. I don't believe that a book should be *only* about gay fiction, or *only* about urban fantasy, etc. I'm all for diversity and open-mindedness (however one wishes to define that!).

I elaborate more on the first blog post.

Excerpt(s) of 4:Play:

Note: Excerpts of 4:Play have appeared in the following publications: Bare Back Magazine, Blink Fiction, Clean Sheets, UnMasked Online, Yellow Mama, The Battered Suitcase/Vagabondage Press, Side of Grits/Rural Messengers Press, Oysters & Chocolate, and Nefarious Ballerina.

A preview is available via Google Books.

Excerpt #1

Oh my God.

I drop my program, and I quickly bend over to pick it up.

I want to sneak out with him to the parking lot, under the moonlight, rip his boxers off, have them between my teeth.

He is immaculate, dressed in a white suit, holy-white, of all colors. The lights on stage throw a halo around his chestnut-brown hair, random, sexilicious strands resting upon his eyebrows.

He’s standing directly beneath the center spotlight, like he is the star of the show—he knows he is. He knows, and I know.

But he knows not that I know.

Lean meat and a polished body, bones hardly showing, hardly a drop of fat on him. Cheekbones and a jaw line like they’d been chiseled by a master artisan’s hands. He moves so lightly across the stage, and I think of the Greek messenger god, Hermes, with the swift wings on his heels.

~ from New Order; originally published by Oysters & Chocolate

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Excerpt #2

It’s one of those nights. Closed the curtains and locked my room door from the start. Now I’m bringing the lights down a little lower.

This is how I like it.

I look at myself in the mirror. I love having a big mirror. I like the undivided attention.

The gear, the get-up? Nothing too fancy – no leather, feather boas, spikes or handcuffs for me. I saw a couple chained to each other by the wrist with a set of cuffs once. They were making out on the street at night.

I’m standing in a simple white camisole. The only other item I have on is a ruffled leopard thong.

I start thinking of what it’d be like, if there was a boy here.

"Hello, foxy," he’d greet me in a low, smooth voice.

He’d be standing behind, holding my hand, the other circled around my waist.

He would lean in to nudge the loose strands of hair off the back of my neck so he could place the side of his face on the exposed area of skin there. Start kissing, exploring round the neck, gradually going up to the ears. His hands over my milky-white breasts, the tips of his fingers instead of mine, working the nipples, now becoming erect. I see them, hard and prominent against the thin silken fabric.

The first wave hits me, quick as a lightning bolt.

Things...start to spin, a little. What if this wasn’t actually my room? Where would I be? Who would I be?

~ from Black Velvet; originally published as 'Smooth', by Bare Back Magazine

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Excerpt #3

rave

acid & candy
are bland & contrived after
the smooth rush of You.

Lock & Key

Hold me down; your eyes
Do it better than cuffing
My wrists to bedposts.

Label-free

Why does it matter
Whether I like boys or girls,
Over genitals?

~ from Appetizers; originally published as 'Haiku', by Clean Sheets

Erotic Short Stories

I'm currently getting started on one trailer, for 4:Play -- A contemporary cocktail of erotic short stories. The title's pretty long, but that's what it's all about.

I learned more quickly with this book (than with my first book), that the mainstream fiction genres are highly "commercially categorized". 4:Play is GLBT/trans*/alternative-friendly (which means it's "Queer Fiction") -- there's sex/ual encounters between straight people (which means it's "General Erotica") -- I take some "structural risks" as put by one editor (which means it's not Mainstreamy enough) -- there's an incubus and succubus (which means there are Urban Fantasy elements) and basically, this erotic collection doesn't fit neatly into any category (as with my debut blog novel, lol).

I deliberately wanted to cross multiple genres. I don't believe that a book should be *only* about gay fiction, or *only* about urban fantasy, etc. I'm all for diversity and open-mindedness (however one wishes to define that!).

I queried about 30-35 literary agents at the time I sent this out (April/May 2009).

Here's one reply I received from a publisher of erotic fiction (Cleis Press):

Hello,

Thanks so much for submitting to us. We have not yet published any single author's collection of short stories. While what your are writing sounds very fun indeed, we must decline as it falls outside of what we publish. I wish you all the best!

Here's one reply I received from an agency (International Transactions). They were very nice:

After careful consideration, we are going to pass on 4-Play. As a writer, you will certainly go places. As an agency, we are not quite the right match to represent you, as much as I enjoyed your work. Your scope and style are fresh and interesting. Keep writing. You are sure to find the right niche with the right editor.

Here's one reply I got about Tongue-Tied, which involves a lesbian succubus. I'd sent in a condensed version of it for inclusion in an anthology:

...Here's something you might try. End the story after about page 9 (the first encounter, when the succubus goes away and thinks about it) and send it out. Rework the ending to be more mysterious. For one thing, it's a bit long as is, and I think it is a complete story in the first 9 pages.

The section after page 9, I thought, was what made the story different. There was that soul-searching element -- I'll let readers decide whether or not that part should have been removed ^^.

An indie author is what I am for the moment, I guess :P

I don't bother with the "stigma" of self-publishing, which still exists among the literary community to some degree (though it's changing). I'd rather focus on writing something good and getting it out on the market. That's all.