Man Candy Wednesday

I’m off to France today, woohoo! MCM is late because I’ve been focusing on a deadline. Nailed it last night, meaning I am now allowed out of the country. Phew.

A small piece of excitement. My short story, The Lion Tamer’s Scars, is now available on an iPhone near you via the digital deliciousness that is Ether Books. The Ether Books app is free to download – and I know this because when my first story was published by Ether, I asked a total stranger in the pub if I could borrow his iPhone to check it out.

The Lion Tamer’s Scars first appeared in the fund-raising anthology, Ultimate Burlesque, where it was described as an “eroto-comic masterpiece of a story” by Jeremy Edwards, himself a master of the eroto-comic. I’m hoping to publish this story (and others) as a stand-alone e-short later in the year, so if you don’t have a smart phone, fret not!

But for now, je suis en vacances!

Here’s how the story starts:

The Lion Tamer’s Scars

Roxy Roxoff wanted to run away and join an office. Sure, the circus was fun and the contortionist was cute but getting naked every night took its toll on a girl. For three spangly years, Roxy had been stripping down to her well-waxed pubes, and now those watching eyes were starting to bug. In fact, Roxy was so goddamn tired of being ogled she could no longer have sex with the light on.

Phone Sex

I’m excited to announce I have a short story published with the delightful Ether Books.

Ether Books publish ‘byte sized reads’ for the iPhone (also iPod touch and iPad) and their writers range from bestselling authors (Hilary Mantel, Fay Weldon) to newbies. The App is free to download and my story, Violet Sex, is free for a limited period only. So get it while you can! (Soon it will cost you the grand sum of 59p – around a dollar.)

If you go to the main page of Ether Books and scroll down, you’ll currently find my story in New Writers and New Releases. And look, it gets categorised as Intelligent Erotica!

I adore this combination of short stories and mobile phones; it’s such a neat idea. People can potentially have a wealth of literature and smut in their pocket to draw on at any moment. Train’s delayed? Feeling stressy? Escape from it all into another world of fiction. You don’t need to have a book or an e-reader with you. Travel light, and the magic’s still there at your fingertips.

And of course, no one knows what you’re reading. I like to imagine people on public transport en route to meeting their lover, secretly reading a sexy story to heighten their horniness.

Violet Sex begins:

I’ve always enjoyed violent sex but then John lost our letter ‘n’ and sex turned violet…

I love how Ether’s covers are reminiscent of the old Penguin Classics. I’m also rather taken with this page of author photos on Ether’s website.

Can you see my head?