Monday Musings: Release Date for Her Master's Gift PLUS an excerpt!

I am thrilled to announce that Her Master's Gift will be released through Decadent Publishing this Friday, 3/20/15!!! Woot!

Here are the official cover, blurb, and an excerpt!

Newly collared and claimed, Katie can’t wait to start her journey as her Master’s slave. Her dreams of pain and pleasure at his hands are brought to a halt when Sam tells her what her first task of obedience will be: find a new bed partner at Stroke, a club that caters to kinksters looking to expand their horizons in many ways. The problem? It has to be another woman.

Betrayed as a novice by a woman, Katie is skittish yet intrigued. While she knows Master will keep her safe, can she gather the courage necessary to move beyond the past and accept, without regrets, her Master’s gift?

Excerpt: 

“Did I pass out?”

Sam grinned. “Just a little bit.” He stroked her damp hair away from her forehead, his fingers so gentle against her skin. “You’re such a good girl. I even have a surprise for you.”

Katie turned onto her side and arched into him as he ran a hand down her back. “What kind of surprise? A fun one?”

“I’m hoping you’ll like it.” He paused, and Katie waited, watched his face and the concern and eagerness flashing on it.

He tugged her closer. “I want you to experience something, something you’ve always wanted and still seem to want, even though you do seem a bit gun-shy. On Monday night, we’re going to a club called Stroke. And you are going to find a girl you’d like to fuck.”

She stared at him. Just stared. “What?” He might as well have knocked her over the head with a two-by-four. “We’re going to what?” Easing away, she tried to catch her breath.

“Slow it down,” he ordered. He locked his gaze on hers. “Breathe. In, one, two, three, four, five. Now out, one, two, three, four, five. Good.”

“Why are you springing this on me now?” Emotions all over the place, Katie quaked. Excitement and fear warred for supremacy.

“You are now my collared slave. I want you to reach your fullest sensual potential. So, you’re going to go with me to Stroke. I’m sure there will be several women there who are your type: curvy, sweet, and delicious. We are doing this, and you are going to try to pick someone out.”

“Try?” Katie latched onto the word like a lifeline.

Sam appeared unimpressed. “Of course. I expect you to put forth your best effort, but I want you to be attracted to the woman you choose. If you don’t find someone this time, we’ll just give it a go another time. However, I have it on good authority, since it is play night, most of the women there will be searching for one thing…or another.”

Nodding, she worked to push the fear away. “Put forth my best effort. Okay. Okay, I can do that.”

She tucked herself into Sam’s arms and closed her eyes, so tired, her limbs heavy from all the exertion. Her thoughts, however, swirled around her mind like a sandstorm.

How the heck am I going to do this?

Friday Deviance - A Little Bit Little

Littles. Bigs. Middles. I'm talkin' ageplay here today. (Note: ageplay involves consenting adults acting out a power imbalance where one participant is the nurturer, and the other is the nurtured.)

Have you ever gotten excited about something from your childhood? That giddy feeling over a re-release of a TV show, or seeing books that you read as a child and getting that nostalgic sense of wonder all over again?

Ageplay can be very much like that. In fact, it's almost exactly like that. I will say that this is a rather complex topic, so let's start off with the definitions as I understand them (because, as with most things in the Lifestyle, opinions vary).

Monday Musings: I have returned! Bwahahaha!

Hey guys! I'm back. Sorry I was away for so long! Hey, I even have a cover for y'all to gaze at!

I got pretty focused on Her Master's Gift, but beyond that, as you saw from my last post, my depression and anxiety got the best of me. It happens sometimes!
Rather than castigate myself for that to the point where I don't write any blogs ever (that won't work for me!), I'm moving on. Can't go back in time just yet. Unless The Doctor comes for me in the TARDIS, in which case, see you then!

Current news: I just finished the second round of edits for Her Master's Gift. My editor, Valerie, is amazing. Seriously, all of

Depression and Creativity

Depression is insidious. It makes doing even the things you know you like rather impossible, and the things you have to do like pulling teeth, if you can even do that much. It's something I've dealt with for over half of my life now, and some times are easier than others.

Some days it's hard to put one foot in front of the other, let alone put words into any discernible order. But I'm trying, and I'm doing things that usually help to pull me back up from that dark pit of utter apathy.

So, that's part of why I haven't been 'round much. Health issues, plus depression, equals not much posting from me. I also seem to hibernate in the summertime. The heat really gets to me. Thankfully it's autumn now!

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, trying to write a little more, add to my projects, and participate in online life in addition to offline life. It's just taking me a little bit, but I'm doing it!

Monday Musings: A contract for Her Master's Gift!

I'm quite pleased to announce that Decadent Publishing has offered a contract for Her Master's Gift! I can't explain how excited this makes me, but I might've danced around the living room when I got the news.

I wanted to wait to make the announcement (which came in last week) because my printer decided it didn't want to connect to my new computer, and I wanted the contract signed, sealed, and delivered before making a formal post.

So, I got creative and examined my printer (about 3 years old now), and found the USB drive that allowed me to scan again so that I could actually get my signed contract back to the publisher. *grins* I'd only ever done wireless printing and scanning, but apparently the drivers don't agree with my new computer any longer for the purpose of scanning. Ah well. This new way is actually a bit easier, so that's something!

There's work ahead, from edits to excerpts, but I can't wait to do it, and I know that Decadent is the best home possible for the tale of Katie and Sam's journey of love, lust, and trust.

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Reasons for my Game of Thrones Obsession

Welcome to my Thursday-13! The Thursday-13 is a weekly meme with a simple theme: each Thursday you blog a list of 13 things. What kind of things? Any kind! Just come up with a list theme and run with it.

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

So, I just recently started watching Game of Thrones, the hit show on HBO. I didn't think I'd like it, because though I'm a SFF fan in general, I don't like everything. It's a tossup between what will bore me and what will enthrall me.

So I watched episode 1. And then episode 2. And then my husband and I got into it together, and we're halfway through season 3 at the moment. I'm in love with the stories, the characters, and the sheer emotional torture that is this show. I'm sure at some point I'll also read the books, but that'll come later.

So, why am I so obsessed now? Here you go, from the general to the specific. Beware, if you haven't seen it, SPOILERS further down the list!

Monday Musings: Fibromyalgia Awareness Day

Who you are, deep inside, doesn't stop just because you're sick. But sometimes you have to put away the play until you feel well enough to do it again. Not such a big deal when all you have is a cold, and you know you'll get better at some point. But what happens when you're chronically ill? You're not getting better. You feel weird/pained/fatigued/etc. all the time. Your body isn't your own anymore.

I have two conditions that are my primary diagnoses, and Fibromyalgia is one of them. I got diagnosed when I was 15, and it changed my life.

https://www.facebook.com/fibromyalgiastories13

A Mother Lost: Year 2

Today marks two years since I lost my Mama. The best woman I ever knew, the woman who raised me, who taught me how to be strong and to roll with the punches. I'm a Mama's girl, through and through.

I was there, when she passed. Right there with her, just me and her. I'd never seen anyone die before. I wasn't prepared for it at all. She'd been sick all of my life and most of her own, though the cancer was a more recent development. I thought she could beat anything. She always had before. Things that would've killed her, should've killed her, didn't. She survived, and fought with all her strength to keep going.

There's so much I wish she could've been there for. Not just the big things, like my marriage or graduation, but the little things. The everyday things. Until she died, there wasn't a day that passed without us speaking. If we weren't together in person, we were talking on the phone.

Monday Musings: Playing with Rope

We played with rope! MDR and I have some lovely red rope that we like to use, and he decided to practice some things on my feet.  Foot rope bondage can be really useful. Spread the legs, hoist them up, hold them in place...very versatile!

I definitely recommend playing with rope. I don't mean going to classes that teach kinbaku, or even western rope, though those are awesome if you can find any groups in your area that teach. But there's something nice about just getting out rope and doing stuff. Throwing it around, playing with knots you don't know the names of, and just getting the feel of it.

A Branding Story: Searing Love

A permanent mark is an important thing in the BDSM world. It can denote ownership, family, and specific bonds that are meant to last forever. A brand is one of these important marks.

I wear my husband, MDR's, brand now, and a very good friend of ours Master O. (and his slave d.) helped make that happen. It began in June of 2013. On FetLife, a group posting let us know that there would be a branding demo in one of our local dungeons. I expressed excitement about that, and our friend posed the option of me being one of the demo bottoms for their presentation on branding. After some conversation, MDR and I agreed that it was a great idea. We even had a design for it!

I made several posts on FetLife going up to the day of the branding. I was so excited, and SO nervous! I mean, I knew the basics of what would happen, but there's no real way to prepare for the sensory experience of someone burning a mark into your skin for the first time.

Monday Musings: 3 Years Collared

The 3rd of April was the anniversary of my collaring in 2011. It's amazing to me that it's been 3 years. It feels like it can't have been that long, while at the same time it feels as if we've been together forever.

My collar is simple: a silver heart-shaped necklace which has my husband's initials on it to proclaim me his girl. It has only been removed for cleaning, and then placed back around my neck, but for the first full year of wearing it, it never left contact with my skin.

It's an important symbol, my collar. It gives me peace and security. A sense of my Owner, always with me, even when we're apart. When life is chaos around me, it's a physical reminder of my place. He also gave it to me at an important time in our lives. You see, he was going to collar me at a kink event, a national one that we'd planned on attending for months. Now, I knew about the event. I had no clue about the collar.

Monday Musings: Zombies and Edits

Well, it's Monday, so last night I spent my time watching The Walking Dead (and drooled over Andrew Lincoln on The Talking Dead afterwards). It's one of my favorite shows, and the finale definitely lived up to some of my hopes and dreams. I was cheering at certain parts, and if anyone else saw the finale, they probably know exactly which ones!

Now, come Autumn, the season 5 premiere had better have lots of carnage and bloodshed. Funny enough, not every episode has lots of it. It's due! So come on TWD writers, give the fans what we so desire!

In other news, I'm progressing on the edits and expansion of Her Master's Gift, and foresee 3000 words or more added to the original word count total. Between writing and the Lifestyle, the experiences I've gained since I first wrote the story add an additional depth I feel will be appreciated. I'm also having tons of fun with these additions!

From Hearts on Fire Reviews - 2.5 stars “A fun, sexy little read.”

Hey guys! Well, Feeding the Beast has received its first review from Vivian at Hearts on Fire Reviews. I thank her for the time spent reading and writing her thoughts about the story down. 

_________________________________________

Author: Dena Celeste
Reviewed by: Vivian
Publisher: Amber Quill Press, LLC
Genre: M/F/F
ISBN 13: N/A

Rating:  

Summary:
Naomi has always been one of the most submissive members of her pack. It is for that reason that she has received the honor of becoming the Stigma, a rank higher than any she could have expected, but one that requires a certain spirit in the one who serves. Marked by Eric, the Master of her pack, Naomi will serve through sex, blood, and the utter willingness to submit.

Jewel is the Mistress of the pack. Mated to Eric, she is now bound for months without being able to shift forms. Her inner-wolf must be given an outlet in order to maintain harmony in the pack. The Stigma feeds her beast, her soul, and tames what is otherwise untamable. Jewel must come together with Naomi in a partnership that requires no boundaries for her trapped wolf.

From bondage in the cabin to erotic moonlit hunts through the woods, Jewel and Naomi take each other on a journey through the nights of the full moon. But when the nights come to an end, Jewel has to decide whether Naomi is the best choice for feeding the beast within…

Genres: Lesbian / Dark Fantasy / Werewolf / Ménage (F/F/M) / Group Sex / Bisexual (F/F) / BDSM / Exhibitionism / Public Places

Monday Musings: Weekend editing snippet

Well, it was a mostly quiet weekend. Yesterday I got to dedicate myself to edits on Her Master's Gift, and I am very excited about how it's coming along! With over 1000 words in new material, but the charm of the familiar characters, the expansion is doing well. I'm hoping to complete these edits over the next few weeks, barring catastrophe.


Of course, you guys know Murphy's Law, right? *grins*

In honor of the editing, and because you guys are awesome, I'm posting a little snippet of Her Master's Gift! Enjoy!

Floggus Interruptus: Pets Don't Understand Privacy

So, we made our lovely paracord floggers, and decided to test one out. (It felt awesome, by the way!)

It's really hard to have a nice flogging session when our dog comes out to investigate our noise with these huge, shining brown eyes that look so concerned, and a hesitant little tail wag that speaks volumes. Like he's asking, "Daddy, what are you doing to mommy?"

It's kinda hard to maintain that sexy mood with all that uncertainty radiating out from him. So instead we comfort him and have a cuddle pile while we watch a movie.

Ah, the glamorous kinky lives we lead. grins

Monday Musings: Paracord Floggers and Knives

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Kiss me, I'm...well, part Irish somewhere.

It's been an interesting few weeks! Once again, the day job has had me swamped, but that's okay! I persevere. And get perverse, but that's another topic altogether.

This weekend hubby and I went shopping at Wal-Mart. We went there for fabric softener, mints, and Listerine. We wound up getting that, plus a few extras. You know how it goes, plus, I again fail at browsing. Actually, this time we both did, so it's not completely my fault.

Monday Musings: I fail at browsing

So, my previous computer, a lovely little HP laptop, has been retired. It refused to consistently register the internet via either wi-fi or ethernet, and at 4 years old, wasn't running the way it needed to. The way I needed it to, for my work-work and my writing work.

Yesterday, hubby and I went out to "browse" for my new computer. You know, price check, compare, etc. We found the perfect computer, for a really fantastic price (compared to the prices of lesser machines I found online), and bought it immediately.

We don't browse well. We had similar experiences when shopping for our respective wedding rings (at 2 different stores!). We said, "Oh, we'll go browse. No pressure to buy now." Of course, this led us to find our perfect rings. Yeah. We can't browse.

Back to the new computer. I love new gadgets, but I always feel so bad for the old ones! I loved my old computer, and I feel this sense of guilt. It's been through so much with me. Through school and the writing of many stories, through the long distance portion of mine and hubby's relationship...so much!

As for this new shiny toy, I have nifty new programs on it to play with, and will try to only take a day or two of getting easily distracted by things like the games. I also have the new version of Microsoft Office, and have been playing with Word and Excel for a couple hours now. I like them!

Hopefully one day I'll learn how to browse, but until then...at least I got the computer I needed rather quickly.

What about you guys? Any new gadgets, or any who also fail at browsing?

Thursday Thirteen: My 13 Recent Fascinations

Thursday Thirteen is a weekly meme with a simple theme: each Thursday you blog a list of 13 things. What kind of things? Any kind! Just come up with a list theme and run with it!

It's been awhile since my last Thursday Thirteen. Sorry! My day job has been a bit consuming, and that's left little time for the kind of blogging I want to do.

So, this week is about my current fascinations. I get very focused on certain things, and they tend to hold my interest for a good amount of time.

1. Natural products - I'm exploring the use of products made from all natural ingredients, with no synthetics. My skin, while it doesn't mark for anything from floggers or rope, is very sensitive to soaps and perfumes. From my scalp to my toes, it's not thrilled with most products. I've recently found a couple of places worth exploring, and now I'm ordering all sorts of samples!

2. Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet - I finally got this book in from the library. I've gotten 3 hats and a scarf done, and well! But I still don't know the crochet code, that language all crochet patterns are written in. So, this book is helping me learn!

3. Queer as Folk - It's on Netflix! Huzzah! Hubby and I are watching it, and it's been fantastic. The show is hot and hilarious and dramatic.

4. Editing - I know I wrote about it on Monday, but printing out my previously published tale has been fantastic. I'm having a ton of fun making changes and adding more descriptive content!

5. Dachshunds - Well, specifically my doxie. He turned 14 a bit over a week ago, and I'm trying to spend as much time with him as I can. But also, cute doxie videos online! Go look, they're hilarious!

6. Rope - Well, hubby created some "rope stocks" on the bed which actually serve to hold me in place. I'm a bit of an escape artist, so that's saying something! Now to add them at the top of the bed, and then apply toys.

7. Smashwords - Oh, Smashwords, how do I love thee? *grins* It's very nice to see that my free stories are being read, or at the very least downloaded a lot! Nearly 400 downloads and counting!

8. Music - I've been listening to more music lately, and I must say, it gives me a buzz. Especially happy, bouncy, exciting music. It encouraged me to do research on whether one can get high off of music, and apparently, one can!

9. Kink Events - This relates to rope, in that hubby and I went to a kink event awhile ago, and it was really nice. We're planning on more for March, and I really look forward to it.

10. Star charts - Yes, star charts, like you get for elementary school kids. Hubby and I have been using them, partly for power exchange reasons, partly because it's really nice to keep track of the accomplishments, small and large. Get work done? Star! Do the household stuff you really hate to do? Star! Get enough stars? Let's make sure to set aside time/money/whatever for this little thing we like. Focusing on the positives has been a really good daily exercise!

11. Aussie fiction - When I read, I get a bit of a movie in my head. I'm having a lot of fun reading new author Jessie L. Star, and plan to read more Aussie and Kiwi fiction to get my fix of that accent and word usage in my head.

12. Self-publishing - I've not yet really done much in the vein of self-publishing. The closest I've come is having my free stories on Smashwords. With my experience on there, I'm considering it more and more for some of my harder-to-place tales!

13. Branding and body art - I can't afford a really good quality tattoo as of yet, but I do want to get my one piece of body art - my brand - touched up, perhaps on the 1 year anniversary of receiving it, or thereabouts. I also am in the process of writing a post about my brand for one of my Friday Deviance posts. Be on the lookout!

There you have it. My interests-cum-obsessions for the past few weeks! What about you guys? Any new or renewed interests recently?

Monday Musings: Editing and a Smashing Success

It's been pretty wicked with my day job lately, so my updates have been few, and my ability to edit the way I really, really need to has been limited. I fixed it though! With printer paper.

I am revising Her Master's Gift, one page at a time, and it's going beautifully. I have a clipboard, my trusty pencil, and the story, and that's really all I need. I can't seem to edit well on the screen, but I like being able to scribble and cross things out, and see how things fit...it's like a puzzle of words!

While you guys await HMG (with bated breath, I'm sure), I have taken this opportunity to post my FREE stories Astral Lovers and Servant of the Sun on Smashwords! And it's been fantastic. With over 300 downloads combined in just three days, I have been jumping up and down with glee!

Here are the links to both stories, and I sincerely hope you guys enjoy them:

So that's about it for now. Bogged down by day-job woes, but you won't see me giving up!

How's everyone doing this fine Monday? Anything new and interesting? I'd love to hear about it!

Monday Musings: Pervertible objects

Valentine's Day has passed, and we have loot! Well, a little loot. In the form of a very long canvas belt from a store at the mall, which we shall soon use for perverse purposes. It's perfect!

What purposes can a belt like this be used for? Well, it could be an at-home chastity belt. It could be a tie-point (or twelve, with all those holes) for rope. It could also be a form of bondage all on its own.

It's important to see the sexy in everyday objects. Not all of us can afford some of the more expensive toys, and sometimes it's nice to view that bamboo cutting board, a set of keys, a ruler, or even a belt, in a creative light.

How's everyone this Monday? Got any pervertible tips of your own?