Looking Back at 2021

 

Wow. Talk about a crazy year.

2020 was rough in so many ways, not the least of which was that a lot of my writing mojo suffered. Releasing the first Masters of Marquis book got postponed. I didn't write in my historical world. Lee and I had to postpone writing the third Tsenturion Masters book.

Yet, somehow I got through it. And I think it's clear that this year I got some of my mojo back =P 

Kicking off not just the new Masters of Marquis series, but the new historical series as well, Deception & Discipline - and adding in a whole new later-in-life romance series too! I loved writing the first two Dungeons & Doms books this year and I can't wait till #3 comes out in February! That will be the last of that series - but I'll talk more about that in my next post when we're looking ahead to 2022 =) 

I still can't believe how many people read Bondage Buddies. It hit #58 in the ENTIRE KINDLE STORE in September. The ENTIRE STORE! The only other time I've had a book do something like that was being part of the Dirty Daddies Anthology - I've never had it happen for one of my solo books. 

Speaking of the Dirty Daddies Anthology - it hit the USA Today Bestseller's list for the second year in a row! Which was particularly fun since I had not one, but two books in it - Double Daddies as Golden Angel and His Omega Babygirl as Sinistre Ange.

When Double Daddies releases on its own, I'm probably changing it back to the original title - Foosball Daddy LOL. Foosball Daddies? One or the other. 

Anyway - for those who missed the previously released Super Daddies Anthology and the 2020 Dirty Daddies Anthology, I also released Little Villain and Chef Daddy on their own. I'm kinda sad because not too many people were interested in Little Villain, so I'm probably not going to be writing any more in that world, but Chef Daddy is another story - and Saul and Vicky WILL return in 2022 and I can't wait to tell you more about it in my next post!

I think one of my favorite parts of this year was getting to return to Stronghold with the two characters who started it all - Angel and Adam in Christmas at the Club. Writing that story was so cathartic. And getting to visit my favorites even more so. Writing the Masters of Marquis gives me a lot of the same feelings, but not *quite* the same. Writing in Stronghold always feels like coming home, but, of course, returning to Angel and Adam was even more personal. They might not be exactly me and hubby, but there's enough of us in them that she's one of the characters I relate to the most - and of course, therefore must burden with my own problems.

Anyway. Moving on.

A few people have asked - yes Alien Abduction is the last Tsenturion book... for now. Trying to coordinate our writing schedules when we both have such busy release schedules AND both have toddlers (and hubby and I are going to be starting the process to become foster parents in 2022), Lee and I wanted to give what we started some closure, while leaving open the possibility of returning to the world. (I also have to admit, I've been a little disappointed that no one yelled at me for what we did to one of the characters right before the end... it was one of the hardest scenes I've ever written and I fully expected to receive a lot of yelling LOL)

We would love to write more in it. It's just not possible right now.

Too many books and so little time!

So yeah. All in all, it's been a pretty great year. 

Lee and I got to *finish* the project we started years ago, just for fun, which was so much more beloved than we ever expected, and we want to thank you all so much for sticking through the long waits for each book. If (when) we manage to get back to it, the waits in between won't be so crazy.

And I got to start THREE new projects that I've been wanting to do for a while.

Bondage Buddies kicked off the Masters of Marquis and let me have some fun with Mitch and Domi (fun fact: she was originally supposed to end up with Kincaid and he was supposed to end up with  Morgan, but by the end of the Stronghold Doms series, I knew that none of that was going to happen... darn characters having their own opinions and whatnot), and then I also got to FINALLY write the 'newbie dom / experienced sub' book that I've been wanting to write for so long!

Also, I totally knew that Avery and Nick were going to need their own book way back when I introduced them in Tempting the Domme. And that Nick was going to need to learn some lessons about kink along the way.

I think one of the most fun things about writing these two books was introducing the upcoming characters - or re-introducing in many cases. It has given me so much glee to watch the reactions to old favorites appearing - from the "oh no!" of Marissa's reapparance to the cheering when Q (from The Sassy Submissive) and Iris (from Bound to the Past) showed up at Marquis. And, of course, making sure that no one has forgotten about the other baby Doms and newbie subs - Kincaid, Zach, Brian, Rae, Morgan, and Samantha - and Freddy ;) So there's some hints for the future.

Somewhat connected, of course, are the Dungeons & Doms (since Gavin and Leah are Mitch's parents, as we found out in Bondage Buddies, and Esther and Jax actually visit Marquis in Dungeon Daddy!), my first ever later-in-life romance series. I've had readers asking me for later-in-life characters for years and it felt really good to finally be able to fulfill those requests. And I loved writing their stories. I definitely plan to do more later-in-life in the future.

And totally unconnected but taking a trip to the past and my historical world - the kick off of the Deception & Discipline series! This one is only going to be four books, but I am having SO much damn fun with it. Adding a bit of 'whodunit' to everything has been a blast and a challenge, and it's all leading up to a book I've been wanting to write for years, but which didn't fit in anywhere. Literally, A Season for Spies and Evie in particular, has been hanging out in my head for close to a decade.

But I had so much fun starting with Mary and Rex - because I knew when I was writing the Bridal Discipline books that she wasn't exactly what she seemed. And Rex needed a HEA, poor guy, after what I did to him in Arabella's Taming. Fun fact - he was not originally part of that plotline. I had to re-write the entire outline to the book after he appeared. Getting to watching him fall head over heels for my sassy wallflower was such a fun treat. And then, of course, Josie reminded me so much of Cynthia (who is probably my all-time favorite character - Punishing His Ward) that writing A Season for Scandal was pure joy.

It's been a good year for the creative side of my brain. I hope you all enjoyed it as well. Stay tuned for next Friday's post which will be everything we have to look forward to in 2022!!!!!

#TBT - Bound to the Past

 Remember that time I put Vivian Murdoch's hubby's ass on one of my covers? 

Yup, that's her hubby and she took the picture because in addition to being an awesome author, she's also a talented photographer.

Fun story, before I get to talking about Andrew & Kate, a while back, Viv posted a bunch of photos and was like "These were just for fun but I'd like to eventually take photos that people would put on their covers"

And I commented "Yes, I'd like that one please."

And then I put that ass on a cover lol.

So. Andrew and Kate.

I knew what their story was going to be so SO long before I wrote it. I knew when I first introduced him in the Venus Rising series that he was going to eventually be getting back together with his ex. There were VERY SPECIFIC things I wanted to do (really, NOT do) with their second chance romance.

I did NOT want Kate to have been pining away for him for the past seven years. Or him for her. Sure, he had all sorts of issues that stemmed back from what went down with her, BUT he wasn't like "oh, the one that got away." (even though that was what all his friends assumed).

I did NOT want them to be like "oh, my ex from forever ago was the best sex I ever had and no one since has lived up to them."

I did NOT want Kate to have never had a serious relationship in between hers ending with Andrew and then meeting him again (which is why she'd had a serious boyfriend and Dom during that time).

I did NOT want them to just hop back into bed together and she's totally fine with all his playboy ways and accepted the explanation of "oh, well, i told the subs how it was." Nope, she was gonna call him on that shit.

And that's why it took so long for them to get together, even after she was introduced to the series in Pieces of Stronghold, because not all of that was going to fit in one book.

I had SO much fun with these two, taking them down a second chance romance path that I haven't seen done often, if ever. I loved getting to see Andrew acknowledge and mend his playboy ways. I loved seeing them work their way back to each other, rather than falling neatly into place just because they're back in each other's proximity.

And most of all, I really loved getting to explore what can happen when kink goes wrong due to inexperience, how that can affect the people involved, and how differently three different people can view the same event.

What did you think about Bound to the Past? Were there any surprises for you? Did you think it was a pretty typical second chance romance? And had you read the previous books and had any thoughts about what you thought would go down when Andrew and Kate finally got together?

Merry Kinkmas!

Hello  and Merry Kinkmas!

It's that special time of year when a million things are going on and there are so many freebies, sales, and chances to win amazing things. It's like a booklover's dream. I know my to-be-read list gets particularly out of hand this time of year and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I also realized that I have completely neglected this blog this past year so one of my goals for the new year is going to be keeping up with it better. Starting today! (it's never too early too start on a new goal, right? Says the girl who keeps saying "I'll quit going through the McDonald's drive through next week...")

Anyway.

Smashwords is having a big end of year sale and a BUNCH of my books/boxsets are free or on sale there. If you haven't used Smashwords before, it's an equal opportunity book seller where you can download whichever kind of book file you need, whether it's a PDF for your computer, a mobi file for your Kindle, an epub for your Kobo reader / Nook, etc.

Basically, no matter what you use to read, you can buy books from them. Now, there are some extra steps to getting it onto your device (which it should walk you through when you purchase), but if you have some missing from your collection this is a GREAT way to get them because the sales right now are INSANE.

FREE Books -

Philip's Rules - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/569217

Pieces of Stronghold - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/548840

Undisciplined - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/633598

The Venus School - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/872536

The Domestic Discipline Quartet - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/956573

Chef Daddy -https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1093405

On Sale -

Entering Stronghold - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/952631

Nights at Stronghold - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/952636

Stronghold: Closing Time - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/952639

Pride and Punishment - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/956300

Commands & Consequences - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/956299

A Season for Treason - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1060882

And don't forget that my Steamy Stocking Stuffers book is on sale for 99c all month on all retailers! - www.books2read.com/SteamyStockingStuffers

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday - now I have to go and wrap presents!

Take care and stay sassy,

Angel

2021 - Hopes and Goals

 Looking back at last year's post on this topic, I don't think I'm going to be able to capture the same kind of feverishly hopeful excitement I had, but I will say that I am really excited about 2021. It's going to be my first as a full time author and I am looking to bring you all some wonderful books. At least, I think they're going to be wonderful and I'm going to do my best to make it so (I will not let you down Jean-Luc! Yes that was a Star Trek reference.)

SO. 

What are my goals for 2021? Oh so many things. First of all, I've written out a writing / release schedule for myself that I am 95% sure I will be able to stick to lol. When I was writing it out, I wanted several things - 

- 2 releases for the Deception and Discipline series (aka my new Victorian series)

- 2 releases for the Masters of Marquis series

- 2 new Sinistre Ange books

- As many of my new Dungeons and Doms series as I could fit in

I am also part of four box sets this year (three are still a secret and Rayanna may yell at me but at this point I think it's fair to say that ya'll expect there's going to be a Dirty Daddies boxset at some point in the late summer / early fall). One of those box sets I am organizing. *Gulp* So that's terrifying. lol. Hopefully it'll go off well! Organizing the Dad Bod Doms collection last year was stressful but also a lot of fun, I've got my fingers crossed this will be a similar experience.

And, of course, I have two co-writes that I'm hoping to work in. 

The past two years, Raisa and I (as Sinistre Ange) have released a Happily-Never-After book on Valentine's Day... this year we decided to push the release back to October. This is partly because we both needed more time to write it and also, Valentine's Day has not been kind to our erotic horror baby. We're hoping people will be more in the mood for it leading up to Halloween. Sinful Lust might be the last one of these that we do, if changing the release date doesn't help make it more worthwhile. While we both enjoy doing them, there's a lot of other stories that we also enjoy writing and sometimes business decisions have to be made. 

My other co-write, with Lee Savino... well, we got it started in 2020 but we got nowhere near finishing. I got behind on my writing, she had things going on over on her side, and we just didn't have the time to devote to it. Obviously we're hoping to change that this year. 2020 was a weird year and hopefully an outlier. 

There's a lot of scary things going on this year. I am starting three all new series, even if two of them are spin offs of series I've already completed. The new series have mostly new casts (don't worry, previous characters will often be stopping in to say hello - just try and stop them *sigh*) and a slightly different feel to them. The Deception and Discipline series has the romance and the spanking, but also a mystery to be solved and a traitorous plot to foil. Masters of Marquis is focusing on side characters from the Stronghold Doms series and there's a whole new club to play in! And Dungeons and Doms is one I am so. damn. excited. about but I have no idea if people will like it or not. 

And then that boxset I'm organizing. Challenges! Challenges everywhere! It's scary and exciting and exhilerating all at once.

So. 

For the goals that I am giving release dates (though these are tentative in some cases) - 

January 12th - A Season for Treason - Deception and Discipline #1

February - **secret anthology #1** (as Sinistre Ange)

March 19th - Rogue Booty (originally published in the Pirates, Passion, & Plunder anthology)

April 6th - Bondage Buddies - Masters of Marquis #1

May 18th - Dungeon Master - Dungeons and Doms #1

June 15th - **secret anthology #2** <-- the one I'm organizing!

July - **secret project** (If this one doesn't end up happening it's likely that I'll do something else this month instead... like release a Sinistre Ange book from something that used to be up on Literotica lol)

August 19th - A Season for Scandal - Deception and Discipline #2

September 30th - Dungeon Daddy - Dungeons and Doms #2

October - Sinful Lust as Sinistre Ange - Happily Never After #3

November 11th - Master Chef - Masters of Marquis #2

December 9th - Taking the Reins as Sinistre Ange - Planets Apart #4

That's an awful lot going on. And you notice, there are some things I mentioned doing / wanting to do (like 2 of the anthologies and my co-write with Lee...) where I don't have a release date listed and that's because I have noooooo idea. I believe the secret anthology will be coming out sometime in the late spring / early summer and the Dirty Daddies in the late summer / early fall but I don't have anything firm on either of those. 

Now, behind all of this is the writing schedule I have for myself too, so I've paced it out and I *think* this is doable. A grand experiment! We shall see LOL. 

The other big thing on the horizon is selling things on my own... Another scary step. I don't have anything set up for signed paperbacks (yet! it's coming... it just requires a lot more organizing than I'm currently able to do but def by the end of the year!) but I do have a teespring storefront now. There's not much in it other than Stronghold Girl swag but I'm going to be working on getting more stuff in there soon!

So yeah. Feeling a little overloaded yet? Me too!!!!! Wish me luck! <3