Kate's Brand of Special Features
I adore the special features on DVDs, so I've included a section like that on my website.
For each of my books you'll find
trivia, deleted scenes, websites I utilized while writing the book,
and any other tidbits I can think of!
All In
(Ellora's Cave, September 14, 2007)
Poker on The Brain
In trying to understand the mechanics of Texas Hold 'Em and the world of the professional poker player, I read a couple of fantastic books. One was Poker Nation, A High Stakes Low-Life Adventure into the Heart of a Gambling Country, by Andy Bellin. This was a treasure trove of information. I learned some of what it means to lead the life of a professional card player. Of particular interest to me was the Appendix C, The Poker Lexicon. This was a glossary of poker terms that I found fascinating. For instance, you're "coffeehousing" if your augmenting your poker play with a lot of dramatics or talking. A "splash" is when a player throws his chips into the pot before anyone can confirm that it's the right amount of money, a big no-no.
Here's an online poker dictionary if you'd like to find out more.
I also read Read 'Em and Weep, A Poker Bedside Companion. Because this was a collection of short stories, essays, poems, and excerpts, it wasn't as great a research tool, but it was entertaining. I especially liked the historical ones.
The Art of Poker
While writing All In, I, of course, blogged. One Friday, the day of the week I post artwork, I posted the paintings of Teo Alfonso. By chance I had seen that he painted poker related images and so I decided to post some of his stuff. Well, how surprised was I when he emailed me to tell me how pleased he was that I liked his work? Then the man generously offered to GIVE me a painting. How cool is that? Uber cool.
Ol' Blue Eyes
When I realized I wanted to have a scene in front of the fountains at the Bellagio hotel, I tried to recall what the show looked like. Floundering, I described multi-colored fountains but couldn't remember what types of songs I'd heard there. The theme from Titanic didn't feel at all right. Thank goodness for YouTube! I found dozens of videos of the fountain show and to my intense delight even found the Perfect Song. Here's a link to experience it yourself: Fly Me To the Moon.
Bum Titles
It's almost always tough to come up with a title. Here are some of the ones I considered: In the Cards, All or Nothing, Mariah's Wish, Wishing for Tucker, and the very, very bad A Wish and a Player. Okay, they can't all be gems!
Plugged Into Poker
As always, I did some research online. Here are some of the sites I found helpful.
Daniel Negreanu 's Blog at Full Contact Poker - I loved reading about this man's daily life as a pro. I never actually included that much detail about Tucker's job, but I hope that some of the research I did made him come off as someone who made his living playing cards.
The World Poker Tour - This site was invaluable. When I saw it listed hotels and schedules, that's what gave me the idea that Mariah should have followed Tucker's career after they parted ways. I also found bios of various players and how they got started, which helped me create Tucker's background. And the TV show was amazing. I watched it for three hours straight and was surprsingly mesmerized. I was also astonished at how much I had learned about Texas Hold 'Em. I actually followed what was going on as they played. Talk about reversals of fortune! It was exciting television. Really!
A Man of Vision
(Ellora's Cave, September 23, 2007)
Humble Beginnings
A Man of Vision originally appeared on the free erotic story site, Literotica.com. It was part of a chain story revolving around a woman named Erica (litERotICA). People volunteered to write vignettes about her, and I was one of them. In 2005 I pulled the story from Literotica, intending to expand it into a novel, but never did anything with it. Then, when I saw that Ellora's Cave was accepting submissions for their Cavemen Anthology, the lightbulb went on. I rewrote it until only about 20% of the original story still remained. One of my main goals was to give it a happy ending. The chain story Erica had to have more sexual adventures, and boy, did she! My new heroine, Delphine, needed to live happily ever after with her Italian sculptor. Thankfully, Ellora's Cave liked the revamped story, and I hope so do you.
What Was I Thinking?
At one point, I had Delphine learning how to design a website for Cristoforo so she could showcase his artwork. This was how I was going to show her supporting his creativity. Yeah, I know. Stupid idea. LOL
When In Rome...
As I mentioned in my acknowledgements, I owe a large debt of gratitude to Alfredo Croci, a banker who lives in Milan. This poor man endured hours of me asking him how to say this or that in Italian. And being a perfectionist, I had to make sure that the translation he gave was accurate for the situation. I know that sometimes in foreign languages, the person or circumstances dictate different wording. He also answered quite a few more personal questions I had regarding a different Italian hero. I wouldn't have blamed him if he blocked me from Yahoo Messenger, but happily, he didn't.
We've never met in person, but if I'm ever in Italy again, I will look him up and take him and his girlfriend (whom he refers to as "his boss"), and his new baby boy out to dinner. (Update: Alfredo now has a boy and a girl. The man really should get married. He also has a signed copy of my book, which he really appreciated.)
Visiting the Valtieris - The Epilogue Blog
Cristoforo and Delphine are living happily ever after. Go see what they're up to at their blog, Visiting the Valtieris. The first entry is a final chapter that didn't make it into the book due to length restrictions. After that, most of the entries will be written by Delphine and Cristoforo. I invented Epilogue Blogs for those readers who'd like to see how their favorite characters are doing.
If you have questions about the characters, I'd be happy to get answers from Delphine and Cristoforo for you. Just email me.
Let's Go Surfing Now!
Here are some websites I found useful during the writing of A MAN OF VISION.
- Desirata is a site dedicated to courtesans. I had a fine time reading about famous ladies of the night.
- Go to Tuscan Dream if you want to drool over some gorgeous villas you can rent. I browsed this site so I could better describe Cristoforo's home.
- Some of the finest marble in the world comes from Italy and this site shows one of the quarries from which Michelangelo obtained stone. During the Renaissance, marble was quarried by inserting pegs into cracks in the stone. Then, they poured water on the pegs to make them swell, until the marble cracked. Ingenious!
- In my story, Delphine loves haute couture. When I was researching high fashion I discovered that Coco Chanel was once a courtesan! Holy moly, I LOVE when you find happenstance coincidences like that. It's like when a friend pointed out that Beethoven (the subject of Cristoforo's sculpture) went deaf, a lovely parallel to my story, in which Cristoforo also is in danger of losing one if his five senses.
- In the "epilogue chapter," found on Visiting the Valtieris, you'll see a reference to Chanel's Spring Collection Fashion Show. It is from this site that I discovered you can only attend if you have an invitation.
Losing It
2007 Eppie Award Finalist (Liquid Silver Books, May 2006)
Finding It - The Epilogue Blog
Ben and Charlotte have a blog of their own called Finding It. Feel free to visit it and see how the couple is doing or email me with questions "for them".
Genesis
Losing It got its start when I entered the first five pages in Lori Foster's second Brava Novella Contest. I was thrilled when it won and earned a close look by Kate Duffy, an executive editor at Kensington. Ms. Duffy told me over the phone that she thought I was a great writer, and that although there might be "one too many virgins" in the story, to send it anyway. Eventually, she did reject it, but with an invitation to submit future projects to her. A year and a half later, the book found a good home at Liquid Silver Books.
I recently looked back in my files and found some very early notes on Losing It. They're so early that I don't even remember writing them! I saw that Ben and Charlotte were originally Will and Sarah. He was going to be Chinese. She was going to be a research assistant for a novelist and he was going to be building bookshelves for her.
Sexy Professions
I made Ben a contractor, because I think that's a pretty sexy line of work.
So recently, I asked a group of women this question:
When fantasizing about your perfect lover, which occupation most appeals to you? What's sexy to you? For instance, do you fantasize about a prince or a hunky firefighter? List any that appeal to you.
I found I'm not the only one who thinks construction workers are sexy. Here are the top five results of that survey, listed from the most popular to the least, although the list had twenty-seven occupations listed!
1. The "Smart Nerd" (any profession that requires a high degree of intellect)
2. Construction Worker
3. Military Man
4. Warrior (not contemporary)
5. Secret Agent
Research Sites
I research a great deal on the internet, and here are a few of the websites I utilized for this book:
- The Language of Flowers
- Knock Knock Jokes - I spent hours looking for jokes that Ben could use. I usually think knock knock jokes are annoyingly bad, but somehow they seemed endearing when Ben told them.
- Pineapple Propogation
- Victorian Houses
- Charlotte's House - Here's a picture I used as inspiration for Charlotte's house. Of course, you have to imagine the hummingbird fretwork along the roof and a more vibrant color scheme than the one pictured. :)
Deleted Scene
This was an alternate climactic moment for the book, before I thought of the gazebo incident:
“And this is the window seat, my favorite part of the house.” Charlotte sat on the cushion and gestured to the view through the window of her small front yard. Grant leaned forward to look.“That’s a magnificent oak tree down there. It must be hundreds of years old.”
“Isn’t it gorgeous? Sometimes when I’m feeling down, I go out there and sit on the bench and touch it. It sort of gives me strength.” Charlotte looked up and found Grant sitting next to her. “That sounds weird, doesn’t it?”
“Not at all,” he said. “I can tell you’re a woman with deep feelings. You’re a woman I’d like to get to know a lot better,” he said, leaning forward.
Before Charlotte could react, he kissed her. His lips were undemanding, but it was more than a peck. Afraid he was going to slip her some tongue, she broke the kiss, and turned her face toward the window, feeling slightly guilty, like she was betraying Ben.
“Don’t,” she said.
Grant drew up one knee and leaned back against the wall. He nodded knowingly. “I figured you’d be skittish. I understand completely. We’ll take it slow. That’s the best way in situations like this.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Never mind,” he said, shaking his head.
“No, what do you mean you figured I’d be skittish?”
Grant shifted uncomfortably. “I just…” He cleared his throat. “Well, let’s just say I know that you are a very special woman who needs to be handled carefully. Like a…a Faberge egg. Beautiful on the outside, precious, priceless. But one that hasn’t been—
Charlotte gasped. “Don’t say another word! Who told you I—I was a—an egg?”
“Hey, forget I said anything. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Don’t you tell me that! I know it’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s actually not even an issue anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“My complicated situation, remember? It’s not really complicated at all, now that I think about it. I’m involved with someone else—“
Charlotte broke off, staring at the window where the top of a ladder had appeared out of nowhere.
What now?
Dumbfounded, she opened the window and stuck her head outside. Ben was at the bottom, buckling on his tool belt.
“Ben, what on earth? What are you doing here?” she yelled.
“Hey, just finishing up here, lady.” He mounted the ladder and started up, a wooden board balanced on his shoulder.
“Finishing up what?” she asked. “The bathroom is done.”
Ben came up a few more rungs on the ladder and Charlotte gasped when she saw what he was hauling. She’d deal with Kerrie’s blabbing of her secret later.
“My fretwork!” She turned to Grant, breathless with excitement. “He brought my fretwork!”
Charlotte nearly jumped up and down with glee as Ben fed it through the window. Charlotte gazed at it, astonished at the intricate hummingbird silhouettes carved into the wood. She hurried to him, leaning over the window seat so she could be face to face.
“I can’t believe you did it,” she whispered.
The look in his eyes made the world disappear.
“Believe it.”
She gave him what started out as an exuberant thank-you kiss, but it quickly turned into something more. Ben reached through the open window and clutched her head. His tongue slid into her mouth, thick and demanding.
“Excuse me, but will someone tell me what the hell is going on here?” Grant exclaimed.
Charlotte pulled away reluctantly. More than anything she wished Grant wasn’t there. She wanted to express her appreciation of Ben’s extraordinary gift in a way that didn’t involve clothes, but she had Kerrie’s rehearsal dinner to go to and Grant deserved an explanation.
“Wait a second,” Grant said in a hard voice. “I think I understand. The ‘someone else’--it’s Ben, isn’t it? Shit, this is unbelievable.”
“I’m sorry, Grant,” Charlotte said. “That’s what I was trying to tell you.”
“You can’t be serious about this, Charlotte,” said Grant.
“Yes, she can, buddy. Charlotte’s all mine.”
“This is a joke, right? You can’t seriously expect me to believe you’d choose him over me?” Grant sputtered, anger and shock written on his face. “For God’s sake, Charlotte, do you know he never graduated from high school?”
“What?” Charlotte glanced at Ben and was shocked to see his face go bone pale.
“That’s right,” Grant went on. “He’s a drop out. Couldn’t hack it. I even tried to help him. Tutored him twice a week, but he still couldn’t make the grade.”
Fuming, she took a few quick strides toward Grant and poked him in the chest with a stiff finger. “You know what? I thought you were a nice guy, but you’re not. You’re a complete and utter jerk.”
She herded him toward the stairs. “Now, get out of my house. I’ll get my own ride to the rehearsal dinner. I wouldn’t ride with you if my life depended on it.”
This was a scene in which we see Ben's anguish and humiliation. He relives all the crap he went through in school as a result of a strong learning disability and expects Charlotte to shun him because of it. But on thinking it through I decided that made Ben too wimpy. I wanted him to be a stronger guy than that. I didn't want his life to be controlled by his emotional baggage, because he was now a successful businessman, and as much as I value education, it is not all that defines you. Ben had a hell of a lot to offer and I wanted him to be aware of that.
Carnal Devotions
(Liquid Silver Books, Oct. 2006)
Original Chapter I – Backseat Glory
Here’s the original first chapter of Carnal Devotions, which was originally titled, The Artifact. In it, you’ll probably notice that the heroine’s name was Cecelia, not Annie.
“This ancient treasure is guaranteed to make your wildest fantasies come true.” That’s what the descriptive blurb had said. Even though he’d bid for the item and eventually nabbed it from the online auction, Nathan Somerset never really expected it to work. He’d only been curious as to what it could possibly be. He’d always been interested in ancient civilizations—Mesopotamia, Egypt, Crete, etc.—so, he was hoping at the very least to end up with some antiquated piece of pottery or a statuette.
When he received the packing envelope from GarageSale.com, he opened it immediately. Inside, swathed in plastic bubble wrap, he found a circlet of highly polished stone, maybe an inch and a half in diameter. He turned it over in his hands and thought to himself, Shit, what a waste of eighty bucks. He wondered if he could call the credit card company and put a stop on the debit.
Then he examined it a little more closely. The inside of the circlet had raised bumps on it, like a baby’s rubber teething ring. The outer perimeter bore what looked like strange, indecipherable writing between some bright chips of inset crystal, or maybe even jewels.
Looking in the envelope for some sort of receipt, he found a printed card.
“Congratulations, friend. You’ve got your hands on something that will change your life. I wasn’t kidding when I said that this could make your wildest dreams COME TRUE. It’s worth a helluva lot more than what you paid for it. This piece of polished stone might look harmless, but when used correctly can put you smack dab in the middle of every sexual fantasy you ever had. All you have to do is put this fucker on your cock and let the good times roll.”
Nathan couldn’t help but laugh. Come on, whoever wrote this had to be joking. A cock ring that made fantasies come true? What a crock.
Still, the idea was amusing.
“After the first or second time, you might be able to control it a little with your mind and actually direct things to go the way you want them, when you want them. You’ll probably only be able to get off five times with the thing. Pass it to some other lucky guy when you’re done with it.”
Nathan twirled the ring around on his index finger. To wear it or not to wear it?
If he gave it a try, at the very most, he would “make his wildest dreams come true.” At the very least, he’d have an indentation around his cock from the ring at the end of the day. He shrugged.* * * * *
The next day was Monday. Undecided about wearing the cock ring, Nathan spent a good part of the morning in bed, watching ESPN. The artifact sat in its envelope. Nathan eyed it now and then as he watched the coverage of Wimbledon and ate his bagel. He looked at it once or twice as he sorted his laundry. As he went through his bills, he had almost decided to wear it. Then, after his shower, he gave in, got the ring and threaded his limp penis through the hole.
“Of all the…I can’t believe this.”
So much for an indentation. The fucking thing was loose. Was he supposed to be hard first? He couldn’t walk around for the rest of the day sporting a woody. Maybe he was doing it wrong. He reread the note that came with it; the instructions were rather vague. Heaving a sigh, he pushed it until it was nestled in his pubic hair and then tucked everything into his briefs. As he finished getting dressed, he wondered if it would stay on, or if later he would find it floating around in his underwear like a homeless vagabond or, God forbid, wedged in there pinching the hell out of his ball sac.
After he got dressed, he drove to the local multi-media store, The Entertainment Edge, or The Edge, as it was often called. Armed with a hot coffee from the posh cafe, Nate wandered upstairs to the music and video section. He was in the mood to buy some new music and this particular chain of stores let you preview any music you wanted. As he passed by the video area, he saw his favorite Edge employee. Cecelia.
There was something about the prim young Cecelia that intrigued him. She usually wore some sort of plaid and had an overabundance of crisp, white shirts, which she wore buttoned to the neck. Her gold-rimmed glasses always seemed to be sliding down her nose to perch on the end, causing her to push them back into place. She had brown eyes, dark like melted chocolate, and a full mouth that looked out of place on a woman who dressed like a grown-up Catholic schoolgirl. She always had that golden hair tucked up in a twist, and he loved the sight of those fly-away wisps that brushed the back of her neck. Of course, he’d always been a sucker for long hair. Something about the way it transformed a woman when she let it down.
In any event, because Nathan was an avid reader, movie aficionado, and music lover, he spent a lot of time at this store. Whenever he was here, he looked for her. Not that he expected anything to actually come of it.
He wasn’t exactly a ladies’ man. He was only thirty, but he was almost sure his brown hair had begun to recede. His dad had been bald at forty-five, so Nathan was acutely aware of his hairline. He thought his bright blue eyes were his best feature, but the rest of him was pretty average.
Today Cecelia was in the DVD section standing in front of a TV monitor, which was playing “Grease.” She dawdled by the monitor a good ten minutes, clearly entranced with the movie. He remembered admiring the character Danny Zuko’s smooth confidence. Self-assurance with the opposite sex was definitely not Nathan’s strong suit, especially in high school. If he’d only had half of Zuko’s slick composure, he probably would have had a much more active sex life.
Suddenly an image of Cecelia in the passenger seat of an old-fashioned car flashed in his mind. There was a tingling in his groin, and he heard a strange buzzing sound. He glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed it, but everyone seemed to be going about his business. He wiggled a finger in his ear, but the noise only seemed to get louder. He began to feel a little light-headed. Too much caffeine, he thought.
But when the periphery of his vision went alternately blurry and sharp with light and shadows that didn’t seem right, he started to get worried. The tingle in his groin had become more like burning. Suddenly unsteady on his feet, he flopped down in a nearby chair. Cecelia glanced at him, a puzzled frown on her face.
“Are you all right, sir?”
Her voice seemed to be coming from far away. Around her, the background of the store undulated like it was painted on the surface of a wavering curtain, and he could smell smoke. Maybe it was his pants, because it felt like his balls were on fire.
He squinted, trying to focus on her, but as she approached him, he kept seeing her in different clothes— big swirly skirt, a button-front blouse, bobby socks and black and white saddle shoes. Her eyeglasses kept changing on her face. One moment they were normal, the next, he saw flamboyant wing-shaped rims made of tortoise shell.
When Cecelia knelt by his chair and touched him on the arm, concern etched on her face, it happened. His vision flickered and the store disappeared. Suddenly, somehow, he was holding a tub of popcorn, not a cup of coffee. He was not sitting on a chair in a store in suburban Los Angeles. He was sitting inside a cherry ’57 Ford sedan at the drive-in theater…
What followed this was the fifties fantasy, pretty much the same as it appears in the published book, except Cybele doesn’t take control of the fantasy Cecelia/Annie. After Nathan comes in the car, we get brought back to the real world:
With a sharp jolt, Nathan returned to his body, still in the throes of the most powerful orgasm he’d ever experienced. It seemed to last forever. His cock was erupting inside his pants; his body jerked as he was buffeted by wave after wave of intense pleasure. Clutching the arms of the chair, he tried to muffle his moans of pleasure, but he didn’t exactly succeed. The tip of his erection had worked its way up to the waistband of his briefs, and come spurted against the elastic band and oozed down his groin to trickle down his inner thigh.
“Oh, my goodness, sir, are you—oh, my goodness! Are you all right?” a female voice exclaimed.
Blinking rapidly, he realized he was back in the multi-media store, sitting in a chair in the DVD section. The object of his fantasy, Cecelia, was once again wearing contemporary clothing, her gold-rimmed spectacles perched on her nose. She crouched at his feet, staring at him. She had one of her hands over her mouth, and her eyes were wide, her cheeks flushed.
Nathan gasped for breath and tried desperately to recover. Replete satisfaction battled against acute embarrassment. He knew without looking that his pants were saturated with his ejaculate, and he had no jacket or coat to cover the wetness.
“Shit,” he croaked. “I’m okay.”
But he wasn’t. He felt completely wasted, like he'd just come ten times in a row in the space of about twenty seconds. He leaned his head back and groaned.
“I don’t think so, sir. I think I should call an ambulance or something.”
She put her hand on his arm and started to get up, but he grabbed her hand and shook his head.
“I’m fine, really. I—oh, God.” An incredible aftershock of pleasure shot through his body. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he felt several pulsing spasms in his cock. “I just—Christ, I just need to catch my breath,” he ground out.
“If you’re sure…” She didn’t pull her hand away; instead, she clasped it tightly. She wore a peculiar expression on her face.
“I’m sure.”
Heaving a sigh, he released her hand and tried to think. What the hell had just happened to him? One minute he was in the store ogling a pretty girl, and the next he was making out in the backseat of a ‘57 Ford! And he had no doubt he was there. He felt everything, smelled everything. The cold chrome and vinyl of the car, the popcorn, “his girl’s” sweet pussy fragrance. God, he could almost still taste her on his lips. His whole experience there had been so real. And now he was back with come-soaked pants and an erection that wouldn’t quit because of the cock ring he was wearing. He could feel the constricting circlet around the base of his prick.
Whoever sent him this thing must have coated it with some powerful mind-altering, hallucinatory drug. That was the only logical explanation he could come up with. God damn it! What a fucking mess. He looked down at his pants. Literally. He rued the day he’d put a bid on the artifact.
Cecelia squeezed his knee and whispered, “Do these fits happen very often? Are you sure I shouldn’t call a doctor?”
“I don’t need a doctor. I didn’t have a fit,” he swore. “I’ll just go home. I’m fine.” The last thing he wanted was to be carted off to the hospital where surely he would become the latest “You’ll Never Believe This” story in the ER. Another eruption of pleasure overcame him and he gripped the arms of the chair tightly until it passed.
When it was over, Nathan got to his feet unsteadily and gave her a shaky smile. “See? I’m fine.”
He left her by the video monitor and, without saying goodbye and without looking back, he staggered to the elevator. He just wanted to escape. God only knew what she’d witnessed while he was away from his body. Had he moaned in pleasure? Had his erection throbbed visibly in his pants? Assuming the worst, he decided to avoid coming to this store for at least a month. Even then, he would wear sunglasses and a baseball cap in case he ran into her.
Once downstairs, not too many people looked at him as he walked quickly out of the store into the parking lot. He was thankful he’d chosen dark colored pants; the wet spot wasn’t that obvious.
When he finally got to his car, he collapsed in the driver’s seat and closed his eyes. That was a complete disaster, he thought. His body was buffeted again with another post-orgasmic orgasm, and he gasped for breath. When it was over, he undid his pants and pulled the artifact off his dick. Just as he threw it onto the passenger seat, he noticed that one of the inset jewels wasn’t as bright as the others.
No wonder, he told himself. It’s probably covered with come.
* * * * *
Cecelia Dawson stood with one hand over her fluttering heart as she watched the strange man stagger away from her.
Never in her whole life had she ever witnessed anything like that. Ever. She wasn’t entirely, positively sure, but she thought that he might have had an orgasm right before her eyes. She felt her cheeks flush and her heart speed up again. She looked around, but no one was looking at her. The man was waiting for the elevator.
The minute she had seen him wavering on his feet, she had noticed the telltale bulge in his pants; it had been blatantly obvious. And, Lord forgive her, she hadn’t been able to tear her gaze away from it. He had dropped into the chair, and then only moments later his whole body had stiffened. A slightly darker stain had appeared on his pants, near where she thought the tip was. The stain had grown steadily larger as she watched his erection throb rhythmically.
Cecelia couldn’t believe she had brazenly crouched there and stared at him—watched him climax. She had told herself initially that it was because she was concerned for his welfare, but now she had to admit that watching him had given her a hot rush of sexual pleasure “down there”.
When he woke up and spoke to her, she was ashamed for feeling that. Maybe he was ill, and it wasn’t an orgasm. Maybe he was incontinent.
But then he had shuddered again, and his groan was unmistakably one of pleasure. True, she definitely wasn’t the most sexually experienced person on the planet, but the wrenching noise that issued from his throat couldn’t be anything else.
The elevator opened and he staggered inside.
Before she could think about it, she made for the stairs and hurried down. When she got to the bottom, he was just getting off the elevator. She followed him.
