Branching Into New Genres

I'm thrilled to death because tomorrow is my birthday! I celebrate all month, and this month I celebrated by working my ass off on two short stories, an article, and a crap load of day job work. The exhaustion and subsequent illness was worth it. Both stories were accepted and so was the article. Now, I'm taking a much-needed break by watching lots of movies, reading books, and creating a brand new web site.

But first I must talk about branching out. I've been writing erotica and erotic romance for about three years now. I've always wanted to write horror but so far I've seen only one story published: my award-winning short story Sweet Spot. This story appears in the Monster Mash Halloween anthology published by Whiskey Creek Press Torrid. It also won first place in the Preditors and Editors Poll for Best Short Horror Story in 2008. It's not much of a stretch for me since it's erotic horror, but it's horror nonetheless. Here's a quote to whet your taste:

The problem was how could he convey his disinterest in his old friends and family while dropping in on Ipswich unannounced? He was only here to check up on Amelia. After his wife left him because of his affairs, Amelia monopolized his obsessions. Could he have one fling with her before returning to Manchester? Could he fuck the hell out of her the way she liked it, and then dump her without so much as a goodbye the way she had dumped him? The bitch wasn't above a quickie. After all, that's what he was to her the year they dated, if you could call quick fucks in her car dating. She liked to be tied up, bound, and gagged. Derek was surprised she was submissive. He thought for sure she'd prefer to be dominant and in control, but he realized soon enough that being submissive put her in control. She refused to use a safe word, but he insisted on it. He ended up using their safe word much more than she did. He was always surprised by how far she wanted to go - gagged with a ball in her mouth; spanked until her ass was cherry pink, nipple clamps yanked on while she came hard on his dick. She liked it rough—the rougher the better. Their affair barely lasted twelve months, until she found better fresh meat to tear into. She had the typical bitch's excuse—he was too clingy. Figures. A woman's excuse got latched onto him. He was as clingy as anyone would be after being dumped with no explanation and being replaced by a silicone god wannabe with synthetic man boobs.

If you'd like to read a free erotic horror story I've written, you may like Maneater. Here's my blurb:

Ben Sykes woke up in the morning with one hell of a hangover and a dead roommate. Protesters had halted his work at a construction site in a Guyanese jungle, so Ben was left with a lot of free time on his hands. Four construction workers had died gruesome deaths during the night, and Ben wondered how he got off so easily. The men who died seems to have succumbed to allergic reactions, judging from their bloated faces and the angry rashes around their genitals. To add to his surreal situation, he was captivated by four luscious island beauties who were not what they seemed. Would Ben get to the bottom of his friend's death and the deaths of his co-workers, and in the process would he put his own life in danger?

My work in progress is a very twisted little tale that will never fit comfortably into any erotic romance anthology, but it is well suited for bizarro, dark fiction, and horror. The working title is "Phone Sex" only because I haven't come up with a better title. The driving philosophy behind my story is that psychopaths need love, too. The gist of the story so far is a familiar event that happens to most of us - an obscene phone call. The difference here is that the woman who receives the call wants to keep the guy on the line. She's more demented than he is! These two sickos are made for each other. The story is still working itself out but so far it's quite bent, and it will never fit in well with an erotic romance or even an erotica anthology.

One of my dreams for over a decade was to write and publish a science fiction story, and I finally accomplished my goal! Circlet Press has accepted my short story Unfolding Her Wings for the upcoming lesbian anthology Women On The Edge Of Space. The story is about pregnant Sun and her spouse Gatria, who is away from the space station they call home to work in zero gravity with moss samples. Sun misses Gatria and wishes she'd come home so she engages in some hot fantasies and sex with another female lover to pass the time. The story describes how Sun and Gatria deal with the pregnancy and their changing lives.

Two other genres I've wanted to write in are steampunk and crime/mystery. I have a mystery/family saga novel I've been working on for ages but I sat aside a few years ago to write erotica and erotic romance. I need to finish that book! It's exciting to branch out in other genres, meet new writers, and find new fans. How about you? Have you done some genre-hopping and how successful has it been for you? What genres have you wished to write in but haven't yet?

Here's my new web site, which focuses strictly on my fiction writing. I haven't decided yet whether or not to include my article writing. Head on over, read blog posts, read blurbs and excerpts, and buy my books!

Elizabeth Black - Blog And Web Site