I’m thrilled to have Laila Blake today with a wonderful guest post about her D/s erotica book, Driftwood Deeds, and how it came to be.
Welcome, Laila 🙂Â
Rewriting Old Stories
The way I see it, I wrote Driftwood Deeds when I was eighteen.
My English wasn’t as good then, nor was my pacing or my story-telling. It wasn’t set by the sea, nor did it feature any driftwood or a screenwriter as a protagonist. In the original story, he was a publisher and she a young writer and he seduced her over a pool table (which makes Driftwood Deed’s Paul shudder a little). He was also a famous film-star in my head, and you should absolutely comment and guess who!
The original story was a lot tamer – and yet, at the time, it felt far dirtier than this feels now. I even changed the ending. Originally, it wasn’t happy at all, and it was that change which took me the longest to decide on, and the one I am most in love with now. The truth is, I didn’t keep a single line from that original story; I changed the perspective, the tone and the atmosphere completely.
So another way of seeing it, is that the story I wrote when I was eighteen – Stains of Blue – has nothing whatsoever to do with Driftwood Deeds. Not on the surface. But it had a profound impact on me: it seemed to encompass something that I valued in relationships, as well as in myself. It was my early, very innocent idea of a D/s experience, of what I wanted. It also solidified this idea that I wanted to write erotica. It made me start researching erotica publishers and what they were looking for.
Ten years later, all that is true for Driftwood Deeds as well. The story has matured, the content has become more raunchy and kinky, and my idea of consent and equality in a relationship has changed – but there is still a lot of myself in this little novella and it feels the way Stains of Blue felt at the time. When I read that old manuscript now, it doesn’t have the same impact it used to have. I grew up, and so the story had to grow up with me.
I think I accomplished that, and that’s probably why I am so excited about this release and about sharing it with my readers.
Blurb:
When journalist Iris Ellis visits a sleepy seaside town to interview recluse screenwriter Paul Archer, he offers her insights into never acted upon fantasies of dominance and submission. Too curious to deny herself a taste of them, Iris gives herself up to Paul’s gentle guidance, but when she realizes that a taste can never be enough, she must find the courage to ask for what she needs or risk losing it all.
Buy links:
http://www.ahotterstate.com/driftwood-deeds-by-laila-blake/
Laila’s Bio:
Laila Blake (lailablake.com) is a linguist, author and translator. She writes character-driven love stories, whether in romance, erotica, YA or mainstream, co-hosts the podcast Lilt and blogs about writing, feminism and society. The first instalment of her Lakeside series, a paranormal romantic fantasy, was published in early 2013 and since then, a good dozen of her short stories have been selected for publication in erotic anthologies. She lives in Cologne/Germany with her cat Nookie, adores obscure folk singers and plays the guitar.
