Okay, well, after all this time, I know he's read it (and passed it around to a few folks), and I haven't heard a thing about it!!!!

Do I ask? I can't decide. Is no news good news? I tend to think otherwise in this case. Guess I'll just pretend it never happened.

So, let's talk ebooks again. How's that market going? I don't know, because I haven't written a thing besides this little number and a smattering of smartass comments on Critters Bar in a long time.

Anyone got any good/bad/ugly stories to share? Anyone? Hello?

Well, hello there! So, it's been mentioned to me that once one has a blog, they should probabaly visit it and update it from time to time. Funny thing, that.

I'd like to say a few things from the other side of that 'recently published' pov.

Writers of erotica, a question:

What do you tell your friends/family/coworkers?

You see, my family, my coworkers and business associates are intrigued to hear that I've written a book (and contributed to another.)

However: Take the subject matter into consideration. Is it really something that I'd want my coworkers, business associates, or (heaven forbid) my mother to read? Not really. Well, not at first.

My mother was clever enough to ask if she could read it. I said 'No.' We left it at that. Easy enough. (Though I suspect she's read it and just won't say.)

The reason I bring this up is that just the other day, a business associate mentioned my book and said he wanted an 'autographed copy'. Well, being the savvy business woman that I am, I sent him a link to purchase the ebook and a digital signature. But now (gasp) he's going to read it!

Now what? Do I duck under my desk when he happens to visit my office? Do I walk proud and tall? (Well, of course I do, but still!)

I'm half way between chair dancing in excitement and biting my nails in anticipation...

I'll keep you posted! But in the mean time, tell me, what would you do?

Erotica:

A nice swath of manicured lawn between the clouds, castles and heroes on white steeds, and the smoldering badlands of sharp edges, STD's and sweaty, smelly bodies slapping against each other at random.

It's a difficult arena. There are only so many words to describe a penis. Only so many ways to describe the sounds one makes, the noises created by the bodies as they collide. The feelings, the emotions.

I recently completed a collection of erotic short stories, all written over the course of a year or so. As separate stories, they were passable, but once I put them all together as a collection, the similarities became obvious. It was a difficult barrier to break. I became hyper-sensitive to the words and phrases that repeated in every story. Stories with which I had been pleased became stale and tedious when placed next to one another.

After a period of berating and self doubt, I took a step back and looked at the collection as a whole. It wasn't a matter of replacing a word here and a phrase there. There was more to it than that. I realized that I was writing stories. I was creating characters. Each character had their own view of the world, their own take on situations and sexual acts.

Once I got past my point of view and let the characters tell the tale, things were a little bit easier. I'm not saying I completely solved the problem - the similarities are still apparent from story to story, at least to me. But I chalk that up to voice and style. Regardless of the characters and genre, I'm still the author, and it's still my voice telling the story.

That is not to say that I'll always tell the same story, for that is something else entirely. But every author has a unique flavor, and that flavor is what appeals to/repels a reader.

Was I successful? In my opinion, sure. In the readers' opinions? Well, that remains to be seen.

Phaedra Torres lives in the Midwest USA with her daughter and too many cats. She is currently working on a few dozen stories that were due last September.

You will commonly find her typing madly and mumbling about theme and synonyms for specific parts of the human anatomy.

Approach with caution. And bourbon.

Apparently, she enjoys speaking of herself in third person.

Please just nod and smile. Thank you.

I've written and had published in eBook format a series of erotic stories, some short, some long, chick lit, humor, fantasy, prose.

You may find it here: http://freyasbower.com

The people at Freya's Bower and Wild Child Publishing (http://wildchildpublishing.com) have been wonderful to me, and I am forever grateful.

As are the people of the now defunct East of the Web and the new Critters Bar: http://crittersbar.co.uk .

EBooks:

It's funny to me that until very recently I'd never purchased an eBook, and so didn't really understand the market for them. I see it now. It's a great way to get reading material at a decent price. When's the last time you paid some outrageous amount of money for a book in the store, only to end up disappointed? It's happened to me. And, you know, I don't always want a cup of over-priced coffee.

I see it now. You can log on, peruse a site and order an eBook. It's reasonably priced, it comes in .pdf or html format, and you can print it at work when no one's looking. How fun is that? Read it on your laptop while commuting via public transportation. Curl up on the couch with your laptop and a cup of tea. It's all good.

Tell me what you think of eBooks, won't you? As I said, before now, I didn't figure I was really the 'target market' for these sorts of things, since I belong to a writers' workshop site, and read online for free all the time. But I see the light! Now share with me. I can't wait to hear what you think.