Changes - Official Moving Announcement

I have moved to: http://linasacher.com. Come see me.

Maybe you've noticed some changes around here. In my last blog post, I mentioned that I'm doing some writing and proofreading/ book consulting (editing?) work. So this is an official announcement that I'm going to be doing a bit more with this blog than just reviews and author interviews. Don't get me wrong. I love doing reviews and author interviews. But I don't see myself being limited to that. 

When I first started this blog, I knew that I wanted to talk about the books I've been reading and that is what I had based this set-up on. But, as I've been doing this for a few months now and getting more involved in this community, I realized that I had to revise my goals and my vision over the long term. I've looked around and I'm not your typical book blogger (I love the book bloggers, you are all awesome, btw), but I don't fit the mold of recommendations, book news, giveaways, and author highlights. Which is why I've been hesitant to go full force with this blog the way I had it formatted before. It wasn't really me. It felt like something was missing. 

Now that I've had the opportunity to do some proofreading and some beta reading, I've realized that I am very good at that. I catch things that would otherwise slip through the cracks and then get caught by reviewers who pick at and, sometimes, tear up the stories. I'm no exception to that. As a reviewer, I don't hold back. Well, I hold back from being mean, but I don't hold back my honest critique. This made me realize that I'd much rather provide that critique before the work has been published, when there's still time to fix it, so that when the reviewers get a hold of it, they will rave, not grouse.

So I thought long and hard about this and the result is that I will continue to write reviews and share my oh-so-valuable opinions with you, but also there will be more writing and editing - shameless plug: Dear Indie Authors: As I said above, I am so good at the editing and don't you want me to point out all the weaknesses in your story before the book is published and I'm forced to comment on it in my review? Of course, you would! I'm directing this mostly at Indie Authors, because I realize that resources are limited and budgets are tight when there is no big publishing house funding your endeavors. So, I get that and my rates are very reasonable, specifically geared toward you. 

Okay, so that's out there now. 

The other HUGE change is that I'm changing my name to better reflect my heritage and who I am. Lina Sacher. Seems like a typical sounding name, right? Sure, that's part of why I chose it. If you can figure out the meaning and how it represents me, I'll totally give you a cookie. I'll bake it myself. In my oven. (That's what she said.)

And, yes, I know, another and... this is the final change, though - I'm moving! Yes, I'm moving to wordpress (linasacher.com). I love google and blogger has been good to me, but, since I'm changing everything and I have to switch everything over either way, I figured I'd switch to a more user friendly platform. No offense, blogger. You were good to me. I'm just not a tech whiz and you confounded me quite a few times. 

Conclusion: 

Things that will be the same: 

Reviews, opinions, The Hot Seat (author interviews), social commentary

Things that will be different: 

Editing services (Authors feel free to email me: lina.words@gmail.com)

Writing - more information about my writing project coming soon(ish)

New blog home: http://linasacher.com. Follow me there (please). Also go like my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, and stalk me on Goodreads. 

Bear With Me Please

It's been pretty quiet around here lately. Have you noticed? Well, I'm working on a little project and I'm planning on moving from this little bloggy blog to another domain. I will post details as soon as it's ready. Since I'm pretty technologically challenged (OMG, have you noticed?? I'd say that it's pretty obvious, but whatever), so it might take a few minutes ... days ... weeks? Hopefully, not weeks at this point. Hopefully, we're close. So stay tuned, I'll be making an announcement for all three of you faithful readers! Okay, I'm kidding, I know there's five. And I love you all! All five of you. Alright, alright. Seriously, there will be an announcement and hopefully soon.

Sorcha Black in The Hot Seat!

Sorcha Black is one of the ladies responsible for the Badass Brats series and has agreed to appear in The Hot Seat. So, of course, I had to ask about her ink and who wanted to strangle whom during their collaborative love sessions of writing d00m. Check out my reviews of The Dom with the Safeword and The Dom with the Perfect Brats - both awesomely specimens of Mff romance (menage, BDSM, good writing, just buy it and read it). And, just as an aside, I have to say that I'm really excited for Sorcha's solo project, cause MffM. Yes, that's my reason. Well, maybe I'm excited about the story too. 

Anyway - here she is answering questions with ... answers.  

Sorcha - Hi Haydee – thanks for having me on your blog!

How did you come up with your pen name? Does it have special meaning or do you just like the sound of it?

Sorcha - I discussed options with Leia Shaw and Cari Silverwood for days. Originally my pen name was going to be gender neutral, but they convinced me not to do that. Sorcha is a name that I would have given one of my daughters, but it got vetoed by my husband. I wanted a last name that was simple and easy to spell – someone suggested Black because my hair and clothes are typically black.

What inspired you to write erotica?

Sorcha - It’s the way my brain is wired, honestly. People often tease me for seeing the world through sex goggles. I started out writing fantasy, but erotic elements always find their way into everything I write.

Your first three books have been a collaboration with the lovely Leia Shaw and Cari Silverwood. As an author who hadn't been published yet, how did you get involved with this project with these authors?

Sorcha - I met Leia and Cari online in the early spring of 2012. They offered to read the first chapter of the story I was writing, and did a detailed critique for me. They explained where I was going wrong with my writing, and encouraged me to keep at it. I admit that I was quite the adjective whore. Over the next few months I showed them I was a learning animal. After months of talking incessantly, we decided to try writing something together for fun. It was so much fun we’ve done it three times and will be starting a fourth in June 2013.

What's your favorite dinner and does it go with orange juice?

I’m a starchatarian. If it has potatoes and/or bread in it, I’m happy. I can’t drink orange juice, but I suppose it would go fine with starch.

Can you draw a map of all your ink, please? And what it represents.

Sorcha - I have photo-style, silly gargoyle faces all over my left upper arm, with virtue words in between them. Good and spirituality are topics I think about a lot. Some do-gooders are gargoyles rather than angels, but that doesn’t make their contribution to the world less important.

Sexiest tattoo you've ever seen - who was it on? what body part? did you lick it? did the owner of said tattoo file for a restraining order? (no shame in that)

Sorcha - The sexiest tattoos I’ve seen are the ones my girl got to represent me and our relationship. Yes, I’ve licked them. She never complains about it.

While working with Leia Shaw and Cari Silverwood on the Badass Brats series, what was the one/biggest issue that you couldn't all agree upon?  

Sorcha - The biggest issue we have is probably the ongoing balancing act we do between including the

love, kink, humor and angst in our books. We all have moments where the other two don’t agree with us, and sometimes those disagreements can get heated. But we’re friends first, so disagreements work themselves out pretty quickly.

Who was the biggest trouble maker?

Sorcha - I’d have to say that I’m the biggest trouble maker. I’m very opinionated about book titles and character names. I’m also the trite police. If you say “names” and “Sorcha” in the same sentence, my co-writers make a run for it.

What's the most embarrassing thing you've written?

Sorcha - The first few sex scenes I wrote were pretty embarrassing. It took awhile to get over being shy about writing sex, but now it doesn’t phase me at all.

What are you working on now and when will we be able to read it?

Sorcha - I’m currently finishing the novel that Leia and Cari read chapter one from last spring. It’s a fantasy novel called Ein.

Ein is a relatively unworldly, mid-caste young woman who loses everyone she loves and ends up destitute. Her country is in a trade war with its nearest neighbors, and poverty is rampant. She sees the suffering of the poor and takes responsibility to do what she can to help the people around her – including raising a huge, patchwork family of abandoned children. The idea of the story is that in fantasy novels we seldom hear about the lives of the poor, unless they’re involved in an epic quest. This book is about a girl who is doing the best with what she has.

Now that I’ve got you thinking it’s a sweet and wholesome book, I’ll mention the novel contains graphic sex scenes, BDSM and M/f/f/M polyamory. There’s also abduction, prostitution, murder, war, hunger, romance and true love.

The tentative release date for Ein is fall 2013. We’re hoping to have the next Badass Brats book published in September 2013.

Find Sorcha online: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Goodreads

About the Author

I write about people who are too busy fighting, suffering, loving, and generally getting shit done to think of themselves as heroes.

In my real life, I’m married to a lazy but well loved man and have a shoe full of children. I do my best writing on scraps of paper at red lights.

Currently, I have two published works and two works in progress. There is more information about all of them on my “Books” page.

I’m one of those writers that, as a teen, planned to write for a living. Like many others, I was guided away from the idea by well-meaning adults that wanted me to be in a position to support a family, and… well… eat. I finished my first novel when I was eighteen, printed it off on tractor-feed paper, and gave it to my best friend for Christmas. Two years of work and I never saw it again. It sounds tragic, but it’s probably best for everyone this way, because I’m sure it sucked pretty bad.

Ein has been my work in progress – on and off – for the past ten years. I wrote, discarded, wrote again. I realized the issue was that I was writing to get published rather than writing the story the way it needed to be told. Ein is a fantasy novel (with erotic BDSM ménage elements) written from the perspective of a woman who has been abused and marginalized. She has no special powers, no political influence and no money. Ein fights to do the right thing in a world scarred by war. She is nothing special, but by example shows others that they don’t have to be special to do good in the world.

As I struggled with rewriting the first chapters of Ein the way I should have written it to begin with, I met other writers online. I really hit it off with two of them, in particular.

One day, as we discussed the fantasy novels we were working on, we started to talk about how great it would be to work on a project together. For fun, we began a fantasy BDSM ménage that didn’t end up working out well. From there we tried again with a contemporary BDSM ménage that got addictive very quickly.

My first book, co-written with Leia Shaw and Cari Silverwood, came out in October 2012. We released a holiday novella in December. Our third book in the series is in the works, and will hopefully be published in March 2013. When we look back on how our Badass Brats series started, none of us can quite remember whose idea it was – but it is a true testament as to why you should be careful about whom you talk to on the internet. Lol. Innocent fantasy writer gets roped into writing kinky romances – except all three of us claim to be the innocent fantasy writer.