Q . Z a y n e B o o k s

New Releases: Stranded and Captured **This post contains naughty bits and dirty language**

There’s murder at the heart of my new duet, just as there’s murder at the heart of my life. I’m not going to give spoilers for either. Strange the things the mind churns to the surface in the wake of completing a book. I never set out with an idea of approaching psychological unfinished business, but it happens. I’ve been accounting for my father’s disappearance via fiction for a long time. His isn’t the loss that sent shock waves through my beginnings—not in the rooted way that continues to compel so much of what I write.

I think too much. Good thing I’ve found a way to turn that to an advantage. The same thing goes for being haunted.

There isn’t a literal ghost in these two books, yet you’ll discover a character who matters in their depths. We can be defined as much by absence as by anything else.

Enough cryptic comments. I hope this duet holds as many surprises for you as it did for me. Like many of my books, Stranded and Captured combine erotica, erotic romance, BDSM, multicultural romantic suspense, older dom/younger submissive, curvy and alpha, and a bit of Caribbean-inspired Dark Fantasy. Are you up for dirty rituals? This is my first foray into loathing to love and I had a blast with the dynamics between Rachel and Xavier.

An orphaned, headstrong 22 year-old archaeology student hitches a plane ride with a 39 year-old pilot with dangerous secrets. What could go wrong?

Fuck me, why does this mean man have to be so filthy beautiful? —Rachel

Aside from the secrets and mysteries, and how many times it’s necessary to have sex while in mortal danger, Captured’s growth into a novel was one of the greatest surprises. When I priced it at $2.99 during the pre-sale, I was writing a novella.

Captured will go up to $3.99 USD on July 1, get it now at the sale price. The first episode, Stranded, will return to $2.99 then. For the rest of this month, you can get your own hot copy of Stranded for less than a buck, or local equivalent on Amazon. Although most of my books are available on all major online bookstores, this duet is making its debut in Kindle Unlimited. Amazon’s KU readers supported me during my early years, and I’d like to continue making some ebooks available to them. Be sure to borrow these right away if you want to read them in KU.

Those eyes, those big, sexy, dark, wounded eyes, they were killing her, making her burn for him.
Why was a man who looked like he was hurting so irresistible? Did she need to be needed? Maybe she’d imprinted on Jane Eyre, Florence Nightingale, all the rest of it. ‘Let me heal you, you big strong, huge-dicked hunk.’ 

One of the few remaining benefits of KU, the free days, no longer serve me. For my last releases, I gave away thousands of free copies of each book. I received fewer than two reviews each on Amazon.com.

The lack of reviews has been discouraging. A book’s first few days are crucial, and reviews can tip the scales for readers wondering whether to try a new book by an unfamiliar author.

This was what she wanted for so long. A brute, but a tender brute. Damn him for being so bad-boy dangerous and so smart and fine, and so fucking good. Fuck, she was lost.

I’m going to do what I can to reach a larger audience with this duet. I enjoy writing my personal, unusual BDSM books. I’ve been self-publishing them for five years. The Billionaires Club, Submission Island, Mr. Beast, and a couple dozen others are now finding new readers at Smashwords, GooglePlay, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. I lost momentum on Amazon when I got sick last autumn. Ultimately, whether I continue writing my long, free-range erotic books  depends on readers.

I responded to reader requests for longer books by writing several of them. They’re costly in terms of my time and the overhead to produce and market them. The results have been disappointing. Painful.

So weird, but for all her horny, perverted fantasies, all the months prowling leather clubs and biker bars, she never expected to find a man like Xavier.

Because I’m stubborn, I’ll push these books. I put a lot of my heart and life into them. I’ve always preferred authentic and well-written eroticism and down-and-dirty sex to copycat books. To be honest, I can’t read most of what’s marketed as ‘Erotica’ or ‘Erotic Romance’ on Amazon. I won’t even comment on so-called “BDSM” books that lack any clue. I download several at a time, read a page or two
—if I can get that far—and delete them. Time is precious. It’s all we’ve got.

In 2015, I had no idea my erotic empire would reach so many people, nor that it would have such drastic ups and downs. I didn’t anticipate leaving California so I could afford to keep writing fiction.

This is my dream life, despite all the sacrifices. I’ll keep writing fiction, the question is what kinds of fiction?

Here, nothing was real but her and the dark. Fear is a game the mind plays.

I have a new series of billionaire and virgin BDSM episodes coming, and I’m assessing my options. I’m enough of an optimist to hope the tide will turn. Meanwhile, it’s ‘prepare for the worst, hope for the best’ mode.

In case you wondered, I more than prowled leather bars and BDSM clubs during my San Francisco years. 

What an adventure it’s been. Thank you for being part of my journey.

Q.
I can smell the sea from this summer’s apartment. For today, that has to be enough.