Adriana Kraft

When it's time to heat things up...

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Writing #GLBTQ Literature

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Welcome to the Rainbow Book Reviews Blog Hop! Be sure to click on the graphic to link to the rest of the participants. Lots of fabulous prizes – leave a comment to enter, for ours as well as all the grand prizes. We’re offering one free download, reader’s choice, from our published books.

What does writing GLBTQ literature mean to us? We’re a married couple writing erotic romance together under our pen name, Adriana Kraft. We’re also proud parents of a gay son, members of our local PFLAG chapter, and social activists who’ve supported causes we believe in across more decades than we necessarily want to count.

Nearly three and a half years ago, we stood with other supporters on the steps of our local county Courthouse on an April afternoon awaiting word on the Iowa Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision. We were prepared to stand for our values whichever way the decision went – and we were thrilled with the outcome (and blogged about it, HERE). I don’t think we can say it better than one of us told a reporter that afternoon: “Love is love, and every couple deserves a happy ending.”

So that’s one major reason we write what we write: to celebrate love wherever it can be found, and to share with the world our belief that all persons, whatever their sexual orientation, deserve equality under the law when they form a love relationship.

There’s more of course – we do write erotic romance, after all, and our tag line is Erotic Romance for Two, Three, or More. There are so many varieties and combinations under the rainbow banner. We’re especially partial to scenes and stories that feature two women together, whether lesbian or bisexual. Our short stories and novels explore what’s possible for women (well, and the occasional man) who can’t fit themselves neatly into the box labeled “straight.” Sometimes their foray into same sex relationships turns out to be a small part of coming into their own sexually, as in Mistress of Purgatory Point. More often, same sex erotic encounters become more central for them, and they find a range of solutions for ongoing expression of their entire spectrum of sexuality. We write a world where three- and even four-way committed relationships are not only possible but welcomed.

We hope you’ll leave us a comment on why GLBTQ literature matters to you, and what your favorite pairings are. We’ll pull a winner by random number Monday morning, August 27. Good luck!

Bisexual Invisibility

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Okay, now THIS is scary. I follow blogger Mike Szymanski at the Bisexuality Examiner. I can’t remember quite how I found him in the first place – probably through the BiWriters group I belong to on Yahoo. But if I’d gone looking for him on a Google search, without that personal connection, I might never have found him. Did you know that when you start to search the term “bisexual” or “bisexuality,” the Google auto-complete function is blocked? This vastly reduces the number of hits you’re likely to get – making it appear there’s almost nothing out there on your topic.

He’s referencing a Huffington Post article by Faith Cheltenham, who’s done some research on this issue. As she points out, how many bisexual persons just looking for validation and affirmation will never find what they’re seeking because Google has blocked the auto-complete for searching the term bisexual? She offers data, and has some links to give Google some feedback. If you care about this issue, hop on over there and help fight bi invisibility.

“Camping” in the North Woods

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Gotta love it! An eight hour drive yesterday to northern Wisconsin, where family members have a cabin on a fishing lake. We brought our motorhome and are parked on the side of their driveway. Yesterday, stifling heat all day, high humidity, no relief.

Last night, a powerful thunderstorm.

This morning – power is off. I had to get inventive with the coffee pot (which is an electric drip pot) – so I boiled water on the stove and poured it slowly through the drip basket. Ah, that first cup of coffee never tasted so good!

Now I’m sitting “camped” in the north woods, typing on my computer (which has a full battery charge) and hooked up to the internet with my wi-fi hot spot, also with a full battery charge.

Worst case scenario? If the power doesn’t come back on, we can start the generator, and we’ve got a full tank of gas.

Camping isn’t what it used to be!

For the record, we’ve spent our fair share of time sleeping on the hard ground in sleeping bags and dodging the rain, including a memorable outing at this same location when our tent blew over in the middle of the night, with our family in it…

And also a confession – this is an old pic, from a trip up here early in the autumn. Haven’t taken any pics yet this year.

Here’s to a happy Fourth of July for everyone!

Winner and New Release!

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Drum roll, please!  The Random Number Generator has spoken, and our Winner in the Angels and Demons BlogHop is…

#29, Tyggy! I’ll be sending you your copy of Colors of the Night – hope you enjoy it. It should be right up your alley, judging from your comment 🙂

And a drum roll too for the grand prize winners:

Stephanie, Winner #1291, who won a Kindle Fire, and
Drake, Winner # 4695, who won an Amazon $60 Gift Card

It was a fabulous hop and I loved all your comments – hmm, hadn’t thought about an Angel’s extra added attraction of feathers, you were all very creative!

Our newest book was just released Sunday at Extasy Books! No angels or demons in this one (but you can bet we’re cooking some up for later) – just a happily married pair of baby boomers with an empty nest, trying to spice up their sex life. They’ve been doing great so far with exciting adventures in the swing lifestyle. Here’s the  cover, blurb and an excerpt:

The sought-after Unicorn, so elusive in the Swing Lifestyle. Now that Sarah Creston has materialized in Jen and Brett Andrews’ bed, what’s next?

BLURB

It all seemed so simple: Sarah Creston would move in for the summer, Brett and Jen Andrews could revel in their new threesome, and everyone else would understand. But now Donna and Ryan – their best friends and lovers – won’t speak to them, and Jen seems so infatuated with Sarah that even Brett is worried about the consequences.

Battered from the double whammy of her husband’s death and caring for her aging parents, Sarah Creston thrills to Jen and Brett’s exquisite care and ravishing sex. Now that she’s had her first taste of a woman, will she be satisfied – or will she want more?  Everything hinges on what Sarah wants.

 

EXCERPT

Feeling like a human sponge, Sarah sighed. Her eyelids fluttered open and shut as she tried to survey the scene around her, but all five senses were on overload.

“This is beyond my wildest imagination,” she mumbled to no one in particular.

Completely nude, she lay on her back atop Carl and Alice’s massage table. Her naked partners had already rubbed down every square inch of her backside—every square inch before turning her over to tend to her front. Sarah laced the fingers of her right hand through Jen’s hair as her lover suckled a breast as if it were their very first time. Similarly, Brett continued tonguing her other breast.

“We’re pleased that you’re pleased,” Carl said, bending over to kiss Sarah’s forehead without interrupting his steady massage of her temples.

“You’re amazing,” she whispered, puckering her lips while reaching up to pull his lips closer to hers. She sighed again as his lips covered hers for another soul searching kiss. Both he and his wife had proven to be incredible kissers. She could hardly wait to see what else they might be incredible at doing to her—or with her.

“Ah,” Sarah moaned. Her hips tensed.

Smiling, Carl broke their kiss and continued massaging her brow, giving her ample opportunity to appreciate Alice’s warm breath flowing over her pussy.

“Relax,” Alice cooed, blowing on her again.

Sarah did her best to soften her muscles, to sink deeper into the massage table and trust her body to her lovers.

 

Two Things

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Thing One – Charlie Glickman, one of my fave bloggers, posted today on feeling delight. No huge new insights – just a thoughtful reflection on how easily we take delight in things around us when we’re little, how quickly most of us are socialized away from it, and how freeing and restorative it can be to return to our natural instinct for what’s delightful.

Thing Two – I’d just finished reading that when hubs came into the living room and said “Fireflies.” This evening is their first appearance this year, so we went outside and sat on the back deck for fifteen minutes watching them flicker and gradually rise.

Delightful. Thank you, Charlie.

Sex Positivity

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Consent, Pleasure, Well Being. The term Sex Positivity has been around for a while and can mean many different things to different people.

Lately I’ve been following blogger and Sex Educator Charlie Glickman, and I like his definition best of all. The only criteria for evaluating any sex act, he says, are consent, pleasure, and well being.

Being sex positive doesn’t mean that we love sex, or have lots of it, or think everyone should practice free love. In fact, it means we don’t judge what anyone else wants to practice – gay, straight, kinky, vanilla, monogamous, polyamorous or celibate – beyond those three cardinal parameters:

Is it consensual? Are all the parties adult, are they aware and informed about what they’re doing, and have they agreed? Is it pleasurable for the parties involved? Does it contribute to the well being of all who are involved? I am reminded of the Wiccan rede, An it harm none.

What does this have to do with the erotic romance my husband and I write? Right now, we’re polishing off another entry in our Swinging Games series at Extasy Books. In that series a married baby boomer couple have expanded their sexual practice to become part of the swing lifestyle. Being sex positive means we don’t judge them or their practice, so long as they agree it’s consensual, pleasurable and contributes to their well being. And, of course, we hope that reading about what they’re up to is consensual, pleasurable, and contributes to readers’ well being!

Swinging Games: Too Close for Comfort is due out from Extasy Books early this summer. Books One through Eight are available now at Extasy Books.