I wish...

This sign was true! As it stands, I am not fishing, but wanted to put something up to let people know I am blogging sporadically but will be back soonish.

Tuesday, May 21, the man was admitted to the hospital. He is better than he was that day but not enough to be sent home. So...I am out. A lot. And my schedule is all wonky. So, if you're used to my regular babble here, it will be off for a bit. And if you're looking for emails from me, they might be late.

However, I am running my stressed-out mouth constantly on Twitter and FB, from the hospital usually, so if you follow me on there, you're in for a real (insane) treat. ;)

Happy Friday, all. Have a lovely weekend. And to all of you chatting with me on Twitter and Facebook during this horribly frantic and lunatic time in my life...thank you. Big fat kisses to you. And hugs too. Because the people who have let me vent and been offering support and kind words through all this have been such a blessing I'd be hard pressed to even put words to how grateful I am.

XOXO
Sommer
photo credit: Sifter via photopin cc

20 Questions With Willsin Rowe: "The jury’s still out on whether it was the cartoon boobies or the references to seminal fluid that tipped the thing over into bannable territory."

After a particularly grueling day yesterday (see my Twitter feeds and FB feeds if interested), I am so happy to post something fun. And one of my favorite mates, too! See how I used mates? I am very proud of that. Anyway, not just a mate but my super secret weapon aka my cover artist for any of my self publishes stuff. And Excessica stuff too!

And away we go with Willsin Rowe. Mostly because I'm so tired today I an incapable of being clevererererer than what's above ;)

XOXO
Sommer

1.       Favorite YA book? The only one I’ve read lately is The Hunger Games. And it pretty much rocked.

2.       It’s a meatless meal night. You eat…Spanish potato and onion omelette...followed by home made custard pie!

3.       Football or baseball? Football...but not the American kind, if possible. I don’t unnerstan’ it at all...

4.       Look at your bookshelf. Top shelf, left to right, what are the first five books you see? No cheating! “Big Country: A Certain Chemistry”, “Warwick Castle”, “The History of Sexuality - Volume 1”, “A Friend Like Henry” and “Scottish Clans - A Pitkin Guide”.

5.       Average night. Eat in, eat out, or takeout? Eat in.

6.       Favorite meal to cook? Lamb roast. (Part B: Least favorite meal to wash up from? Lamb roast.)

7.       Favorite TV show when you were a kid? Warner Brothers Cartoons. The new ones are quite smart and sassy at times, but the originals are still the best. (I woulda also said The Banana Splits, but Alison Tyler beat me. And I loved it!)

8.       Favorite TV show now? “Rake”. It’s an Aussie show with some of the best TV writing I’ve ever seen/heard.

9.       Best teacher you ever had…Mrs. Gillett in Year 6.

10.   What did they teach you? Acceptance of quirks (mainly mine), and she started me on the path of embracing creativity.

11.   Tell us something you did as a kid that no one/very few people know about. At the age of four I used to climb onto the roof of our house. Which was on a hill. The front was one storey, but the back was 2 storey. I favoured the back. For some reason my mother used to freak out about it...

12.   Tell us something you did this year that no one/very few people know about. I made a smutty trailer for Virginia Wade’s “Cum For Bigfoot” series. Not so “out there” I realise, but it was the first time Youtube banned one of my videos! Yay me! The jury’s still out on whether it was the cartoon boobies or the references to seminal fluid that tipped the thing over into bannable territory.

13.   What one clothing item can you not live without? My blue velvet jacket (a-la Austin Powers).

14.   Zombies, vampires or werewolves? Werewolves. Every. Single. Time.

15.   Anything you haven’t written about that you desperately want to? Werewolves!

16.   Anything you’ve written about that you desperately wish you hadn’t? Not desperately, no...though there was that Valentine's Day card to a girl in Year 10 at school that was pretty damn awful...

17.   Do you finish a book that is terrible or put it down? Put it down. I barely make adequate time to read good or excellent books at the moment. No way I’m going to waste my reading time on something that doesn’t get my juices flowing.

18.   Do you review terrible books or pass on saying anything at all? I pass. Similar to reading, I don’t get to write reviews for all the books I love.

19.   Do you read reviews of your work? I do. It’s still quite a novel experience for me to find a review of my work, so I jump straight on board that bucking bronco.

20.    Red wine or white wine? Red. There’s something so much more relaxing about it for me.

Willsin Rowe falls in love with a scent, a playful expression or an act of casual intimacy more easily than with physical beauty. When confronted by any combination of those elements he is a lost cause. He has done many things over and over, done even more things only once, and half-done more things than he cares to admit. He loves to sing and doesn’t let his voice get in the way. He is intelligent but not sensible. He is passionate but fearful. He is not scruffy enough or stylish enough to be cool.

Blog: http://willsinrowe.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willsin.rowe

Book link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Dark-Collage-Series-ebook/dp/B00B5UU73O/

Everything's coming up freebie...

If you go down one post you'll see Coupling Two is currently free on Amazon. (Still is but you're running out of time! Hurry! Run!). And then word came in today that my publisher Xcite has The Greed Jar, a m/m/f short of mine, free on iTunes. So if you have iThings of any kind you can shoot over HERE and grab one on us for free

With all the free stuff, might I say, if you feel inclined to spend a whopping 99 cents--if that money is burning a hole in your pocket--my new novella Inventing Herself is out.
It's not free but it's worth your buck! I promise ;)

Happy Monday, y'all. Have an arousing day.

XOXO
Sommer

"You'll thank me later..."

...to quote Mr. Monk. Why will you thank me? Why, that's easy. It's because my anthology Coupling Two, featuring stories from myself, Alison Tyler, Selena Kitt and Willsin Rowe, is entirely FREE on Amazon right now.

If you were looking for something naughty and nice, salty but sweet, spicy but refreshing for your ereader...here it is. Grab your copy and enjoy your weekend!

XOXO
Sommer

20 Questions With Tasha Harrison: "...writers drink a lot. I mean, A LOT!"

Today's 20 Questions are with Tasha Harrison who is one of my favorite people to hang with on Twitter. She runs (like for real, not what I do), writes dirty words and loves my boys the Ravens. So um...she's pretty much perfect, yes?

Happy hump day!

XOXO
Sommer
Note: Game of Thrones was not back on air at the time these questions were sent :) 

1.       Favorite YA book?
I don't read a lot of YA but, my favorite recent read is the HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY

2.       It’s a meatless meal night. You eat…
Probably a stir-fry or a salad of some kind. My favorite right now is a meatless taco style quinoa salad with black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado, red onion, garlic and cilantro.

3.       Football or baseball?
Football. Definitely Football. GO RAVENS!! Super Bowl Champs!!

4.       Look at your bookshelf. Top shelf, left to right, what are the first five books you see? No cheating!
The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe
The Talisman, Stephen King and Peter Straub
Black House, Stephen King and Peter Straub
Madonna's Sex Book
Grimms Complete Fairy Tales

5.       Average night. Eat in, eat out, or takeout?
Eat in. I'm on this 'clean eating' kick.

6.       Favorite meal to cook?
I really like to grill so anything I can throw on the grill works for me. Grilled salmon and corn are some of eats that repeat from weekly. Oh and chicken wings. I have a weakness for chicken wings. (YUM)

7.       Favorite TV show when you were a kid?
The Cosby Show, hands down.

8.       Favorite TV show now?
It's hard to say because it changes from season to season but, if I'm considering what shows I'm watching right now, I'd say Scandal and Shameless as a close second. Of course, that is only until Game of Thrones comes back on.

9.       Best teacher you ever had…
Mrs. Burrows, grade four. My only black teacher if you can believe it.

10.   What did they teach you?
She wasn't the nicest but, she was very encouraging and was probably the first to discover that I had a talent for telling stories.

11.   Tell us something you did as a kid that no one/very few people know about.
I was an Air Force Brat and we were stationed in Germany for three years. We didn't live on post but, instead rented an apartment off post in a little town called Haupstuhl. It was essentially a tiny farm town. Three doors up there was a farm that my friend Stacy and I spent hours exploring. One day we stumbled on some goose eggs. Of course, instead of leaving them be we decided that we would steal the eggs and hatch them ourselves! So in the backyard we collected these eggs. Made a warm little nest for them. And in a few weeks all them mysteriously disappeared but no little goslings. :-( So we stole more, vowing to watch them more closely. Again they hatched, leaving behind the shells and no baby goslings. :-( I'm not sure how many times we repeated this exercise before we finally gave up but, the people who lived next door magically had a few geese the following summer.

12.   Tell us something you did this year that no one/very few people know about.
I went to my first writer's retreat! It was fun and also...writers drink a lot. I mean, A LOT!

13.   What one clothing item can you not live without?
running shoes

14.   Zombies, vampires or werewolves?
Zombies

15.   Anything you haven’t written about that you desperately want to?
I've had this paranormal story nesting on my hard drive and in the back of my mind for at least six years now. Every now and then I open it and write a little bit but, I'm not exactly sure what keeps me from really getting down to business with it.

16.   Anything you’ve written about that you desperately wish you hadn’t?
Fisting. It's not that I wish I never wrote it but, I wish it didn't make me feel nervous that people will read it. :-/

17.   Do you finish a book that is terrible or put it down?
I was once a person who finished every book I started but now I realize I have precious little time to waste on books that I don't love.

18.   Do you review terrible books or pass on saying anything at all?
Most of the time I pass. Unless it's really horribly bad. Like so bad that it would cause me great discomfort to hold my tongue.

19.   Do you read reviews of your work?
Yes, but I only take them with a grain of salt. Not everyone is going to like what I write.

20.   Red wine or white wine?
Vodka.


Tasha L. Harrison is an erotic romance author living in the southern United States with her impish husband, two smallish men and one smallish boxer pup. She writes urban/contemporary erotica and romance. Learn more about her and her dirty scribblings at www.dirtyscribbler.com

So I left the house yesterday...

You're shocked! I know ;) Here are some shots from my field trip. The structure shown is where my current novel is set. I haven't been there since I was a kid. When I was young I was there almost every week. I was amazed by how many of the details I've written in the book have been accurate. Way more accurate than expected. It was both cool and nostalgic...and of course I took my mother with me.

That last shot is taken three stories up and I sort of stood back and held my phone over. A) I am afraid of heights and B) that wrought iron rail only hits me at hip level. Eek!

I also wanted to share a lovely 5 star review for Restless Spirit from Love Honey today. It made me super happy when I read it :) Especially this bit:

"Reading on, I was delighted to find the story both thoughtful and believable while still erotically charged and filled with steamy encounters. With a main character that feels more realistic than many found in erotica, I even found myself as captivated by her as the male characters"

And a 3.5 heart review for Ferryman on Hearts on Fire Reviews. I love that the reviewer chose a favorite line from the book. :) Which was:

‘Was that some kind of wooing ritual? And why me?’


And while I'm here...I'm in two new books! One is out and one is coming.

Out now is Coming Together with Curves. A Coming Together anthology to benefit Parkinsons UK. Edited by Victoria Blisse and Lucy Felthouse, it features my story Lush Buns along with a slew of wonderfully, curvy hot stories. Can you say yay? Yes, you can! You can also snag a copy for a very good cause ;)

And the coming soon news is for Alison Tyler's upcoming Shhh! Don't Tell Anyone... Erotic Fantasies about Sexy Occupations.

No cover yet but here's the TOC. Woohoo! I am kicking off this titillating tome. :)

Introduction: The “Want” Ads

Construction Worker: Grimy by Sommer Marsden

Cowboy: Bonanzed by Kate Pearce

Professor: O for Effort by Delilah Night

Chauffeur: Driver’s Seat by Sophia Valenti

Meteorologist: Warm Front by Heidi Champa

Physician: Doctors Orders by Sasha White

Delivery Boy: Just A Little Tenderness by A.M. Hartnett

Pool Girl: California Dreamin’ by Andrea Dale

Book Binder: Rule of Thumb by Laila Blake

Baker: Kneading Lessons by Tilly Hunter

Personal Trainer: Work It Out by Elisa Sharone

Stage Manager:  SM Or How I Met My Girlfriend by Giselle Renarde

IT guy: Talk Nerdy to Me by Crystal Jordan

Porn Star: Current Photo, Please by Devin Phillips

Mechanic: Body Work by Cora Zane

Museum Curator: Under Her Auspices by Jeremy Edwards

Treat Vendor: Ice Cream Boy and Sprinkle Girl by Kathryn O'Halloran

Barber: Close Shave by Alison Tyler

And that's all the news and fun stuff for today. Come back tomorrow. It's hump day and you know what that means...20 Questions!

XOXO
Sommer

Living More Than One Life

I'm guest blogging today on You Gotta Read about being a writer. Which is basically the ability to live more than one life. Thank goodness for that because some days I feel like a class A hermit! :)

In my real life today I went on a field trip with my mom down memory lane. We went down to parts of Baltimore where I grew up. We revisited a place that I'm using as the basis for the setting in my current book. I was amazed at how much of my details were accurate! And how much smaller the place was in comparison to what was in my mind.

I have a few pics that I'll post tomorrow. I felt today's blog pic fit with my little out and about as well as with my guest blog. Plus it's damn pretty! Photo creds down below

XOXO
Sommer

photo credit: e³°°° via photopin cc

Happy Mother's Day...

from Me and Norman. Yeah...I'm sort of sick, aren't I?

Have a good one! Big bear hugs and wet sloppy kisses! And maybe a nice relaxing shower...

XOXO
Sommer

Got on my pimp hat and my pimp cane...

Actually, I'm more like the pimp girl on Hung. The one who came "too much". I can't remember her name because my brain went phttpht! But you know who I mean. Just slapping up a little promo for my beloved and yet lost in the algorithms from hell anthology Coupling 2. It features four writers nifty erotic authors and their take on coupling. As you can see from my poster...I should stick with writing. But hell, it's not too bad ;)

XOXO
Sommer

Excessica
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

The Finish Me Off Writing Contest...

The Set Up:
Emily walked quickly down the hallway. Her heels were silenced by the intricately patterned carpet.

Best to hide spills and mishaps…

Excitement pooled in her belly. She wondered where he’d be. She only knew that he was here... at this location. She wondered what he’d look like. How his voice would sound in person. Her scalp tickled with excitement mixed with a healthy dose of anxiety. 

“Breathe,” she said softly to remind herself of the most basic need. Air.

Her leather bag rode heavy on her shoulder, and she tried to remember exactly what she’d put inside. Probably nothing she truly needed for today. Or maybe everything she’d ever need for a day like today. There really was no telling until they were in the moment.

She heard the elevator ding as it arrived. Her phone buzzed in her hip pocket as she rounded the corner and…

The Details:

What you need to do is finish me off. Yeah, it sounds dirty. That’s why I like it! Finish the story I started above (Maximum of 5,000 words—yes that is a FIRM max, no wiggle room. No minimum) and give it a title. Send it to me at sommermarsden[at]gmail[dot]com by June 10^th. Again that is a FIRM deadline. No wiggle room. I will pick the top three contestants and post them on my blog. Then I will give the final three to an in house reader and that person (we know it’s the man, right?) will tell me which one is the winner from my three favorite stories. Contest is open to established writers and new writers. All are welcome.

Now, let’s talk prizes. I don’t have them all yet. I plan to do that weird thing I do where I gather odd little things that make me happy to send to the winner. But because I need a good dose of excitement in my life, I will offer a monetary prize as well. It’s not much but it’ll buy you some socks or some coffee or even a CD. $15 dollar prize payable by Paypal (so please make sure you have it). That’s right out of my own shallow pocket along with some other goodies, so make sure you spin me a mighty fine tale. It can be as hot or as mild as you like. Just make it good.

Fine print:

1.    Must be 18 or older to enter. Must be willing to let me post your entry on my blog should it make top three.

2.    Must send your own work and verify it by pasting the statement below into the entry:

I ____your legal name___ writing as ___pen name if applicable__VERIFY THAT I AM 18 OR OLDER AND LEGALLY ABLE TO ENTER THE ‘FINISH ME OFF’ CONTEST. THE WORK PROVIDED IS MY OWN, I OWN IT AND I HAVE THE RIGHT SO SUBMIT IT AS AN ENTRY.

3.    Send your entry by June 10, 2013 and put FINISH ME OFF ENTRY in the Subject line. Send it to me at sommermarsden[at]gmail[dot]com by June 10^th

4.    Please paste your entry into the email. Attachments will be deleted unread and you will not be notified.

5.    You must have a PayPal account to accept payment and be willing to provide me with a mailing address for the small prizes I’ll send.

Once I have all entries I will read. I'll announce a probable date to have winners once the contest is closed. You agree to allow the story to stay on my blog for readers as a prize winner/top three. Beyond that, rights are yours.

That’s it! If you’re interested, please whip me up a tale and share this call. Tell your mother and your sister and your brother and your mailman! Or ya know, just tell your fellow writers.

XOXO

Sommer

photo credit: Cristian Mantovani via photopin cc

20 Questions with Giselle Renarde: "Seriously. Those documents are sealed."

It's hump day! Thank goodness, because I am ready for this week to turn into this weekend. Whew.

Today we have the lovely Giselle Renarde. One of my favorite folks online. And a fellow Excessican. And look! We share a favorite YA book. I knew I liked her for a reason. Plus, thanks to her answer to question #11 I now have Peter Gabriel stuck in my head. ;)

XOXO
Sommer
p.s. And not for nothing but is that a fierce book cover down there or what?

1.       Favorite YA book?
A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle.
2.       It’s a meatless meal night. You eat…
Spaghettini with green beans, TVP (textured vegetable protein) and a mountain of cheese. That's what I ate for dinner tonight.
3.       Football or baseball?
Are those... like... sports?
4.       Look at your bookshelf. Top shelf, left to right, what are the first five books you see? No cheating!
Oh jeeze.  There are some plays up there.  Okay here--
-Shakespeare's "As You Like It"
-Beckett's "Endgame"
-Tony Kushner's modern classic "Angels in America"
-"Aman: The Story of a Somali Girl" (an autobiography)
-"Bluebeard's Egg" by Margaret Atwood
5.       Average night. Eat in, eat out, or takeout?
I very rarely leave the house.  Eat in.
6.       Favorite meal to cook?
On nooes... I'm revealing so much of my laziness here.  I used to cook, but I'm only one person and it's not worth preparing a turkey dinner just for me, you know?  I do like making soup from scratch.
7.       Favorite TV show when you were a kid?
Three's Company. 
8.       Favorite TV show now?
Oh, Foyle's War. Absolutely.  Well, I guess it's not on the air anymore, but it's my fave.  I love WWII-era programs.
9.       Best teacher you ever had…
I can't answer that question without getting the individual in question in big trouble.
10.   What did they teach you?
Seriously. Those documents are sealed.
11.   Tell us something you did as a kid that no one/very few people know about.
Oh my gosh, I used to pick up frogs and worms and snakes--anything squirmy. I loved digging in dirt and getting messy.
12.   Tell us something you did this year that no one/very few people know about.
That's hard to answer.  I blog or tweet about so much of my life.  Actually, I finished writing two novels nobody's set eyes on but me.  I haven't even started my own editing process on them yet.  To be honest, I think I'm afraid nobody will buy them and I'll have wasted months of my life.
13.   What one clothing item can you not live without?
Socks.
14.   Zombies, vampires or werewolves?
Vampires. I don't know how you do zombies, Sommer.  They scare the holy fuck out of me.  The first horror movie I ever saw was Night of the Living Dead and it scarred me for life.
15.   Anything you haven’t written about that you desperately want to?
I shy away from historicals because I feel like I don't know enough to write them. Are my self-esteem issues obvious yet?
16.   Anything you’ve written about that you desperately wish you hadn’t?
No, not even "Stacy's Dad Has Got It Going On" which garnered the worst reviews I've ever received.  I'm actually reading it over now, and... I don't know... I still like it.
17.   Do you finish a book that is terrible or put it down?
I try to finish every book I start, but I often don't even finish books I love. I stop when there are two or three pages left.  I guess I don't want them to end.
18.   Do you review terrible books or pass on saying anything at all?
I don't write a lot of book reviews.  Before I was an author, I'm sure I would have written absolutely blood-thirsty ones to prove my cleverness and superiority, but having been on the receiving end of those, I don't think I ever could write one now.  The book would have to be horribly offensive or something.
19.   Do you read reviews of your work?
God no.
20.   Red wine or white wine?
I don't drink anymore, but red wine when I did, with a nice meal. Alcohol makes me sleeeeepy.

Giselle Renarde is a queer Canadian, avid volunteer, contributor to more than 100 short story anthologies, and award-winning author of numerous books, including Anonymous, Nanny State, and My Mistress' Thighs. Read her blog http://donutsdesires.blogspot.com and follow her on Twitter @gisellerenarde.

Weapons of mass Om...

I'm exhausted. I realized that today on my walk. I. Am. Exhausted.

Once upon a time I wrote novels and I spit polished them and then I hunted for a publisher. While I hunted and submitted and waited (and waited and waited) I wrote other stuff. That pattern worked and it felt kinetic but boy was it not as hectic as I thought. Not really.

Right now I'm racing along on a novel that's due ASAHP (as soon as humanly possible) which is actually July. But I need it out of here before July to do the next one. And the next one. Already promised to publishers.

And I'm soooooo grateful that that is the case but...as I realized...I'm tired.

I'm not quite sure how to deal with it. I mean, I cannot stop writing. And I really don't want to. I feel lost when I don't write. But what I'm trying to figure out is a more elegant, more graceful, more calm way to deal with the craziness and the work load.

There are days that I am all: I have got this! I've totally got this! And often those days come with about 4,000 words of book. And then there are days that I'm like: Fucking stop the world I want to get off. I'm going to nap for a year.

So you, yes you, do you have any weapons of mass Om for me? Any tips to share with a frenzied writer like me who is over the moon that she gets to do this for a living but some days feels so overwhelmed she wants to lie down on the floor and shut her eyes and not move?

I love my job. I adore it. I am so blessed. But I am also sort of a little burnt out from the non-stop pace I keep myself on. I need to find my balance. And sometimes balance comes from asking for help. Asking advice.

I think this was the year (I'll have to check with the man) that I said I was going old school. I was going to write the books and then figure out where they went instead of signing on for them. But hey, a girl can't say no when offered good things. And good things were offered. This is a job and you do not turn down chances to secure food on the table for your kids.

But a girl also needs to find her fucking Zen.

I'd love to hear from you! Tell me your Om secrets. And wish me luck as I try to wrap up the current book I'm working on. I love it so much it hurts :)

[As an aside, I almost deleted this three times because the type A, very hard on myself part of me feels it makes me look weak and whiny. But it's sincere and it's something I think a lot of self-employed people experience whether they're writers or daycare or cupcake bakers. So I'm going to force my anal, self critical self to leave it up here. Om...]

XOXO
Sommer

photo credit: Swami Stream via photopin cc

It's Monday and I'm flashing you. With...The Sweetshop Owner’s Daughter by Vida Bailey

Every time I cook mushrooms I think of this story. I cooked some mushrooms for gravy yesterday and there it was again. In my head. Vida Bailey's lovely story. I asked her (sweetly ;) ) if I could run it here and she said yes. This story originally appeared in my short work anthology Dirtyville. I'm so pleased Vida let me share!

XOXO
Sommer

The Sweetshop Owner’s Daughter

by Vida Bailey

The basket huge of huge flat field mushrooms Matthew got up to pick lay on the counter. Gina ran a light fingertip across their velvet skin and thought about their juicy, steaky texture. A treat. A celebration breakfast.

She raised the frayed cuff of her husband’s soft, bleached out shirt to her mouth, and chewed on it abstractly. The shirt didn’t come far down her long thighs, and as she moved around the kitchen, setting the table, flashes of her lacy pink panties were visible. Against the chill of the old stone cottage, she wore cream, woolen stocking socks, that pulled up well above her knee, and ruched sweetly. Her red brown hair had a wave to it, and was twisted into a casual knot at the back of her head.

Though the small, ivy framed window she could see the sun was gaining height, and the dew in the grass sparkled. The train would be getting in soon. She fetched the bowl of eggs, brown and speckled, and cut thick slices of her brown bread for toasting. Strong hands wrapped around her waist and a freshly washed and dressed Matthew pressed against her, pushing her thighs into the counter. She leaned her head back against his shoulder and closed her eyes as he held her left hipbone and palmed her breast with his right. The old shirt material was soft and thin, and he could feel the texture of her hardened nipple through it.

‘Train’ll be in soon. I should go over…’ he flicked her nipple gently with his thumb, and she could feel him smiling into her neck. She nodded, wiggling against him.

 ‘Oh, yes. You wouldn’t want to be late.’

Gina watched him walk off out the gate and heard the whistle of the train in the distance. She cracked the eggs into a bowl, marveling at the rich orange of their yolks, and listened for the chugging wheels to come into range of her hearing. Gus is coming Gus is coming Gus is coming.

Gus had been the town bike. Not that they would have called him that, but this was a more enlightened era. Everyone had been Gus’, and he had belonged to no-one. Wide shouldered and laughing, he’d won all the women over, even Gina.

It seemed like he’d left her ‘til last. Years of teenage frustration, she’d waited. The girl in the sweetshop, as untouchable as the boxes of expensive chocolates wrapped in silk bows that no-one ever bought. Her mother’s delusion of grandeur.

And then, one evening as she was locking the white doors, he wandered in the back, leaned against the door jamb and winked at her. He asked her for a quarter of apple drops and she’d measured out the little red and green spheres with anticipation. Grazing her fingers with his, he’d taken the paper bag from her and smiled his full lipped smile. Popping a sweet into his mouth, he’d kept eye contact with her, reached out and taken the metal scoop from her hands and tilted her head up to his. Dropping his face to hers, he’d kissed her; his tongue a tart, sweet surprise, his lips tangy with the shudder of the sour. Her hand came up to touch the stubble on his cheek and tangle in his rich brown curls and he’d pushed the apple drop into her open mouth, passing it to her with his tongue.

He took her clothes off and took her virginity that night, on the wooden boards of the sweet shop floor. He

traced sugary apple drop trails all over her newly bared skin and then licked them off again. And taking the sweet from him, she did the same to him. It was a night of sucking and tasting and touching, and for her, learning. Dusting it with powder from a Dib-Dab bag, she made his sugar-coated cock her lollipop and he licked and sucked her slowly, rolling the sweets around in her wetness, sucking them out of her, sucking them alongside her clit ‘til she screamed into the arm of her baggy wool jumper and came with raspberry fizz-bomb flashes exploding against her closed eyelids. And then he held her on his lap and worked her down onto him, letting her shift, and adjust, and set the pace while he bent his head to her nipples, and licked more sugar and flavouring, tasting chocolate and cherry and the treats of his youth as she said a sweet goodbye to her youth with sugar on her tongue.

The summer neared its end all too soon. She tried not to dwell on it, and looked forward to each knock on the door without counting how many remained. One night he appeared, once more as she was closing the shop, and sauntered towards her with a happy, promising grin. As he bent to kiss her hello, she saw someone else standing in the doorway, leaning on the frame and smiling.

‘This is Matthew,’ said Gus, ‘A friend of mine.’ Matthew advanced slowly, black hair tousled and his knowing eyes clear and blue. Gina looked between them and wondered if Gus had brought her someone she might lay claim to.

And now, there they were, living back in the village, and hadn’t seen Gus in years of marriage. He’d travelled and tried to settle, and travelled again, and now he was risking a trip home; to his parents, the gossiping mainstreet, to Gina and Matt.

Gina fried the buttery mushrooms slowly, waiting until they juiced to add salt and pepper, the chopped parsley. She thought about the freshly made bed and how they’d eat together first, scrambled eggs and freshly toasted bread and the big pot filled with tea.

She heard footsteps ringing in the porch, and looked up to see Gus filling the low doorway, stepping towards her, all shoulders and curls. And as he bent to scoop her up and kiss her, there was Matt, leaning on the doorjamb, grinning.

About the author: Vida Bailey is an occasional writer of smut from Ireland. You can find her at www.heatsuffused.blogspot.com or enjoy her tumblr at http://suffusedwithheat.tumblr.com/