A chapter sample "Megumi by the Firelight" - part 3

(The story so far - following on from parts 1 & 2- it's late in the evening as the girls get ready for bed, Megumi and Cassy are sharing the same room, and bed. Romance is in the air. And maybe love is close at hand also. Things are starting to happen, but it seems that fate is trying to intervene and somehow spoil the evening...an uninvited knock at the door could spoil things for the two girls...)

Avril stood there in a nightgown. Her red hair was tossed and wild and she looked like she’d just stepped out of a shower. Or possibly a wind tunnel. She looked over my shoulder and asked what was happening? What? I couldn’t believe it! I told her I was getting along nicely, and to please let us go to bed. Avril butted in and asked “Is she –eh...y’know? Gay?” Yes, I replied smoothly. “How’d ya know?” Avril asked again. I just looked at her. She raised her eyebrows and chuckled. “Holy shit, that was fast!”

“Goodnight, Avril honey! See ya in the morning!” And before she could ask any more I closed the door, and turned the key. Avril said something but it was muffled behind the door, and I just said goodnight again, till her footsteps tip-toed away. Poor Avril!

I went back to Megumi. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, removing clothes. I looked at her, and asked was she okay? She smiled, and said yes, much better now! I kissed her on the forehead, and said “Let’s sleep. It was a long day.” Megumi slid onto the bed, and took off her socks. I was removing my clothes now. Megumi had a very kinky smile on her face. I must have had the same smile because she suddenly gave a low husky chuckle, which made me smile even more.


Suddenly another knock came from the door. Oh no. Not again. I went to the door, and said “Avril, please go to bed.” Silence. Then a voice. “It’s me, Ronda...” My heart sank.
I unlocked the door and opened it to find Ronda standing there still in her clothes, still with that stupid make-up on her face, and she smelled of beer. Like she’d been swimming in it. “Cassy, baby...” she began.

Oh God help me, I thought, now what. Ronda’s voice was low and husky, like she’d just crawled out of a desert and she had difficulty getting her words out. “Cassy, I’m sorry for being a bitch. I was a bitch tonight. I...I am a bitch. I’m a stupid ball of lesbian ....” She trailed off into some incomprehensible mumbling bullcrap. “Ronda, it’s okay,” I muttered. “Just go to bed. It’s really okay.”

“No it isn’t, Cassy. You’re really sweet. You’re popular. Everybody loves you. They all love you.” She wavered and hovered uncertainly on her feet. “F**kin wasters...all” she suddenly roared, scaring the crap out of me. Then she yelled out – “Wasters, all of you! Lesbians! Bleedin’ amateurs!”


Then she seemed to start a different conversation as though she were somewhere else.
“Do you like my make-up, Cassy? Am I...am I pretty?” she asked sweetly. Honestly, she looked rubbish. But I hadn’t the heart to make her mood any worse. I said yes, she was lovely and told her to keep her voice down. “Lying bitch!!!” she roared. “I’m an over-weight, ugly F**kin’ BINT! I hate myself!”
Just then Marla appeared, and came down the hall in her dressing gown, smiling like she was out shopping or something – it was bizarre -  and she good-humouredly grabbed Ronda, and just as the two started moving away, Ronda retched and with the sound of a woman giving birth - puked up all over the rich red carpet. Sweet!...

(Continued by going to the link above, and read the entirety of Part 3.)

I have been writing this book for several months now, and happily, I can report it is nearly complete. I want to thank all the fans over in HubPages for the support to this project. I especially want to thank Blaise25, Allie and Art, and so many others. And most of all, Cathy, my partner for her undying love and support. This project is for you, Cathy. This book will be published in December 2010 and there is a slim chance that it may be getting published with two publishers. 

 Thank you for following the Chapters both here and on my website and on Hub Pages. And feel free to leave comments here and let me know what you thought of this, and if you'd like to see more like this published here.

 

Her Story Books - romance books I love!

I recently stumbled across HerStory Books, a cool site with lots of free romance novels.  If you love to read romance novels and are looking for great ebook downloads, I think you should check it out.  You should download some romance novels now!

An extended extract from "Megumi by the Firelight" - Part One

This is an extended extract from the forthcoming book by me, Cassanrda Mantis. The title is to be confirmed as yet. This is just Part One. Part Two will be following here very soon. Below is a short extract. This is the taster, a nice juicy part one of a big Chapter from the book. A weekend sleep-over in a friend's house gets very naughty for the 8 girls. There will be part 2 coming soon. It's a coming of age, coming out, finding true love kind of story. Follow the link for the full version of Part One. (The link opens a Hub Page in a new tab.)

"The idea of a sleep over for 8 girls was great. The fact that it was going to be 8 lesbians, or at least 8 girls with wayward sexual tendencies - was even better, and being 16 years old, and bursting with hormones, we were all looking forward to it. There’d be dressing up, make-up, music, games, stories, magic , palm-reading, shopping comparisons, art, jokes, flirting, and later probably some drinking, smoking and card games and then some naughty stuff, experimenting - as we girlies liked to do. Being Sixteen, naughty to us was kissing and sleeping over sometimes. Basically it was a weekend of partly-realistic teenage delinquency and debauchery and a get-together to see who would snog who. We were not yet progressed to the full-on heavy stuff that gay women or adults did. (And some of us never would.) But my friend Penny told me that a last minute change had been made and that a new girl was being added to replace a sick friend. I was surprised to find Ronda tell me “It’s the Jap girl”. There was a Japanese girl in my class, a very quiet girl who spoke to no one. I was surprised..."

More to come soon. Meanwhile - check out some nice books and films of a similar nature! And check this review of a truly delightful poetry collection by Marifel Collection, a girl's delight - "Toss and Turn".
Cassy.

 

Getting self-published - not as bad as you think, for a new writer

Book Publishing News

Earlier in 2010, an amazing and to some, a worrying event took place - ebook sales officially overtook traditional books and are still heading to Pluto. To online ebook sellers, that spells the beginning of an even bigger shift. Google, Amazon, Lulu, they are very happy campers. So now that authors no longer require that goddam apparatus of publishing houses, why should they offer up the vast bulk of their sales gross? Why not cut out the middle-man and go directly to the audience through self-publishing? Writers paying themselves first? Zoiks! That's a new one. Actually, it isn't.

Okay, traditional publishers are doing a fine job for the most part. Their role is to herd your manuscript through the production process at minimal time and cost, get the book bound and printed, and send it through the usual distribution channels. So if you are lucky, the marketing department might generate a press release and ship out a few review copies. And then there's the royalty schedule. Excuse me? The Royalty schedule? For most writers, that's where the advantage goes off the road and into a ditch.

Traditional publishers have Brand, and writers have brand, and that is supposed to be good, right? The publishing world still deals with intangibles like prestige and reputation. That vast market is crammed with titles all screaming like newborns for the milk of attention. Publishing imprints remain an important shortcut for reviewers, purchasing agents and readers as they try to determine what's worth their limited time and attention.

I can give 4 major reasons why, as a new writer - you got nothing to lose by self-publishing...

1. You are an established author with a following...no, seriously - you do. Megastars like John Grisham and J.K. Rowling are known brands, but names like Stephen King are too, only folks like him have demonstrated the viability of digital self-publishing. Remember the books he sold successfully online? But your audience doesn't have to be mass-market. If you know there are reviewers who know your name and thousands of readers waiting to buy your book, then the economics of digital publishing can suddenly make perfect sense.

2. You are a completely unknown author with nothing to lose, so hell with it. Well, it is called the internet, and its the world's greatest leveller. The entry costs are low, so why not? Nothing interests a traditional publisher or agent more than saying "my self-published book got 50,000 downloads." Jeez. Hand them the puke bag.

3. You are writing in a genre that's got a ready-made audience. Fan-communities for genres like science fiction, mysteries, romance novels, military adventure, poetry etc. are meritocracies that recognize good content, whether it's got the publisher's stamp of approval or not.You feeling righteous now?

4. You have alternative distribution channels. Um, in English please... The greatest advantage that a publisher provides is getting your book in stores. But what if you don't need stores? If you sell most of your titles at trade events and through your website, an e-book with a print-on-demand option (Like with Lulu.com) provides the same service and lets you keep more of the revenue.

Aah, the penny has dropped. Lulu.com is showing writers how a book can burst into existence in the space of two weeks as opposed to a near 12 months by going the traditional route. Services like Amazon's CreateSpace  lowers the entry costs for self-publishing more again. They are moving to replace the few value-adds that publishers still offer, such as editorial and marketing support. (You still have to fill that void and promote yourself, except the web offers so much for the budding writer.) These online services are wearing away the traditional stigma of the "vanity press" and provide a broader, more profitable platform for authors who don't need the superstructure and processes of a publisher. Embrace the change - and get self-published.

This article originally appeared in my website Cheeky Girls Apartment. Cheeky Girl is shortly to publish the book based on her experiences growing up in the UK, and also including many parts of her romantic life, with guys, and girls. More announcements to come soon.


  If you are interested in becoming a published writer, check out some of my other webpages and articles written. I have also reviewed a self-published poet's book "Toss and Turn" by Marifel Dungo, published on Lulu.com. 


Self-publishing is a great way to cut out the "middle-man" in the publishing equation, and reap more rewards and commissions for yourself.


Cheeky Girl out.

The Facebook Mobile Event on Wednesday Nov 3 - what's happening?

Silicon Valley is where some of the world's biggest and most progressive technology firms in the world bring new products ans ideas to the masses, there is growing interest in a curious new Facebook event planned on Wednesday Nov 3rd. Facebook have been announcing the possible advent of a new technology thought to possibly be either a Mobile Phone of their own, loaded with Facebook features, or an iPad app for Facebook, or the arrival of Facebook Places, an idea that allows Facebook Users to find each other geographically.

A system that will rival the Google Street View technology on Android Phones. While we are trying to guess what Facebook are going to announce, you can bet it will be big. With a Feature film just released "The Social Network" is the most talked about company in the world, even surpassing Larry and Serge. (No, that's not a film, you're thinking of Larry and Chuck!) But whatever announcement it is, it cannot reach fruition without the cooperation of the mobile Phone networks. So is it a Network agreement? One idea coming out is that Facebook has planned some handsets due out after Christmas that will be made by the handset maker INQ which may have enhanced Facebook features. There are two such handsets due in Q1 next year.

Another idea that might be announced at the Facebook Mobile Event on Nov 3rd could well be something called "Facebook Deals". In the USA there are some business partners to Facebook already testing such a service, it allows Facebook users - whether with mobiles or PCs to allow businesses to provides "deals" whenever Visitors check into a Physical store.Think Tom Cruise retail shopping in the film Minority Report.

Read the full article...