Guest Blogger: Joelle Casteel

Not going to write an introduction in 3rd person- it’s quite a struggle for me- I guess my Master did too good a job impressing upon me the fact that He hates submissives talking about themselves in 3rd person. I’m one of those who started writing as soon as teachers gave me the tools to write. I came to BDSM erotica as a teen with a flexible sexual orientation and way more experience than most my age. I just have one book out now: “Out of the Night: Book One.” It’s the first book of a proposed 9 book series called “Vala’s Story.”

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So I will start this post with a story I’ve told in a few ways, a few times in the last few months. In September 2012, I started reading widely… from the ROMANCE category. gasp! Most people who know me would be horrified, concerned at this. Joelle reading romance novels? Has she found some secret sub-genre that has nothing to do with mainstream publishers like Harlequin that have absolutely nothing to do with her reality? Surprisingly, I had. When I’d turned my back on the romance genre back when I was in my late teens, there was no such thing as “erotic romance” as far as I knew. You wrote romance, stuff that could be sold in the grocery store, or erotica, stuff that would only be sold in the “adult bookstore.” Since then the Internet has exploded and I found two wonderful things- not only had erotica been accepted under the “romance” banner, but a variety of online publishers are specializing in erotic books of many sub-genres. During my search of these sub-genres, I found an even more amazing thing: people were writing “spanking fiction” books, often following the practices of “Domestic Discipline” in them. While I’d tried to find out more about DD on my own, wandering the Internet myself had been pretty fruitless. However I came across Sue Lyndon’s “Dark Without You” on bn.com and bought it. Read it that first day, and again a few more times- my Master enjoyed the fruits of my reading.

That’s when a whole new world opened for me. I wandered to Sue’s blog and followed her blog roll to dozens of other blogs. I read, commented. Then I started making friends with these women- yes, many of the spanking fiction authors are women, just like the romance genre as a whole. When I started asking questions about domestic discipline and loving the answers, that’s when I knew I’d found somewhere I belonged. I’ve had plenty of conversations about the differences between DD and BDSM, but I often find myself saying, “Well maybe that’s BDSM for others, but not for me!” There are so many things I love about DD and how it’s most often shown in spanking fiction. Just the name for the “submissive” partner in the relationship: “taken in hand.” Wow! First time I read that, it made me weak in the knees. And well it did other things that my Master enjoyed :D.

I’ve taken my first tentative steps to writing my own spanking fiction. I decided to work with a male/female/female polyamorous triad; I’m told by other spanking fiction authors that polyamory is underrepresented. I hope I write something a publisher likes.

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Restless and world-weary, Mearr isn’t about to admit she needs anyone’s help, even this gorgeous man who has taken her into his home. Well one of his homes and part of this huge family she’s heard about but not met all of. She’s young, looks young, and knows it but at least she’s legal now so she can pick a new name to go with her new life…

The Queen knows he wants Mearr bad, ever since the first time he saw her in the window of the coffeehouse. He has his plan, but even a Dominant’s plans don’t always survive the unpredictability of the future. He struggles to figure out this temperamental woman he’s brought home, how best to help her. Then he takes her to his mansion…

They wait patiently for The Queen to bring Mearr home. Well to the home they’ve been redecorating for Him and for the hopes that she’ll become part of their family and be trained to please Him. Simon and Tommy have seen her, of course, being The Queen’s right and left hands; they say she’ll be a perfect addition…

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