FREE Today: The Red Shoes

"The Red Shoes" is free on Amazon today.  This is its last day on Amazon Prime. Tomorrow it goes on Smashwords.  I'm trying a rotation thing--the minimum 3 months on Prime so I can give out free days, and then I release on Smashwords, which in turn farms me out to a bunch of other book retailers.  I make a little bit of money on Smashwords, and it increases my visibility online, so I feel it's worth it while I'm selling so few copies of my work.

I wanna talk a bit about this story.  It's based on Has Christian Anderson's The Red Shoes.  (He's turning in his grave, like, really.)  A cautionary tale about what happens when you don't listen to your mother and wear scandalous red shoes to church, I tried to keep, not the plot, but the important aspects of the story.  The rules against red shoes, the dancing, and the painful punishment for disobeying, those are all still there.

I love working fairy tales into something new.  (If I ever get my Red Riding Hood done you will just die over the awesomeness.)  I love the versatility of the stories--you can do almost anything to them. People love them because they know them. I really love writing fairy tales in an erotic or horror genre because the original tales were gruesome and violent. (Rape, cannibalism, infanticide, take your pick.)

If you want some great adult-centric fairy tales I suggest Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow's fairy tale anthologies.  I started with Snow White, Blood Red.

Positive Review: Addicted to the Bite

BDSM Book Reviews gave "Addicted to the Bite" a 4/5. I'm very pleased. :)  Here's a link if you're still on the wall about buying it:

http://www.bdsmbookreviews.com/2013/04/17/review-addicted-to-the-bite-by-leigh-wilder/

And to the reviewer, Naamah--wait until you read Club Midnight!

"Club Midnight", incidentally, will be out around the 15th.  I know I said April and I am so sorry about the lateness.  I dug myself into a pretty deep plot hole that took some re-writing. I'm coming close to the end though.  I really, really like what I've written so far. It's better than "Addicted to the Bite."  The story line is good, the character interaction excellent, and the sex scenes are awesome.

Likely there will be a print collection of the first three stories.  It will be a small book--about 150 pages (40,000 words).  As a result the price will be as low as I can make it while still turning a profit.  It will be less than $7.  There's a print market out there that I need to take advantage of after all, and I really like the idea of a physical copy of Deadly Liaisons.  Autographed copies, fancy bookmarks and all that fun stuff will be available.

Why the Alpha?

I'm not a fan of Alpha males IRL. They're bullies. They think women need to be coddled and protected.     I've never met an Alpha personality that I didn't want to punch in the face. (Yes, this does apply to my friends as well as public figures and fictional characters.)  Yet the phrase pops up all over the place anywhere romance and erotica books are being discussed.  When I see the word I tend to shy away from the book. Even if the heroine is a Strong Woman, there's gonna be a lot of friction as she fights with his alpha-ness and I don't find this friction exciting or sexy.

I have no idea what it is you people find so appealing about predisposition to douchebaggery, but I will tell ya, it sours me to the romance genre in general.  I actually read very little straight up romance, preferring fantasy, paranormal and sci-fi with heavy romantic/erotic elements.

The label 'Alpha' is part of the California Psychological Inventory, which is a personality test that was developed in the 1950's.  Aside from Alphas and Betas there are also Gamma and Delta personalities.  Here's a short description of the personality types from wikipedia (because I'm lazy):

"Alpha personality types are more enterprising, dependable and outgoing. Betas are reserved, responsible and moderate. Gammas are adventurous, restless, and pleasure-seeking. Finally, Deltas are withdrawn, private, and to some extent disaffected."

(Clearly I am a Delta.)

So there are 3 other personality types to play with, yet they are getting ignored for this:

Found these attractive boys doing a google search for 'alpha male.' Pic is from a site that offers a "Pick-up Artist Bootcamp."  Very classy. Googling 'alpha male' will come up with multiple offers on how to get with women.

So why not get more Betas, Gammas and Deltas up there on the page?  There's no reason why they can't still hold leadership roles if that is what your story needs.  And I'm getting so tired of stories about billionaire CEOs and Alpha werewolves.  Who knows a billionaire CEO in real life anyway?  I wouldn't want to because I would want to punch him in the face.