I have lots of news to spill, for both of my pen names. So, let’s start with Kessily Lewel. June 20th is my second anniversary as a published author. That’s today if I managed to get this post ready in time. If I didn’t then…um, I’m in trouble so just pretend I did.
It’s hard to believe it’s only been two years. To be honest it feels like so much longer. I can hardly believe I’ve gotten six books published in that time, but yep, I did that.
I didn’t do it alone, of course. If you read this blog, you already know I’ve had help. I’ve got two Doms that keep me on task despite Netflix trying so hard to lure me away. It’s really hard to blow off work when someone is keeping track of what you’re getting done. It wouldn’t work for all writers, but since my submission is tied into my writing it works very well for me.
It’s nice when everything comes together like that.
I also have a friend who is always my first beta reader and first editor. She helps me get my books in order to submit to the Publisher and does a great job. Kat has been everything to me at one time or another. She was even my Dom for a few years way back when and we’ve maintained a friendship since then that has endured many life changes for both of us and I’m grateful for all of her help on these books.
Of course, since this is my author anniversary this is also the book birthday for my first book A Haunting Experience. My publisher has graciously agreed to put it up for free on Amazon June 20-22nd so if you don’t have it yet you might want to grab a copy now. And pretty please, don’t forget to leave a review if you get the chance.
In other news, Surrendering to Her General under my pen name Sadie Marks is doing fantastic. It’s been out for over two weeks now and is still under 9K in the rankings. At the moment it’s hovering around #8,440, which is out of over five million books. That’s a very good ranking since the lower the better, #1 being a bestseller. It dropped as low as #2440 during it’s first week, which makes this book my best so far.
The reviews have been amazing too. Honestly, I’m really proud of the world I built for this book. I love how wide and inclusive it is. While the main characters are a Dominant man and a submissive woman, the larger world includes every kind of pairing and people have noticed and seem to approve of that, which makes me happy.
I’ve been considering some short stories in that universe that revolve around other characters, just for fun here on the blog. Maybe something with the gay switch that appears early in the book, or the male sub with his female Dominant Sadec for those people who enjoy M/M and F/M pairings. If there’s interest, please let me know it might help my muse get started.
In other news I (as Sadie) will be taking part in a release party for this new book on July 3rd. I am scheduled to go on at 5pm and it will take place in the Blushing Sizzle group on Facebook. Just click the link here and join the group.
If you haven’t joined already you really should. They do lots of giveaways all month, and at the beginning of each month there’s a big release party with a whole schedule of authors who come in throughout the day to give out prizes.
I just received some great prizes to give out, so I really want to see you there. I’ll drop some pictures here for you to see, but I ordered some handcrafted aloe gels from Fortune Cookie Soap company (who I adore) they let me pick the scents, the colors (all red of course!) and the names on the jars too so you know I had to make sure they were both naughty and appropriate for the occasion.
Some even have shimmer in the gel that reminded me of the flecks in the Sadec skin. I ordered a couple plain aloe gels with shimmer, and then some that were half aloe and half WHIPPED cream (lotion). They are all wonderful for sunburned—or spanked skin, trust me.
I’ll probably also give out some other things I ordered if I dare…in addition to some other FCS products that I picked up, I may have purchased some adorable wee willies (tiny novelty dicks that are just for collecting.) and if I’m feeling daring I could make up a wickedly naughty gift pack with them, but there will be plenty left over for other events too.
I plan to do some kind of giveaways here on the blog at some point as well, so keep an eye out for that in the future. Hopefully I haven’t forgotten anything important, but I think that’s all my news for now. Have a great weekend and don’t forget to grab your free copy of Haunting if you don’t already have it!
Musings of a Chaotic Mind 
I love those ideas!
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Yay!! I’ll see what I can come up with.
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Congratulations! Honestly… kind of encouraging to hear someone say they’re accomplishing through a D/s type accountability. Only way I completed my thesis was with punishment…and I didn’t feel great about it at the time.
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Xena, I agree you don’t hear a lot about it but I don’t think it’s uncommon for submissives who have discipline as part of their relationship. I know there are plenty of subs who only play for fun, or funishments and don’t incorporate any real punishment, but for those of us who do it all it’s fairly common.
When I’ve been between relationships I tend to procrastinate everything and the only way I eventually get into a productive place is by shutting off the submissive side of me entirely–which isn’t any healthier than relying entirely on other people to ‘make’ you do everything.
What I prefer is a nice balance where I have a framework of rules to live in, but am not micro-managed. I have to keep some responsibility for myself which means reporting when I’m slacking and accepting the consequences. It’s a good way to make sure you’re not relying too heavily on someone else to control your behavior and I feel it’s a pretty healthy way to manage things all around.
I know some people think that disciplining an adult for not doing work related things isn’t a good idea, but I disagree. After all, if I worked in an office I’d have a supervisor, and there would be consequences for not getting work done, which would be a lot worse than just a spanking or lines, right? But as a writer who works from home it’s very easy to put out less than your best because no one is checking, so the Doms simply fill the space where a boss would be.
I’m sure it’s the same for your Thesis and other schoolwork. Some people are self-motivated for extra work and some people just aren’t so a Dom can be a huge help.
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I don’t entirely consider myself a sub… I’m a bottom for sure (and a brat). I do have a punishment specific kink which works for us. Now that I’m a little older and more… thoughtful about it, I’m making my own rules, and deciding when something needs to be tracked and enforced. I joke that I’m outsourcing my motivation. I’ve got ADHD so it’s hard to finish much at all without accountability. We’re avoiding using punishment for things I’d only feel bad about… instead we’re starting with things that are important, that I need to do, but that aren’t important enough to ME that I’ll prioritize them without incentive. I don’t feel guilty, but it still helps me do what I need to do, and if I slack off I get that punishment need met… and tend to work better for a while. 😆
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You can absolutely submit to someone’s authority without being a submissive and it sounds like you guys are on the right track. I 100% endorse having people set up their own rules–or at least most of them. I actually have a half started blog post on setting up rules and that’s one of the things I talk about. Rules work better when they feel necessary to both people.
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