Monday, July 14, 2014

More Smut For Chocoholics Inspiration - A word from an editor

Following on from Slave Nano's chocolate inspiration post I'm happy to have popping in one of the editors from the anthology Tilly Hunter.

Having had my own experience of editing anthologies and working out what fits for the anthology and what doesn't it's really interesting to hear from someone else in a similar position. So here without further ado is Tilly Hunter!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00L5QGZVQ

I must confess something: I didn’t make a submission for the first Smut for Chocoholics because the theme didn’t really float my boat as much as the Smut by the Sea and Smut Alfresco anthologies had. But when Kev Blisse asked me if I’d co-edit More Smut for Chocoholics with him, I was flattered that he’d approached me and didn’t want to pass up this fantastic opportunity to work with the ‘Smut’ brand. 

When it came to my own stories, I did what I usually do, which is to think up a somewhat unusual take on the theme. I’d been to a real ale festival and that set me thinking about breweries. And when I did a little research on the subject of adding chocolate to beer, I discovered that chocolate malt simply means that the malt has been roasted to a chocolaty colour and has nothing to do with actual chocolate. I also found out that ordinary chocolate’s fattiness would upset the brewing process. So I ordered some cacao nibs from an online health food store to try. They were horrible. Which led me to considering how a guy who likes to joke around might trick his fellow brewery worker into tasting them. In a suitably flirtatious fashion.

As the submissions rolled in, I began to realise what a difficult task I’d taken on. I already knew I would have to think outside my own preferred genres. I had to imagine myself into a sweeter, more conventionally romantic place to make sure there would be a balance of stories – fortunately there are plenty of scenes of bondage and spanking in the anthology too! There were stories I enjoyed but they maybe didn’t engage with the theme strongly enough or develop the sensuality as deeply as they could have. When it came to the final decisions and Kev suggested he could inform the authors whose stories we would not be accepting, while I gave out the good news, I took the cowardly choice and said that sounded like an excellent idea.

We had received some stories with a historical setting, but none so far that went back to chocolate’s origins in the cacao drinks of the Aztecs. So I decided to write one myself. Where stories we received had D/s themes, they were overwhelmingly male-dom so I thought I would even that up with a suitably femdom tale. After I’d finished, it transpired that Slave Nano’s tale of Ixcacao, the Goddess of Chocolate, had got stuck in a webby filter thingy somewhere and we had an Aztec tale after all. I had to decide whether to include my story too. I took editor’s privilege and decided to go ahead with both. I think they are different enough. 

Next up was the stage I enjoy the best – the nitty gritty of tweaking and polishing and tightening up the prose of all those stories, checking for continuity bloopers and the odd typo. Yes, I am an editing nerd. Although I’m sure practice can improve your editing skills, it does just seem to come naturally to me and once I get stuck in, I get a real sense of satisfaction from interrogating every sentence. Of course, I always try to remain true to an author’s own voice and style. I think I succeeded. Hopefully.

To see the finished ebook go on sale with my name on the cover as editor is a bit special. And there is a print version too, which is doubly exciting. Kev and Victoria Blisse will be launching it at the Manchester Alternative and Burlesque Fair at Sound Control on July 26th – with free chocolate treats with every purchase!

Tilly Hunter can be found here:
Twitter: @TillyHErotica
Website: http://tillyhuntererotica.blogspot.co.uk/

Thank you Tilly for coming over!
You can buy More Smut for Chocoholics in the following places:

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00L5QGZVQ
Amazon USA: http://amzn.com/1783338261
All Romance Ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-moresmutforchocoholics-1555717-354.html

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