A Pretty Weird Bloke - a slightly weird story...

A Pretty Weird Bloke is my latest self published release. It's a bit of a shortie, but hopefully weirdly sweet in a kinky BDSM sort of way. If that makes any kind of sense... why not give it a whirl? LOL

Here's the blurb...

Nikki thinks she’s found the perfect man in the form of her handsome, sophisticated work colleague David. He’s intelligent, funny, and a devastatingly desirable Alpha male in a traditional and slightly old-fashioned English way.

But even though she knows that he fancies her, it takes forever for him to make a move. And when he does, he issues a tantalising warning… he tells her that he’s a ‘pretty weird bloke’.

Nikki guesses that this is something to do with his preferences as a lover, but she’s up for an adventure. Even so, his interest in a certain part of her anatomy - and certain wickedly ‘testing’ things he’d like to do to it - is as unsettling as it is dangerously exciting.

Can she channel her inner daring and handle David’s weirdness… and walk on the wild side with him into dark, seductive pleasure?

Try an excerpt here

Buy from Amazon :: US :: UK :: CA :: AU

Also available from :: iBooks :: Kobo :: Nook

New short story release - HIS PRIVATE DANCER

Looking for something short and sexy and told from the male POV? Well, look no further!

HIS PRIVATE DANCER - a decadent tale of saucy burlesque

With a front row seat at a private burlesque show, Mr Curtis finds himself bewitched and seduced by the gorgeous Madame X.

As the silken gloves and feather boa go flying, the mysterious beauty works him up into a fever of desire with her steamy, exotic moves.

Will there be an encore? An even hotter show?

Buy from Amazon :: US :: UK :: CA :: AU

Also available from :: Nook :: Kobo :: iBooks

Sebastian isn't cheap... but he's certainly good value!

Look at that grin! I've always loved that image! And now he's challenging you to plunge into a BDSM adventure with him... for a very modest price. :)

IN SEBASTIAN'S HANDS is on sale at a special low price of 99 cents, or equivalent, until the 31st of March. So now's the time to sample a trio of naughty spanking stories, with a sweet romantic heart, for less than a dollar or a pound. Here's the blurb:

When Megan meets Sebastian Holmwood at a fancy dress party, she little realizes how her life is going to change. Sebastian is a beautiful and unusual man with an irresistible dark mystique about him. The glint in his silver blue eyes, and the velvet rasp of his deep baritone voice make her want to do crazy things. Suddenly she finds herself longing to play perverse erotic games almost beyond her imagination. She wants Sebastian to spank her, touch her, dominate her, take her over in every way possible... and she knows that with him, the pleasure she earns will blow her mind.

Sebastian Holmwood is a dominant master who's never quite found his perfect submissive... until he meets Megan, dressed as Little Bo Peep, and carrying a crook that looks suspiciously like a punishment cane. Something about Megan's blend of naivety and mischief, and her bold willingness to follow his lead, speaks to his dominant soul as a never before, and he knows he won't rest until he's spanked her and much, much more.

The collection is already offered at the low price on Amazon, Apple, Smashwords and All Romance Ebooks, with other vendors to follow.

Here are the links:

Amazon :: US :: UK :: CA :: AU
Apple :: US :: UK :: CA :: AU
Also :: Barnes and Noble :: Nook UK :: Kobo :: All Romance Ebooks :: Smashwords :: Diesel Ebooks


There's a teaser excerpt here if you want to see what Sebastian is all about! :)

New cover, new price!

To celebrate the dramatic new cover of my short story collection, DARING INTERLUDES, I've reduced the price to a very tasty 99c [or 77p or equivalent in your currency]. These stories are super hot, and yes, very daring. They're all about couples who are established and happy together, but eager to have fun trying edgy new sensual pleasures.

Here's the lowdown on each one:

In The Concubine, Merry spices up Rick's convalescence by telling him one of her super sexy stories and transporting him to a fantasy kindom where a beautiful and sensually accomplished courtesan serves her lord and master.

Silver Screen is a walk on the wild side for the heroine when she's compelled to take breathtaking erotic risks at the behest of her wickedly imaginative lover.

Vickie and Terrence both have sexual secrets, and neither quite knows what's going on in the other's head when they're in bed, making love. But one day, Vickie reveals her Naughty Thoughts... and discovers a brand new, thrilling Terrence. A powerful man who likes to play spanking games.

Daring Interludes is available from Barnes and Noble, Nook UK, Kobo Ebooks, Amazon Kindle US and Amazon Kindle UK.

There's a mini excerpt here.

New cover for NAUGHTY THOUGHTS!

How do you like this brand new cover for my super hot, super quick read, NAUGHTY THOUGHTS? Doesn't she just look like she's having a really, really naughty thought right now? :)

Here's the blurb for this sexy short story:

Dare Vickie reveal her secret fantasies?

Vickie and Terrence have a delicious sex life, even though neither one knows quite what's going on in the other's head when they're making passionate love. But one night, in the heat of the moment, Vickie confesses her dark, dangerous fantasies about being punished and dominated... and discovers a brand new, thrilling side to her beloved Terrence. He's a powerful dominant who likes to play spanking games, and it turns out that the Master of Vickie's dreams and the familiar lover who's already in her bed are one and the same man.

You can check out a mini teaser excerpt of NAUGHTY THOUGHTS here:

http://www.portiadacosta.com/naughtythoughts2.html

IN SEBASTIAN'S HANDS has a new cover!

I love designing covers for my self published work... and here's the result of my latest efforts. A brand new cover for my little collection of three linked romantic BDSM stories, IN SEBASTIAN'S HANDS. I'm really pleased with it, and even though it's not a 'in your face' sexually as the previous version, I think it's far more erotic, because of that tricky, provocative smile on handsome Sebastian's face. You just know that a man with a smile like that is going to blow your mind!

With this latest round of covers I'm doing, I'm trying to create a uniform look that harmonises with, and connects to, the kind of utterly fabulous covers I've had lately for my Black Lace novels. It's a form of branding, if you will, although I'm not sure I like that term.

But the thing is... I work just as hard on my self published titles as I do on my traditionally published ones. I push for the same high standard, and create the same kind of characters and settings and storylines. Self published Portia is just the same as traditionally published Portia, and if you like the stuff I write for Black Lace and for Harlequin, you'll like the self published stories too. Some are shorter works, but hopefully, you'll find that they're tasty snacks, while the novels are full on dinners with several courses.

You'll find a list of my self published titles here, if you want to see what's on the menu:

http://www.portiadacosta.com/selfpublished.html

And if you want to know more about Sebastian, here's the blurb:

When Megan meets Sebastian Holmwood at a fancy dress party, she little realizes how her life is going to change. Sebastian is a beautiful and unusual man with an irresistible dark mystique about him. The glint in his silver blue eyes, and the velvet rasp of his deep baritone voice make her want to do crazy things. Suddenly she finds herself longing to play perverse erotic games almost beyond her imagination. She wants Sebastian to spank her, touch her, dominate her, take her over in every way possible... and she knows that with him, the pleasure she earns will blow her mind.

Sebastian Holmwood is a dominant master who's never quite found his perfect submissive... until he meets Megan, dressed as Little Bo Peep, and carrying a crook that looks suspiciously like a punishment cane. Something about Megan's blend of naivety and mischief, and her bold willingness to follow his lead, speak to his dominant soul as a never before, and he knows he won't rest until he's spanked her and much, much more.

There's an excerpt and some background, as well as buying links here:

http://www.portiadacosta.com/sebastian.html

And if you want to plunge straight in and treat yourself, here are those links:

Available from All Romance eBooks, Smashwords, Diesel Ebooks, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Sony, Amazon Kindle UK and Amazon Kindle US

iTunes links here

Also available in the Delicious Pain anthology - click for info

The Red Collection - out today!

Thrilled to announce my latest book from Black Lace!

THE RED COLLECTION is a jumbo anthology of my previously published shorter work. It's stuffed with my short stories that have appeared in Black Lace anthologies, two chunky paranormal novellas, BUDDIES DON'T BITE and ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT, and one or two other bits and bobs.

For a list of the goodies, a bit of info, and a teeny tiny taster, zip along to:

THE RED COLLECTION

Available from the Amazons thus far, other online outlets hopefully to follow, and also from physical bookshops and supermarkets various.

Daring Interludes - special low price at Amazon!

Apropos of nothing, and just because I can, I've decided to put my self published title DARING INTERLUDES on special offer at Amazon for a limited period!

Daring Interludes is a little collection of three short stories, based around the general theme of "games lovers play". Each one features an established couple, who've been together for a while, and the enrichment that a bit of sexual experimentation brings to them. All three are different, and range from the almost sweet [but still hot] to the very, very edgy indeed.

In Concubine, Merry spices up her lover Rick's convalescence after a broken ankle, by telling him a sexy fantasy tale, a la Scheherazade, and casting herself as an exotic courtesan, and Rick as a noble, all powerful prince.

In Silver Screen, things take a much riskier turn when the heroine is compelled to take a walk on the wild side at the behest of her dangerously inventive lover... and the outcome is even wilder than she'd anticipated.

In Naughty Thoughts, Vickie and Terrence's love life moves up to an even more sizzling level when she admits to him that she fantasizes about being spanked while they're having sex!

These three stories add up to a satisfyingly chunk ten thousand plus words, but the Kindle ebook also contains another tempting two thousand words of tantalizing tasters [try saying that when you've had a few!] for some of my other titles, namely, IN SEBASTIAN'S HANDS, FORBIDDEN TREASURES and POWER OF THREE.

You can read a teaser for DARING INTERLUDES here and purchase it from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

Get it while it's hot... and cheap!

A freebie for the New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Back to "to be paid for" status now, alas...

To celebrate the New Year, I'm offering AN APPOINTMENT WITH HER MASTER, a brand new to digital short story, FREE for two days via Amazon.

So follow the links below between 12:00 am Pacific Standard Time, 1st January and 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time, 2nd January to snag this edgy story of a young woman's initiation into the darkly delicious world of erotic domination and punishment.

Here's the blurb:

Shy, but secretly sexy and imaginative, Mary-Anne Green fantasizes about having her bottom spanked by a stern and powerful master, the beautiful, cultured hero of her wildest dreams. She longs to feel the hand of a dominant man upon her, punishing her flesh, then caressing it to the heights of exquisite pleasure.

It seems that these wild scenarios are destined to remain solely in her imagination, until one day Mary-Anne meets her dream master online. Their chemistry is electric from the very first moment, and their fantasies and desires a perfect, sizzling match. In email after email they share everything. Dark urges, wicked wishes... painted pictures of fiery, passionate punishment.

But what happens when Mary-Anne and her Master decide to meet each other? Will the delicious, painful magic survive the transition to reality? Will their intimate bond be all they hope for, and perhaps more?

Approximately 5,000 words/11 pages.

A much shorter version of this story has originally appeared in print under the title "It Had to Happen".

Download from Amazon.com

Download from Amazon.co.uk

An Appointment with her Master is also free to borrow from Amazon.com for the next 90 days, if you're a US Amazon Prime member. 

As part of the scheme for authors that allows us to make our titles free for a number of days, and allows free borrowing by Prime members, Amazon does ask that we sell those titles only via their web sites for 90 days. If you don't have a Kindle reader, you can still read them via the Kindle Desktop application here, and please be assured that after 90 days, An Appointment with her Master will be available at other ebook outlets and in formats suitable for all other readers.

All the very best for 2012! 

WOMEN IN LUST - out now

WOMEN IN LUST - EDITED BY RACHEL KRAMER BUSSEL

At its best, lust is intense, all-consuming, leaving you breathless, able only to focus on slaking that urgent need. The characters in Women in Lust give in to that pure, overpowering impulse for sex. Whether watching a lover playing guitar, using a webcam, going out for a smoke or simply embracing a chance encounter, these women seize the opportunities presented to them, and savor the lovers who teach them about themselves and help them open up to new sensual possibilities. These women embrace lust even when it makes them do things they might consider reckless. Sometimes the object of their lust is not the "right" person—a woman falls for her best friend's boyfriend, the ultimate taboo. Or desire itself may be maddening when it teases and taunts. Rachel Kramer Bussel has brought together top erotica authors who know exactly what to do with those burning desires.

With contributed stories by Portia Da Costa, Charlotte Stein, Aimee Pearl, Clancy Nacht, Elizabeth Coldwell, Lucy Hughes, Del Carmen, Jen Cross, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Brandy Fox, Amelia Thornton, Kin Fallon, Aimee Herman, Jacqueline Applebee, Kayar Silkenvoice, Olivia Archer, Justine Elyot, K.D. Grace, Shanna Germain, and Donna George Storey.

This saucy anthology is out now for your delectation, and includes my story NAUGHTY THOUGHTS, which seems to be gaining some favourable comments in some of the book's Amazon reviews.

You can read an excerpt from Naughty Thoughts here and check out the collection via Amazon links.

SWEET CONFESSIONS out now!

"22 superbly written erotic stories for couples looking to spice up their bedtime reading. Violet Blue is quite simply the best in the business when it comes to erotica for couples. She edits with both a sharp eye and a knack for what lovers are looking for, with scenarios ranging from the sweet to the surprising and the tantalisingly forbidden. In SWEET CONFESSIONS, the inciting fantasies explored include spanking, exhibitionism, role-playing, three-ways and sexy adventures that arouse and inspire couples to reach new heights of passion."


I'm very proud to say that I have a short story in this exciting new collection, edited by the legendary Violet Blue. In Silver Screen, an unnamed girl gets herself into a crazy, erotic scrape in a sleazy 'adult' cinema whilst playing a daring power game with her wickedly dominant boyfriend. Even when he's not around, she can't resist his outrageous challenges...


Click here to read a hot excerpt of Silver Screen, with links to buy the collection

Just a bit of creepy fun!

I'm having lots of fun with self publishing at the moment, and in the process of experimenting with something a bit different, I think I've invented a new genre...

Sweet Erotic Horror! 

Wesley and the Sex Zombies is a short, rather macabre, and kind of sexy tale about a lonely and unhappy young man who meets a beautiful but very disreputable pair of travelers in a motorway cafe... and little realizes that his interesting new friends are ever so slightly dead! 

So, to try a taster of something a tad unusual from Portia, go here to read an excerpt.

Wesley and the Sex Zombies 

If you decide to take the plunge, let me know what you think.

On entering a brave new world...

What's this? A new Portia Da Costa title? Why has this suddenly appeared when I've posted no advance news, tweeted no tweets? How come it's appeared out of the blue?

Well, the answer is that I've entered a brave new world for me, the exciting realm of digital self publishing. It's something I've had on my mind for quite a while now, but I've hung back, and hung back, afraid of messing up the technology, to be honest. But in the last few weeks, circumstances have propelled me into learning about how to do the "stuff" and this unexpected new release - THE EFFICIENCY EXPERT - is the result. It's only really a "test" publication, a fairly short story - I just wanted to understand how the processes worked on a variety of platforms. But it'd still be rather nifty if I sold a few!

THE EFFICIENCY EXPERT has already been published as part of an anthology, PASSION edited by the wonderful Rachel Kramer Bussel, but if you just fancy reading my story alone, here's your chance. [I'd still heartily recommend getting the anthology, though, if you like what you've read in my story]

So, here's the blurb of THE EFFICIENCY EXPERT

Still stinging from a stringent efficiency review, office girl Susie encounters the very last man she wants to meet when she hits the bar to relax and unwind. Hunky Noah Stevens is the ruthless company troubleshooter who's been making her life hell for the last three weeks, but Susie soon finds that after hours, and in the bedroom, Noah's devotion to "efficiency" yields a delicious erotic bonus.

You can read a short excerpt here, or take the plunge and buy it from:

The Efficiency Expert - Kindle UK

The Efficiency Expert - Kindle US

The Efficiency Expert - Smashwords [Lots of formats here]

The Efficiency Expert - All Romance eBooks [Several formats here]

Another sale!

It's been a very good week. First I sold my story THE EFFICIENCY EXPERT to Rachel Kramer Bussel for her PASSION anthology... and now I've sold another story to different anthology! :)

This time it's a tale called FIRE AND ICE and it's going to be in the MAMMOTH BOOK OF HOT ROMANCE, edited by Sonia Florens, which is due to be published in Spring 2011.

FIRE AND ICE is a fun story, and was a hoot to write. It's set at Christmas, and involves a boss and his P.A. So far, so good... but when the heating breaks down in Innes McKenzie's flat, it's adding insult to injury because he's in bed with the flu at the time! Enter the ministering angel of his personal assistant, Cally Hobbes, who has a major crush on her handsome boss and treats everything that ails him with a lot of very hands on TLC!

PASSION - I'm in it!

I'm thrilled to announce that my short story THE EFFICIENCY EXPERT will be included in the forthcoming PASSION anthology, edited by the fabulous Rachel Kramer Bussel!

PASSION will be published in November 2010 and you can find more info and a mini snippet of my story here.

Isn't the cover divine?

Little bit of publishing news...

Although at the moment, I have no novels slated for publication in 2010, I am in a couple of print anthologies this year. One is NAUGHTY BITS 2, which contains my Spice Brief story CHANCE OF A LIFETIME... and the other is this beauty, that's just appeared on Amazon.com!

Alison's Wonderland

It's a paranormal erotic/romantic anthology edited by the fabulous Alison Tyler, with a general theme of fairy tales and fairy tale like stories. Mine's called UNVEILING HIS MUSE, and it's about a graphic artist who falls in love with one of his creations... a fantasy woman who turns out to be a good deal more lifelike than he bargained for. ;)

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Eating: Cadbury's Roses
Watching: Poirot
Reading: Inventing the Victorians - Matthew Sweet
Writing: Victorianoid
Feeling: OK

Yes, I'm still alive...

Sorry I've not been posting here much lately. I seem to be exceptionally busy at the moment, doing nothing much. Weird that, isn't it? The days seem to fly by and I don't have much to show for them, most of the time... Think it's the cooler weather, and a cold I had that seems to have induced a lingering lurgi... sigh...

Anyway, thought you would like to see the magnificent photo of Kuffer, that I took a couple of days ago. He's the King of Demented Poses, and even at his advanced age, he still manages to score high marks for artistic interpretation. :)

So, what have I been doing, apart from drifting about in a stupor and spending too much time on Twitter?

Before I throw myself commitedly into writing IN THE FLESH, my Victorian opus for Spice, I've been attempting to dream up a few ideas for shorter works, probably ebooks. At the moment, I'm grappling with a story that's about a fallen angel type character... Am not sure about the precise details of who or what he is, I'm just playing it by ear and trundling along with the writing. Which may or may not be a mistake, because I've a feeling I should have planned it out better first, and worked out some kind of mythos for my gorgeous angelic character. All I know for certain is that he bears a startling resemblance to a certain 'consultant' who helps the police with their enquiries in my current favourite cop show... ;)

Mmm.... sigh... yum yum...

New Short Story Sales!

Thrilled to announce two new Black Lace short story sales!

The Distraction will be in the Misbehaviour anthology and Fireworks Inside will be in Sexy Little Numbers. :)

Today is the most important day of my life...

No, nothing majorly exciting has happened. It's just another ordinary day. But I've been thinking about how I waste so much time worrying over poor choices and decisions I've made in the past, and how I also waste a lot of time thinking how great if would be if X, Y or Z happen in the future. The thing is, though, I can't go back and change the cock ups of the past, and who the f*** knows what's really going to happen in the future. So, basically, the best way to conduct your life is to make the most of here and now and enjoy the moment, instead of spoiling it by brooding on what's been and what's to come.

That's all from philosophy corner for today! :)

Anyway, very sorry that there's not been much in the way of blogging here for a while. There just seems to be a lot of stuff I have to do, but not much of it newsworthy, with the exception of a jolly lunch I had with my buddy Saskia Walker on Tuesday. We haven't managed to get together for quite a while, so it was doubly fun to have our usual laff fest and dirt dishing session. We even managed to get a table in our primo venue, the M&S Cafe Revive in big town. Am afraid I didn't have a very healthy option, and could hear my arteries crying for mercy over the fat rich but very yummy cheesey toasted sandwich, but Saskia's soup looked far more nutricious. She's got so much more sense than I have! LOL

In other news, I was busy last week and over the weekend working on a story for an anthology I'm very excited to be a part of, and which is the brainchild of a v. prestigious editor. More on that to come as news filters through. It's with one of my very favourite publishers though, so am well, well chuffed about it.

Now that's out of the way, I need to return to a couple of stories I was writing/editing before the little rush job came in, a couple of subs for the last of the current round of Black Lace short story anthologies. They're both pretty fun-sexy, playful and hopefully entertaining, although one is a tad more kinky. They're also both loosely linked to another story I've written for this series of anthologies, so I do hope they get accepted and this little 'world' I've created is complete.

When they're done? Well, back to working on ideas and outlines for new books and stories, and whatever comes up next. Am not going to think about the things I'm waiting to hear about... because that would be anticipating the future at the expense of the present, and I'm not supposed to be doing that, am I? ;)

More German Covers

Here's the German cover of GOTHIC BLUE, which is nicely 'blue' and fairly provocative, but at least tastefully free of too much tit and bum. The title has been translated as 'The Castle of a Thousand Sins', which I rather like. :)

I also received a copy of Wicked Words 4 in German this morning too, which contains my story Screen Dream [aka Behind the Screen], but that is a bit tit and bummish, so here's a link if you want to see it.

Unersättlich: Scharfe Stories