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Thursday, February 23, 2012

"Becoming Someone New" by Nan Andrews

First, I have a confession to make. I don't usually like to go to Las Vegas. I know, how can that be? Isn't Las Vegas one of the most exciting, wonderful places on the planet?


Well, you see, I don't like to gamble, so I'm not sure what to do in all those casinos. When I'm there, I feel vaguely uncomfortable, like my wallet has a hole nibbled in it and the cash is draining out as I walk down the street. Or that someone is going to stop and ask me directions and I don't know where anything is. I don't seem to have the right clothes to wear and it's hard to get my bearings. Everything seems larger than life, from the performances to the food, the bright lights and the scale of the hotels. It's all so much more dramatic than my regular life.

But one thing that Sin City is perfect for, actually, is becoming someone new. If I leave my usual self at home, I can enjoy everything that Las Vegas has to offer. I found this out in September, when I went to the first ever Erotic Author's Association convention and spent four days being my alter ego, Nan.

I write erotica under a pen name and at home, it's only a small part of my regular life. However, when I went to Las Vegas, I became Nan full time. It was a liberating experience. I even learned some things about my alter ego: Nan still doesn't gamble, but she likes to watch her friends do it. She didn't drink too much, or dance on any bars, but she did go see some adult entertainment and enjoyed talking about adult things with other erotica writers for several days.

At home, I don't vacuum the house in a bustier and high heels, but they were the perfect attire for attending a reading of erotica at the Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas. Being Nan that night, I got to stare at a pair of exquisite ankles in impossibly high heels with delightful ribbons and imagine all sorts of inappropriate stories they might inspire.



As Nan, the next day, I watched the belly dancers dressing for their demonstrations down the hall and imagined steamy desert nights where the dance of veils clouded many men's vision. Nan got to talk to people who know about the proper way to handcuff someone, or tie them up and flog them. She got to imagine the secret life of anyone who comes to Las Vegas and lets their hair down. She let her own hair down for a few days and it was wonderful. I brought more of Nan back with me and she has made my regular life brighter, too.

We can all share some of what Vegas has to offer. “Voyeur Eyes Only” is full of tales of what can happen in Las Vegas. The lights are bright and the windows are dark, perfect for gazing in. In my story, “Dancing Waters,” a habitual watcher finds a willing partner for his pleasure. He gets to direct her performance from a distance, until the performance overwhelms them both with a life of its own.

I hope you'll enjoy this and all the rest by a fine group of authors, including Laura Antoniou, Nik Havert, Jade Melisande, Courtney Breazile, and Cecilia Tan. Available as an audio book, as well as an e-book, with proceeds to benefit the EAA Writers Conference.



*****

An erotic collection of shorts stories by best-selling authors with a central theme of voyeurism in Las Vegas.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas? Not anymore…

High above the Las Vegas strip, at the top of Skylane Tower, the rooms come with one special amenity; a high powered telescope. When a group of erotica writers descend on Sin City for their annual conference, the voyeurs witness first hand, that some authors live by the adage, ‘write what you know’.

A woman’s curiosity is piqued as she observes a beautiful stranger being bound in silky red rope. A man scouting for new sex slaves, watches as an elegant woman gets more than her hands dirty. A prostitute pulls a switch - sending her lover out on a call. A simple slip of the hand, causes a case of mistaken room identity and a linen closet at a nearby hotel, sees more action than all of them combined. And that is just the beginning…

They say perception is reality. Is what the Voyeur sees through their spyglass just a fantasy; on which side of the lens would you like to be?

The "Voyeur Eyes Only" tour is hitting fourteen websites over fourteen days - check this link to see where and when the other posts are: http://www.writermarketing.co.uk/prpromotion/blog-tours/currently-on-tour/voyeur-eyes-only/

Buy Links:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

*****

Nan Andrews' stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including The Mammoth Book of the Kama Sutra; Where the Girls Are: Urban Lesbian Erotica, and CREAM: The Best of the ERWA. She is a member of the Erotic Authors Association as well as ERWA, and lives in Northern California.




Belly dancer image: Jhayne from Vancouver, Canada; Creative Commons license. "Welcome to Vegas" sign is in the public domain.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Erin, Thanks for hosting! I love the bellydancing picture, too.

cheers,
Nan

Erin O'Riordan said...

Thanks for being my guest, Nan! I hope the blog tour is going well.

Shah Wharton said...

I first went to Vegas 2007 to decide whether I wanted to wed there. The year later we wed in Venetian Hotel Chapel (OMG - beautiful). Before my first run of Vegas, when my hubs suggested we wed there, I thought, 'No way!' but agreed to take a look. I didn't think the place would be for me. Like Nan - neither of us gamble and we're no longer party animals, but I love that it offers so much more. Its like a beach holiday and City holiday all in one.

The voyeurism anthology sounds intriguing and loved the guest post. :) X