Dear Author just publicly announced the authors to be featured in the Agony/Ecstasy anthology (out November 2011 from Berkley Heat).

Why am I mentioning this? Because I’m one of those authors!

All stories are erotic shorts exploring the dual theme of pain and pleasure. My contribution, ”Shameless” (set in 1859), is the tale of a disillusioned young woman trapped in an awful relationship, and how one night at the Philadelphia Opera changes her life completely.

Here’s a very short excerpt from “Shameless”:

And there he was, leaning against a Corinthian-style column as he stared into the box.

Caro froze.

Everything in his posture screamed of capable confidence; in her current state, his poise pulled her as surely as if he’d tied a rope around her waist and tugged. Some unidentifiable sensation simmered beneath her stays as she steadily met his gaze from fifty feet away.

A minute tilt of his head indicated the darkened corner at his back, and he lifted a brow in question. He wanted her to…to meet him backstage? Caro stopped breathing.

The small quirk of a smile stretching his lips decided her. Before she could think better of it, she smoothed a hand over the bell of her skirts and swept out of James Pierpont’s opera box for the last time.

© by Edie Harris

I gotta say, I’m in good (read: “amazing”) company—Meljean Brook, Jill Myles, Anne Calhoun, HelenKay Dimon, and many more. (I may or may not have squee-ed when I saw the list. Because, dude, not to single anyone out, but…The Iron Duke‘s author’s work in the same tome as mine? Freaking awesome. /end squee) Congrats to all the writers featured in this anthology!

DIY Tip #15: To get a smile like the one I’m wearing now, please study the photo below. Thank you.