Guest Blogger F. Leonora Solomon

I feel privileged to guest on Kate Hill’s blog, especially following Del Carmen’s recent guest post here  http://kate-hill.com/blog/?p=5035 . She did a sizzling excerpt from the anthology I edited, Tie Me Up http://www.amazon.com/Tie-Me-Up-Binding-Collection-ebook/dp/B00VKNO6II . It is not the first anthology we have collaborated on together. I have edited and written for several anthologies. I love them, in particular erotic anthologies. I think the most appealing part of editing an anthology, is working with its theme. I am a bit of an information junkie, it is not unusual for me to get an idea in my head and become obsessed! It is the same when I am working on an anthology. Not only do I become obsessed with the subject, I get sexy stories that expand my mind, even further than I could have done by myself. I get so many different perspectives and ideas that stay with me from my authors. Working on Tie Me Up, was an all-consuming experience. The authors I worked with provided steamy alternatives to BDSM. It cannot be denied that Fifty Shades of Grey has BDSM saturated in all of our minds, my authors took it even further. There are a lot of excerpts on my blog https://fdotleonora.wordpress.com/?s=tie+me+up+excerpt .

Now I am totally about baseball! I would be anyway because I am a devout sports fan. My upcoming baseball anthology Bases Loaded with Riverdale Avenue Books http://riverdaleavebooks.com  , is coming out later this summer. All I can tell you is I get very excited about the game as it is, but the stories for this anthology? Every single one is a grand slam…I wish I could say that for my team–that every single hit would be a grand slam! It is a complete rush to put together a series of stories, and make them flow as one. When I finalized the manuscript for Tie Me Up, I felt more than a sense of accomplishment. I was simply so proud to put something out there that would titillate the reading public at large, on a literary level. As far as writing for an anthology, I get a different type of buzz. I wrote stories for Chemical Sex, edited by Oleander Plume, and Spy Games edited by Jillian Boyd. With both, they were subjects I really had to research. Chemical Sex is a concept compilation. I had to write something that was both true to my own style, that would also fit with what the other authors were writing. Our shared theme was aphrodisiac chocolate! With Spy Games, I never wrote espionage before. I was proud of myself for not getting bogged down with what I thought an espionage story should include, and coming up with something that was conceivable that I really enjoyed writing. Having editors like Oleander and Jillian select my stories, and make them part of something bigger…it was a beautiful and humbling experience.

Anthologies are amazing collaborations, from either the perspective of editor or writer. All of mine have a piece of my heart, and provide me with so much pride and accomplishment. I hope to have many, many more in my future. Currently, I have several scheduled to edit, and just as many that I want to contribute to.  I could not be a bit happier!!!   You can find my writing and my books at: http://fdotleonora.wordpress.com.