Brand new Website!

To everyone who's been following this blog: the time has come for me to move on...

I've got a brand new website up and ready at:

www.hedonistsix.com

Please update your whatever-it-is you use for reading blogs :)

The Sales Guy

As soon as I opened the door, I knew that divine intervention had caused me to agree to our meeting. Utter perfection, my age or slightly under.

His green eyes stood out in his boyishly handsome face, complementing his medium brown hair. He kept a beard that was hardly more than a stubble, but it suited him so well that the effect could only have been intentional.

I stretched out my hand, waiting for his.

“Hi, I’m ***, thanks for coming by.” I think I managed a friendly, non-lecherous smile.

“Hi,” His hand held on to mine just long enough to make my heart skip a few beats.

My attention turned to his broad chest, perfectly filling out his grey suit as though he was the only one ever meant to wear it. Although a tie would have sharpened up his look, I was grateful for the slightest glimpse of what remained hidden beyond the unbuttoned collar of his shirt.

I wondered if it was mainly the mystery that was getting to me. Although I can most definitely appreciate a gorgeous man, the vast flow of shirtless models on my Facebook feed never affects me quite in this manner. Even if most are undeniably handsome, I tend to blame it on them not really being my type.

Technically speaking, neither was this guy. And yet I found myself giddy like a schoolgirl on the inside, while pretending to be the capable professional.

The meeting room was unavailable, so we had to make do with the occasional seating near the kitchenette. He took a seat while I scurried off nervously to find a business card to give to him.

To be honest, I needed the moment to compose myself anyway.

Upon my return, he handed me his card from his leather conference folder. I knew I had to make an effort to listen to his sales patter, just in case he’d ask a question at the end of it. But I found myself yet again distracted, this time by his hands and his slender, perfectly manicured fingers.

His skin was flawless, but around his wrist I could see the beginning of a very impressive looking tattoo sleeve. I wondered how far up his arm and muscular shoulder the ink went. Whether the bad boy side of him would come out to play in a more intimate setting where the constraints of professionalism would no longer exist.

My short dress rode up nearly to the top of my thigh when I adjusted myself and crossed my legs. His eyes darted downwards just for a moment, making me quite pleased with my choice of outfit for the day.
He asked me about our industry and where in our business we might require his freight services and I tried my best to appear professional. Aiming to answer sensibly while the rational part of my brain was on autopilot.

But I’m a bad liar. And so was he.

While he spoke, I was mesmerised and involuntarily biting my bottom lip. I kept looking into his eyes which seemed to sparkle while he lost his train of thought and fumbled over his words. He caught himself and kept speaking, in response I continued to feign interest.

With a bunch of colleagues just around the corner, and two cleaners furiously working away around us, our meeting did not last very long.

I had nothing much to offer him in terms of business potential, but it was by no means a waste of time.

“If you ever need anything, just call me. I’m based nearby.” He took my hand once more, squeezing it slightly.

“I prefer to do business face-to-face rather than just on the phone.”

“Completely agree,” I responded while lingering on his amazingly deep eyes.

“It was lovely meeting you.” He smiled in a way that suggested he wasn’t just being polite.

My knees noticeably weakened, I returned a similarly revealing smile before seeing him out.

While I walked back towards my desk, I couldn’t disguise what had just happened. My ever-attentive colleague saw it all written on my face, prompting her to charge for the window in order to catch a glimpse.

When she returned, she gave me a nasty look.

“Next time, at least let me bring tea or coffee, al right!” She scolded.

I didn’t respond, just sat and stared at my screen.

“Say, can’t we start shipping more stuff…” I said, absent-mindedly, fidgeting with his business card.

The boss looked up, with a confused frown on her face.

“I want him to come visit again…” I continued.

While both of them chuckled, I couldn’t help but wonder if he’s on LinkedIn…

I'm on Authorgraph, are you?

This morning I read an old blog post on writesexright.com about Authorgraph. I'd heard of it before but not really thought about joining. But then, over a steaming hot cup of tea this morning I figured it's free, let's give it a go.

In case you haven't heard of it yet, Authorgraph is a website that allows readers to request autographs from their favourite authors. It's free to join, and does look like loads of fun to me!

So I've added all my books. Not sure what, if anything, will come out of it. And I haven't got a clue what my autograph should look like either so I might have to do some quick thinking if someone actually requests one.

The Amazon Free Promotion Experiment; 2

Back in November I did a blog post about my first experience doing a free promotion with KDP Select on Amazon.

This initial free promotion was a bit of a failure considering I fell ill and didn't manage to tell a single person about my free book. However, the results were interesting, giving me a baseline for what to expect with zero promotion.

Just to recap, I managed to get a bunch of downloads;
Amazon.com - 87
Amazon.co.uk - 33 (one of these was me)
Amazon.de - 11
Amazon.fr - 1

And the book reached spot 98 in the Amazon UK Erotic Fiction Free Bestseller category.

This time, I'm giving away a different book, Just Another Day at the Office - I and I even have a bit of a cunning plan.

1. I'm spamming the hell out of Facebook especially and to a lesser extent Twitter and Google+. If you're my FB friend, you might want to ignore me during this period, after getting your free copy of course!
2. After reading the free book, readers who want to read more of my work can actually do so because I have more published (Last time the free book was my ONLY book). 
3. Just Another Day at the Office - I, obviously, is only the first part of a larger work. My free promo coincides with the launch of part two. Hopefully my free promo will hook readers into buying the next part.
4. Compared to last time, I have some lovely writer friends who are helping to put the word out about this promo, and I even have some reviews already up on the book I'm giving away which should make it more attractive.

I cannot wait to see how this promo will play out!

Check back later, when I'll update this post with the results.

Please note when comparing figures that the first giveaway lasted only one day, the current one will last two days.

The results are in!

Downloads; 2157 in total!
Amazon.com - 1887
Amazon.co.uk - 202 (one of these was me)
Amazon.de - 55
Amazon.fr - 2
Amazon.es - 2
Amazon.it - 1
Amazon.co.jp - 1
Amazon.ca - 7

Rankings:
#4 in Free Erotica on Amazon.com!

#9 in Free Erotica on Amazon.co.uk!

Reviews/Likes
I'll be honest, I am not sure how many likes I had before the promo so it would be hard to measure any effect. But on 6 and 7 February (while the book was free) I did manage to get two awesome reviews on Amazon.com and one on Goodreads. Also, a few people marked it as "to read" on Goodreads on the 6th.

Resulting sales
It's too early to tell if now that Just Another Day at the Office - I is no longer free, I might get sales based on how it performed in the rankings. I will post an update about this in a week or two. But, part two, which I launched at the same time as the free promo (with very limited marketing efforts comparatively) managed to achieve quite a few sales in these two days. Some will have been by readers who were already waiting for it to come out, but I suspect that a fair number were from people who may have wanted more of the same story after reading part one. I hope to see this trend continue in the coming weeks.


Verdict
This went way better than I expected! I never thought I'd get close to 1000 downloads, never mind exceeding 2100! And hopefully using the free giveaway as a hook to get readers to try out more of my work will pay off beyond these few days as well. I'll definitely do this again, whether with the same book or something new perhaps.
 

Just Another Day at the Office II Launch Party!

I've done it, around  month after publishing the first installment, Part two of Just Another Day at the Office is now live! And to celebrate this joyous milestone, I'm giving away part one free of charge for two days; today and tomorrow.

Buy part two now at:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Smashwords 

 

Download part one for FREE at:

Amazon US 

Amazon UK 

Just Another Day at the Office - II UPDATE!

Ever since I've published part one, the pressure has really been on to bring out part two within a reasonable timeframe. I'm not a hardened, pro writer who can churn out stories on a schedule, yet!

Actually, the idea of publishing this story in multiple parts seemed like a really brilliant one because I had quite a bit of the story already prepared. And I thought part one and two were practically ready, with part three needing a lot of additions to bring the story to a close. Since then, I've been thinking, and planning, and thinking some more. And lately I've been rewriting part two a bit to make it more fun.

I truly believe in the philosophy to write what I enjoy personally, so I know at least if I have a doppelganger out there somewhere, they'll like it too. Well, after receiving positive feedback and urging messages to hurry up and let people have part two already, I felt a hint of guilt. Like something is lacking in the story of part two. And I'm doing my best currently to do something about it.

So to all my readers who have read part one already and simply NEED to know how the story continues, I beg for patience. I wouldn't want to rush things now and then publish something which I know in my heart needs improvements. That being said, I'm positive I can manage to publish by Valentine's day! And I truly hope you'll agree that it was worth the wait.

Oh and in order to speed things up, I've already got the cover ready for the whole series anyway, in the same style as part one. Enjoy!

Thanks for the love :-)

I know it seems a whole lot like bragging, but I wanted to express how very grateful I am to have received some lovely reviews lately. Really!
Not bragging!

Just Another Day at the Office - I

Now available on Amazon US, UK! 

 

Good beginning to a series; 5* by Adam

Well, she's done it again.

Hedonist Six - or Six, as her friends call her - is back up to her usual tricks, writing a story that is long on emotions and heavy on the innuendo, with lively and realistic dialogue.

She switches POV seamlessly between her male and female characters, giving each a unique voice; voices, I might add, which ring totally true to their genders.

And when the book ends, you REALLY want the next volume to be out. Like, NOW.

So - buy this book and maybe she'll get cracking! 

Should that be Ms Sex? 4* by Elizabeth

I like the structure of this book. Ms Six, or maybe I should say Ms Sex, moves the pace along using flowing paragraphs for intimate scenes, resulting in a breathless romp, eagerly driving her reader forward in an uninterrupted stream, a waterfall of prose delivers a sense of urgency. Both John and Cathy have humanity, which is cleverly drawn; it's refreshing that there are no perfect creatures in this realistic story. 

Between a Rock and a Soft Place; 4*  by Lee

You know from the title, "Just Another Day at the Office," this is not going to be just another day at the office and the surrealistically-pseudonymed author Hedonist Six keeps us turning pages waiting for that special day to arrive.

Cath Davies has just scored a new job and immediately finds herself between a rock and a soft place, the rock being Dick 'pervert' Porter with the smelly armpits and drooling lips, the soft place being the arms of the delectable Jonathan Hall - where Cath isn't but would like to be.

In this coming of age romance, we are treated to an array of office politics, sexual and otherwise, and there were times flicking through my Kindle when the wry smile that appeared on my lips came from memories of the Ricky Gervais comedy "The Office." Like Mr Gervais, Ms Six is in tune with the zeitgeist and her characters when not stealing amorous glances may well be chatting about the latest developments on X-Factor.

I must admit I'm intrigued by the name Hedonist Six - is that six of the best, the dream of all girls, at least in the land of erotica? I am sure that in time I will find out and, in the meantime, I look forward to the next episode of office politics.  

Just Another Day at the Office, published!

After what feels like forever, the wait for Amazon KDP to finish whatever it does before the book goes live is finally over! Get started with this first part, more are to come. I am hoping to publish part II in time for Valentine's day 2013.

Just Another Day at the Office - I

Buy on Amazon.com , Amazon.co.uk

Xmas Dinner, Hedonist Style

For those who follow me on FB, or I speak to on a regular basis, you will have noticed my inept panic at the prospect of having people over for a fancy meal on Christmas. I thought I'd post an update, since Christmas is now properly over.

Overall it went well, everyone seemed to have a good time. The food was utterly demolished by the end of it, as was the rather excessive (according to my mother) wine supply.

Family gatherings are a time for catching up and of course gossip. Especially this gathering had a lot of that, mainly because it was the first time my mother and my nephew met. My (half)sister and my mother haven't been in touch for over 20 years. Therefore it was also the first time my mother and my (half) brother-in-law met but there wasn't much conversation there. Partially because they didn't understand a word the other said.

In any case, I've always been aware that my family, whether from mom's or dad's side, are a bit challenging and nutty. I know everyone says this about their own family, but I'm serious.

To add to the bizarre nature of the situation, we had the opportunity to drag up much told crazy stories and proudly demonstrate our combined insanity in front of two outsiders, friends my sister dragged along.

...

After putting my nephew in charge of wines - after all, he's the snob who wouldn't let me buy them in Aldi and insisted on picking out quality bottles himself with his 40% wine shop staff discount - I only had to take care of the food. The Christmas Goose was a great success and people ate with abandon.

It was a mixed bunch, a mash-up of cultural backgrounds and nationalities (and varying English skills). Funnily the only Englishman at the table was my nephew, who got plenty of shit for that from the rest of us. But that's OK, he can take it. This was exactly the point where I was thankful for not inviting the next door neighbour as well, as this would have become very awkward very quickly.

Out of the 8 people that somehow managed to squeeze themselves around our 6 person dinner table (two on each head), it was mainly my mom, sis and nephew doing most of the talking.

Upon having cleared some empty dishes I come back to the following exchange.

"Oh but your dad left that gun in my wardrobe!" says mom.

"Really?!" sis asks, before waving to her friend in a sort of *nudge nudge, wink wink* this story will be awesome kind of fashion. "Please do tell me what happened!"

I sit down at the table, while my nephew just looks at me with a raised eyebrow. The story of the gun is well known in our family; an AK-47 which my dad carried for protection(?!) while doing video coverage for a news agency during the 1967 Six Day War in Israel. One which he then proceeded to hide in his camera bag and smuggled home to Europe, upon being air lifted out by the British Forces. Fuck knows why. I'm all for souvenirs, but an assault rifle? 

"Oh yes, he kept it all that time, from 1967 right until he died in '89. At my house. I got rid of it then."

By now, the Alpha males at the table (everyone but my nephew, he's more of a Beta male) are realising that family stories in our house are a lot more interesting than they were expecting.

Mind, we are not a family of gangsters. Keeping a gun in your girlfriend's wardrobe is not considered normal behaviour. In fact, my mother is the most rule conscious person I know, to this day I find it shocking that my dad managed to smooth-talk her into having a weapon in her house, in a country with extremely strict gun laws. (Just to explain this to any Americans reading this: by "strict gun laws" I don't mean paperwork's a pain in the ass when getting a permit. I mean you CANNOT get a permit, and even something silly like pepper spray is illegal.)

"Oh my, what did you do?" 

"Well, of course I phoned the police." 

I hear a sigh of disbelief and horror from the Alpha male corner, this was not what they were hoping for.

"That must have been an awkward conversation."

"Not really, I phoned them and said: 'My partner has just passed away, and in his things in the wardrobe I found a Kalashnikov. What shall I do with it?' The policeman didn't believe me. He laughed at me as if I was a nutcase and told me: 'Why don't you bring it into the main police station and we'll deal with the matter there.'"

"No, you didn't give it to them, did you!" One of the Alphas exclaims.

Mom continues. 

"Actually yes, I did exactly what the man had told me on the phone. I packed up the gun, and the live ammo, and went to the police station and handed it to them."

"You should've seen their faces!"

Maybe you had to be there. But this story is always a winner, even if I have already heard it many times. Funnily on this occasion the story didn't end there. The "let's show off how crazy we are in front of people we've never met before" act continued on to:

"Of course after that your grandmother handed me some knives."

Me: What?! 

"Yeah, she said, 'Here, hand them to the police, they're illegal weapons.' So I did."

While I'm sitting at the table pondering why my 90 year old grandmother had big ass knives in her possession, sis helps out.

"Oh, you are aware grandma was in jail?"

Me: WTF???

And that started a whole new story.

As I said. Insane. Every single one of them.

Almost ready!

Wow it's been a long time since I posted anything. First I was preoccupied preparing for Christmas, then I was cooking for Christmas, then I was entertaining visitors, and then I was recovering from the same without any focus left to be productive. Today, one of the first proper working day for most people, I feel it is time to pull a finger out and be useful.

If you've been reading this blog regularly, you will have noticed there are a bunch of little installments of an Untitled office romance that I've posted over time.

Well, I'm glad to announce it's no longer untitled! And thanks to inspiration provided by +Livia Ellis and others following a similar format, I have decided its time to start publishing it as a serial.

Two parts are close to being ready, the third I'll be working on for a while yet. Depending on feedback and what future inspiration I might receive, there may be more than three parts. But I cannot be certain of that yet.

 

By the way, for those who have diligently been following the Office romance story on this blog, the first part is basically most of what I've already put on the blog. There were some revisions, and a bunch of stuff that happened in between various parts I've chosen to put online. Part 2, which I'm planning to publish in a little while after I finish editing will be completely new.