writer’s life

Submissive Song Sunday

/ Jaye Elise / 5 Comments

Shame on you
Shame on me
I blindly blame you
When truly

You’re my blanket, you’re my skin
You’re everything within
You’re my guardian, I’m your sail
A boat in your harbor
Gone under, capsized and sinking
Blanket me, blanket me, blanket me, blanket me, blanket me…

– “Blanket Me,” Hundred Waters

Here’s another song that’s a go-to on my erotica writing playlist. “Blanket Me” by Hundred Waters is ethereal, haunting, powerful, evocative, all-consuming…all the things that D/s can be when it’s at its most sublime.

There is a heart-breaking vulnerability in her voice as she accuses him of leading her astray, leading her into the darkness, leading her into places she’s forbidden to go… Yet she quickly recognizes that he is her protector and savior, the one who can rescue her from plummeting into the darkness. She begs him for his protection…to be blanketed by his dominance.

This emotional tug-of-war is captivating in its simple intensity and the “blanket me” repetition at the end of the song has a mesmerizing, meditative quality about it. She has found her best and highest purpose when wrapped in his protection, his care, his love.

May we all be blanketed in the ways we deserve.

Have a wonderful week, all!

When Reality Meets My Reality

/ Jaye Elise / 7 Comments

Mr. Elise and I are about to have a house full of family for a few days.* Yes, I’m thrilled to have visitors. And yes, it will be lovely to connect with them in our home. But this is a curious situation in which Reality, with a capital “R”, intrudes on my reality and the results are jarring, abrasive, and unsettling. 

Jaye Elise lives in a computer, in my mind, in my friends here, and in my readers. “The other one” has to do the day-to-day heavy lifting, she’s the one with the visitors in the house, and she’s the one who can’t be her true self in front of others. 

And so, just like so many before me and so many yet to come—and I imagine many of you, too—I’ll put on my mask. I’ll wear it as long as I have to and not a minute longer. Mr. Elise and I will try to carve out stolen moments to drop our guard and see each other for who we really are. 

We’ll bide our time until our reality becomes the one with the capital “R” again.

*I probably won’t be posting too much either, but I can’t wait to come back and find out what I’ve missed! 🙂

Submissive Song Sunday

/ Jaye Elise / 5 Comments

So I’ll hit the lights and you lock the doors. We ain’t leaving this room ’til we both feel more. Don’t walk away, don’t roll your eyes. They say love is pain, well darling, let’s hurt tonight.

– “Let’s Hurt Tonight,” OneRepublic

When I’m in writing mode, I have a carefully curated playlist I listen to. Nothing too energetic, nothing too beat-heavy, nothing too distracting. But every single song has some sexual electricity woven into it. It occurred to me that I could share some of my songs that get me into a positive frame of mind for writing and reinforce my submissive headspace. (Plus, I’d love to hear some of your suggestions in the comments!)

I’ve always enjoyed identifying supposedly “vanilla” songs and teasing out D/s subtext in the lyrics. Granted, I enjoy overt sexuality in songs, too. “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails, anyone? 🥵 But the Submissive Song segment is all about the subtleties…and alliteration, evidently. It’s about finding the songs that resonate with our inner kinksters, even when this might not have been the songwriter’s original intention. For this week’s Submissive Song Sunday, I present to you “Let’s Hurt Tonight” by OneRepublic.

On the surface, it’s the story of a couple that’s struggling to communicate, struggling to connect. They’re exhausted, they’re upset, they’re defensive. The man proposes confronting their challenges by shutting themselves away from the rest of the world and breaking through the stalemate they’re in.

Buuuut, as I’m sure my fellow kinkyfolk will acknowledge after a quick scan of those lyrics above, there is something delectably D/s-charged about this exchange. It’s no longer just a plea to do the emotional heavy-lifting that has to occur; it’s an invitation to sink their teeth into the moment and share the catharsis of a pain session.

They say love is pain, well darling, let’s hurt tonight.

Yes, please…

Risk/Reward

/ Jaye Elise / 7 Comments

I’ve been lucky enough in this life to have had some amazing, powerful, transcendental experiences. 

I’ve published multiple novels…including one on the way! I’ve ridden a horse in the wee hours of the morning through the streets of the city. I’ve made love on a beach in the Caribbean. I’ve watched the sun rise from the summit of a volcano. I’ve skied through mountains with the pine air caressing my skin. I’ve fallen in love with every fiber of my being and have had my heart broken into millions of pieces—more than once. I’ve savored the sweet nectar of submission as it coursed through my veins.

It occurs to me that each and every one of these experiences involved a risk/reward calculus. And, on occasion, I’ve taken some pretty significant risks—some of which make me shake my head in disbelief when I think about them. I’ve placed myself in a few dangerous-as-hell situations, situations that would give Mr. Elise a twitchy palm just to hear of them. (Please don’t tell him!) 😉

But I’m fortunate enough to still be here to tell the tales and to revel in the woman I was, the woman I am, the woman I’m becoming. The rewards for such risks are self-evident. 

And yes, sometimes you risk it all and your reward is pain. 

And yes, sometimes that’s the reward you were seeking the whole time.

Release Date Set!

/ Jaye Elise / 6 Comments

Mmmm…damn. I put one of those hot button words in the title, didn’t I? Well, it was worth it! 

I just found out the release date for my next novel! On April 18, Sentenced to the Doctor will be published and live, and I can’t wait to share it with you! Although, I also admit to being a little nervous, too. 

Not only will this will be my first publication in seven years, but it’s also a little bit of a departure for me. Oh, fear not, there’s a feisty heroine, a firm-handed hero, and plenty of D/s goodness to constitute a great one-handed read. But Sentenced to the Doctor also layers in some futuristic/post-apocalyptic elements that are new to me. I’ll be interested to hear what you think!

I’ll include a blurb below, and I’ll be sure to share some teasers and excerpts over the coming weeks!

Hundreds of years in the future, in the repressive, post-nuclear Republic of New Cascadia, Leila Jones, a defiant foot soldier in the resistance and a closet submissive, is on a one-woman mission to fight the system any way she can. When she gets caught defiling a public building, her third offense, she’s remanded to a state-sanctioned Reprogramming Facility. Her sentence is three months in The Chair, a device designed to pleasure convicted criminals into making the right choices.

Dr. Jens Kelly, a counselor at Reprogramming Facility 629 and a man with secrets, is determined to guide and support all the prisoners with whom he works. When he comes up against Leila and her willful noncompliance, he’s going to have to tap into his dominant nature, some good old-fashioned spankings, and all of the naughty devices embedded in the Chair to give her the correction she needs.

But as they begin to fall in love, will they be able to trust each other long enough in order to escape the grasp of The Republic?

Verisimilitudinous Kink

/ Jaye Elise / 5 Comments

So, if you made it past the title and are now reading this, thank you for hanging in there! Despite what you might think, one of my kinks isn’t using big words…although I am an unabashedly hardcore sapiosexual. 😉 

For those of you who don’t know and aren’t in the mood to waste a browser tab on looking it up (and I don’t blame you one bit), “verisimilitudinous” means having the appearance of being true or believable. It’s truthiness. 

I won’t speak for other BDSM, D/s, fetish, and/or erotica authors here, but from my own experience, I find that I skirt a razor’s edge of verisimilitude every time I sit down to write. 

I have to capture how the characters navigate their world, making sure that it’s sexy, yet focused enough to drive the plot. 

I have to describe intense scenes of power exchange, Dominance and submission, unorthodox practices, and sexual delights and torments that, in some cases, don’t even exist while capturing the very real emotional struggles and growth that come with these exchanges.

I have to draw from personal experience, when possible, while also making sure to not share too much.

The best kind of kink, for my money, is the verisimilitudinous kind. The kind that gives you just enough reality to suspend disbelief on some of the more far-fetched fantasy. The kind that pulls you into its world and holds you captive with curiosity, desire, and longing for what the characters are experiencing. The kind that sinks its teeth into your core and doesn’t let go until it’s through with you.

But for those of us who write erotic fiction, verisimilitudinous kink can be a liability. Where does the fantasy end and reality begin? How can you reconcile the extreme practices of some of your characters within the bounds of safe, sane, and consensual? 

And, most importantly, how to write this truth-y fiction without baring your soul to the entire world? 

There Should Be No Should

/ Jaye Elise / 7 Comments

I’ve written elsewhere about the notion of the word “should.” It’s an insidious little word that sneaks its way into conversations all too easily and to great detriment to all. 

Are you sure you should do that?

Maybe you should try taking things slower/faster/a different way…

Even though this feels good, I shouldn’t want it, shouldn’t need it, shouldn’t crave it.

We’ve all said it; we’ve all heard it. And it never feels good. “Should” implies judgement of ourselves and others. Why bind ourselves to narrow, externally imposed constructs of what “should” be right, “should” be acceptable, “should” be pleasurable? (Unless, of course, being bound is what you like…) 😉

And specifically, within the context of the BDSM, D/s, and other power exchange communities—provided you’re engaged in safe, sane, consensual practices—there should be no should.

I encourage us all to critically examine* our use of the word “should” and adapt accordingly.

* You know, I really shouldn’t split an infinitive like that. 😉

(Here’s a link to the song I reference in the image above, in case you’d like to have a listen.)

A little treat…

/ Jaye Elise / 4 Comments
A man in a suit holds a bound woman across his lap in preparation for a spanking

Motivation is a vital factor when it comes to so many aspects of our lives. 

Dragging yourself out of bed before dawn to go work out. Filing your taxes. Dealing with the piles of laundry that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Buckling down and putting pen to paper on a new book idea. Submitting to the will of another and placing yourself entirely in their hands. 

The common denominator here is motivation. And finding the right motivation at the right time for the right person…that’s truly sublime. 

In my particular case, motivation comes in the form of little treats. And Mr. Elise understands this implicitly. After spending the better part of the last two weeks hammering out my newest erotica work in progress, I put the final period on my first draft last night. 

And I think I deserve a little treat.

But I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. 😉

I’m back…

/ Jaye Elise / 4 Comments

Eight years ago, I began my journey as an erotica author, publishing six novels in one year. 

Seven years ago, I didn’t think I would write another word.

What started off as an adventure of exploration, self-expression, creativity, and community-building devolved into a soul-crushing disaster of burnout, overexposure, and upset. 

I had curated a wonderful crew of authors, creators, and friends, but I abandoned them, too paralyzed by the prospect of continuing on the path I’d forged. And abandonment was only the first step. I also shut down all social media, newsletter activity, and creative pursuits; to this day, I still don’t know why I didn’t delete this blog. The thought of writing—of being Jaye Elise—was too much to endure. 

But, as you might have gathered from the title of this post (and the fact that I’m posting after seven years), I’m back. I’ll spare you the obligatory “phoenix rising from the ashes” or “back in the saddle” clichés, but I will say that it’s nice to be here with you again.

It’s doubly nice to be back and sharing a key update. Within the next month or two, I’ve got a new book coming out. While I can’t share too many details quite yet, I can say that I’ll be heading back into one of my favorite sub-sub-sub-genres (emphasis on the sub). D/s dynamic, strong hero/defiant heroine, bondage, medfet, spanking, and more. I can’t wait to share more with you as we get nearer to publication! 

Also, thank you. Thank you for your patience, your kindness, and your grace. And to those of you who I’ve abandoned, my sincerest apologies. 

Sending much love and support your way…as I make sure to reserve some of those for myself, too.