Short story to novella?
So how did I manage to get from a short story to a three-novella storyline? As with everything, it started with two people meeting, and a spark…
Miss Blue Hair (published in the Sinful Press anthology “Sinful Pleasures”) started with a meeting between Sky, with her sky-blue hair and snarky humour, and Nikolas – sarcastic, charming, bisexual, flirty and oddly straightforward for someone who should be double-crossingly devious. As soon as I put him on the page, I knew that I wanted to write him – and I knew that his character meant his backstory wasn’t going to be straightforward. He’s a policeman, a mole who can’t quite leave the underworld behind, but refuses to be part of it: he’s torn between two worlds, and it makes for a very fun character to write.
But the novellas also started with a wider backstory. I knew that Nikolas had seen Sky before, and realised that it was during a failed theft – or, at least, a failed theft for him, when the documents that he wanted had escaped the building despite the latest security. If Sky had also been there, was she responsible? And if so, who was behind the theft, and what did her patron want with the information that Nikolas had failed to gain? I knew that even if he tried to question Sky, tipping her to the point of pleasure and back to get the truth, that it wouldn’t help him. He’d need to meet someone else.
And that brought the Queen into the game. Sky’s boss, with a penchant for secrets – and for sex, especially when she can manipulate other people using it. Nikolas was up for playing her game – and even when he found out the information he wanted to know, that led him even deeper into Sky’s world of secrets and spies.
xxx
Ellie
Excerpt from the Undercover Lovers Trilogy:
I pulled out my phone.
Bear answered within two rings. “Nikolas! This is a pleasant surprise.”
“I changed my mind about that nightcap, if the offer’s still open,” I told him.
“Why the change of heart?” He sounded a bit surprised.
“I can’t stop thinking about you.” And actually, it was true. I wanted to know what he was like in bed. How far down that beard went. What was under that suit. What he looked like when he came.
“I thought you didn’t do one-offs?”
“Sky wants to hear all about it afterwards.”
I heard the bellow of laughter down the phone, and then he came back on the line, still chuckling. “Well, I can’t disappoint her, can I. When?”
“What’s wrong with now?”
Forty-five minutes later, I was getting out of a taxi at the foot of a tower block. Ten minutes had been picking up a bottle of wine that I liked, wondering if he’d like it, checking with Sky—who told me she didn’t have a fucking clue and I’d just got her killed, which meant she was playing something with Benny—and going back to my original choice. And now I was here, looking up at the lit windows above me and thinking about Tanya’s exhibitionism.
I’d wondered about getting a hotel room, but Bear had invited me over and I’d accepted. It meant if there was a trap I was walking into it, but then a hotel room had a veneer of anonymity that I didn’t necessarily like. Sky knew where I was going, and had offered to come and rescue me if needed—and that meant she could potentially bring both the Queen and Tanya’s resources down on someone’s head. Tanya Mardos didn’t care about much in the world, but I figured she’d probably have something to say if her current sex toy wasn’t available on demand.
And so I headed for the main door and pushed the button for the flat intercom.
“Yes?” Bear’s voice said almost immediately.
“Nikolas.”
“Come on up.”
Blurb:
Ellie Barker’s Undercover Lovers trilogy: the complete set.
Secrets and Spies
When Nikolas Jinsen, police mole, meets an unusual woman named Sky, he thinks he’s just in for a night of pleasure. But he’s soon pulled into a world of mafia dealings, stolen documents, hacked computers and kidnappings – not to mention a woman with a taste for exhibition, a Queen who demands payment in pleasure, and Sky herself; unusual, intoxicating, and wanting more than Nikolas may be willing to give.
In Bed with the Enemy
Nikolas Jinsen, police mole and mafia odd-job man, is given an ultimatum; stop seeing his girlfriend, or lose his job. When a hasty attempt to keep both goes wrong, he does the only thing he can think of: he lies. But with his new roommate a member of the elite gang that Nikolas has been tasked to look into, and his assignations with his girlfriend constantly interrupted by calls on his services as a lover, Nikolas finds that work isn’t all fun and games.
For Queen and Country
Nikolas Jinsen, police mole and mafia odd-job man, is usually pretty easy-going – both at work and in the bedroom. But there’s one thing he doesn’t forgive, and when an opportunity for revenge comes up against the woman who insulted his girlfriend, Nikolas is in… even if the woman in question is the powerful mafia boss who is currently retaining Nikolas’ services as a lover. Revenge is best served hot – and steamy.
Undercover Lovers is a fun LGBT erotic crime comedy novella trilogy.
Amazon Buy links:
Secrets and Spies (Book 1): http://smarturl.it/SaSKindle
In Bed with the Enemy (Book 2): http://smarturl.it/IBWTEkindle
For Queen and Country (Book 3): http://smarturl.it/FQaCKindle
Undercover Lovers Trilogy Paperback: http://smarturl.it/ULPrint
Author bio:
Ellie mostly writes short’n’dirty flash fiction and short erotic fiction in any genre going. She prefers vampires over werewolves, and is always hot for a rainy night.
You can find out more about Ellie over at http://elliebarker.co.uk/, or follow her on Twitter as @EllieBa3
