Guest Post ~ Kate Belle: Author

It is with great pleasure that I welcome author Kate Belle to
My Book Chatter today,
I hope you will all give her a very friendly welcome :)

Have you noticed how a bookshelf conveys much about its owner? What lines the shelves? Is it full of books or ornaments? Does it have nothing but big name hard covers or magnificently photographed coffee table books or smelly, ancient books covered in dust? Fiction? Non-fiction? Crime? Romance?

My home hosts a total of 7 bookshelves, 4 of which are in my study. The rest are in bedrooms and a play area. Two are dedicated to children’s books and are overflowing – but then again, so are all the others.

I thought it would be fun to take you on a virtual tour of some of the more unusual books in my eclectic collection and see what you make of it (and me).

1.       Encyclopaedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health

No, I’ve never been a nurse. But I have been a hypochondriac. This ancient tome was an absolutely indispensible source of self diagnosis in the years before the internet. I didn’t only use it to misdiagnose my own ailments, I used it to tell flatmates they had gout, siblings life threatening bacterial infections and friends complications to pregnancies. Sadly Dr Google has replaced its never ending wisdom so it’s found a new function – raising my computer screen to eye level.

2.       World Tales/Grimm’s Fairy Tales

I’m a sucker for a juicy old fashioned fairy tale. The older and stranger the better. I picked up World Tales in a second hand bookshop in Bendigo (Victoria). It’s a glorious and rare book, illustrated by world renowned artists. I fell in love with the striking pictures and the background of each story’s origins. I hate the way modern culture has sanitised our fairy tales (I’m looking at you Mr Disney). Fairy tales should be dark and dangerous, violent and magical, not saccharine and sweet.

3.       The Art of Sexual Ecstasy/Passionate Marriage/Tantric Secrets for Men

I bought these a long time before I started writing erotic fiction and they have become an invaluable resource for my work. They reveal what a deeply connected erotic relationship might look like. From these I gain much inspiration not only in a practical sense for the sex I write but also to articulate an authentic and intimate relationship between my characters.

4.       Erotic fiction collection

Anais Nin was the first author in this collection. She’s been joined by Nikki Gemmel, Tobsha Learner (my all time favourite), Susan Johnson, Linda Jaivin, Krissy Kneen, Emily McGuire, Dorothy Porter (an Aussie poet who writes gorgeous love poems) as well as many more lesser known authors. On a visit to Fremantle I discovered a bookshop with the largest collection of old erotic paperbacks I’ve ever seen. Needless to say I brought a bag full home and this collection now takes up a shelf and a half. And that’s not including the digital ones on my iPad.

5.       Aboriginal authors

A few years ago I had the great opportunity and privilege of working alongside Aboriginal community organisations in implementing Australian Child Protection reforms. For a white girl from the country it was a huge learning curve. I learned a lot about the shameful truth of settlement in Australia and its continued devastating impact on Aboriginal people. Up until then I’d been relatively ignorant of the still largely denied or dismissed early wars that took place as Aboriginal people tried to defend their right to the land they’d lived on for 50,000 years.

As a consequence I became interested in Aboriginal authors. At a huge local second hand book sale I came across an amazing collection of out of print books by Aboriginal authors, including a signed copy of Long Live Sandawara by Colin Johnson (Mudrooroo), one of the first Aboriginal authors to be broadly published and acclaimed in Australia. I’m very proud to be caring for these books and hope one day to be able to hand them back into the safe hands of the author’s descendents.

6.       The Benetton Campaigns – United Colors

There are times when words fail and only a picture will do. I love this book because a) the photos are wondrous; b) they make powerful political statements; c) the confronting images were used to advertise one of the best known clothing brands in the Western world. This was a bold campaign advocating for human rights while advertising a product, probably one of the few worthy advertising campaigns in existence. If you haven’t ever seen a copy of this book I urge you to do so. You will be moved beyond words.

I can’t imagine a home without bookshelves. In fact, I get nervous if I walk into a home without one. This is just a small sample of the kinds of delights you’ll find on my shelves. I’d love a peek at yours, if you’ll share.

What will I find on your bookshelf?

Kate is a multi-published author who writes dark, sensual contemporary women’s fiction. She lives, writes and loves in Melbourne, juggling her strange, secret affairs with her male characters with her much loved partner and daughter and a menagerie of neurotic pets.

Kate holds a tertiary qualification in chemistry, half a diploma in naturopathy and a diploma in psychological astrology. Kate believes in living a passionate life and has ridden a camel through the Australian desert, fraternised with hippies in Nimbin, had a near birth experience and lived on nothing but porridge and a carrot for 3 days.

Blog/website | Facebook | Goodreads

Twitter: @ecstasyfiles https://twitter.com/ecstasyfiles

The Reading Room: http://www.thereadingroom.com/kate-belle/ap/2394119

It’s 1978 in a country town and a dreamy fifteen year old girl’s world is turned upside down by the arrival of the substitute English teacher. Solomon Andrews is beautiful, inspiring and she wants him like nothing else she’s wanted in her short life.

Charismatic and unconventional, Solomon easily wins the hearts and minds of his third form English class. He notices the attention of one girl, his new neighbour, who has taken to watching him from her upstairs window. He assumes it a harmless teenage crush, until the erotic love notes begin to arrive.

Solomon knows he must resist, but her sensual words stir him. He has longings of his own, although they have nothing to do with love, or so he believes. One afternoon, as he stands reading her latest offering in his driveway, she turns up unannounced. And what happens next will torment them forever – in ways neither can imagine.

Read an extract here: (http://issuu.com/simonschusteraustralia/docs/the_yearning_by_kate_belle)

Purchase Links

Amazon
iTunes
Kobo

Print book: Target, Kmart, Myer, Collins, Dymocks, Big W, Eltham Bookshop and other independent bookshops (http://www.truelocal.com.au/find/book-shop/) and major airports. If not in stock just ask.

Reading group questions here (http://books.simonandschuster.com.au/Yearning/Kate-Belle/9781922052643/reading_group_guide#rgg)

Other Titles

The first in a series of erotic novellas, featuring different women whose lives are changed by Ramon Mendez, a handsome, charismatic lover...

Grace is a beautiful woman in complete control of her world. A long time ago she chose a career – as Associate Professor of Social Science - over children and marriage, and has never regretted it.

Then Ramon Mendez walks into her office.

Ramon is about to commence his PhD, a work on erotic literature, and from the outset there is something about him that makes Grace's blood run hot.

Aware of the need to maintain her professional reputation, she rejects his subtle advances, but he persists. And during their intimate supervision sessions, her defences start to crumble.

For Ramon's ‘work' is to expose desires within Grace she never knew existed…

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The second in a series of erotic novellas, each featuring different women whose lives are changed by Ramon Mendez, a handsome, charismatic lover of women...

Thirty-six-year-old Emma's life looks as perfect as could be. She loves her straight-laced husband Gary, who has given her three beautiful children and a secure life. But something is missing in her marriage. Gary hardly notices her anymore and she feels frumpy and invisible.

Her friend, Lisa, talks her into joining a social boot camp class at the local gym. Emma immediately recognizes their instructor as the gorgeous runner she sees each evening while walking her dog in the park. He introduces himself as Ramon Mendez. In spite of herself Emma is besotted.

Before long her mind is filled with guilty fantasies of him. One evening, when things at home have become too much to bear, she bumps into him alone in the park. An opportunity presents itself and no one need ever know. Ramon promises and delivers everything that's missing from her marriage - passion, romance and excitement - but Emma must discover if they are the things she really wants.

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Order up! 5 servings of food themed tales of love and lust available now. These Australian authors know how to take the heat from the kitchen and provide a smorgasbord of sensual delights guaranteed to whet your appetite!

Flavor of the Month – Bianca Sarble

When Cate Gallagher thinks her day can’t get any worse, Patrick Garrett comes along to prove her wrong. The sexy stranger awakens her long forgotten libido but she knows from past experiences his type is best avoided at all costs.

Patrick is sure the chemistry between them will set the sheets on fire, if only she would give him a chance. He hatches a seduction plan to show her exactly how right they could be.

But getting the girl isn’t the only obstacle to their Happy Ever After. Misunderstandings and assumptions bring their heat level to boiling point and threaten to scorch their love.
Can Cate overcome her past and let Patrick show her she’s not just the Flavor Of The Month?

The Chocolate Affair – Imogene Nix

Deanna has one love. The Scheherazade Chocolate Factory. When it’s bought out by an off world consortium, they send someone to inspect their purchase.

JD Ruan is their expert investigator. But JD has a secret. He’s a demon. And not just any kind of demon –a Pleasure Demon.

Secrets, abilities and hidden truths will find their way… especially when chocolate is involved

My Lord’s Table – Alysha Ellis

Gently-bred Susan arrives in 18th century London starving, penniless and desperate to find a job. When a chance-met acquaintance offers to help, Susan happily accepts a position as housekeeper in the home of Lord Winslade.

But the position is not what she expects it to be. She is greeted by a grim manservant, who locks her in a room and orders her to wear the scandalous costume she finds there.

She is forced to attend an erotic banquet of carnal and epicurean delights, presided over by the darkly sinister Lord Winslade.

Susan’s expectations of domestic service shatter as she is seduced into fulfilling appetites of an entirely different order.

The Banquet – Kate Belle

Banquet is a moment in the life of James, a less than attractive chef and restaurant owner who is obsessed with celebrity chef, Sheba. Sheba’s famed erotic recipes have saved James from a life of involuntary celibacy. After impressing Sheba with a special dessert of his own creation, James finds himself invited to the most exclusive and mysterious event on the hospitality calendar. Everyone who’s anyone in the hospitality industry knows of it, but the banquet itself is shrouded in secrecy.

Nervous and out of his depth, James attends and is introduced to a world where the boundaries between food and sex are entirely blurred.

Never on a Sundae - Seanna Smythe

Delicious delights you’ve dreamed of, but Never on a Sundae. Would his beloved Evie cater for the kind of party Aidan had in mind?

The sign advertised catering for parties, but he doubted they catered for the kind of party he had in mind…

Evie is running away from love and when things get a little too hot with Sydney-sider, Aidan, she disappears to Newcastle to buy an ice-cream parlor, Never on a Sundae. But fate conspires against her, and she finds herself out of business and places to run.

As she’s wrapping up things up, Aidan rides into town on his Harley looking for a unique idea for an ice cream cake for his brother’s bachelor party. He’s been searching for months for the only woman who can do wicked things with chocolate…and his heart.

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