I remember the first time I met C.P. McClennan, and his lovely wife in Bristol at Eroticon. I remember the last time I saw them in New York…I can tell you they are awesome, lovely people. C.P. astounds me, because he is one of the most prolific writers I know–and he writes sci-fi that makes me HOT! Excuse me, I need a moment…you know what? Let me just hand the post over to C.P. …
You might need a moment too…
For the love of Savannah
First off, thank you to my friend F. Leonora Solomon for the kind offer of a guest post on her site. I’m a bit later than planned, as I seem to recall the initial offer was a year back. I was busy writing something or other, though, and never got to it until now.
Oh right. I remember now.
That something or other is my newest release of Darwin’s Sword – Savannah Book Two. This is the second book in The Savannah Trilogy, with the third coming in October of 2016.
First, allow me to introduce myself. Who am I?
“I’m 24601!!!”
I’m sorry. There are good reasons why I should never sing.
My readers know me as C.P. McClennan. I write for my sex-blogging and erotic fiction website, Stranded in Toronto. My friends simply know me as Chris.
I write a lot of erotica mixed with sci-fi, horror, humor, urban fiction, or whatever. I just can’t write romance. It is hard enough getting past the raised eyebrows at being a male erotic writer in a traditionally female field, but then avoiding romance sends the other eyebrow skyrocketing alongside its brethren.
I came at this from a different direction than most. Although I have read some traditional romance novels, my influences are more from the likes of Douglas Adams, Stephen King, and Neil Gaiman. My cauldron also adds in crime procedurals by Lillian O’Donnell and Ed McBain. The closest influence in the traditional romance writers would be J.D. Robb.
But enough about me.
Savannah is someone I rarely talk about.
Okay, and I write a lot of fiction, so as that last sentence proves, I often lie.
Savannah began in late April of 2013 when I found out I had a work trip to Savannah, Georgia coming up that June. A discussion ensued with a fellow sex-blogger, Stella Kiink, as to how cool the name Savannah would be as an erotic character.
The first short story was written after that. It was more intended as a part of another ongoing series I was writing on my website, called “The Songbirds.” That short story became the first chapter of Just Prey – Savannah Book One, which released in February of 2015.
“Just prey, they said…they were supposed to be just prey.”
Savannah in Just Prey – Savannah Book One
Obviously, the story took on its own life beyond the initial intent. “The Songbirds” main characters, Nigel and Sheila, have become prominent characters in both of the first novels as well. Even more so in the third, but I can’t share all that much about it yet.
Savannah is an alien from the planet Kettelgian. Go ahead, try and pronounce that…I dare you. I’ve been writing the word for five years now and still can’t decide how to.
She is sent to Earth to prepare for eviction. The Kettelgian are succubus, and feed on the sexual energies humans give off during orgasms. The results are quite devastating to humans, as one might imagine. This situation becomes far worse, however, when Savannah realizes she loves a human and can no longer go through with her mission.
She was sent to activate “The Predator” who has been on Earth a very long time. Instead, she tries to stop him.
In book two, The Predator has more of his past story told that includes well-known historical characters. This will be the first time I mention this openly, but bringing Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, and a third (sorry…for the third, you’ll just have to read the book) into the mix was an absolute blast.
“Oh shit, Arthur. Now I really need that drink.”
Bram Stoker in Darwin’s Sword – Savannah Book Two
Darwin’s Sword opens with Savannah and Gerald chasing down the Predator in an attempt to save the few humans left. A shocking discovery of a human colony and the introduction of The Assassin take them deep into the darkness of space.
The story, so far, rides the rails between horror, erotica, and science fiction. Book three will move much more into the horror side of all this.
The third book is The Orphan War – Savannah Book Three, and will be out October 7, 2016.
“Oh, you know. We had an orgy. Everyone came.” – Savannah
“Wise ass.” – Nigel
The Orphan War – Savannah Book Three
I do have other releases, by the way. Next to Savannah, my longest running releases would be the seven (as of post time) short stories of Skelly Manor. Parts 8-10 are in my draft folder and will finish my writing of the series this coming July before I pass that baton onto another friend, Aaron Abby to carry on. A series based on a fictional swingers resort in a factional area I know rather well, The Kootenays, which are a range of the Canadian Rockies. A series that, for me, has now run its course but Ms. Aaron will be blowing new life in with a set of stories following that.
Screaming was all Millie could hear as she walked along the
fourth-floor hall passing other rooms towards her own.
Good screaming. Orgasmic screaming.
Snowbound, The First Skelly Manor Short Story
More of a humorous bit, Director Jake is another character who began life as short stories on my web page about a porn director where things just can’t seem to go right.
Jake raised his hand intending to yell cut again. It seemed moot,
however, once the sheets ignited from the hot bulb against them
Director Jake
I will take this opportunity, and am pleased to announce, that this will now be a series as Director Jake in the Dungeon of Crimson will be on Amazon Kindle June 17.
There is a new piece that I have begun work on. In fact, it will likely be showing up on my short erotica posted on my blog in the very near future (or near past depending on when Lady Solomon posts this). “On The Drift” is a working title, but it will be the follow-up to Savannah. It will be my attempt to work erotica into a space opera universe. I’m not in a position to share much more here as, much like space itself, the idea is very fluid and keeps expanding.
So that’s it for now.
So many see erotica as being the literary equivalent of porn. My attempt here is to be a hybrid between how people view erotica and the more modern popular genres. It always feels more real to me knowing my characters actually have libido to deal with rather than simply being driven by one over-riding factor such as greed, power, or ego.
Whether horror, sci-fi, or humor, both protagonist and antagonist are going to want to have sex at some point.
My Savannah Trilogy shows this well. Might just be worth taking a look for you to see how.