By Mara Malins<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIn a perfect world, you could fuck people without giving them a piece of your heart. And every glittering kiss and every touch of flesh is another shard of heart you\u2019ll never see again.\u201d I don\u2019t know about you but when I see a call for submissions I can tell within the first few lines whether it\u2019ll work for me or not. I either have that bam! <\/em>moment or I don\u2019t. If I do, then I have to scribble the idea down immediately before it melts away. The need to write is intense. I get irritable and distracted, not able to focus on anything but that one idea jumping around in my head like a scratched CD.<\/p>\n If I don\u2019t have that bam! <\/em>moment then I know that even if I attempt to write something, ignoring that heavy reluctance in my stomach, then without a doubt it\u2019ll be a stinker.<\/p>\n For INKarnate<\/em>, the bam! <\/em>moment came immediately. I knew straight away what I wanted from my story because I\u2019d just read\u2014literally ten seconds before P&K\u2019s blog post!\u2014a Neil Gaiman quote that fitted the guidelines so perfectly. It was almost deliciously prophetic. The first line in particular resonated with me; \u201cIn a perfect world, you could fuck people without giving them a piece of your heart\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n All too often we\u2019re told that one off encounters\u2014one-night stands, booty calls and the like\u2014can be emotionless and purely practical. Just two people getting their rocks off together, taking what they need in that one hot moment. And there\u2019s nothing wrong with that at all. Sexual freedom is the very best symptom of a liberal society.<\/p>\n And in a perfect world it would be exactly that; emotionless and practical.<\/p>\n But Neil Gaiman\u2019s world isn\u2019t<\/em> perfect. And neither would mine be in INKarnate<\/em>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not talking love and forever\u2014though that\u2019s where my story ultimately leads\u2014but I wanted to explore the idea that even when two people seem to share a mutual dislike, even when they agree it would be nothing more than sex between them, even then it can\u2019t just <\/em>be physical. Emotions inevitably play a part because the world isn\u2019t perfect. It isn\u2019t clean cut. We\u2019re not robots.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve read some absolute gems in erotica, stories that have hooked me in from the very first paragraph. I\u2019ve also read some stinkers. The stinkers are, for me, invariably the type of stories where two people meet up, have the wildest, kinkiest sex known to men\u2026 and that\u2019s it. It\u2019s dull. Uninteresting.<\/p>\n In INKarnate, <\/em>Emily takes from Matt. She takes his power, his experience, his raw sexuality to explore her own sexual needs. She takes from him even when she\u2019s not too sure she even likes him. This should be a classic case of an emotionless tryst\u2026 and yet she gives her trust, her innocence, her desire to experience more to him. There\u2019s an emotional swap that binds them together in that moment, a swap that continues into the \u2018ever after\u2019, and\u2014I hope\u2014that\u2019s what makes my story interesting and readable. At least, that\u2019s what I was going for.<\/p>\n That was my bam! <\/em>moment for INKarnate. <\/em>I wrote with that quote\u2014and Cori\u2019s submission guidelines\u2014in my mind the entire time. Funnily enough, I don\u2019t think I was entirely successful in getting what I wanted across in this one. I think the idea of the physical versus the emotional is much stronger in the second story of the series, INKapable, <\/em>but\u2026 <\/em>you win some, you lose some. Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you don\u2019t. C\u2019est la vie.<\/p>\n I\u2019d be really interested in hearing what other people\u2019s bam! <\/em>moments are when writing, and how you explored them. Hit me up at @maramalins (twitter) or at my website (maramalins.com) and let me know!<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”INKarnate Cover 200×300″ _builder_version=”3.12.1″ saved_tabs=”all” src=”http:\/\/www.penandkinkpub.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/200×300-3.jpg” url=”http:\/\/www.penandkinkpub.com\/home\/books\/inkomplete\/1-inkarnate\/” align=”center” global_module=”5949″ \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”INKarnate Buy Links” _builder_version=”3.12.1″ saved_tabs=”all” global_module=”5951″]<\/p>\n Get Your Copy Now<\/strong><\/p>\n Free — iBooks<\/a> | Kobo<\/a> | Instafreebie<\/a><\/p>\n $0.99 — Amazon (US<\/a>) (CA<\/a>) (UK<\/a>)<\/p>\n Or\u00a0go here now<\/a>\u00a0to read more<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.105″ background_layout=”light” saved_tabs=”all”]<\/p>\n Mara Malins writes romantic fiction using words that your grandmother doesn\u2019t know. An avid gamer, she battles spreadsheets by day and fiction by night. She lives in Manchester, England with her menagerie of three cats, two turtles, a social media loving partner, and a disobedient garden. If you want to know when her next fiction is released, or see thousands of pictures of her cats sleeping in a variety of different poses, find her on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Goodreads<\/a>.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\n<\/em>\u2015 Neil Gaiman, Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.penandkinkpub.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Mara.Malins.png\")
<\/p>\nBam! <\/u><\/strong>Moments. <\/u><\/strong><\/h2>