Happy 2012!
I'm playing TV host today—and it's my immense honor to welcome the brilliant Janine Ashbless onto my show! Please welcome Janine as we celebrate the release of Heart of Flame, an Arabian Night on the town that promises to turn Scheherazade genie green with envy.
Janine, come on down and take a seat on the... couch.
***
The Sofa of Pleasure
Hello Jeremy – thank you for letting me guest on your blog, so bright and early this 2012! So how’s everyone feeling after New Year? A bit rough, perhaps?
Well, how about a little lie-down on the Sofa of Pleasure? It’s a trope promulgated by İbrahim Peçevi, an Ottoman historian writing in the 17th Century. In my mind’s eye it looks like this:
That orange sofa-cover is a bit loud, mind.
Peçevi said there were “Four Cushions on the Sofa of Pleasure”:
Wine… 
Opium… 
Tobacco…
And … wait for it …
Coffee! 
(Bet you thought it was going to be Sex, didn’t you? Honestly, you people.)
By 1453, Turkish law made it legal for a woman to divorce her husband if he didn’t supply her with her daily coffee.
And now I’m going to make mine…
xxx
Janine Ashbless
www.janineashbless.blogspot.com
And on the One-Thousand-and-Second night, Scheherazade told this story…
By day, Taqla uses her forbidden sorcery to move freely about the city of Damascus in the guise of an old sage. Her true identity known only by her faithful servant woman, Taqla is content with the comfortable, if restrictive, life that keeps her safe from the control of any man. Until she lays eyes on a handsome merchant-traveler. Suddenly her magical disguise doesn’t rest so easily on her shoulders.
When long-time widower, Rafiq, hears that the Amir’s beautiful daughter has been kidnapped by a scheming djinni—and that she will be given in marriage to her rescuer—he seeks the help of “Umar the Wise” to ensure he will be that man. Yet as he and the disguised Taqla set off, he senses that his prickly male companion is hiding something.
In a moment of dire peril, all of Taqla’s secrets are stripped bare—her fears, her sorcery and, worst of all, her love for Rafiq. Yet the princess’s life hangs in the balance, and there is no running away or turning back. Even though passion may yet betray them all...
Product Warning: Scary monsters and creepy ruins in the desert—check. Pagan gods that demand blood-sacrifices—double check. A handsome hero who looks good in a robe and even better out of it—oh yeah. Check, check and check. That’s worth a heroine dropping a veil or two.
Heart of Flame sale link:
http://store.samhainpublishing.com/heart-flame-p-6571.html
posted an update on some forthcoming story publications. (There.)
