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Degradation(60)

By:Stylo Fantome


I prattled off some very well known Alphas from the literary world, and  we noticed that a lot of these gentlemen had very distinct, usually  unique, usually long, first names, and then very short, concise last  names. I don't wanna name names, but for example, Christopher Prey,  kinda encapsulates what we had noticed.

"So what name would you pick?" I was asked. I'm not sure where it came  from, I work around liquor, so maybe Jameson just leapt out at me  –   thus, Jameson Kane was born. Fits the above formula to a T.

We kinda laughed about it, and I didn't think about it much, till the  same friend one day went "what would Jameson's story be?" And I kinda  joked that every Alpha needs that spunky, sassy, female lead, who should  also have a funky name, usually kinda androgynous. Hello, Tatum! I  laughed that she would be sexy and crazy, he would be dark and sensual,  they would compliment each other, and complete each other.

The story exploded after that, just came together like it had been  sitting in my brain, completely written, waiting to be noticed. I wrote  it in a frenzy. Couldn't sleep, didn't eat much, barely left the  computer. It just would not stop, it demanded to be released. I put  other stories on hold to let it out. So thanks have to go to my close  friends for letting me joke about romance novels with them.

I have never written a story like this  –  the language, the sex, the  aggression, it all kinda scared me. I am not very much like either  Jameson or Tatum in real life. But it just felt natural. I found myself  getting nervous and changing sentences, rearranging scenes, and then I  came upon this awesome meme that read - "Write in a Way That Scares You a  Little".

Well, the scariest thing to me is the idea of someone reading my work  and going "ew, that's weird!", so I decided FUCK IT. I'm gonna write it  EXACTLY how it comes out of my brain, EXACTLY how it comes out of  Jameson's mouth, and if people don't like it, then they don't have to  read it. It was the best decision I have ever made, writing this story  was such a catharsis, such a joy. It sounds cheesy, but it's the truth.  So thanks internet!

And a special thanks to all the authors out there writing dark, taboo,  misunderstood stories. It is my firm belief that if it exists in the  world, then it should be written about, regardless of "subject matter".  As Real Sex on HBO taught me (does that show my age!?), if someone can  be in to something, then there is an audience for it! So read what you  want, write what's in you to write, and fuck anyone who gives you crap  about it. I can't imagine a bigger waste of time than criticizing  someone's work just because it scares me.

And to my beta readers  –  I really lucked out with some excellent ones!  They are from all over, the U.S. to the U.K., and I have never met any  of them in real life, but they were wonderful throughout this whole  process. Your feedback and constructive criticism were all appreciated  beyond words. Thank you all so much. Some of these lovely ladies are:  Cassie Fite  –  thanks for taking a chance on a "dark read", I honestly  didn't know it was dark when I wrote it! Erin Winer  –  my bestie  convinced you to read it, and thanks for doing so. Viveca Benoir,  another indie author I found along the way, your help was amazing, you  introduced me to my cover designer, and told me about Draft 2 Digital.  Everyone, check her out at: http://vivecabenoir.com

Special shout-out to author L.A. Cotton  –  we met via a beta reading  forum. She was looking for a beta reader, and was willing to trade  (that's right! You never know who is beta reading for you  –  I keep  hoping I'll submit a book to a beta reader and it'll be like CJ Roberts  or something ..., seriously, I love you CJ Roberts, if you have secretly  read my work, please tell me! Just let me love you!).         

     



 

So Mrs. Cotton and I swapped stories. She is from the U.K., I'm from the  U.S., and we had two very different stories, and two very different  writing styles. Her book was softer, new adult, all romance and slow  burn and "will they? won't they?" goodness. I worried that my book  wasn't exactly up her alley, seeing as how Erotica and New Adult Romance  are pretty far apart on the spectrum, but her feedback and advice were  invaluable, her turn around time fast. She has continued to support me  and promote me, and I can only hope to adequately return the favor some  day. Thanks for all your help!

Too many blogs to name. From the beginning  –  for both of us! - Watz  Teasers and Trailers was BEYOND supportive. Thank you to Cover To Cover  Book Blog, Triple B's Badass Book Boyfriends, Intellectual Vixens,  Through the Booking Glass, Fallen for Books, Trina and Taylor's Bedtime  Stories  –  all willing to take a chance on a new indie author, and most  of you holding her hand along the way.

To Najla Qamber, www.najlaqamberdesigns.com, the wonderful woman who  designed my book cover. To be honest, I pretty much fan-girled every  time you e-mailed me. I ran around for days going "do you see this!?!?  All the cool book covers that I already love!?!? That chick is doing MY  cover!" There was a huge time difference between us, and I'm pretty sure  I sent you like three e-mails for every one you sent me, but you were  so easy to work with, you got my vision and concept right away, and did  an amazing job. Thank you so much.

Of course there are a million other people. Thanks to my husband, for  being very understanding about me working 8 hours a day, then coming  home and sitting behind a computer for another 6+ hours. Thanks to all  my friends  –  none of you are in to romance novels, but some of you  offered to read it anyway, and all of you listened to me blabber on  about it endlessly. Thanks to my real life job, for tolerating my  daydreaming, sneaking in to dark corners to read, and stretching my  lunches well past their time limits so I could write more. Thanks to  everyone who has already read it, is going to read it, or plans to  eventually read it.

But mostly, thanks to anyone who has read this far and plans on  continuing to the included chapter from Separation, part two to Jameson  and Tatum's story, and an excerpt from a new series, Pen vs. Sword. It's  all at the end, I promise!





Soundtrack


Songs that I listened to while writing, songs that just made me think of the story, and a couple that inspired actual scenes.



Up in the Air  –  30 Seconds to Mars

Tainted Love  –  Marilyn Manson

Only  –  Nine Inch Nails

Stay High (Habits Remix)  –  Tove Lo ft. Hippie Sabotage

Closer  –  Nine Inch Nails

Pursuit of Happiness  –  KiD CuDi

Maneater  –  Nelly Furtado

Dangerous  –  Ying Yang Twins ft. Wyclef Jean

Bad Romance  –  30 Seconds to Mars

Devils Don't Fly  –  Natalia Kills

Some Like it Hot  –  Neon Hitch  –  theme song for the whole book

99 Problems  –  Hugo  –  Jameson's "theme" song

Problem  –  Natalia Kills  –  Tate's "theme" song

Pu$$y  –  Iggy Azalea  –  the kitchen scene where Jameson describes his LA trip

Wrecking Ball  –  Miley Cyrus  –  everything from the final party till the end

Bruises  –  Sugarcult  –  Ending Song





To Be Released


COMING 09/22/14

SEPARATION:

The Sequel to Degradation



A pounding noise brought Jameson out of unconsciousness. Just blackness.  He squinted and stared up at the ceiling. Where the fuck was he? It  took him a second to realize he was in his library. It started to come  back to him. He had passed out on the leather sofa in the library. He  couldn't remember the last time he had even used the sofa, let alone  slept on it. Then he remembered that a little over a month ago, he had  put the sofa to a very good use.

Tatum.

He groaned and sat up. There was more banging and he pressed a hand to  his head. He couldn't remember how much he'd had to drink. It had been a  lot. A glance at his liquor cabinet showed that it was wide open, and  completely empty. There was more pounding.

"Sanders!" Jameson yelled, rubbing his face. There was no answer and he  lifted his eyes to the ceiling. "Sanders! Get the goddamn door!"

Silence, followed by bang bang bang.

He growled and stood up, started marching across the room. There was a  crunching sound and something sliced through his heel. He hissed and  lifted his foot. A chunk of glass was imbedded in his heel. He yanked it  out and glared at it. Then he looked down, and lost his glare.

Glass was everywhere. No, not glass. Crystal. Broken crystal, scattered  all over the ground. A wide swath of floor, from the liquor cabinet to  the wall across from it, was coated in broken tumblers and bottles and  decanters. It all came back to Jameson. He had broken every piece of  glassware in the room, after Sanders had left.