Nothing Done In Love…

…has always been one of my life’s mottos. So, it is only natural that it becomes the signature title for the launch of my new brand… Raquel Graffen.

Who is Raquel Graffen?

In simplest terms, she is the new pen name, nom de plume, under which I write my racier stories. As the new bio says…

Real life, hot sex, deep meaning…

Raquel Graffen is the nom de plume used by writer Tara Neale for her racier literary erotica. Raquel is the no-holds-barred author of a broad range of fiction, from novels to short stories.

Her characters are REAL, not size zero 20-somethings or billionaire playboys. Even her millionaires, Marines, shapeshifters, and SEALs bear scars: seen and unseen. And those are just the beginning of their complex, REAL life problems like grief, mental health, and body issues. Her stories are as dark and twisted as life itself, but always with a happy ending, whether for now or ever after.

Her writing style is best described as Jane Austen’s free indirect discourse meets Fifty Shades, getting deep inside the minds and motivations of her characters. Even with her hotter than HOT sex scenes, this is not your typical erotica. But for those readers wanting ‘more’, few authors deliver on that like Raquel’s literary erotica.

Raquel writes in a wide array of genres and is a perfect sexy chameleon, able to bring you hot content no matter where she lays down her pen. From sweet romance to deep and dark BDSM, Raquel does it all, and with swagger and style. Be it military/war, sci-fi, suspense, historical, romance or erotica, Raquel’s recipe is simple…

Mix REAL life challenges with equal parts love, laughter and tears then top liberally with lots of hot sex.

It’s a pretty good recipe for fiction…and for life.

After a lifetime of trials, tribulations, and struggles, Raquel is living the dream. Not only is she a writer, but also a 1950’s style homemaker, caring for her partner and daughter. Her day is long, beginning before dawn with writing under the watchful eye of their cat, Little Miss Fluffy Paws. The rest of the day is filled with cooking, cleaning, sewing and a myriad of other Madonna tasks about which she blogs. Evenings once again find her at the computer handling the business side of things and stays in touch with readers via Twitter. The day ends as it began…in the arms of her dream man. Theirs is the one story that if she did write no one would actually believe because it is simply too good to be true.

Oh, and if the name sounds familiar to you, it should. Raquel Graffen is the pen name that Kirsty’s mother-in-law Rachel writes under in Ægir’s. I always found it ironic to discover that readers were Googling her, looking for her books. So, when I finally accepted the inevitable need to have a second pen name, it seemed the logical choice.

Why have another name though? It is just confusing…

That is how I have always felt too. Whether something is as sweet and tender as Sargeant Mike or as naughty as Ægir’s I am proud to put my name and reputation on it. The problem is not that I want to hide my naughty, or even that some readers get offended. The problem is the market. Amazon, in particular, when it comes to their ‘porn’ wall, they do not distinguish between books by the same author. So, if Ægir’s got tagged as offensive/’porn’ then ALL my books would end up behind the wall, i.e. you could not find them in a search. So, this new pen name is my attempt to prevent that as I plan to release more under both names.

But you have my word, even though the sex might be more frequent and graphic than something like Sargeant Mike, it will not be gratuitous. Each scene will drive the plot and reveal new depths of the characters, as sex so often does in real life too. You can expect the same high-quality character development, complex storyline, and deeper meaning from my writing regardless of the name on the cover.

So, what is this Nothing Done in Love?

A few years ago, I participated in an anthology with some other writers. The central theme was menage. The story that came to me was, well…

If in your darkest hour, you were gifted with a second opportunity to fulfill your deepest fantasy, would you have the courage to Chase your Chance at love and happiness?

Kindergarten teacher Kaitlin Danvers is facing the unthinkable…the premature death of her mentor, best friend, and Mommy. Everything she has ever known or believed is shaken to the core as she faces an uncertain future without the only person she has always relied upon, well, almost…

Navy SEALs and identical twins Chance and Chase Logan have grown up on the dry, hostile battlefields half a world away from the best friend and only woman either has ever truly loved. In their darkest hour, the only thing that had given them hope, light and the will to go on was always the memories of her sweet kisses and how incredibly right it felt with her pressed between them that one night a lifetime ago… 

Now they are back. Older and wiser, their bodies and souls scarred by things that no man should see or do, but someone always has to…

Back just when she needs them most…

But will things be different this time? Will Katie find the strength to embrace an uncertain future, gifts she has denied for a lifetime and especially an unconventional love that in the world’s eyes tests even the boundaries of her off-beat guru mother’s message that…

Nothing Done in Love can ever be wrong.

The anthology was a success. But more than one review singled out Nothing Done in Love. This story like me just did not fit in the ‘trope’ of menage. Or with other stories that were strictly about sex and romance. As one reviewer put it, ‘a real buzz kill’ to have a dying mother.

But that is me. As a writer and a person, I do not fit in any of the boxes. A fact that I am incredibly proud of and as author and feminist Virginia Woolf says in her classic on women in fiction:

So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say.

That is what I have always done, even more so now that writing has truly become an avocation for me.

I hope that some of you will give Nothing Done in Love a look.