Monday, November 7, 2011

Brainstormapalooza!

By Kelli Collins, editor-in-chief

Hello authors, aspiring authors, readers and people who just plain luuurve EC! We're currently mulling through a list of potential themed series ideas for 2012 (quickly, before the world ends), and we wanted to give our beloved authors and loyal readers a chance to weigh in.

The themed series, if you're unfamiliar, are two to four series we do every year, each featuring stories written for a specific theme. For instance, in 2011 we published Ahoy!, featuring books about pirates (any type of pirates authors could dream up, not just those of the historical variety). We recently began releasing books in our Sex Bytes themed series, and stories in the Love Letters series will be coming your way in Jan./Feb.

We were lucky enough to get tons of ideas at our RomantiCon conference last month (thank you authors and editors!), which we've listed below. Some have been done elsewhere (which doesn't mean we won't consider them), some might need to be more focused, but a great start to the list nonetheless.

So how about it? What do YOU want to read or write? Comment with your own brilliant suggestions, or just comment with your favorites from the choices below, or even comment on the other comments. It's a free-for-all! We'll announce the 2012 series in just a couple of weeks!

Themed Series Brainstormapalooza 2012
Men in Chainmail
Gladiators
Speed Sports/Xtreme Sports
MILF/DILF (mothers I'd like to fuck/dads I'd like to fuck [other people's parents! no incest)
Men in Kilts
1-800-HOT-MD4U (doctors/nurses)
House Calls
Special Delivery
Five/Six Senses
Married Couples
Female Cops
Inked (tattooed lovers)
Power Tools
Utopia
Superheroes
Renn Faire
Smoking Gun
Leather
Witches
Spells/Spellbound
Blue Collar (male and female)
Exotica Locales
Fugitives and Outlaws
Angels and Demons
Bounty Hunters
Nudists
1920s (or other decades)
WWI and II
Genie/Djinn

32 comments:

Unknown said...

Men in kilts, for sure. I'm totally obsessed with Highland romance, and there are a lot out there, but most of them don't have the hot heat level I want to read. The world needs more erotic Highland romance!

Katalina Leon said...

How about "Two is company, Four's a Menage", polyamorous partners in any sub-genre?
XXOO Kat
PS Ranae, how about a harem of kilted Scotsmen? We can call it "The Lads beneath the Plaid" lol

Unknown said...

Gladiators, Xtreme Sports, Witches and 1-800-HOT-MD4U (doctors/nurses). Though there's so many good ones it's hard to chose.

Lacey Savage said...

I love, love, LOVE, themed series! (Both writing for them, and reading them.) The following get my vote:

- Gladiators
- MILF/DILF
- Married Couples
- Inked
- Superheroes
- Witches
- Spells
- Exotica Locales
- Nudists

Umm... I did say I like writing these, right? This list might keep me busy for the next 2 years, but I'm game if you are. :-)

Jordan Ashley said...

Witches and Spell bound ones I could definitely get into!! Hopefully Ann will find me worthy enough to be one of you! The Genie/Djinn one could have potential too. A friend of mine is writing a genie one. :) LOVE the ideas.
Is there a series of a friends to lovers thing? (I haven't had a chance to browse all the titles available from EC LOL)

KarennaC said...

I'd love to see--and write for!--a superheroes series.

The polyamory series Katalina Leon suggests above sounds good too.

Elise Hepner said...

i like Inked, House calls, Renn Faire, and Gladiators

Sidney Bristol said...

I'm giving a detailed answer, because I've always loved the themed series.

Men in Chainmail - this doesn't interest me, unless we're allowed to bring it into modern times.

Gladiators - historical gladiators, eh, I'd be interested in some futuristic gladiator ideas or stories!

Speed Sports/Xtreme Sports - YES! YES! YES!

MILF/DILF - I think this could be very interesting. I've always respected single parents a lot and enjoy stories that feature a single parent.

Men in Kilts - I like the idea, but it gets done a lot.

1-800-HOT-MD4U - Yes please!

House Calls, Special Delivery and Five/Six Senses - could be interesting but I have no oppinion on them.

Married Couples - I'm not married, but I like stories about married couples.

Female Cops - Yes! That could be very cool.

Inked (tattooed lovers) -YES PLEASE! Then again, almost all of my characters always have tattoos...

Power Tools & Utopia - Could be intersting, but they're kind of vague as far as what I'm thinking about them right now.

Superheroes - I love superhero stories, but there are a lot of calls out right now for them. Would EC want to jump on that train? Hey, I'd totally love it, but it's worth thinking about.

Renn Faire - I'm going to say yes. I've gone to lots of faires, and there's a lot of potential!

Smoking Gun, Leather, Witches, Spells/Spellbound, Blue Collar (male and female), Exotica Locales, Fugitives and Outlaws, Angels and Demons - I don't have much of an opinion on these. The're okay, but don't grab my attention like some of the others do.

Bounty Hunters - HECK YES PLEASE!!!!

Nudists, 1920s (or other decades), WWI and II - Again, no real opinion on these.

Genie/Djinn - I HAVE ONE OF THESE WRITTEN! So, pick it, please?

And that's my quick oppinion about everything.

Rachel Kenley said...

There are some great ones here! I particularly love the superhero idea along with exotica locales, married couples, and spells.

Katalina "Lads beneath the plaid" is a GREAT NAME for that series"

How about a "Once Upon A Time" retold fairy tales. With two fairy tale themed tv shows on and two retold Snow White movies planned, it seems timely.

SJ Drum said...

Mmmm- Inked, Married Couples and Renn Faire!

Pandora Blake said...

I like Katalina's sugestion, menages are always fun. Other than that Witches, Spells/Spellbound, Angels and Demons are all very interesting to me.

Suzan Butler said...

Okay, here goes:

Gladiators
Speed Sports/Xtreme Sports - this could be interesting. I'm game.
MILF/DILF - Being a single parent, I have a fascination with writing them
Men in Kilts - OMG YES PLEASE!!!
Married Couples - I love exploring the continuing relationships after the HEA.
Inked (tattooed lovers) - LOVE.
Superheroes - I haven't really read any of these yet. I'm intrigued.
Bounty Hunters - HOLY CRAP YES PLEASE!!!
1920s (or other decades) - This could be fun.
Genie/Djinn - YES!

Emma Hillman said...

Lots of great suggestions, but my faves would be:

Bounty Hunters - like Sidney I really, really want this one!

Inked - I don't really need to spell out a reason, do I?

Married Couples - although it does sound a bit too similar to Branded

Anonymous said...

Thanks guys, keep 'em coming! And definitely let us know if you have suggestions of your own!

Emma, yes, if chosen, it's very likely most (if not all) of the books in the Married Couples series would be in the Branded Line. But that's okay. These are all just theme ideas; each book cover would still have a banner corresponding to its appropriate Line. :)

Kelli Collins

Denysé Bridger said...

Love the whole Witches theme a lot, and anything with an Old West flavor is superb. Female cops is great, have done those myself. Married couples are always great. Most of the other themes, while certainly interesting, aren't my personal preferences. All in all, I think are some potentially GREAT stories waiting to be told.

Brynn Paulin said...

I'm really interested in:

Bounty Hunters
1-800-HOT-MD4U
1920s (or other decades)
WWI and II

~~Brynn

Tracey H. Kitts said...

The ones that interest me the most (as a reader and EC author) are, Inked, Superheroes, Witches, and Spells.

They all sound very good, these are just my personal favs:)

Scarlett Knight said...

I'd love to see more decades-themed anthologies, particularly a 60's hippie-era one.

Cara McKenna said...

Woo hoo! Hot married couples for the win! [dashes off to make filthy notes for future books]

Captcha word: normative. No, thank you.

Olivia Waite said...

I'm rooting for Angels and Demons -- admittedly, I've got an upcoming book and a sequel-in-progress that fits that theme. :)

But Five/Six Senses, Witches, Spells, and a decade theme also sound promising.

Mel Teshco said...

I'd love to write a superhero story and genie/djinn intrigues me too. Gladiators could be interesting as could bounty hunters.

Francesca Hawley said...

I love the Men in Chainmail idea (course I suggested it so I would). And you know - there's nothing to say it would have to strictly be medieval. What about SF/Fantasy? Aragorn looks stellar hot in his chainmail for The Lord of the Rings movies. And Legolas was very pretty too!

I could go for Gladiators - Roman or otherwise. There's just something about men in armor that really appeal to me.

So therefore, I would like the Renn Faire one too - but I might go with a re-creation group like the SCA rather than the Renn Faire world. And would this include a possible time travel story? That would be fun!

I'd also LOVE the witches theme.

I'm not into the medical stuff so House Calls and 1800MD4U doesn't really do it for me.

Not really up for superheroes either.

I like the concept of Inked. Very hot!

Married couples would be fun too. Contemporary only or historical too?

I'd also like recent historical - 1960s, 1920s, WWII and WWI.

I think spells are problematic - because love spells are a BAD idea. Ask anyone who is wiccan or pagan and they'll tell you the same. Of course a negative rebound from a bumbling magic user might be entertaining. Fighting a curse however, might be kinda cool.

LOTS of great ideas from everyone!

Anonymous said...

Superheroes!!! LURVE superheroes!

Robin Leigh Miller said...

Well, we are talking about 2012, the end of the world, if you believe that. How about post apocalyptic?

And, since I'm a retired dirt track driver and now the mother of a driver, SPEED sports could be hot!

Aerinah said...

I would love to read more about cops - especially cops in uniform, not plainclothes detectives, undercover, etc. I'd prefer to read about male cops myself, in either M/F or M/M (or even M/F/M) relationships. That's my number one theme pick!

Men in kilts are always hot too, of course... ;)

Cara Carnes said...

Hehe.... I have bounty hunters and witches in my WIPs so I may be a smidge biased:)

Dawn Montgomery said...

I love the idea of a post apocalypse antho to celebrate surviving 2012. :D

The others that strike my interest:

Men in Chainmail - Lots of fun with this one!

Gladiators-so many options here!

Men in Kilts-I was 17 working at a renn faire and learned the truth about men in kilts. That is ALL I'm saying. Bring it on!

1-800-HOT-MD4U (doctors/nurses)

Inked (tattooed lovers)

Superheroes

Smoking Gun- goes with that WWII espionage thing in my mind. :D

Witches

Spells/Spellbound-Fantasy, contemporary, it wouldn't matter. I would just love to see some new twists.

Fugitives and Outlaws (am I the only one thinking western or firefly-esque sci fi?)

Angels and Demons

Bounty Hunters

WWI and II-so many great espionage possibilities...

Genie/Djinn - I have a particular fondness for this one.

Margaret Carter said...

Renn Faire, please! Married couples, angels and demons, and superheroes also sound very appealing.

Kim Knox said...

Men in Chainmail. Yes, please!

Gladiators - possible like the above one...but yay for sex, sand and sandals :)

Superheroes. As Sidney Bristol said, a lot of calls around now, but still, I'd be tempted.

Fugitives and Outlaws
Bounty Hunters - simply for the possibility of a delicious anti-hero...

Voirey Linger said...

Angels and demons! I lovelovelove wing sex. :D

Okay, so I'm biased, but still... pretty please?

Ann Mayburn said...

Hmm, I have a half finished Djinn/Genie story, that would be nice to find a submission call for.-lol- I also find the Leather community fascinating, but I can be inspired by pretty much anything so I'm interested to see what the call goes out for. :)

Anonymous said...

Upbeat, fun:

Gladiators
Exotica Locales
Bounty Hunters
Married couples

..and more fun aeon titles :-)