LAURA ANTONIOU
NEWEST MARKETPLACE NOVEL FIRST AVAILABLE IN COLUMBIA, SC - SOUTHERN COMFORTABLE TOUR BEGAN FEBRUARY 1st
Noted s/m author Laura Antoniou launched her newest Marketplace novel, THE REUNION, with a multi-city tour beginning in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday, February 1st, 2003. She was sponsored by T3WD (This Thing that We Do), a pansexual BDSM educational organization.
This was an all day event with several segments. There was a luncheon meeting with our Dominant and submissive Special Interest Groups, a book signing, and a presentation on one of her favorite topics: "The Way of It: Establishing and Maintaining Protocol Within Relationships."
Book Five in the series, titled THE REUNION, re-unites two of the most popular characters in the Marketplace series. Robin (The Slave, Book Two in the Marketplace Series), and Chris Parker, her trainer. In THE REUNION, the two meet again on a trip to Ireland where they will join dozens of other slaves for a week at a centuries-old Castle (now 4-star hotel), at a Marketplace-sponsored Reunion.
"What's the number one reason given for dissatisfaction in an ongoing formal SM relationship?" Laura asks. "Lack of consistency from the top. What's one tool in a top's mental toy bag to keep this from happening? Establishing and maintaining a protocol of behavior."
The topic of protocol in dominant/submissive relationships is of great interest to Antoniou, who also writes about it extensively in her "Marketplace" series:
There were no universal protocols in the Marketplace.
There couldn't be, since once the slaves left the hands of their trainers,
their behaviors were determined by owners. But it had been explained to
her, both by Ken Mandarin and Chris Parker, that there were guidelines covering
the most basic commands, with postures to be taken and responses made which
would be easily adaptable once the personal taste of an owner were known.
"But why teach me only one set of movements if there are dozens?" Robin had moaned once during her training. "What if I have to do it all some other way once I'm sold?"
"You are being conditioned to obey," Chris had said, looking into her eyes. "Your obedience is what is being trained, not the positions. When you have new ways to behave, it will hopefully be your obedience which will enable you to learn and please your Owner." And he had run her through the motions over and over, until she did obey instantly, learning to watch his hands, the slightest shift in his body, or even his eyes, when she was allowed to look up. His litany of "Again. Again," whether softly uttered or sharply snapped became as agonizing as his strap. But in the end, she obeyed. Instantly.
from The Slave, by Laura Antoniou, available through Mystic Rose Books.
"But why teach me only one set of movements if there are dozens?" Robin had moaned once during her training. "What if I have to do it all some other way once I'm sold?"
"You are being conditioned to obey," Chris had said, looking into her eyes. "Your obedience is what is being trained, not the positions. When you have new ways to behave, it will hopefully be your obedience which will enable you to learn and please your Owner." And he had run her through the motions over and over, until she did obey instantly, learning to watch his hands, the slightest shift in his body, or even his eyes, when she was allowed to look up. His litany of "Again. Again," whether softly uttered or sharply snapped became as agonizing as his strap. But in the end, she obeyed. Instantly.
from The Slave, by Laura Antoniou, available through Mystic Rose Books.