“Tamara” -book cover

For many years I have been fascinated by the 1837 poem “Tamara” by Russian author Lermontov – my own amateur translation below – and discussing this one day with long time friend and colleague Irv O. Neil (see his recollections of New York) we came up with the idea of a collaboration as in the 90’s – the “old days” when we both worked for Leg Show magazine (to me the 90’s is only yesterday!)

By his own admission Irv became equally entranced by the poem and worked on top form to create his longest novella yet, drawing on his own memories of 70’s New York and weaving the poem into a story of the seemingly innocent librarian who transforms by night into the seductive persona of Tamara in the poem.

Ebooks have allowed individual writers to publish their own creations in epub or pdf form but too often the last-minute choice of stock photography bearing little if any relation to the content together with indifferent typography does nothing to sell the amazing and inventive writing inside. You can’t tell a book by its cover, sure, but you can go a long way to attracting a roving eye to one out of the many thousands of books on offer. Traditionally publishers spend a lot on getting the cover right and it is justified by the increased sales, but for the most part femdom writing is excluded from mainstream publishing and left to the individual ebook. It’s understandable that authors’ budgets would be too stretched to commission an individual cover for their own books but for once, at least, I wanted to give this great story a great cover, in the style of our old collaborations.

The model is imaginary -maybe a southern Russian or central Asian beauty, dressed in figure-hugging leather and carrying a whip, at the dramatic moment when she surprises the principal character -E.Z. Shepherd -who is at his desk looking for a missing page of research.

Interested to read further? 

Buy the ebook itself from Amazon now –

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B6DLLBV/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09B6DLLBV

In the deep valley of the Daryal
where the Terek growls in the gloom
high reared a black tower
tight against a black cliff.

In that high and narrow tower
lived Princess Tamara.
Fair as a heavenly angel,
evil as a demon.

And through the midnight mists
a golden light shone forth
to guide the eyes of the traveler
and invite him to his night’s rest.

And the voice of Tamara was heard
a voice of passion and desire.
It cast an irresistible spell,
a power, beyond all understanding.

To the voice of the invisible enchantress
came the warrior, the merchant and the shepherd. 
Gates opened before them
and a dark eunuch ushered them in.

On a bed of downy softness,
sewn with brocade and pearls,
she expected her guests and before her
sparkled two goblets of wine.

Passionate limbs embraced
lips pressed to lips
and strange wild moans
resounded through the whole night.

As if in that desolate tower
a hundred fair youths and girls
had come together for moonlit wedding
Or a great funeral feast.

But as soon as the light of dawn
had spread its rays over the hills
silence and darkness instantly
ruled once more.

Only the Terek in the valley of the Daryal
broke the silence with its thunderous flow
waves crashed against wave
wave against wave.

And with a sob a voiceless body
was hurriedly removed
A white form showed at the window
and a voice was heard…farewell!

©2021 Sardax

In Pink

“In Pink” is an exciting new femdom e-book by Miss Irene Clearmont.
I was commissioned to provide a cover illustration shown here.
Yes, it’s one of those nasty nurses I so love to paint!

The authoress says about her book:-

‘In Pink’ is the first of five strict femdom novels by Miss Irene Clearmont that transport the reader a place where wealthy women can indulge their tastes in female domination without any restraints. This first novel follows the vacation of Mistress Alexa as she journeys to the ‘Domain’s, a luxurious theme park, whose delights match Mistress Alexa’s taste in personal service by feminised slaves who are shaped to fulfil her every fantasy. ‘In Pink’ is the introductory novel that takes the reader to a fetish world like no other, gives the lay of the land and shows what is possible when a scheming female-led corporation caters for the dominant whims of its elegant guests. But, there is a darker purpose to the Domains, a conspiracy that is hatching beneath the lace and latex of the guests’ erotic pleasures, a ruthless need for female control that threatens to change the very order of the world. This novel is as much a thriller as it is erotica, a character novel as much as a thrill for the reader, blending intimate moments and plot in a climactic rush of emotion that is not complete when the perfect vacation is finally over.

Miss Irene Clearmont writes on the darker side of female domination. This novel, and the four that follow are the culmination of over twenty years of writing in the genre. Her writing style is mature, intense, tightly plotted, playing with the mind and sensibilities of her readers, laying bare sexual pleasure and gratification in tales that suck the reader into a maelstrom of fetish and female sexual pleasure. Strong characters, plot twists, graphic domination and adult prose are her trademark; ‘In Pink’ is the start of a journey that will stagger even the readers that are now her devotees.

You can buy the book here 

Mrs Weltsova

Last summer I had the great pleasure of meeting the charming Mrs Weltsova in London, on vacation from her home in New York . She is a lady of East European extraction and passionately devoted to the disciplinary arts.

We had previously become acquainted online and had both been invited to a summer Femdom party near London but owing to an unfortunate cancellation we arranged to meet up anyway so as not to waste the evening. After a delicious Japanese meal and an introduction for her to the London pub, I took the opportunity of gifting her a book I illustrated many years ago-“Queen of the Grove”.

I had been producing illustrations for an occasional journal  “The Governess” in the early ’90s. Apart from the watercolours which is my usual technique these days, I was also developing a style of black & white illustration – itself reminiscent of an earlier era.

“The Governess” magazine also produced a number of books for which illustrations were commissioned and this book was the first of them – and to my mind the best – a collection of stories by the pseudonymous Louise Malatesta. Over one summer I was quite inspired to develop this dramatic monochrome style, and the book sold well, published by Chardmore Press who still retain the rights. You can buy a e-book version here, though the printed book is definitely worth acquiring if you can find it.

Mrs Weltsova was delighted with the book and commissioned me to reprise this style in a set of artwork for one of her own stories called The Secret Garden.

The Secret Garden No 1

The Secret Garden No 2

The Secret Garden No 3

The style is still there. But though much is still drawn with brush and ink, a lot of digital modification goes on after scanning, replacing the traditional method of erasing pencil lines and altering by white paint (with resultant crumpled paper!)

Together with the story these make an original and exciting addition to Mrs Weltsova own personal blog.

My labour of love – Venus in Furs

This is a book that almost did not come into the world. A few times. It had a long gestation and very delayed birth. The project often shuddered to a halt as either life took over or I just got discouraged from pursuing it. The day the actual book arrived in boxes was like seeing a new-born child. I felt immensely proud of it.

Venus in Furs, though not the book which awakened my interest in femdom, was always there in the background as a reference to femdom and as an inspiration. It wasn’t even my favourite book either, as I found the ending off-putting, but I came later to appreciate its incisiveness and vision, written at a time when the whole nature of that sexuality was completely misunderstood and undiscussed. Sacher-Masoch was writing in 1870 when feminism was barely making its voice heard, and though he was aware (though dimly) of his own ‘topping-from-the-bottom’, his creation of a woman who really thinks for herself and “does femdom” her own way is remarkable. It’s odd that while it is regarded as an erotic novel, there is in fact no sex portrayed. It’s more about a philosophical outlook which is developed by the author and either spoken by Wanda or more often, Severin. Sacher-Masoch knew the subject he was writing about from the inside, and details all the joys and perplexities that beset the submissive mind. Often I hear of experiences from my friends describing the ups and downs of their femdom relationships and think – that’s ‘Venus in Furs’ all over.

Of course, being one of the few illustrators who specialise in this genre, I was often asked my thoughts on the book and it was suggested I make my own version. My initial thought was simply to illustrate a few scenes from the novel and try to find a publisher who might wish to republish the book, but after a few approaches there appeared to be little interest in a new edition and the rough sketches just lay around for a few years. I sometimes toyed with the idea of releasing them as a set of prints, a portfolio of artwork or even as a graphic novel but it did not seem economically sensible. Previous experience taught me that prints of niche erotic artwork are difficult to sell (how many people would put them on their walls?) so I abandoned that idea and never having had any interest in comic strip could not seriously go down that route either. My interest to develop them remained however and so at last I conceived the idea of making my own book with my own translation. I reckoned that given the broadly popular appeal of the novel a book might be saleable and that perhaps seeing everything put together in a readily marketable form I could also at least approach publishers again.

So throughout 2012 I translated the novel myself. I had been dissatisfied with other translations, especially the copyright-free version by “Fernanda Savage” of 1921 which is rather stiff and old-fashioned in style. I preferred not to license an existing modern translation, nor did I know how to go about it.  How could I feel confident enough to do this translation effectively?  Well, I admit that my German is not that of a professional translator. But I took comfort that in the past translation was a more informal affair than it is today – Thomas Carlyle, for example, translated Goethe without a formal degree in German using only a basic dictionary. More importantly, I could justify that I understood the author’s thoughts better than any other translators and so I overcame any hesitancy in that regard. In parallel I proceeded to work on the ten main watercolours and cover and wrote to literary agents and publishers asking if they would be interested in publishing an illustrated book with completely new translation. Surprisingly or not, depending on your experience of the publishing world, I received only politely phrased refusals.

Early in 2013 all the translation was complete but I felt that to market it as a printed book it needed to have more than just ten paintings. So I designed twenty more line illustrations, and with the aid of a publishing programme laid out the book myself inserting all the illustrations into my own translated text – well, I have a training in graphic design as well as illustration so although it was not a simple matter, it was within my capability. I also received a lot of help from Tim Woodward of Skin Two, who is very experienced in publishing. You’ll be asking now if I printed the whole book by myself. Well, much as I’d like to impress by showing you my own printing operation, in fact I did need to find the services of a printer, but apart from that it was very much self-made.  Thanks to a few ‘angels’ and some good luck financially I was able to fund the printing of the book and the book was eventually published within the imprint of Stiletto Books.

The book has had a great reception and now I am beginning to see the stock approaching depletion. It will not be re-published and stock will not always be available. Now is the time to buy unless you wish to buy second-hand copy for an inflated price later on.

See the dedicated page to Venus in Furs

Internationally renowned Mistress Evilyne reads an extract from chapter 13