Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene article here on Track of Words, where today I’m joined by author Lindsay Straube with an annotated excerpt of her new novel Kiss of the Basilisk – out now in the UK from Arcadia in hardback, audio and ebook. Now this is something a little different to what I normally cover, a book described as a “five-chilli TikTok monster romance fantasy sensation” and whose press release opens with “THIS BOOK IS NOT SAFE TO READ AT WORK”…but what is life without a little variety, and indeed a little spice? Lindsay has kindly contributed an excerpt from the opening of Kiss of the Basilisk, along with commentary discussing her thought process throughout this scene.
As you’ve probably assumed already, this excerpt is pretty spicy and very much features adult content…so be warned! Warning suitably issued, here’s the publisher’s blurb for Kiss of the Basilisk:
Twenty year old Temperance Verus has never been kissed. But that’s what the basilisk is for.
Along with thirteen other contestants, Tem must train with a basilisk to learn the power of seduction and win the prince’s hand in marriage. When Tem is matched with Caspen, the Serpent King, she realizes she might actually stand a chance.
But with tensions rising between the basilisks and the humans, Tem is torn in two directions. As her bond with Caspen deepens, so does her connection with the prince. And when she uncovers a terrible secret about the royal family, Tem finds herself caught between two worlds . . . neither of which she can survive without.
And without further ado, over to Lindsay with the opening scene from Kiss of the Basilisk!
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“You’ll never guess what happened to me last night,” Vera whispered.
LS: The first page of this book is interesting because it was never actually intended to be the first page. I hopped right into the middle of this conversation, always thinking “Well, I’ll go back and write the actual first page later.” And I never did! Word for word, these lines have stayed the same.
Tem sighed. She had come to the bakery to deliver eggs and had gotten gossip instead. It was always that way with Vera.
“What happened?” she asked.
Vera leaned over the counter so only Tem could hear:
“Jonathan took me under the bridge.”
Tem’s mouth fell open. Everyone knew what happened when a boy took you under the bridge.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes,” Vera smirked. “I saw his—” she glanced over her shoulder, then back at Tem, “—cock.”
Tem blushed at the word.
LS: Of course hopping right into the middle of this conversation meant that the word “cock” would be on the literal first page of the book. But honestly, given what’s to come, I figured why not get everyone used to it now.
“You’ve never seen one?” giggled Vera, tossing her blonde curls over her shoulder in haughty satisfaction.
“No,” Tem muttered. Vera knew quite well that she had never seen one, at least not in person. There were plenty depicted in the marble statues that lined the steps leading up to the church, but those were nothing to write home about. They looked like baby carrots. “What was it like?”
LS: The line about cocks looking like baby carrots is one that is often highlighted and pointed out to me. It’s funny because I truly have no idea whether baby carrots exist in this timeline, but it was the best visual I could think of. Even if they didn’t exist, I’d keep the line. It’s just too good.
Vera leaned in, pursing her lips in a conspiratorial triangle.
“It was firm,” she whispered. “Like a cucumber. But warm, and it fit perfectly in my hand.”
LS: Again, the visual. I’m right, aren’t I?
“You held it?”
Vera laughed. Tem resisted the urge to hurl an egg at her.
“You don’t just hold it. You play with it. You stroke it up and down,” she moved her hand to mimic the motion, and Tem memorized it instantly. “Until he finishes.”
Vera giggled cruelly at the look on Tem’s face.
“Oh, Tem,” she whimpered, her condescending tone unbearable. “Don’t worry. You’ll learn
tomorrow night. That’s what the basilisk is for.”
Everyone knew what the basilisk was for.
LS: At this point the reader has NO idea what the basilisk is for, but I didn’t feel like explaining it this early so I just didn’t bother. I hate world building, and sometimes I simply leave it out, and figure I’ll get to it later. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. Somehow things always turn out fine either way.
“Of course,” Vera continued. “It doesn’t hurt to have an advantage. After all, the prince is going to pick the most skillful girl. I intend to get as much practice as possible.”
Only Tem knew the painful truth, which was that there was no one she could practice with. The boys her age didn’t talk to her, and if they did, it was only to inquire whether her mother’s farm had any spare roosters available. Gabriel was her only friend, and he wasn’t interested in girls at all. But it didn’t matter anyway. Tem had always known she wouldn’t have a chance with the prince, regardless of what the basilisk taught her. The prince was far more likely to choose an experienced girl like Vera to be his wife.
LS: I like that we have a Gabriel mention this early, and we’ve already learned that he isn’t interested in girls. I tried to normalize everyone’s sexuality – even the side characters – straight out of the gate. Everyone in this book is horny. And we love them for it!!
It was as if Vera knew what Tem was thinking, because she said:
“You could always practice at home.”
Tem looked up.
“How?”
“Touch yourself. If you know how to do that, you can better understand how to touch someone else.”
For once, Tem felt a small surge of victory.
She had already touched herself plenty of times, in the privacy of her own room. She’d done it for as long as she could remember, and she knew exactly how to bring herself pleasure. Those solitary moments were important to her; they made her feel sexual and alive. She loved the euphoric weakness she felt after her orgasm, and she wondered if men felt a similar way when they finished.
LS: I had to decide right here whether I wanted Tem to know the word “orgasm” or not. She’s a virgin, and she’s otherwise sexually inexperienced, so it’s possible she wouldn’t know it had a name. But there are certain things I don’t feel like explaining (see: hating world building), so I decided she’d just have to know that already. Nobody has ever commented on it, so I feel justified.
“I’ll try that tonight,” Tem said, keeping her secret to herself.
Her superiority disappeared immediately at Vera’s next words:
“Of course, I was so pleased when Jonathan returned the favor.”
Tem’s jaw dropped.
“He touched you too?”
Vera smiled widely, eager to perform for her audience.
“He didn’t just touch me. He tasted me.”
Tem frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Vera laughed, the sound cutting Tem to her core.
“No, you wouldn’t, would you? You’ve never even been kissed.”
Tem’s embarrassment only deepened. If Vera wasn’t referring to kissing, she must mean the other, more intimate act—the one Tem had only ever imagined, and never expected to experience. Blush rose once again on her cheeks, dovetailing perfectly with her shame.
LS: “Dovetailing perfectly with her shame” is another line that gets pointed out to me a lot. Far be it for me to think that sentence is any sort of literary masterpiece, but I do think it was the moment for a lot of people when they realized “Ohhhhhh she can actually write. She may be writing basilisk porn, but she’s going to write it well.”
“What was it like?” Tem asked despite herself. She loathed giving Vera a platform but desperately needed to know the answer.
“Oh, Tem,” Vera giggled again. “You’ll find out eventually,” she paused, and her mouth twisted cruelly. “Or maybe you won’t. After all, who would want a girl who tastes like chicken shit?”
The insult was too great for Tem to bear. It hit her right in her insecurities, confirming every dark, horrible thing she had ever thought about herself—that she was nothing but a farm girl, that she was dirty and unlovable, that no man would ever look at her the way she dearly wished to be looked at. It took enormous effort to keep those thoughts at bay, and just when she’d managed to do so, girls like Vera reinforced them.
LS: Every girl has experienced what Tem feels here – that one insult that cuts too deep. I wanted anyone reading this to see themselves in Tem a little bit. Even if you can’t relate to Tem’s exact struggles (and if you can, what is your life??), you can relate to her on a fundamental, human level. Who hasn’t felt like they aren’t good enough, or undeserving of love? These are universal human fears.
Tem had had enough of this stupid conversation.
“Do you want these or not?” she brandished the carton of eggs in her arms.
“Yes,” Vera sighed, clearly disappointed they were no longer talking about her. “One moment.”
She grabbed the eggs and flounced away. Tem used the time to gather herself. She felt ridiculous and pathetic every time she let Vera get the best of her. But it was impossible not to feel inferior when she’d never even kissed a boy. She would never be like Vera with her silky pink ribbons, dangled teasingly in front of the boys at the market. She would always be the girl who tasted like chicken shit.
LS: At this point we’ve set up the dynamic between Vera and Tem, so we know Tem has a little local enemy. And we know there’s a larger plot coming with the basilisk and the prince. As far as first pages go, this is definitely my preferred method of establishing the lay of the land – I don’t want to read or write a lot of extraneous details. I always try to refrain from explaining what’s going on and instead try to just show it instead. Of course, there’s some world building on the next page as we learn about the greater context of the basilisks, but I guess you’ll just have to read on to see that. 🙂
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Lindsay Straube is a writer living in Portland, Oregon. She drinks tequila with lemon and watches TV with subtitles on. On any given Tuesday, you can find her at the movies.
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Thanks so much to Lindsay for sharing this annotated excerpt, and to Ayo at Arcadia for coordinating everything! I hope that’s given an interesting insight into Kiss of the Basilisk, and what to expect from it – and if you’ve enjoyed this, do let me know! It’s a bit different to what I’ve historically published here on Track of Words, but if you’d like to see more like this then please do get in touch.
Kiss of the Basilisk is published by Arcadia in hardback, audio and ebook – check out the link below to order your copy*:
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