Author Interviews & Spotlights
June 5, 2013 Interview with Sorcha Black
Sorcha Black is in The Hot Seat
Sorcha Black is one of the ladies responsible for the Badass Brats series and has agreed to appear in The Hot Seat. So, of course, I had to ask about her ink and who wanted to strangle whom during their collaborative love sessions of writing d00m. Check out my reviews of The Dom with the Safeword and The Dom with the Perfect Brats - both awesomely specimens of Mff romance (menage, BDSM, good writing, just buy it and read it). And, just as an aside, I have to say that I'm really excited for Sorcha's solo project, cause MffM. Yes, that's my reason. Well, maybe I'm excited about the story too.
Anyway - here she is answering questions with ... answers.
Sorcha - Hi Haydee – thanks for having me on your blog!
How did you come up with your pen name? Does it have special meaning or do you just like the sound of it?
Sorcha - I discussed options with Leia Shaw and Cari Silverwood for days. Originally my pen name was going to be gender neutral, but they convinced me not to do that. Sorcha is a name that I would have given one of my daughters, but it got vetoed by my husband. I wanted a last name that was simple and easy to spell – someone suggested Black because my hair and clothes are typically black.
What inspired you to write erotica?
Sorcha - It’s the way my brain is wired, honestly. People often tease me for seeing the world through sex goggles. I started out writing fantasy, but erotic elements always find their way into everything I write.
Your first three books have been a collaboration with the lovely Leia Shaw and Cari Silverwood. As an author who hadn't been published yet, how did you get involved with this project with these authors?
Sorcha - I met Leia and Cari online in the early spring of 2012. They offered to read the first chapter of the story I was writing, and did a detailed critique for me. They explained where I was going wrong with my writing, and encouraged me to keep at it. I admit that I was quite the adjective whore. Over the next few months I showed them I was a learning animal. After months of talking incessantly, we decided to try writing something together for fun. It was so much fun we’ve done it three times and will be starting a fourth in June 2013.
What's your favorite dinner and does it go with orange juice?
I’m a starchatarian. If it has potatoes and/or bread in it, I’m happy. I can’t drink orange juice, but I suppose it would go fine with starch.
Can you draw a map of all your ink, please? And what it represents.
Sorcha - I have photo-style, silly gargoyle faces all over my left upper arm, with virtue words in between them. Good and spirituality are topics I think about a lot. Some do-gooders are gargoyles rather than angels, but that doesn’t make their contribution to the world less important.
Sexiest tattoo you've ever seen - who was it on? what body part? did you lick it? did the owner of said tattoo file for a restraining order? (no shame in that)
Sorcha - The sexiest tattoos I’ve seen are the ones my girl got to represent me and our relationship. Yes, I’ve licked them. She never complains about it.
While working with Leia Shaw and Cari Silverwood on the Badass Brats series, what was the one/biggest issue that you couldn't all agree upon?
Sorcha - The biggest issue we have is probably the ongoing balancing act we do between including the
love, kink, humor and angst in our books. We all have moments where the other two don’t agree with us, and sometimes those disagreements can get heated. But we’re friends first, so disagreements work themselves out pretty quickly.
Who was the biggest trouble maker?
Sorcha - I’d have to say that I’m the biggest trouble maker. I’m very opinionated about book titles and character names. I’m also the trite police. If you say “names” and “Sorcha” in the same sentence, my co-writers make a run for it.
What's the most embarrassing thing you've written?
Sorcha - The first few sex scenes I wrote were pretty embarrassing. It took awhile to get over being shy about writing sex, but now it doesn’t phase me at all.
What are you working on now and when will we be able to read it?
Sorcha - I’m currently finishing the novel that Leia and Cari read chapter one from last spring. It’s a fantasy novel called Ein.
Ein is a relatively unworldly, mid-caste young woman who loses everyone she loves and ends up destitute. Her country is in a trade war with its nearest neighbors, and poverty is rampant. She sees the suffering of the poor and takes responsibility to do what she can to help the people around her – including raising a huge, patchwork family of abandoned children. The idea of the story is that in fantasy novels we seldom hear about the lives of the poor, unless they’re involved in an epic quest. This book is about a girl who is doing the best with what she has.
Now that I’ve got you thinking it’s a sweet and wholesome book, I’ll mention the novel contains graphic sex scenes, BDSM and M/f/f/M polyamory. There’s also abduction, prostitution, murder, war, hunger, romance and true love.
The tentative release date for Ein is fall 2013. We’re hoping to have the next Badass Brats book published in September 2013.
About the Author
I write about people who are too busy fighting, suffering, loving, and generally getting shit done to think of themselves as heroes.
In my real life, I’m married to a lazy but well loved man and have a shoe full of children. I do my best writing on scraps of paper at red lights.
Currently, I have two published works and two works in progress. There is more information about all of them on my “Books” page.
I’m one of those writers that, as a teen, planned to write for a living. Like many others, I was guided away from the idea by well-meaning adults that wanted me to be in a position to support a family, and… well… eat. I finished my first novel when I was eighteen, printed it off on tractor-feed paper, and gave it to my best friend for Christmas. Two years of work and I never saw it again. It sounds tragic, but it’s probably best for everyone this way, because I’m sure it sucked pretty bad.
Ein has been my work in progress – on and off – for the past ten years. I wrote, discarded, wrote again. I realized the issue was that I was writing to get published rather than writing the story the way it needed to be told. Ein is a fantasy novel (with erotic BDSM ménage elements) written from the perspective of a woman who has been abused and marginalized. She has no special powers, no political influence and no money. Ein fights to do the right thing in a world scarred by war. She is nothing special, but by example shows others that they don’t have to be special to do good in the world.
As I struggled with rewriting the first chapters of Ein the way I should have written it to begin with, I met other writers online. I really hit it off with two of them, in particular.
One day, as we discussed the fantasy novels we were working on, we started to talk about how great it would be to work on a project together. For fun, we began a fantasy BDSM ménage that didn’t end up working out well. From there we tried again with a contemporary BDSM ménage that got addictive very quickly.
My first book, co-written with Leia Shaw and Cari Silverwood, came out in October 2012. We released a holiday novella in December. Our third book in the series is in the works, and will hopefully be published in March 2013. When we look back on how our Badass Brats series started, none of us can quite remember whose idea it was – but it is a true testament as to why you should be careful about whom you talk to on the internet. Lol. Innocent fantasy writer gets roped into writing kinky romances – except all three of us claim to be the innocent fantasy writer.
May 30, 2013 Interview with Sierra Cartwright
Sierra Cartwright is in The Hot Seat
Let's welcome Sierra Cartwright to The Hot Seat! She writes great kinky erotica and, in my opinion, is one of the best at depicting power exchange in a realistic and authentic way (and HOT, hot way!). The first book I read by Sierra Cartwright was Bound and Determined and I was hooked from then on. Honestly, if you haven't read Bound and Determined, you MUST. It's kind of dubious consent and capture fantasy and has a HOT Scot and ... lots of hotness ensues with an interesting storyline (the BDSM scenes were intense and there's some menage going on). Though, of course, Sierra is most recently best known for her Mastered series (see my review for On His Terms here). The next installment in the Mastered series, Over the Line, is available on Total-e-bound as the pre-release version.
So here is Sierra answering my brilliant questions!
How did you come up with your pen name? Does it have special meaning to you or do you just like the sound?
Sierra - Pen name? What pen name? ;) Seriously, the name has special significance to me. Since I love the mountains, Sierra just sounded like the perfect fit. And Cartwright… Just so “Western,” fitting many of the books I write.
What would you do if you weren't a writer?
Sierra - Wait. I’d have unlimited money, right? If so, I’d like to travel the world, have an adventure a day, well, that is, when I’m not on the beach. Since money is an object, I’d expand my coaching career. I am a certified business coach. (No, that doesn’t mean I’m a busybody!) I generally work with entrepreneurs. And they are visionary, creative people. I’ve done some public speaking, and I also do some editing. I love helping others, no matter their path.
What is your favorite food and does it go with orange juice?
Sierra - EVERYTHING goes with orange juice.... except tooth paste! Favorite food? That’s tricky. I spent a number of years as a vegetarian and then when I started eating meat again, it was as if a whole new world opened up. I discovered a taste for sushi (haven’t tried it with orange juice), crab cakes (turns out I like anything with the word “cake” in the title!), and a sirloin salad (which does go with orange juice). In Jackson Hole, I had orange cake. And that was one of the most memorable food experiences ever. (Really, who remembers where and when they had their favorite dessert? That’s how good it was.)
What was your favorite book to write? why?
Sierra - I’ve had two that, in retrospect, were really fun to write. The first is Unbound Commitment. I wrote nine books for Harlequin/Silhouette before moving over to erotic romance. It was a real treat to use graphic words for naughty bits rather than euphemisms. I really let loose with that book. I figured the publisher might do heavy edits, but to my surprise and delight, they did not. They did attach quite the warning to the book, but they allowed me complete creative freedom.
The second is the novella Bared to Him in the Bound to the Billionaire anthology. The idea for that story came from a real life experience a Dom friend of mine had on an elevator. As he told me about the encounter, I desperately wanted to write about it. So when I had the opportunity to write the novella, I of course, seized it. Yes, I embellished a little. After all, my Dom friend is not a billionaire (yet).
What was the hardest book for you to write and why?
Sierra - Here’s the absolute honest truth: the book I’m writing at the moment (no matter when you ask me this question) is the hardest book to write. I wish I could say that writing is effortless for me, but it’s not. Having a detailed synopsis and understanding each protagonist’s goal, motivation, and conflict help, a lot, but I always struggle to know a character and work on their evolution.
If you could choose one superpower, what would it be and why?
Sierra - I’d choose to be able to move around on the space/time continuum. And Iron Man would be my sidekick. Of course, I’d get to have a really cool outfit and the body to go in said outfit. Wouldn’t it be fun to move from 2029 to 1776? I’d love to see how the world changes and the technological and medical advances that are in store for us. But really, I just want a cool outfit. And Iron Man at my beck and call.
Did you read Twilight? If yes, team Edward or team Jacob?
Sierra - Gack. Both. Neither. It was all Team Jacob until book 4.
Coffee or tea? and how do you take it?
Sierra - I feel a betrayal of my British roots coming on here. Coffee... So strong it'll disintegrate your spoon. I drink tea at my mother’s house. She always “brews up” when I come over. And, yes, I pour lots of milk in it.
How would you say On His Terms is different from and similar to your other books?
Sierra - On His Terms has a strong capable heroine and an unyielding hero demands all she has to
As part of Project Snag Evan C, she knows she needs some BDSM training. So she approaches a renowned trainer, Alexander Monahan. She’s sure it will be rather straightforward, and it’s anything but. Things become even more complicated when she starts to fall for Master Alexander.
As for Alex, he’s spent years turning trainees into perfect submissives. He’s never formed an emotional attachment, until Chelsea Barton makes him question everything he thought he knew. He has no idea how he will turn her over to another man…
What are you working on now?
Sierra - There are a total of six books in the Mastered series from Total-E-Bound.
Book three is called Over the Line and it features a delicious, handsome, dominant cowboy. When I wrote for Silhouette, I did a number of rancher stories, so cowboys have a special place in my heart. Next up, and the book I’ve just finished writing, is In His Cuffs. (I love the title of this one, it gets ME excited when I read it!) This was inspired by a situation from my life has a corporate-type of setting with a Secretary sort of twist. What could be hotter than falling for your boss?
After that, I’m really looking forward to a deeper exploration of BDSM in For the Sub, which will star the Den’s submissive, Brandy. Niles will also make a return from an earlier book. He’s a bit of a tortured soul, and he’s very experienced in the lifestyle. If you’re looking for an emotional and physical book, this one will make your toes curl.
The Mastered series will conclude with In the Den. Damien, who owns the spectacular home, will try to tame Catrina, an avowed Domme. That will have tons of sparks and lots of back and forth between two extraordinarily strong characters.
Thanks for having me, Haydee! VERY much appreciated!
About the Author:
Born in Manchester, England and raised in the US, Sierra Cartwright is the acclaimed author of more than twenty erotic romances.
She was previously published with Harlequin/Silhouette under a different pseudonym, and won numerous awards as well as a coveted spot on the USA Today bestseller list.
Last year, she was delighted to be among the launch authors for the exciting Clandestine Classics imprint from Total-E-Bound. The project generated international interest, and her contribution, the expanded Jane Eyre, was featured in segments on such shows as Jimmy Kimmell and Anderson Cooper Live. Time Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, and numerous other online sites also wrote features about the provocative new book.
Cartwright has been interviewed by USA Today, and she did a segment for the Orlando Fox affiliate with Chase Cain.
She’s a multiple CAPA nominated author who is delighted by the success of With This Collar, the first book in a six-book series “Mastered” from Total-E-Bound.
With This Collar has reached #1 on the Amazon UK Kindle Erotica chart, and #3 in the US Amazon Kindle bestseller list.
May 22, 2013 Interview with Annabel Joseph
Annabel Joseph is in The Hot Seat
Let's give Annabel Joseph a warm (har har) welcome because she's in The Hot Seat today! Annabel writes stories about real, flawed characters who fall in love and have intense relationships with lots of kinky sex. Annabel is one of my favorite authors and if you haven't read her books, I think you're missing out and you're probably sad about this. But don't worry! It's easy to fix, just go forth and buy her books and you will be happy again (just see my review of Firebird, click HERE or her latest release, Disciplining the Duchess HERE)!
Without further adieu here is Annabel Joseph in The Hot Seat ---
How did you come up with your pen name? Does it have special meaning to you or do you just like the sound?
Annabel - Well, I heard about this thing where you pair your best friend’s name with the name of the street you grew up on, and that’s your pen name. I never had a friend named Annabel—I just liked that name—but I did live on Joseph Street for a while as a child. I also lived on Inchon, Habersham, Sandy Creek, Maas, Oglethorpe, Celebration, and some others I can’t remember, but Annabel Oglethorpe just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
What's your favorite food? Does it go with orange juice?
Annabel - I have sooo many favorite foods but my super fave is the fried zucchini at Carrabbas, and yeah, I could probably eat it with orange juice.
What would you tell your kids if they came across your novels?
Annabel - My kids know I’m a writer, but I’ve told them from the beginning that only grown ups can read my books because of “all the kissing.” They are okay with that and they have zero curiosity because they think kissing is disgusting. I picture them at school on the day the class is talking about careers: “Yes, my mom is a writer but you have to be eighteen or older to read her books.”
What was the last thing you wrote that made you cringe?
Annabel - I cringe the worst when I write something hokey. The sex can be nasty beyond belief and I’m cringe-free, but as soon as I realize I wrote something hokey or florid like “His cock pulsed as he slid it across her velvet heat” then I kinda want to go chop off my fingers. I also cringe a little when I write fantasies that I have, that I don’t think other people probably have. I try not to let it stop me though.
Which one of your characters do you identify with the most? Why?
Annabel - I identify a little bit with all of them, but I think the one that most closely resembles me is Kat in Fortune. I lifted an awful lot from my life to write her. I was definitely that aimless, sad, lonely, confused club girl for a long time, and I was quite slutty too.
What's your favorite pair of undies? Describe or take a picture.
Annabel - Speaking of slutty, if you ever look at my Fetlife profile (Annabel_Joseph) I have posted all these photos of my panty collection, actually modeled on my butt. The perverts love it. I get a lot of guys leaving comments like “I would love to wear those panties.” Fetlife, gotta love it. My favorite is probably my rose-butt panties--the back is basically a big red rose made out of fabric. Definitely not something you could discreetly wear under clothes.
If you had a stalker, what song would he most likely hear you sing in the shower?
Annabel - Oh What a Beautiful Morning from Oklahoma. If not that, some other Broadway song. I’m a total theater nerd.
What is your favorite book of all time?
Annabel - It’s out of print now, but the book that affected me most as a developing writer was Binding Spell by Elizabeth Arthur. Everything about it touched me: the voice, subject matter, style, imagery, plot, and emotion. In the romance genre I’d choose Flowers from the Storm, The Shadow and the Star, or Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale. Literally, all three of them. I can’t narrow down.
What do you do when you're not writing?
I spend time with my family, I try to exercise (emphasis on try), and I read whenever I can. I lead a very comfortable, boring life but the reality is that I prefer it that way. I’m the opposite of an adrenaline junkie.
What are you working on now? When can we get our hands on the next Annabel Joseph masterpiece??
Annabel - Oh man, I’m always trying to write a masterpiece! I am hard at work editing Waking Kiss at the moment. It’s a BDSM romance set in the world of ballet, and is definitely a very deep emotional study as compared to a raunchy smex-fest. I mean, there’s sex but a lot of emotional plotline too. That’s something I try to provide in every book, so the stories stick around after the arousal wears off. In Waking Kiss I’m playing around with a lot of themes, like the metaphors of fairy tales, creating mirror events, the things we reveal in relationships versus the things we hide—and everyone hides stuff. It has been a very interesting experience writing it because it turned into much more than I expected. And I already have the sequel half- written too. So I’m on a roll!
Thanks for having me in the hot seat, Haydee. Here are some links for your readers if they’d like to look me up:
Annabel's info page for Waking Kiss is HERE
Click HERE and scroll down for 25 Fun Facts about Annabel
About the Author:
Annabel Joseph is a novelist who specializes in the romance of dominance and submission. Her stories celebrate the complexity of sensual power exchange in loving and sometimes complicated relationships.
You can email Annabel at annabeljosephnovels@gmail.com. She loves to hear from her readers.
She is always working on something new, so stay tuned!
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is Annabel Joseph your real name?
A: Nope.
Q: Do you write under any other pen names?
A: I write vanilla (non-BDSM) erotic romance novels under the pen name Molly Joseph. You can learn more about Molly Joseph at http://mollyjosephnovels.com.
Q: Why are some of your books only $2.99 while others are more expensive? Are the $2.99 books shorter or worse in quality?
A: No. I would never put out a book at ANY price, even FREE, that I did not believe would live up to my readers’ expectations.
All my books (with the exception of Club Mephisto and Molly’s Lips: Club Mephisto Retold) are around 55-90K words and all of them have the same production values: professional editing, proofreading, and a clean e-copy free of formatting mistakes. The reason some are cheaper is because they are self-published under my indie imprint. I don’t have the same overhead costs as a large publisher and I retain a greater percentage of the royalties, and so I pass those savings on to you.
I also like to price my books inexpensively so people will be more likely to take a chance on my novels. I know they’re not for everyone but I hope at $2.99 people will give them a whirl. Finally, I price them inexpensively to discourage pirating. Pirating isn’t just a money loss for authors…it’s very emotionally debilitating for an author to see her hard work given away for free or for others’ profit. Please do not pirate ebooks and please urge others not to do so.
Q: Is it possible to get paper copies of your books?
A: All my books are available in paperback with the exception of Owning Wednesday and Fortune. They are unlikely to be stocked on your local bookstore shelves. Your best bet is to purchase them at Amazon.com.
Q. Why are there two different versions of Owning Wednesday? Which one should I buy?
A: Owning Wednesday is one of the first books I wrote. It was available through Lulu.com for a while, and then withdrawn from print to be revised and re-edited for release by Loose Id. The original was very emotionally raw (and very poorly edited.) The new version is sleeker and well-edited but lost a lot of the emotional underpinnings of the original (and about 20K words). Certain elements of the story and character details were also changed. I suppose the ideal version of Owning Wednesday would have been somewhere in the middle of the two, but the Loose Id version is as close as I could get the arrow to the mark.
As for which one to buy, Loose Id has sole rights to market their version for now. If you wanted to find the original version you would have to track down a very old bootleg from my Lulu days, and I imagine those are pretty hard to find. If you are not sure which version of Owning Wednesday you have, there is an easy way to tell, without giving too much of a spoiler. In the original version it is Daniel who paints the words on Wednesday’s walls. In the Loose Id version, it is Wednesday who does it. Also, the old version is in first person POV, and the new version is in third.
Q: Why do you only write Maledom/febsub books, and not femdom, m/m, f/f, paranormal, etc?
A: For me to write well, I find I need to have some emotional involvement in my writing. A lot of times my stories are coming from some personal place or some life experience I’ve had, or the experiences of friends. Since I identify as a female sub and have a lot of Maledom and femsub friends, that point of view has always just come most easily to me.
Q. Are you saying that the stuff in your books is all stuff that you’ve actually done?
A. Hell no!
Q. What type of BDSM can I expect to find in your books?
A. I have heard my work described as “emotionally intense power exchange.” I try not to write BDSM just for the sake of BDSM, with no underlying emotional resonance, because I find that pretty boring. You can have a Dom spout all the “lifestyle” terminology and use all the possible fetish hardware in the world, but without any emotional stakes, the scene can fall flat. Conversely, if the emotional groundwork is there, something so simple as a masterful look or a wrist grabbed with just the right amount of pressure can make you catch fire.
That’s not to say my books don’t have traditional BDSM elements. They have rope, cuffs, dildos, plugs, clamps, collars, leashes, blindfolds, gags, garter belts, leather, spanking implements, and all those things BDSM’ers use to play. But I like my books to read like romances, not BDSM how-to manuals, and that’s something I always keep in mind. As far as sado-masochism, I suppose my books skew to the middle. Every punishment is not for the sub’s pleasure, yet the Dom does not intentionally savage her either. There is a balance there. I do occasionally include mild elements of degradation/humiliation (name calling, sexual humiliation and such) but only because the heroine enjoys that type of play. You won’t find heavy sadism, edgeplay, non-consensual brutality, or mean-spirited humiliation in my books, because, of course, none of those lend themselves very well to romance.
The BDSM in my books is also closer to Dominance/submission than Master/slave. The distinction may not mean much to you unless you are heavily into the lifestyle, but my heroines are generally not completely surrendered in the way of a slave. Usually my heros and heroines practice BDSM as part of a larger, real-world relationship. I have written one series about a 24/7 Master/slave dynamic. I call these my Mephisto books. They are Club Mephisto, Molly’s Lips: Club Mephisto Retold, and Burn For You. I hope you’ll check them out!
Q. Do you practice BDSM in real life? How deeply?
A. Me and my husband are not exactly hardcore, but he is the Dom and I am the sub in our relationship. We are heavily into Domestic Discipline and 1950′s, only without me being good at cooking and housework (cause I’m NOT!) But I love a good lecture and a spanking, and you will sometimes notice my lecture fetish making its way into my books. We get out into the local scene occasionally but we don’t play in public or play outside our marriage.
Q. Who are your favorite authors? What kind of books do you like to read?
A: My favorite BDSM authors are definitely Molly Weatherfield and Anneke Jacob. As far as mainstream romance, Laura Kinsale is my absolute favorite. I have also been influenced by Flannery O’Connor, Elizabeth Arthur, Judith McNaught, and Alice Hoffman. I don’t read a lot in my own genre, but I am an avid reader of historical romance.
Q. Will you read my novel/manuscript/proposal and give me feedback/critique/advice?
A. Unfortunately I have very little time to do beta-reading or critique, so the answer to this will almost always be no. I am, however, always happy to chat generally about the publishers I’ve worked for, the publishing business in general, and/or the art of writing and networking. You can also check my Links page and sidebar for some of the blogs and writer’s boards I like to frequent.
Q. How did you get your work published? How can I?
A. In my case, I got published because a friend was an editor for a romance house and encouraged me to submit my work. If you are just starting out, the best thing to do is keep your ear to the ground and really become familiar with the houses that publish the stuff you’re writing. Check their submission requirements, lurk on author boards and figure out what they really want (and what they don’t want). When your work is ready and you know which publishers are interested in it, be brave and submit it! It’s free!
Q. You are self-published and e-published. Which is better?
A. Self-publishing is great if you’ve written something that doesn’t fit into those nice, neat guidelines publishers are looking for, or if you are one of those people who is very controlling about how your work is presented. I began publishing some of my books under the independent imprint “Scarlet Rose Press” for this reason. Self-publishing gives you maximum artistic control and freedom, but it comes with a lot of responsibility too. You have to be your own editor-in-chief and you have to do all the marketing yourself. Of course, you also keep all the royalties for yourself.
E-publishing is nice because you have a group of editors behind you catching story weaknesses and mistakes you might miss, and a website with built-in traffic. You definitely get a lot more publicity and respect, but you get a smaller cut. Even though the royalties are lower, I have found my e-publishing experiences quite rewarding. I have actually enjoyed both types of publishing and found success at both.
May 15, 2013 Interview with Cara Bristol
Cara Bristol is in The Hot Seat
Today I have Cara Bristol in The Hot Seat! This is very exciting because Cara Bristol is exploding with activity this month - she has not one and not two, but THREE releases this month! Desntiny's Chance (May 14), Coming to Terms, a Domestic Discipline anthology (May 15 - TODAY), and Disciplinary Measures (May 21). So, I asked Cara some tough questions (you know, underwear preferences and such) for your reading pleasure! I know you were all curious and I was just asking what ya'll were thinking.
How did you come up with your pen name? Does it special meaning or do you just like how it sounds?
Cara - I wanted a pen name that would be easy to pronounce and spell, unlike my legal name. I also wanted a name that sounded sexy without being over-the-top sexual. I was drawn to the name Cara, which means "dear" in Italian. I pronounce it CAR uh. I never occurred to me that it could also be pronounced CARE uh -- so I guess I didn't pick a name that was easy to pronounce after all! And Bristol seemed to go well with Cara.
What inspired you to write erotica?
Cara - I've always written. I was a newspaper reporter and then a public relations director, and I'd written mainstream women's fiction for many years. I started reading erotic romance, and particularly enjoyed Shayla Black and Lora Leigh. One day I was playing, and I sat down to write a story that was kind of an erotic smorgasbord, which included some spanking scenes. When I finished, I thought, "this isn't bad." I'm modest, you see. I sent it off to Black Velvet Seductions, and it was accepted for its Spanked! anthology. Knock on wood, I've sold every erotic story I've written to the first publisher I've submitted it to. My tenth title is being released this month.
You write a very specific type of erotica - focused on Domestic Discipline - can you tell us how that differs from other BDSM? and why it resonates with you?
Cara - The great debate is whether DD is a subset of BDSM or a genre in its own right. I tend to believe the latter, although I see a lot of overlap. BDSM is a power exchange relationship, that can be sexual or not. Domestic discipline is more narrowly focused on the correction of specific behaviors, typically involving: dishonesty, disobedience, disrespect, or a matter of personal safety. One person, usually the man in an M/F relationship acts as the head of household. Both BDSM and DD relationships are consensual, although with BDSM rules and limits are more clearly defined, and safewords are used. The attraction of DD fiction is that the heroes are uber-macho men who are confident, authoritative and who are totally focused on the woman. It plays to the fantasy of being dominated, yet it's loving and respectful and less extreme than BDSM. In DD women are spanked, usually only on their buttocks, but occasionally on the backs of their thighs. They're not bound, gagged, shackled, whipped, or caged as they can be in BDSM.
When do you do your best writing?
Cara - Definitely in the morning. And for me, there is a perfect ideal moment that occurs midway between the genesis of an idea and getting it plotted out. That's the most compelling time to write. If I start writing too soon, I'm likely to stall out. It I wait too long, the story loses its freshness.
Cara - Definitely in the morning. And for me, there is a perfect ideal moment that occurs midway between the genesis of an idea and getting it plotted out. That's the most compelling time to write. If I start writing too soon, I'm likely to stall out. It I wait too long, the story loses its freshness.
What's on your TBR list right now?
Cara - Here's what's in my Kindle either as books or samples: Selling Out by Amber Lin, Naia and the Professor by Natasha Knight, Black Sheep by Maren Smith, Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg,The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling, Out of the Night by Joelle Casteel, Dating a Cougar by Donna McDonald, Lord and Ladies by Korey Mae Johnson and Renee Rose, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, A Staged Affair by Gem Sivad, Fifty Shades Freed by EL James, and Body of Work by Karla Doyle.
Cara - Here's what's in my Kindle either as books or samples: Selling Out by Amber Lin, Naia and the Professor by Natasha Knight, Black Sheep by Maren Smith, Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg,The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling, Out of the Night by Joelle Casteel, Dating a Cougar by Donna McDonald, Lord and Ladies by Korey Mae Johnson and Renee Rose, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, A Staged Affair by Gem Sivad, Fifty Shades Freed by EL James, and Body of Work by Karla Doyle.
And now for the serious questions:
Thong or bikini or nothing at all?
Cara - My characters tend to like thongs, but I'm a bikini girl.
Cara - My characters tend to like thongs, but I'm a bikini girl.
What's the weirdest food combination that you love to eat it? Does it go with orange juice?
Cara - I eat sweet potato fries with ketchup -- is that weird? I haven't had it in a while, but I like fried green onions (scallions) on French bread -- for breakfast. So yes, the latter goes with orange juice.
Cara - I eat sweet potato fries with ketchup -- is that weird? I haven't had it in a while, but I like fried green onions (scallions) on French bread -- for breakfast. So yes, the latter goes with orange juice.
What's the weirdest question you were asked in an interview?
Cara - I can say that I have been asked anything weird, although some of them are very personal, which I choose not to answer.
Cara - I can say that I have been asked anything weird, although some of them are very personal, which I choose not to answer.
If you had a creepy stalker who took a picture of you last night... describe the picture (setting, activity, pose, attire or lack thereof).
Cara - A creepy stalker would most likely have found me in my jammies asleep in front of the television with a DVR'ed episode of Real Housewives running.
You have some exciting new releases - please tell us about them and where we can purchase them!
Cara - I have three releases in May: Destiny's Chance, a reincarnation romance with erotic spanking, that released on May 14; Wife on the Lam, a story in the Coming to Terms domestic discipline anthology released May 15; and Disciplinary Measures, a short Rod and Cane Society story, to be released May 21.
Book: Destiny's Chance
Release date: May 14
Destiny Grable can’t help that she's fallen in love Chance Everett, her best friend's boyfriend, but she's never, ever acted on her feelings -- until she and Zoe are in a car accident, Zoe is killed, and Destiny is reincarnated in her body. She never wished for something like this to happen, but perhaps now she’ll be free to love Chance the way she always wanted to.
Release date: May 14
Destiny Grable can’t help that she's fallen in love Chance Everett, her best friend's boyfriend, but she's never, ever acted on her feelings -- until she and Zoe are in a car accident, Zoe is killed, and Destiny is reincarnated in her body. She never wished for something like this to happen, but perhaps now she’ll be free to love Chance the way she always wanted to.
Chance might have had pursued Destiny, but he has a kinky side and she was a nice girl. But now she’s dead, and the accident has forced him to take in his ex-girlfriend. As soon as she recovers and moves out, he’ll get on with his life.
Release date: May 15 (That's today people! Go forth and buy!)
After two kids, three moves, and the normal ups and downs of a twenty-year domestic discipline marriage, Janelle wants to celebrate their wedding anniversary with a luxury vacation. But despite subtle hints like leaving a copy of the Cabana Resort brochure with the Couples’ Getaway Package circled in red on her husband’s golf magazine, Brent misses all the clues. Worse, he scheduled a business trip on their anniversary! Though her bottom might pay for it later, Janelle decides to take her luxury vacation anyway. Leaving a note and a casserole, she flies off to the resort. She’s going to celebrate, with or without him.
If anything proves that he’s slacked off on his duties as head of household, this stunt of Janelle’s does. Brent had booked the Diamond Package at the Cabana Resort to surprise her and planned to present her with the tickets when she took him to airport for his “business trip.” She’s ruined the surprise, but he’s not going to let her ruin their anniversary. It’s time to take his errant wife in hand and get their marriage back on track.
Other stories in the Coming to Terms anthology include:
"Confession Time" by Sue Lyndon
"This Moment" by Alta Hensley
"Days With You" by Jade Cary
"Reconnecting" by Celeste Jones
"Tomorrow" by Anastasia Vitsky
"Spank and Run" by Renee Rose
Other stories in the Coming to Terms anthology include:
"Confession Time" by Sue Lyndon
"This Moment" by Alta Hensley
"Days With You" by Jade Cary
"Reconnecting" by Celeste Jones
"Tomorrow" by Anastasia Vitsky
"Spank and Run" by Renee Rose
Now available on amazon.
Book: Disciplinary Measures
Release date: May 21
Married for just three years, Linc Ellison has
Release date: May 21
Married for just three years, Linc Ellison has
reached his wit’s end. His wife’s overspending threatens to drive them into the poorhouse. But more than that, he doesn’t feel he can trust Regina because of her string of broken promises. When he learns about the Rod and Cane Society, a secret organization of men who spank their wives, he decides to implement some disciplinary measures to save his marriage.
Sure Regina shops a lot. And she’s broken some promises. But she’s trying to do better. What hurts most is that Linc no longer trusts her. So she consents to try domestic discipline.
But neither is prepared for the ripple effect the disciplinary measures will have on their love life.
Disciplinary Measures is number four in the Rod and Cane Society domestic discipline erotic romance series. All Rod and Cane books can be read as stand alones.
About the Author:
Cara Bristol didn’t start out to become a spanking fiction author. It sort of happened…okay, with five spanking titles under her belt, three under contract, maybe it didn’t just happen. Maybe she likes the naughtiness, the taboo thrill of writing about dominant, sexy men who like to spank their partners. Could be.
Cara (pronounced CAR uh) is a multi-published author whose Rod and Cane Society novels have become one of the most popular domestic discipline erotic romance series. Three books about a secret organization of men who discipline their wives and girlfriends have been released by Loose Id: Unexpected Consequences, False Pretenses and Body Politics. The fourth one, a short story called Disciplinary Measures, will be released by Loose Id on May 21. Disciplinary Measures is intended to be dessert for those who have read the Rod and Cane books, and an appetizer for those who haven’t. All Rod and Cane Society stories can be read as stand-alones. Each story focuses on one couple’s journey with domestic discipline.
More are planned. Cara’s other titles are Intimate Submission, Secret Desires, A Scent of Longing and Reckless in Moonlight. The former two also contain spanking. Ms. Bristol lives in the Midwest part of the United States with her husband. When she’s not writing, she enjoys traveling and reading.
May 8, 2013 Interview with Joey W. Hill
Joey W. Hill is in The Hot Seat
I'm so excited to put Joey W. Hill in The Hot Seat!! Joey is one of my favorite erotica authors and I cannot recommend her enough! Joey has a way with words, her stories always draw you in, her world building is phenomenal, especially in her paranormal series. I love that her characters aren't limited to their own books and pop up in other series. Joey depicts domination and submission so beautifully it makes you ache and want to be part of it somehow, even if only by reading it. And the way Joey writes sex is so unique. It's always so classy. It's also raunchy and hot, but it's always classy. There's always this sense of connection, understanding, affection and respect, even when the actual activity might be very submissive, extreme, possibly demeaning. It still comes off as classy with beautiful imagery.
I can go on. I wasn't kidding when I said Joey is one of my favorites. But I'll stop here. I'd rather give her a chance to answer some questions and speak for herself.
I can go on. I wasn't kidding when I said Joey is one of my favorites. But I'll stop here. I'd rather give her a chance to answer some questions and speak for herself.
How did you come up with your pen name? Does it have special meaning to you or do you just like the sound?
Joey - Joey W. Hill is my actual name. I figured if I worked this hard on something, I dang sure wanted my name on it (laughter).
Bras - demi or full coverage? Underwire or not?
Joey - I love the way demis look. I often use them in my writing, and of course underwire allows for the more provocative shaping. I’m a little too sensitive for that, however, especially as I’m getting older, so I wear them mainly for special occasion, and go with the soft and wireless for everyday wear (grin).
What inspired you to write erotica?
Joey - I was a big romance reader for many years, particularly during the 80s bodice ripper period. Many of the relationship dynamics in those books were borderline Master/sub fantasies, and even though I didn’t know anything about BDSM at that time, I had this nebulous craving for them to push it farther (right over that border!). I also wanted to read love stories where the sex part wasn’t merely a tacked-in section to titillate. I wanted it integrated into the emotional development of the protagonists so it was an important part of the story. When I started writing romance, I intended to explore that with “more spice”, but instead, within a couple books, I was in the deep end of the pool, happily writing erotic romance.
What was the last thing you wrote or read that made you cringe?
Joey - I missed a typo in my upcoming release Taken by a Vampire, and it’s too late to change it. What makes it worse is it’s a Hebrew phrase. Fortunately, I provide the English translation, so someone who knows Hebrew and goes “hunh?” will realize it’s just a typo, but things like that drive me craaaaazzzy. I want the book to be perfect in all ways.
What's on your TBR shelf right now?
Joey - Lost in Translation by Nicole Mones, Lover Reborn by JD Ward, a few of the In Death novella anthologies by JD Robb, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee… Yeah, I’ve never read it – go figure! I’m looking forward to reading the story. Lee said she’d always considered TKAM first and foremost a love story, rather than a political statement. Hearing that intrigued me, because I believe the best stories ever written are, at heart, love stories.
You're going on a hot date tonight - you wear a hot thong, lacy panties or nothing at all?
Joey - Oh child…I’ve been married nearly 25 years and I’m a workaholic. A hot date around here is dinner at the local pizza/subs place, or maybe cuddling on the couch while reading or watching a movie. Sex MIGHT happen if we’re both in the mood, if we don’t feel too tired and achy, or if the movie’s not that great (laughter). Doesn’t really fit the erotic romance author’s image, does it? Okay, let me pretend this still happens to me…hmm. I’d probably go with the thong. My husband likes that look a lot (wink).
If you were to go on a road trip, where would you go and which one of your (male preferably, but if the preference is not a male, then explain why) characters would you take with you? (this can include any one of your series/books) and why? (Btw, if it were me, I'd probably take Jon, because hotness. or Daegan... hmm. this is hard.)
Joey - Lol – I don’t disagree with your choices, and I also agree it’s very hard to just choose one. Of course taking a bunch of men on a road trip might not be the best of ideas, since often to them it’s about getting from point a to point b, versus taking a meandering path and stopping to do sightseeing and shopping (wink). But then again, these are “fantasy” heroes, so we can imagine that they like sightseeing and shopping without it detracting a bit from their virility, right?
I’d take Daegan from Vampire Mistress/Vampire Trinity. I prefer traveling at night, so him being a vampire is no problem. After being alive as long as he has, I bet he’d know a lot of great places to see along the way – a particular waterfall in the moonlight, or a city riverwalk with a lot of people-watching potential, etc. Vampires also have such well-developed palates – though they can’t eat a lot of food, they’re big samplers, so he’d know where the best culinary opportunities were.
If your mother came across your novels, what would be the first words out of her mouth?
Joey - My mom actually read some of my work. I gave her hard copies of everything I published (sort of the same motive as bringing her pictures to put up on the fridge when I was in kindergarten – lol), but I would assure her she didn’t need to read any of it. She didn’t remark on it for a long time, and she kept them on a shelf in her clothes closet, so I assumed she wasn’t reading them. Until a friend of hers asked about borrowing Natural Law in front of the two of us. When I told her, “Oh, Mom has a copy,” my mother gave me a look, and said “But I’m still reading it.” You could have floored me.
She told me once I had an amazing way of describing things that brought them vividly to life, and I treasure that compliment to this day. She didn’t necessarily understand why I wrote what I wrote, so she did ask me a few questions to make sure I was staying safe, but that led to her coming with me to some romance cons to meet the type of people who read my work. We had a wonderful time together. I used to tease her and tell her I was going to put her in the acknowledgments as “To my mom, who taught me everything I know” so her friends would think she was into all this crazy erotic stuff. She was a very practical Virginia farm girl, so she’d just roll her eyes at me!
What was easier for you to write, Willing Sacrifice or Taken By A Vampire? Which book resonates more with you personally?
Joey - Contemporary (Willing Sacrifice) is always easier for me than paranormal, because of course paranormal also has to incorporate world building, and usually needs some kind of suspense or political plot beyond the relationship dynamics. And I’d much rather just focus on the relationship dynamics! (grin) But I’m always glad I expended the effort when I’m done.
As far as which book resonates more with me personally - because my work, regardless of genre, is always character-driven, I can’t write the story properly unless I connect with the characters. As a result, there are specific ways each character resonates with me (and therefore the book as a whole). For instance, in Taken by a Vampire, Evan is an artist/photographer, so I connect with some of his craft distractions and irritations related to what he’s trying to create with a certain painting or photograph. Niall, his servant, is wrestling with issues of mortality, since he’s approaching the lifespan of a marked servant (300 years), and of course we can all relate to dealing with death – what it means to us and those we leave behind. Alanna, the fugitive servant they are protecting, is trying to understand her place/value in the world now that she can’t define herself the way she always has, which is also something quite common to the human condition.
With Willing Sacrifice, I relate to Janet because she’s mid-40s (my age) and is at that stage of life where you realize who you are is pretty much who you’ll always be. There’s a comfort/confidence to that, if you feel pretty good about it. It gives her a platform to make a move toward a real relationship with Max, a former Navy SEAL, though he’s dealing with some pretty heavy issues related to responsibility, regret and his family…
What can we expect to see from you next? When?
Joey - There are three things happening after the release of Willing Sacrifice and Taken by a Vampire (both of which are releasing the first week of May). Through the summer, I’ll be working on a new four novella series for Berkley’s ebook line, intending to turn it in by September 30. While they don’t want me to detail too much about it yet, it will be contemporary BDSM, and the four books will be linked (so it will be like one long book divided into four serial parts, which is likely the only way I can write it, given that I suck at writing short – laughter).
I’ll also be working on another book for Ellora’s Cave during the summer. This one will be for the Nature of Desire series, which is exciting, because I haven’t revisited that series in some time. It will also be my first ménage a trois that features two women and one man (versus the usual two males and one female). The central heroine will be Gen, a secondary character from the Ice Queen/Mirror of My Soul books, and she will be learning all sorts of things about herself with the help of the reserved and stunning Mistress Lyda, and Noah, who made a memorable appearance as a waiter in Hostile Takeover. I’ve given up anticipating what the muse will send my way, but the ideas for this one are already bubbling like a stew.
Finally, already in the release queue is Letting Go, a contemporary BDSM romance that Berkley will release in January 2014. My hero is Dale, a retired Navy SEAL approaching fifty. Athena, our heroine, is a wealthy Southern widow who served as a Mistress to her husband, but “service” is the key word. She’s always longed to be a sub, and Dale is a strong Master who will help her explore that side of herself. I hope to have an excerpt for this one posted on my website in the near future. I turned in the book March 31, so I’m waiting the editor’s approval of the overall direction of the manuscript before doing that.
Thanks so much for inviting me here today!
You can find Joey W. Hill online:
Website (free excerpts for all books on this site) Fan Forum (includes free downloads revisiting the characters, graphics inspired by the work, etc)
Groomed from birth to be an Inherited Servant and serve only the most powerful vampire masters, Alanna never resented her destiny. Then she did the unthinkable: she betrayed her Master to the Vampire Council. Now death is her future, but until her Master is captured, she must be protected. The Vampire Council assigns her to Evan, a vampire whose wandering lifestyle makes him the perfect guardian…
Alanna’s training was for a vampire of power and ambition, not for someone like Evan who lives in mountainside shacks and caves. Even his servant, Niall, is rough-mannered. But these two men are about to teach Alanna something her rigorous training never did. How to feel, how to desire…perhaps even how to love.
Then the Council captures her Master, and Alanna has no choice but to accept her destiny. But Evan and Niall are no strangers to defying fate—and they will stop at nothing to make Alanna theirs forever…
Click here to read an excerpt.
Purchase Links:
About the Author:
Joey W. Hill writes about vampires, mermaids, boardroom executives, cops, witches, angels, simple housemaids... If there’s an erotic love story to be told, she’ll take the plunge. As a result, she's proud and humbled to have four series and almost thirty award-winning and highly acclaimed titles, as well as the support and enthusiasm of a wonderful and widely diverse readership. In 2009, she was nominated for a Career Achievement award in Erotica by Romantic Times.
According to her personal memo book, seen only by her eyes--probably because it would reveal that she loves the Partridge Family and the movie Pure Country--the top three ways to ensure her readers continue to come looking for her books are #1 Write a great story, #2 KEEP writing great stories and #3 “For the love of God, don’t let them get to know the author – that will scare them away.” (Particularly if they find out about the Partridge Family.)
She has become known for writing the type of erotic romance that not only wins her fans of that genre, but readers who would “never” read BDSM romance. That’s because first and foremost, she thinks what attracts a reader is strong characters.
“Whatever genre you’re writing, if the characters are compelling and sympathetic, the readers are going to want to see what happens to them. While I strive to make sure my work includes essential elements of the storytelling craft – tight plot, engaging dialogue, etc. – if the character development isn’t there, there isn’t much point in reading. It can be the coolest plot ever, but if the reader could care less whether the hero or heroine survive (in fact, in some cases you may be rooting for their destruction just so you can be done with the darn thing), then it’s not a story worth reading.”
Why is that? She believes that our world is an ironically isolating one. Humans have overrun the planet, armed with a plethora of communication tools. Yet we feel very alone in our own heads, trying to make a connection with someone. The “ah, there you are – where have you been?” person. The person who gives us an anchor, but also the courage to release our tedious baggage to embrace ourselves fully.
According to her personal memo book, seen only by her eyes--probably because it would reveal that she loves the Partridge Family and the movie Pure Country--the top three ways to ensure her readers continue to come looking for her books are #1 Write a great story, #2 KEEP writing great stories and #3 “For the love of God, don’t let them get to know the author – that will scare them away.” (Particularly if they find out about the Partridge Family.)
She has become known for writing the type of erotic romance that not only wins her fans of that genre, but readers who would “never” read BDSM romance. That’s because first and foremost, she thinks what attracts a reader is strong characters.
“Whatever genre you’re writing, if the characters are compelling and sympathetic, the readers are going to want to see what happens to them. While I strive to make sure my work includes essential elements of the storytelling craft – tight plot, engaging dialogue, etc. – if the character development isn’t there, there isn’t much point in reading. It can be the coolest plot ever, but if the reader could care less whether the hero or heroine survive (in fact, in some cases you may be rooting for their destruction just so you can be done with the darn thing), then it’s not a story worth reading.”
Why is that? She believes that our world is an ironically isolating one. Humans have overrun the planet, armed with a plethora of communication tools. Yet we feel very alone in our own heads, trying to make a connection with someone. The “ah, there you are – where have you been?” person. The person who gives us an anchor, but also the courage to release our tedious baggage to embrace ourselves fully.
That’s what she seeks to accomplish in every story. Bringing characters together who have numerous emotional obstacles standing in their way, watching them reach a soul-deep understanding of one another through the expression of their darkest sexual needs, and then growing from that understanding into love.
So why erotic romance? “Writing great erotic romance is all about exploring the true face of who we are – the best and worst - which typically comes out in the most vulnerable moments of sexual intimacy.” Who wouldn’t want to write about that?
How does she accomplish that? She suspects it’s the perfection of a Vulcan mind meld with the characters, which takes an effective mix of manic depression, schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive behavior that would make “Monk” look like a light weight. Not to mention the broad streak of romanticism that forms an asphalt four-lane highway through her heart. It’s a tendency that sends her back to her favorite book and movie scenes for toe-curling or tear-inducing inspiration. (Her husband reports this with loving resignation, since he’s often called upon to stoically endure the movie scenes and hold her hand while she weeps through the mushy parts.)
Take the plunge with her, and don't hesitate to let her know what you think of her work, good or bad. She thrives on feedback!
So why erotic romance? “Writing great erotic romance is all about exploring the true face of who we are – the best and worst - which typically comes out in the most vulnerable moments of sexual intimacy.” Who wouldn’t want to write about that?
How does she accomplish that? She suspects it’s the perfection of a Vulcan mind meld with the characters, which takes an effective mix of manic depression, schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive behavior that would make “Monk” look like a light weight. Not to mention the broad streak of romanticism that forms an asphalt four-lane highway through her heart. It’s a tendency that sends her back to her favorite book and movie scenes for toe-curling or tear-inducing inspiration. (Her husband reports this with loving resignation, since he’s often called upon to stoically endure the movie scenes and hold her hand while she weeps through the mushy parts.)
Take the plunge with her, and don't hesitate to let her know what you think of her work, good or bad. She thrives on feedback!
April 24, 2013 Interview with Kitty Thomas
Kitty Thomas is in The Hot Seat
I've got the Queen of Dark Erotica, Kitty Thomas, in The Hot Seat today!
About Kitty Thomas:
Kitty Thomas writes dark literary erotica. This work is fiction and meant for an adult audience. The author does not endorse or condone any of the behavior carried out by characters in her stories.
In case you aren't familiar with Kitty Thomas' work and haven't already read her latest release, Mafia Captive, you can check out my review here. You should also check out my review of Big Sky here.
Now let's learn something new about Kitty Thomas!
How did you come up with your pen name? Does it have special meaning to you or do you just like the sound?
Kitty -
Ooooh nobody has ever asked me this one before, and I've always wanted someone to haha. M's actual name is Tom. (Which people who hear me talk about "Tom" on my other pen name have probably figured out by now, unless they just think I have two men, which makes me sound more exciting than I am.) Kitty Thomas = "Tom's pet".
Haydee - I LOVE that!!!
What's your favorite food? Does it go with orange juice?
Kitty - Always! My favorite food changes depending on my mood but my favorite food with orange juice is egg rolls. Don't make that face! It's delicious.
Haydee - I am thoroughly traumatized now. I will never look at egg rolls the same way again. That's even worse than ketchup cookies. (In case you are curious about ketchup cookies, you can proceed here to get your fill of ketchup trauma.)
What inspired you to write dark erotica?
Kitty -
I read Story of O about 5 times before I stopped hating it and being angry at it. But I kept coming back to it. And I wanted to write something that made people all kinds of uncomfortable like that haha. But the thing that bugged me about Story of O is that all this stuff happens to her, but we never really fully understand WHY she just goes along with it. What is happening in her head? What are her feelings? It's just... this happens and then this happens and she's just going along with it and WHY is she just going along with it? Is she trying to prove her love for Rene? Is she a doormat? Is she kinky? Does she know what kinky is? I mean... what is her deal?
What was the last thing you wrote or read that made you cringe?
Kitty - Well, I was working on print formatting for Mafia Captive and somehow after going through the book a billion times I didn't notice that I did this:
"Faith fought to keep control of herself" <---- beginning of one scene.
"Leo fought to keep control of himself" <---- beginning of next scene.
SERIOUSLY!??!! That's going to irritate me for the rest of time. One of my readers suggested I should just let people believe this was some kind of brilliant poetic thing where you mirror/repeat. Um no, it was fail! FAIL!
What are your favorite authors/books to read?
Kitty - That really depends. I read way more nonfiction than fiction. I need to read more fiction to be honest.
Haydee - That is such a non answer! LOL!
Kitty -
What do you do when you're not writing?
Kitty - Housework. Cook. Spend time with M or friends. Watch Doctor Who (I had to start watching Doctor Who so I could understand Facebook. Half of Facebook now is Doctor Who.) Go to museums or the aquarium. I like to watch captive fish! Shop. Go to the spa. You know... normal people stuff.
If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?
Kitty - No question, teleportation. It's the best of all super powers. If you are poor and hungry, you can just steal food then teleport out. If you are homeless, teleport to homes of rich people on vacation. If you get caught, teleport out of jail. (This totally makes it sound like I would use my superpower to do crime, but only for survival purposes!) Teleport to Paris for shopping and Japan for lunch. If you have a medical emergency, teleport to the hospital.
I've thought about this a lot.
Haydee - OMG, now I think that everyone will want teleportation as a superpower too! But to use for good and not evil. Of course.
What inspired you to write Mafia Captive?
Kitty - It was just a lot of what if questions. Mainly it started around the idea of someone who is faced with the need to dispose of a witness to his crime. Maybe he can give her to someone else who might want her instead of just killing her. Then the mafia scenario and everything else sprang up around that. What inspires books tends to be really non-exciting things, lol. But it's a string of what if questions that as they get answered develop into something less boring LOL.
How would you say Mafia Captive is different from your other books?
Kitty -
It's not as dirty. There really aren't any "OMG wtf" sex things. Like there are no lactation fetishes. There's no 'puppygate' (That's an inside joke. And if you've read King's Pleasure you probably get it.) There is no boot licking or fisting. (These are all things that happen in other Kitty books.) I mean... there's nothing in there that is really THAT terribly kinky. And the amount of sex in the book is not nearly as much as some of my other books. Because Faith is not kinky at all. And she's so terrified that in order to take her to any of those places that I could go in other books with a heroine who was at least baseline kinky somewhere in her brain, would make Leo into a total monster. The book is dark, but it's dark in other ways, not in "specific sex acts" or "amount of sex acts."
Was it harder or easier to write? Why?
Kitty - This one gave me fits. Mainly though I think it was more because it was so much longer than what I'm used to writing. I'm always worried that I'm not as competent at longer work. And I was also juggling the mob family stuff in the book, so there was so much "more" going on. So many times my books are character studies almost with a narrow focus on two people. Captor and captive, usually. This time there were so many other people on the scene who were not in any way involved with anything sexual in the book.
Do you read negative reviews? How do you deal with them?
ONLY during release week. Well, I don't read them unless I'm in the right frame of mind. I just accept that it's a reader opinion and EVERY BOOK ever written, even the classics, even my most very favorite books on the whole planet... have negative reviews. Not everything connects with everybody and it's not meant to because all people are different. I look at it as an issue of compatibility. I hate when I don't connect with a reader, particularly a fan who loves my other books, but I understand it's part of the job. And my job isn't to please everybody. My job is to tell the story in the most true way I know how.
What can we expect to see from you next? When?
Well, I'm already 69% done with Blood Mate (tentative title). Or the rough draft of it anyway. (Or that's where I am at the time of answering these questions.) I was working on it while doing other parts of Mafia Captive. So in a few months that should be available hopefully. It's a vampire book, but it's different than The Last Girl (another vamp title I did.) Totally different mythology. I can't really give any details yet because I'm super superstitious about talking about work too early in my process.
Faith Jacobson was in the wrong place at the wrong time. After witnessing a mob hit, she’s only moments from death when Angelo Raspallo decides to give his brother an unlikely gift.
Leo has avoided involvement with the family business, but it doesn't make him a saint. He’s troubled and ashamed by his darker sexual desires, one of which is to own a slave. But when his brother throws Faith at his feet, repainting the scenario to make Leo the hero rescuing her from certain death, his moral fortitude will be tested. If Faith were kinky, it would be easy to live out his fantasy, but she’s not—not even a little bit. Even the mildest spanking sparks terror in her that Leo can’t bear.
The gift soon becomes a burden as he fights with himself over how to handle the addition to his home. He could release her, but his brother doesn't do loose ends. The only thing keeping her out of the bottom of the harbor is Leo’s mercy. She’s like a beautiful piece of art he keeps in a glass case but can never touch. Is possessing her enough?
Author’s Note: Mafia Captive has more of a love theme than many other Kitty titles, though the work is still quite psychologically dark. Readers may also notice a “new adult” flavor as Faith is just out of college and trying to find her place in the world when she is thrust into Leo’s life and home.
Excerpt:
Faith huddled in a dumpster surrounded by garbage, her breath coming in quiet, desperate gasps. Heavy boots thudded nearby. Please keep moving. Please please keep moving. Her face was wet from silent tears gliding down her cheeks. I should never have gone this way. She’d almost stayed home, snuggled in bed with her cat, a sappy movie, and a bowl of popcorn. But it was too pathetic for a Friday night—especially so close to Christmas when she was all alone. The general holiday malaise and depression had already started to set in, and it was only the first week of December. Grudgingly she’d gotten dressed and met some girlfriends at a club. But the others had wanted to party later than she had.
Excerpt:
Faith huddled in a dumpster surrounded by garbage, her breath coming in quiet, desperate gasps. Heavy boots thudded nearby. Please keep moving. Please please keep moving. Her face was wet from silent tears gliding down her cheeks. I should never have gone this way. She’d almost stayed home, snuggled in bed with her cat, a sappy movie, and a bowl of popcorn. But it was too pathetic for a Friday night—especially so close to Christmas when she was all alone. The general holiday malaise and depression had already started to set in, and it was only the first week of December. Grudgingly she’d gotten dressed and met some girlfriends at a club. But the others had wanted to party later than she had.
It only was a few blocks to a subway station. She’d comforted herself with knowledge of the pepper spray tucked away in her purse—the pepper spray her pursuer now had possession of.
Faith closed her eyes, trying to shut out the sound of the shot, the image of the body falling, her stupid gasp that had turned sharp eyes on her.
She hadn’t had the presence of mind to retrieve the mace before he’d grabbed her purse. But with the way the wind was blowing tonight, it would have just as likely blown into her eyes as his. And then where would she be? Another corpse.
The footsteps stopped. His breath sounded as if it were blowing right in her ear. His cologne put him in the cramped, dark space with her, drowning out the scent of rotting food and alcohol. He was a professional, not some random street tough. Poor, desperate people didn’t bother with cologne. And if they did, it wouldn’t have been such an expensive brand.
She bit back a scream until it rattled around and echoed so loud in her mind she feared he’d hear it. There was a snick of a lighter and then cigarette smoke filled the air.
It was as if he were trying to smoke her out, as if he knew she couldn’t stand the stench. He took drag after drag as she watched the faint light through the cracks of her metal cage. He was toying with her.
She heard the pull of a zipper, and for one sick moment thought it was his pants, but the sound that followed was the snap of a wallet being opened. Her wallet.
“Faith Jacobson. 580 Flatbush Avenue. Brooklyn.” His voice was relaxed, casual, because murder was casual to him.
She didn’t want to stereotype, but a nicely dressed Italian man in Brooklyn standing over a dead body required no leaps of logic. This guy had mob written all over him. Letting go of the purse had been necessary to save herself, but now he knew who she was and where she lived. For a moment she continued to pretend he didn’t know she was in the dumpster. She tried to think about where she could go, how she could stay safe from someone who would no doubt relentlessly pursue the only witness to his crime.
“Pretty. Brunette, though. Too bad.” He must be looking at her driver’s license photo. She’d dyed her hair right before that was taken. Now it was back to her natural red. She didn’t know what he meant about her hair color, why it should matter one way or the other.
He let out a heavy sigh. “All right, come on out. If you make me come get you, I might have to play with you first.”
That was it. She’d held it together as long as she could, been quiet as long as she could manage. Now the sobs were at full volume. “Please, let me go.”
“Sorry, I can’t do that. You’ve got too much information in that pretty head.”
“I don’t know anything. I don’t know who you are. I don’t care. I won’t get involved. I swear to God. Walk away. Please. Whatever happened back there, it’s not my business. I don’t care about it.” All Faith wanted was to be safe in her bed at home with her cat.
The silence stretched on like he was considering it.
“Sorry. Your number’s up tonight, baby.”
Although he’d made vague reference to torturing her first if she inconvenienced him, she couldn’t make any part of her body move. Everything had shut down. How could a person step outside their hiding place, knowing a bullet was waiting on the other side?
She was frozen between a rotting burger and a bag of empty beer bottles. Faith squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to be in her cozy apartment.
The lid of the dumpster flew back and she screamed for a savior she knew wasn’t coming.
The Italian aimed the gun at her. “Shut up. You want to be responsible for someone else’s death, too? I can shoot witnesses all night.”
No one would reach her before he pulled the trigger. “Please don’t hurt me. I swear I don’t care what happened back there. I just want to go home.”
“Fuck it. I shoot you in the dumpster, and I don’t have clean up. Works for me.” He took a step to the side, lining up his shot as light from the opposite wall hit her in the face. Instead of pulling the trigger, he just stared. “If you want to live, get out here right now.”
“I thought you said …”
“What I said was to get your pretty ass out of the dumpster before I change my mind.”
He might torture her. Might rape her. There was no way this could end well. Wouldn’t it be better to stay where she was and die quickly? The logic of the situation didn’t matter. She couldn’t help holding onto the thin hope that she might survive the night if she complied with his demands. In spite of the warnings shouting through her brain, she hoisted herself over the piles of trash and clumsily climbed out of the dumpster.
She had to grip the brick wall to hold herself upright.
“Stand over there in the light.”
Faith wasn’t sure how she’d managed to run in three-inch heels, because now she could barely walk in them, wobbling as she did, a few feet to the left to obey his order.
“Please …”
“If you say please once more I’m clipping you.”
She shut her mouth.
“Tell me baby… does the rug match the drapes?”
Out of the million horrible things he could have said, “does the rug match the drapes” wasn’t in the top thousand. “I’m sorry, w-what?”
“Are you deaf, honey? It’s a simple enough question. Are you a natural redhead?”
“Y-yes.”
“Show me.”
She turned to run again, but he was too fast. He pressed her against the wall and pulled her panties down while he shoved her skirt up and awkwardly aimed her body into the light. She thrashed and fought him. She expected he’d throw her down and violate her, but after he found proof of what she’d said, he covered her back up.
“You may be the luckiest dumb slut in the world.” His arm went around her throat, pressing, pushing her consciousness down a dark well until the world shrank to a tiny pinpoint of light, then blinked out of existence.
***
Faith didn’t expect to wake up. She especially didn’t expect to wake up unclothed in a bathtub of water, with her pursuer, now captor, sitting on the closed toilet lid, staring down at her. She struggled to cover herself.
“You don’t gotta worry about me. You’re not my type.” He motioned to some soap in a dish on the rim of the tub. “Clean yourself up. If you smell like a sewer, even Leo won’t have mercy on you.” He flipped open a cheap prepaid cell phone. “Pray this goes in your favor.”
His eyes didn’t waver from Faith as he dialed. The call connected, and his features softened, breaking out into a smile that made him almost attractive. If he hadn’t been trying to kill her, that is.
“Leo!” he said.
Faith took the soap from the dish, too scared not to do whatever he asked. She tried to ignore her nudity, focusing instead on the man’s conversation.
“… yeah, it’s been awhile. I’ve been busy. Listen, I have something here you might be interested in—think of it as an early Christmas present. Remember what you told me last time I was out there? That thing you’d have if it weren’t for your moral code?… I’m not suggesting that… Stop and listen for a goddamn minute, Leo. I had to fire one of my crew tonight. I wasn’t as careful as I should have been, but I’ve got someone out there doing cleanup now. There was a witness. She’s your type. Redhead. Slender. Big green eyes and full lips. I don’t know what it is with you and Irish bitches, but she’s perfect for you. You can have what you wanted. All you have to do is come collect her.”
There was a long pause where Faith heard indiscernible shouting on the other side of the phone.
“Calm the fuck down. Look, what you do with her once you get her is up to you. But if you don’t take her, she’s dead. If you let her go, you know I’ll find her, and once again, she’s dead. Her life is in your hands, and once you see her, I know you’ll take her. I’m doing you a favor, giving you what you want, and saving her life. I’m a regular saint. I could have shot the slut… yeah, I’m at the house… Yeah, well don’t pretend your hands are clean. You may not be in the family business, but you know where the money came from. Don’t forget that… Honest business my ass… You couldn’t have started that business without your family. Now get down here.”
Awful images flashed through her mind, even worse than the scene of the murder she’d witnessed or the recent threat of death. He was going to prostitute her out. What then? Would she be passed around until she was used up and then left in a gutter? Faith wrapped her arms more tightly around her body. Despite his personal lack of interest, she’d never felt so sexually exposed.
He closed the phone, his gaze raking over her, assessing her like a horse he might sell. “You’re a lot more trouble than you’re worth. My brother is an ungrateful ass.”
The bathroom door opened and another attractive man in a slick suit walked in. Faith rushed to cover herself.
“The fuck?” the man said, spotting her in the tub.
“Relax, baby. She’s for Leo.”
“Oh.”
He chuckled. “Did you think I’d switched teams?” He turned hard eyes back on Faith. “Get out. You’re as clean as you’re getting.”
He held out a robe and she stepped into it, trying to figure a way out of this mess.
If this guy Leo saved her, it wouldn’t make her safe.
April 24, 2013 Interview with Skye Warren
Skye Warren is in The Hot Seat
In case you've been living under a rock and don't already know about Skye Warren and her latest release, Wanderlust, here is a brief bio:
Skye Warren writes unapologetic erotica, where pain and sex and love collide. She has been called “a true mistress of dark and twisted erotica” and her dark erotica series has reached the bestseller lists at Amazon and been a Night Owl Reviews Top Pick.
And, of course, you should check out my review of Wanderlust here.
Here we go - in The Hot Seat with Skye Warren:
How did you come up with your pen name? Does it have special meaning or do you just like the sound of it?
Skye - Hi, Haydee! Thanks for having me.
I definitely have a bit of a fetish about the sky and open places. It sometimes comes out in my books but never more than Wanderlust, which is all about exploring. At the same time, dark erotica is about captivity, about dark spaces. A rabit’s warren that Alice falls into. So if I just so happen to transmit subconscious messages about the dichotomy of freedom, that’s cool. :-)
Haydee - This is sooo why I ask this question! I love finding out these things.
What inspired you to write dark erotica?
Skye - I have always been fascinated by sex and consent, by captivity and power. I could read dark and serious thrillers that delved into psychological games and redemption. Or I could read romantic erotica and BDSM played by the book. But I never found these elements together until dark erotica. Even now, it’s a small genre, but it’s growing fast.
Tell us something about you that is unexpected.
Skye - I’m not sure if this is unexpected or not, but even though I write about dubious consent, there is no one who will fight for victim’s rights and fight against victim shaming more. I know some people see those as opposing views, like if I write about violence then I must condone it in real life. But real life victims have the least rights in a society where we aren’t allowed to talk about sex or explore taboo subjects. Dark erotica is more than just a “guilty pleasure” that we read in secret but disavow in the light. It’s an expression of intellectual and sexual freedom that wouldn’t exist in more oppressive societies.
Sorry I got a little serious there. I guess that was unexpected… :-)
When you're not writing, what do you enjoy to read?
Skye - Why, dark erotica, of course! I also enjoy more standard erotica, BDSM fiction, suspense, and romance. I will curl up with a lovely Regency and lose myself. It’s funny because both Annabel Joseph and I have a total crush on Carla Kelly. Her books are so sweet! And we are… very dirty girls :-)
How do you deal with negative reviews?
Skye - The truth is, I mostly don’t read them. In fact, I try not to read too many positive or any kind of reviews at all, though the temptation to read a rave review still gets me. The reason why is because it puts my mind into a public state of mind. So when I then open up my manuscript and start typing, I’m also thinking about how people are going to receive this. What will reviewer X have to say about this? But that’s not the way to produce a good book, so I try to limit that. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take praise any day of the week. But when we get into the nitty gritty of what plot point worked for her or her, that’s when I have to step back.
You have a new release out - Wanderlust, which I read, loved, and reviewed - how is Wanderlust different from your other works?
That part trips me up. How is Wanderlust different from my other books? It’s the first one where I didn’t use the “Romance” category in Amazon. Even though the emotional journey and connection between Evie and Hunter is SO vital to the book, I felt that the very real act of kidnapping precluded a romance genre designation.
You've said that Hunter is your darkest hero yet - did that make this book harder or easier for you to write? and why?
Skye - This book was so easy to write for the first half. I enjoyed the hell out of it. Then I stopped. And realized everyone would hate, hate, hate this book. I mean, Hunter coerced her! He kidnapped her! Who could love this monster? But I finished it, still enjoying the act of writing but having serious trepidation about publishing this book. Unlike my past books, I scheduled no blog tour, really did no promotions at all. I just figured I’d gone too far and I had to be okay with that.
I released the book on a Monday. By Tuesday it was on the Amazon Erotica Bestseller list. Since then it has climbed up to #16 on that list. Many lovely reviews from amazing bloggers like Haydee, though she was my first ;-) And I’ve just been completely full of awe and gratitude. As an author, the most incredible thing is when readers see your vision and appreciate it for what it is, and that definitely happened here.
Haydee - Ooh, I was your first, that sounds so dirty! I kind of love it a little bit.
What was your favorite scene to write in Wanderlust?
Skye - The motel scene. You know what I’m talking about if you read the book :-) It happens pretty early on.
Haydee - The scene that should come with a warning about keeping fresh batteries handy? Haha!
Which scene was the least favorite to write?
Skye - The scene in the tent where Hunter tells Evie about a loss of friendship in his life. I think a good, true friendship can be as strong as a romance, a platonic version of true love, so the pain of losing it is very real.
What can we expect to see from you next? and, of course, since we're all impatient - when?
Skye - I’ve had a free erotic romance story out, Beauty Touched the Beast, that has received the most requests for a sequel. I’m excited to finally deliver on that with a series of serials that will be released over the summer, starting with Beneath the Beauty at the end of May. If you haven’t read Beauty Touched the Beast yet, you can grab it free from Amazon here.
Then I have the final book in my Dark Erotica series due out at the end of this year. The hero of that is Carlos, who was the villain in the earlier books and is, according to everyone, irredeemable. So that will be fun :-)
Thank you, Haydee, for having me! And to you all for reading. If you want to hit me up, I’m on twitter here and Facebook here.
You can also follow Skye on Goodreads or check out her website here.
Blurb:
Can love come from pain?
Evie always dreamed of seeing the world, but her first night at a motel turns into a nightmare. Hunter is a rugged trucker willing to do anything to keep her—including kidnapping. As they cross the country in his rig, Evie plots her escape, but she may find what she’s been looking for right beside her.
Wanderlust is a dark erotic novel which explores dubious consent, captivity, and power play. Not intended for those uncomfortable with the subject matter or under eighteen.
You can also follow Skye on Goodreads or check out her website here.
Can love come from pain?
Evie always dreamed of seeing the world, but her first night at a motel turns into a nightmare. Hunter is a rugged trucker willing to do anything to keep her—including kidnapping. As they cross the country in his rig, Evie plots her escape, but she may find what she’s been looking for right beside her.
Wanderlust is a dark erotic novel which explores dubious consent, captivity, and power play. Not intended for those uncomfortable with the subject matter or under eighteen.
Excerpt:
“The man over there has paid for your meal. He’d like to join you.”
I blinked, not really understanding. The gentleness of her voice unnerved me. More than guilt—pity.
“I’m sorry.” I fumbled with the words. “I’ve already eaten. I’m done.”
“You have food left on your plate. Doesn’t matter how much you want to eat anyway.” She paused and then carefully strung each word along the sentence. “He requests the pleasure of your company.”
My heart sped up, the first stirrings of fear.
I supposed I should feel flattered, and I did, in a way. He was a handsome man, and he’d noticed me. Of course, I was the only woman around besides the waitress, so it wasn’t a huge accomplishment. But I wasn’t prepared for fielding this kind of request. Was this a common thing, to pay for another woman’s meal?
It was a given that I should say no. Whatever he wanted from me, I couldn’t give him, so it was only a question of letting him down nicely.
“Please tell him thank you for the offer. I appreciate it, I do. But you see, I really am finished with my meal and pretty tired, so I’m afraid it won’t be possible for him to join me. Or to pay for my meal. In fact, I’d like the check, please.”
Her lips firmed. Little lines appeared between her brows, and with a sinking feeling I recognized something else: fear.
“Look, I know you aren’t from around here, but that there is Hunter Bryant.” When I didn’t react to the name, her frown deepened. “Here’s a little advice from one woman to another. There are some men you just don’t say no to. Didn’t your mama ever warn you about men like that?”
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