Saturday, January 5, 2013

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

The Next Big Thing? Me...really? *blush*


I’m pretty damn tickled to have been tagged by Lady of the Loch to take part in the Next Big Thing blog hop. Honored and tickled, to be precise.

The Next Big Thing blog hop gives writers a chance to showcase their upcoming work. Today I’ll be talking about my current work-in-progress, a short story collection.

What is the title of your book?
Confessions

Where did the idea for the book come from?
The thing about writing erotica is that it gets you thinking about sex a lot. I mean A LOT. And not just the usual daydreaming and fantasies about your current crush coming into the cafe where you're writing and pulling you into the bathroom and pinning you against the wall...his mouth on your neck, his hands reaching under your dress to... Shit. What were we talking about?

RIGHT! Sorry. Ahem *straightens skirt*. Anyway, so as I started to write more erotica, and think more deeply about my characters' sexuality and their motivations, that naturally led me to think more deeply about my own sexuality and my own motivations. I dug through the past and looked at it with fresh eyes, and made some surprising connections. Surprising to me, anyway. So this collection of confessions is a way for me to explore my sexuality and sexual history more directly than in the wholly fictional work I’ve done previously. For the most part I’m changing names and details to protect the guilty, maybe changing some circumstances and adding in more plot to make for a better story. And a couple will be complete fiction because fantasy is fun, but a fair chunk will just be straight-up confessional truth.

No, I won’t tell you which ones are true, but you’re welcome to guess.

What genre does your book fall under?
Erotica

Will your book be self published or represented by an agency?
It will be self-published. Traditional publishing is great for many genres, but I really feel self-publishing is the way to go with erotica these days. (Yes, I've published traditionally in a different genre under a different name, so this opinion comes with some experience behind it. No, I can't tell you that other name. If I did, all my vibrators would turn to lead. It's true--it's in my contract. *kiss*)

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I’ve been working on it for a few months, since finishing my first erotic novella, Cass: Taken in the Stacks. I’ve got three stories written so far. I’m shooting for eight for the finished collection. I tend to write my first drafts quickly, so it will probably be done in a month. When will revisions be done? That's another question entirely.

Give a one sentence synopsis of your book:
A collection of explicit confessions: some true, some partly true, some completely made up.

What other works would you compare your book too?
That's a tough one. I will say I love the work of Jinx Jamison and Rachel Nixx, though my work doesn't explore BDSM as directly theirs does. I tend to be more of a sexual generalist. A bit of this, a bit of that. I like it rough, but you won't find a lot of props or traditional BDSM language and roles in my fiction. The power dynamic for me...and in my erotica...is somewhat fluid.

Ah...that's the thing, though, isn't it? I just set off a bell in my own head with that one. So many of the stories I want to share in Confessions are about that power dynamic. All erotica is exploring that power dynamic in some way, isn't it?

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
 Oh god...do I need to name names here? Terry, Rick, Jonah, Brian, Jonah again, Brian again, Nico, Mike... That guy on the train, that other guy in the cafe... And that guy in that band that one time who...

Um...yeah.

Definitely that guy in that band.

Is it hot in here?

What else might pique the reader’s interest?
Common sense and good marketing says I should have followed up the first novella in my Taken series with the next installment, but Confessions is haunting me, demanding I work on it first. So after Confessions is released, look for Rain: Taken by the Band to follow soon after. (Mmmmm.... Sex with strangers. Multiple strangers. And guitars.... sigh...)


Now I get to tag writers who I’m certain could be the "Next Big Thing." They’ll post about their own upcoming work next Wednesday. Do check them out! You’ll be glad you did.