Author of the Week - Mardi Maxwell

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This week Mardi Maxwell visits the blog. I met Mardi online when she and connected about writing and promotional issues facing authors. She's a Siren author as well and writes cowboys and BDSM romance books. Today I asked her one question about what most inspires her writing.

BBTF: Writing is often a solitary exercise. What gets you most inspired to write?

Mardi: My books are standalone novels but my heroes are brothers so what gets me writing the next book in the series is the setup I do for it in the previous book. Knowing I’ve put in little tidbits of information here and there and now I have to explain their meaning gets me excited. Even when I’m writing one book my mind is on the next one in the series. I keep files of information on every character (their descriptions, habits, traits, etc), whether they were present during a scene or told about it later, what part they played, what they said, etc. I make notes next to the information concerning what their future part will be and how they will move the story forward in their book. Sometimes, well, okay most of the time my characters take over and tell their own story and they surprise even me. It’s amazing how the human brain works and how the research I’ve done will pop up out of the blue and connect the dots in ways that surprise even me. I love it when that happens and it’s those times that I find writing the most rewarding. I hope it’s those times that make you go “wow” and laugh or cry or feel happy you picked up one of my books.

You can find out more about Mardi Maxwell's books on her website. Be sure to buy a book and tell a friend. Happy reading! 

Author of the Week - Ann Mayburn

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This week Ann Mayburn visits the blog. I met Ann in person at Authors After Dark in New Orleans in 2012, and fell in love with her forthright, no-nonsense humor immediately. Ann writes just about everything, but she has a gift for BDSM romance in both contemporary and paranormal settings. Today I asked her one question about how she budgets her time with family.

BBTF: You put out a great deal of work each year. How do you balance your writing time with your family time?

Ann: Not easily. Either the house is dirty and the book gets worked on, or the house is clean yet I got 0 word count in. :P I've found the best I can do is balance between the two, clean when my muse is on strike, write when she won't shut the hell up. There is constant clutter, something always needs to be cleaned, but I manage to play in my worlds and throw video games at my kids so it all works out. ;)

Somehow that sounds a lot like my house, Ann. :D You can find out more about Ann Mayburn's books on her website. Be sure to buy a book and tell a friend. Happy reading! 

Author of the Week: Marla Monroe

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This week Marla Monroe visits the blog. I met Marla in person at Hot Mojave Knights 2013 and had a marvelous time talking to her. Since then, I've visited with her online as we're both authors with Siren Publishing, and I met with her last month for a writing retreat. I think we did more talking than writing, but she's so personable and down-to-earth, she's easy to talk to. Marla writes paranormal and contemporary romance often with menage and BDSM themes. Today I asked her one question about how she balances writing and family.

BBTF: You write a lot of books with BDSM qualities to them. What attracted you to the lifestyle enough to put it into writing?

Marla: I wanted to get across the emphasis on safety and the basic facts and reasoning behind the lifestyle. There are varying degrees of BDSM from teasing bedroom play to a serious, contracted 24/7 relationship defined and agreed on by two or more people. The one thing that most people get wrong about all of it is that the Dom or top doesn’t control the sub, bottom, or slave. It’s a power exchange or it is abuse. The sub, bottom, or slave has to allow the Dom or top the power over them. They put their pleasure, pain, control, and trust in their partner.

Another thing that I wanted to get across is that it’s not all about the Dom exerting control either. It’s about his ability to sense and understand what his partner needs and providing it. He/She will push the boundaries without ever crossing them. They strive to provide the best experience possible and have to be experts on body language and control.

That is something very few people realize, too. If they can’t discipline themselves to be able to go only so far and adhere to the agreed boundaries, then they are not trained or safe to work with. They have to be able to know when the sub/bottom is in trouble. They have to watch for all signs that something might not be quite right. They are vigilant in making sure the person they are responsible for is safe and not so caught up in everything as to not be able to make a safe decision or able to use their safe word or safe gesture.

I wanted to be sure my readers knew the difference between a Dom and an asshole, the difference between safe play and abuse and what to watch out for. It’s dangerous to play around with this and I’m afraid that there are a lot of people out there without a clue are making dangerous decisions. In my own way, I want to help them think and at the same time, provide the knowledge that it’s not all bad. In fact, it can be damn good with the right partner!

You can find out more about Marla Monroe's books on her website. Be sure to buy a book and tell a friend. Happy reading! 

Author of the Week: Doris O'Connor

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This week Doris O'Connor visits the blog. I met Doris online at Evernight and Siren Publishing, and she has visited my #ThursThreads #flashfiction challenge several times. Doris writes everything from contemporary romance to science fiction fantasy romance and usually with a fair amount of sexy action. Today I asked her one question about how she balances writing and family.

BBTF: You write several books a year. How do you find time for writing and still keep up with your large family?

Doris: Ah, you know that old saying… want something done; give it to a busy person to do? Yeah, that kinda applies to me. It also helps that I’ve become an expert at multitasking over the years, and that I have a very understanding and supportive husband. After nine babies I can also survive on very little sleep.

The bulk of my writing gets done when the kids are asleep, late at night, during the toddler’s nap, and at the weekend. Hubby fields the kids, so that I can get some uninterrupted writing time. I set myself a minimum word count goal of 2K a day when I’m writing a story. Invariably I’ll exceed that, because I only write when my characters are screaming at me, and then my fingers fly, and I cannot stop writing.

Those are the days I’m tapping away while cooking the dinner for my brood, and write sex scenes while sorting out sibling squabbles, lol.

On the whole I prefer peace and quiet when writing, though. Hence the late nights and lack of sleep, because, let’s face it. Only time they’re quiet is when they’re asleep, and then they snore, sleep walk, talk in their sleep, or the teens come in to have a 2.00 am feast.

You get the idea ;-)

Somehow it works. I try not to overthink it, and just listen to my characters. All I do know is that I get decidedly grumpy, when I haven’t managed to write for a few days… Hmm, maybe that’s why hubby tells me go off and write, huh. Well, that and the research he likes to help with. *sniggers*

Thanks for having me on your blog today!

You can find out more about Doris O'Connor's books on her website. Be sure to buy a book and tell a friend. Happy reading!

Author of the Week: Clair de Lune

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This week Clair de Lune visits the blog. I met Clair online when she contacted me through Siren Publishing to find out some promotional tricks. Clair has since written many books with the paranormal and BDSM flavors. Today I asked her one question about the art form of Kinbaku and how it came into her writing.

BBTF: You often post images of rope work in your FB page. How has that art form found its way into your writing?

Clair: When I first became interested in writing BDSM I listened to Gray Dancer's Ropecasts. On a few of them Master "K" spoke about Kinbaku and his books "The Art of Kinbaku." The interviews were very interesting and his voice was very easy to listen to. I bought his book and loved it.

By this time I was beginning to write "Catriona's Golden Angel," and I needed some information, in order to get the Kinbaku scenes right, so I emailed Master "K." He replied at once with all the information I needed. Since then we have become friends and he's kind enough not only to answer any questions I had but also to proof read my Kinbaku scenes.

His book was translated into Japanese, a singular, and well-deserved honour for a Westerner writing about such a very Japanese subject. He went to Japan for the book launch and was kind enough to write an article for my website on his return. You can find it on www.clairdelunebooks.co.uk. You are very welcome to leave comments.

That is a great honor, Clair! Congratulations.

You can find out more about Clair de Lune's books on her website. Be sure to buy a book and tell a friend. Happy reading! 

Author of the Week: Nara Malone

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This week Nara Malone visits the blog. I met Nara when I read her BDSM tale The Dungeon Gourmet and messaged her on Facebook to find out if there was another one coming. Mr. SM and I also tried out her Baked Peach Ice Cream recipe and it was divine. Nara eventually invited me to join her in her online community in OpenSim. Today I asked her one question about virtual worlds and writing.

BBTF: You have a strong connection to the virtual reality community. What is it about virtual worlds that appeals to you and how does that translate into your writing?

Nara: Virtual reality is fiction and nonfiction in three dimensions. It is a simulation. It can simulate a laboratory where theories and prototypes can be tested. It can simulate a work environment where participants scattered around the globe can come together and work on projects. But mostly it is a place where artists, musicians, writers, engineers, builders, programmers come to create what has never been created. I think a virtual community is a good look at the personalities you would find in an early colony--the explorers, rugged individualists, adventurers, scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, and storytellers. These are the folks who always push boundaries and explore new frontiers. They were the ones that explored earth's continents, expanding the boundaries of civilization. They are the ones who launched the digital age and have started the colonization of inner space. They are the ones who'll be populating the first space colonies.

As an author, this is a crowd I love to hang with--they inspire a million ideas. As a lover of fiction, how can I resist exploring the fantastic simulations they build of fictional and real world settings?  Virtuality encourages you to be more and then gives you the tools to do it. And just like reading a book, I walk away from that experience a different person from the one who walked into it.

The best way to make a decision about the value of a new frontier is to go exploring. You can find instructions to get into the colony I've been building with authors, artists, and musicians here.

[Link for colony instructions]

If you'd rather do that through a book first, you might like to read Snatch Me, a story about a virtual world romance. My newest release, Make Me Wet is not about a virtual world but I built the setting from the story on my virtual world of Nara’s Nook and wrote the book while I sat at my virtual desk and typed at on a pixel computer. I loved the idea that I could sit down to work in a virtual world and make something real.

You can find out more about Nara Malone's magical and virtual worlds on her website. Be sure to buy a book and tell a friend. Happy reading!

Siobhan

Author of the Week: Karla Doyle

Welcome back to Buy a Book, Tell a Friend!

This week Karla Doyle visits. I met Karla on Six Sentence Sunday when she offered snippets of her book More Than Words. Oh my glory, I howled with laughter at the witty and humorous dialog, and fanned myself in her hot sex scenes. Karla writes hot, sexy contemporary romance and has won me over every time. Today I asked her one question about reading and writing.

BBTF: What do you like most about reading and how does it affect your writing?

Karla: My favorite thing about reading is becoming immersed in a world I didn't create, and therefore, can't control. I love the suspense of not knowing what will happen from one scene to the next. I love going on the ride with the characters.

When I'm writing, I try to give my readers those same thrills. I hope that they'll enjoy the quirky situations my characters sometimes find themselves in, or the super-sexy interludes, or even the sad moments. When I read, I am IN that world for a few hours. My objective when telling a story is to provide that same experience.

Thanks so much for inviting me this week!

You can find out more about Karla's sexy, hilarious contemporary romance on her website. Be sure to buy a book and tell a friend. Happy reading!

Siobhan