9 author inspirations, including 'Witness,' tea and 'Torchwood'
Today's featured authors: Keira Andrews, author of A Forbidden Rumspringa; Anya Richards, author of Bellissima; and Josephine Myles, author of How to Train Your Dom in 5 Easy Steps. They're sharing their inspirations for their new releases.
Keira Andrews, author of A Forbidden Rumspringa
Three things that inspired my new release:
• I was chatting with a gay-romance book blogger last year and she mentioned that she gets quite a few hits from people searching for sexy Amish men. It sparked a plot bunny about two young Amish men who fall in love and struggle to come to terms with their sexuality.
• One of my favorite movies growing up was Witness with Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis. I've always been a sucker for forbidden love. Also, Harrison was sexy as hell in a straw hat!
• With his dark hair and striking blue eyes, Canadian actor Torrance Coombs from the CW's Reign is the physical inspiration for my character of David.
Here's the blurb for A Forbidden Rumspringa:
When two young Amish men find love, will they risk losing everything?
In a world where every detail of life—down to the width of a hat brim—is dictated by God and the all-powerful rules of the community, two men dare to imagine a different way. At 18, Isaac Byler knows little outside the strict Amish settlement of Zebulon, Minnesota, where there is no rumspringa for exploration beyond the boundaries of their insular world. Isaac knows he'll have to officially join the church and find a wife before too long, but he yearns for something else—something he can't name.
Dark tragedy has left carpenter David Lantz alone to support his mother and sisters, and he can't put off joining the church any longer. But when he takes on Isaac as an apprentice, their attraction grows amid the sweat and sawdust. David shares his sinful secrets, and he and Isaac struggle to reconcile their shocking desires with their commitment to faith, family and community.
Now that they've found each other, are they willing to lose it all?
Find out at www.keiraandrews.com.
Anya Richards, author of Bellissima
Three of my favorite things that inspired my newest release:
• Tea. Yes, tea. I drink vast quantities of the stuff and love all tea-related paraphernalia — pots, cups, sets, etc. My mother, and her mother before her, had an afternoon tea ritual of steeping the tea, sitting at the dining table or in the sitting room and sipping. There were cookies or cake and polite conversation — all a little too civilized for me. I just like large mugs of the stuff all day long, but the memories led me to think about how that well-mannered habit could be subverted …
• Genealogy. I've been working for years to trace my family tree, but coming from a country where the entire population is made up of immigrants — some willing, many others forced to go — it's not that easy. Some leave obvious traces, like landing records, birth certificate, etc., but others were slaves, indentured servants or even running away from troubled pasts, all of which obscure their origins. I started thinking about why people leave their homelands, where they go and the issues they face when they get there. Throw in an article about a famous "foreign" dance master who took London by storm, and what people had to say about him, and a story was born.
• Mid-1800s jewelry. Since I had the chance to go through my grandmother's collection of family pieces over 30 years ago, I've been fascinated by some of the Victorian-style jewelry, and it's one of those topics I periodically research some more. In this particular case, I was looking at the Pre-Raphaelites and started wondering about the transitional period between their style and what was popular before (cameos, intaglios, etc.). I could just hear the older generation saying the things we still say nowadays, like, "That's not art! In my day …"
Here's the blurb about Bellissima:
Jane Rollins is anything but plain, but to keep her position as housekeeper to a wealthy family, she is content to hide her beauty behind a dull façade. This deception has become second-nature to her—until dance master Sergio Fontini waltzes into her life.
While the other inhabitants of the house see him as a foreigner and beneath their notice, Jane sees strength, barely leashed power, and an aura of iron control—an irresistible, arousing combination.
Sergio sees through Jane's disguise to the woman beneath, and the desires in her veiled gaze call to him like the utterly irresistible strains of a beautiful symphony. The circumstances couldn't be worse, for seducing her will endanger both their livelihoods.
Yet there are lessons he cannot resist teaching her, steps of a dance that crescendos to her final surrender…
Find out more at www.anyarichards.com.
Josephine Myles, author of How to Train Your Dom in 5 Easy Steps
Three things that have helped inspire my writing:
• Torchwood. This BBC Doctor Who spin-off was the catalyst for my getting into writing gay romance, as it featured a prominent gay relationship between heroes Jack and Ianto. They captured my imagination, and when the on-screen romance ended tragically I was so incensed I decided to write a gay romance with a happy ending. And then I discovered a whole genre of other writers doing exactly that!
• What if the sub had more experience than the Dom? This was my leaping-off point for writing my latest novel. I'm a BDSM fan, but I was growing tired of reading about novice subs being shown the ropes by experienced Doms. Switching things up gave me the opportunity for plenty of comic situations. I do love a giggle.
• Menswear. I have a not-so-secret clothing kink (especially vintage clothing) and make clothes in my spare time. I've written several books where clothing features heavily as a plot device, and in my latest novel I enjoyed dressing submissive Eddie in a leather kilt. I also have Jeff the Dom wear a football shirt for one scene. Trust my muse to want to put him in the least sexy outfit imaginable!
Here's the blurb for How to Train Your Dom in 5 Easy Steps:
Jeff White's needs are simple. All he wants is a submissive to help him explore the dominant side that his ex-girlfriend couldn't handle. Problem is, inexperience in both dating and domming has resulted in a string of rejections.
What he needs is an experienced sub willing to show him the ins and outs of controlling a scene. Unfortunately, the only one willing to take him on is male, and Jeff is straight. One hundred percent, never-gonna-happen straight.
Easygoing painslut Eddie Powell doesn't care that Jeff is younger, working class, and shorter. Eddie likes a bit of rough, and Jeff fits the bill perfectly. The trick will be convincing him to follow Eddie's five-step training programme—which would be easy if Eddie wasn't starting to have feelings for the rough-around-the-edges landscaper.
Once Jeff lays his hands on Eddie, things definitely get out of hand. But it'll take more than hot, sweaty, kinky sex to persuade him to come out of the closet—especially to himself.
Warning: Contains a happy sub, a confused Dom, a high ratio of sex to plot, misuse of root ginger, and a suitcase of kink. Written in Jo's usual exceedingly "English" English.
Find out more at josephinemyles.com.