The Genesis of a Book - Shifters: An Anthology by Suzanne Rock

Thank you everyone for having me on the blog today!

Since Shifters is an Anthology, not a single title, I thought I’d talk a little bit about each of them in turn. It has been a while since I’ve been with these characters, since the stories in this antho were all published in 2009 and 2010. Still, it’s fun to go back and think about how each of them came to be.

CRIA

The first book in the anthology is called Cria. At the time, there was a submission call at a small press for romances that also supported taking care of the environment. I thought that the “green” concept was very unique and wanted to give it a try. All I needed was the setting, plot and characters, lol.

A couple of weeks later, I watched a cable special on the Amazon Rainforest and knew that was the perfect setting for my story. There are so many undiscovered plants and animals living in the rainforest. It felt entirely possible that different shifter clans could live there out of the public eye. If they lived out of the public eye, then they had to be rooted deep in tradition and mythology, like the Incas, Mayans or Aztecs. I imagined a woman full of spunk living in such a setting and had my story: A feisty heroine decides that she doesn’t want to be subjected to the whims of the men in her life. She rebels against the Cria, and gets caught up in a fight against the humans who are destroying the trees around their home and forcing them deeper and deeper into the forest.

The title, Cria, has multiple meanings. Basically, it’s a baby camelid, like an alpaca. The literal translation in Portuguese is “create” and in Spanish it is “breeding.” I loved the sound of the word and thought it would be a good name to call an ancient tradition where shifters picked their mates and impregnated them.

SPYDER’S WEB

This was the first book of mine that was ever published. It was written in response to a contest Jessica Faust had on her blog to write a great fist-line hook. She wanted us to post the first line to our story and post it in the comments section. Then she’d read the entries and ask for pages from the one-liners she liked.

At the time, I wanted to come up with something attention-grabbing and shocking. It didn’t matter that I didn’t have a story written. I really wanted to win! So one night my husband and I were shooting one-liners back and forth over dinner and he came up with a doozy: Every time I f*ck, somebody dies.

I mean, that’s fantastic, right? I thought so, and put it up on the Bookends Blog. It didn’t win the contest, but I had quite a few authors tell me that they loved that line. Their comments got me thinking, and soon Spyder’s Web was born.

UP ON THE HOUSETOP

This was another story that originated from a submission call. My publisher was looking for stories that had a holiday theme and a title that was a Christmas Carol. After a lot of thought, I came up with the title “Up on the Housetop.” Since I write erotic romance, I thought it would be a good title for a story where lovers reunited on a housetop. Since at the time I wanted to focus on paranormal fiction, I decided to make one of the lovers a werewolf and see what happened. Who knew that such a simple concept would grow to become the first book in one of my biggest selling series?

So there it is. Three stories, three different ways they came into being. It was great spending time on the blog today. Thanks so much for having me!

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Out just in time for Halloween, this ebook anthology of alpha male shifters is a compilation of three of my most popular M/F erotic stories. Within the first 48 hours, this bundle became an All Romance Ebooks top 20 best seller, and an Amazon top 50 best seller in anthologies.

Included in this series:

Cria - Aleta runs the ancient breeding race to gain her freedom, but when she runs into someone from her past deep within the Amazon rain forest, she must decide if freedom is truly what her heart desires.

Spyder’s Web – A tough cop tracks down a beautiful serial killer and discovers that things aren’t always what they seem.

Up on the Housetop – Chloe goes up to the rooftop of her childhood home to escape her controlling family and discovers an an erotic adventure she will never forget.

Buy it at:

All Romance Ebooks: http://bit.ly/14iJz52

Amazon: http://amzn.to/188Hjyy

Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1aKO35Y

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/18b86sa

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1aKOops

Bio:

A lifetime New Englander, Suzanne married her college sweetheart and has been with him for over twenty years. Every summer she drags her husband and two daughters to Maine on a quest for the perfect lobster dinner. Every fall she can be found down in Foxboro, Massachusetts cheering on her favorite football team. In between those trips, she’s a chauffeur, a maid, a chef, an event planner, a hairdresser, a wardrobe stylist, a tutor and a sometimes masseuse. To keep her sanity, she often drinks copious amounts of coffee and stares at the blank screen of her laptop, dreaming of great adventures. Sometimes she even writes them down for others to enjoy.

Suzanne also writes new adult romances under the pen name Ava Conway (www.AvaConway.com).

Website: www.SuzanneRock.com

Blog: Romance on a Budget: www.suzannerock.wordpress.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SuzanneRockAuthor

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Suzanne_Rock

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/Suzanne_Rock

Writing Workshops: http://suzannerock.com/workshops/

 

First Kiss Wednesday

Kisses are the mainstay of romance writing.  No matter how sweet or spicy our stories are, they usually involve at least a kiss or two.  And the first kiss is especially lovely - that first, soft touch of lips - or perhaps the kiss is fierce and hungry.  Maybe the characters murmur words of love or words of teasing while discovering the texture and taste of each other.  Maybe the only sounds they can emit are gentle, timorous moans or deep, throaty groans.

 

Okay, now that we've set the premise, here's what you can do for First Kiss Wednesdays.  In the comment box, give us a maximum of 300 words of the first kiss of a published work or a work-in-progress and one link to your website or blog or Amazon Author Page. 

 

Read and luxuriate in the glories of the first kiss...

Oh, and lips only...  ;-)

Why Floggers are Fun

            First let me say that I'm not an expert on psychology or impact play. What follows are just my thoughts and opinions on the topic. Some people might disagree with me, and that's fine. Everybody's entitled to their perspective, which brings me to my main point: Pain is all about perspective.

         

   It's commonly said (at least it is in my circles) that pain is the brain's interpretation of a sensation. Everybody interprets it differently. When I stub my toe, bang my knee on the pull for my desk drawer, or walk into a doorframe (all of which happens entirely too often to me) I am the BIGGEST baby. I do the sharp inhale, squeeze my eyes shut, and depending on who's around, I might cry. If I can't cry, I just hold my breath until the pain passes. Which is funny because I know that it passes a lot faster if I breathe through it.

            However, show me my favorite flogger and I get weak for a different reason. I'll qualify here for those of you who've read Re/Bound -- I'm not a severe masochist. I have friends who are, one of whom answered a lot of questions for me about Painsluts, which is a special class of masochist. Now, I might not be anything approaching a Painslut, but I do love to be under our rubber flogger. It has round falls that can band together or fan out, depending on the way it's swung, so it's very versatile.

            The biggest sex organ, and I don't care how well hung the hero is supposed to be, is the brain. The interpretation of pain is located there, but so is the interpretation of pleasure. If you look at something and decide it's going to hurt, you've closed your mind to the possibility of deriving pleasure from it. Similarly if you look at something and decide it's going to heighten the experience, then it usually does. (I say "usually" because I have kids and pets. You never know when they're going to derail a scene.)

            Now that we've figured out the determination aspect, let's talk about the mind games inherent in the D/s relationship. I think bondage best exemplifies this. The sub is tied down, unable to move, completely at the mercy of a trusted Dom/me. That Dom/me can do anything they want, and the sub can't stop them. (Well, that's not exactly true. The couple should have established the parameters of the scene beforehand, and a safe word should be used. Ours is "Stop" because we don't play protest games.)

            Some people find the position of powerlessness completely arousing. In that state, they're more open to impact play and they're more open to interpreting pain as pleasure. Also, a knowledgeable Dom/me will know 1) what they're doing and 2) your preferences. They'll probably start light and increase the force of the blows.

            If you find that concept scary, try this: Find a fleshy piece of your bare arm and hit it lightly with your palm. Increase the force until the sensation becomes unpleasant. If you're up for it, keep going for a little longer or try it again on the inner part of your arm or thigh (start lightly!) I bet it hurts your palm before it hurts your arm. After you've stopped and a few seconds pass, you'll notice heat rising to the skin. You might still feel the sting, but I bet you're also feeling a little something else too. It's even better when you're just on the receiving end. Oh, and this works on any fleshy parts. Remember to not hit the places where the bone is close to the skin.

            This kind of play also takes into account your entire body. It's not a quickie focused on what's going on between everybody's legs with a kiss or grope thrown in for foreplay. BDSM concentrates on the foreplay, which makes for much better orgasms. It prepares the mind and the body, and I can't see anything unappealing about that!

            I know everybody is different. When I write my characters, I keep that in mind. You'll find that Darcy (from Re/Bound) is the only Painslut. The others like varying degrees of impact play. Marcella (from By My Side) doesn’t like the flogger at all, and Katrina (Re/Paired) finds the bliss in a flogging session so soothing that almost puts her to sleep. I include it in most of my BDSM titles because it’s something I like. In all of my books, I focus primarily on the development of the relationship between the main characters. I want to show you the romantic side of a BDSM relationship. After all, love heightens all experiences.

Places to find out more about my BDSM, paranormal, and mainstream titles:

Website: www.michelezurloauthor.com 
Blog: michelezurloauthor.wordpress.com 

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