Meet the Exquisite Quill Authors


Saturday, May 3, 2014

Author Interview: Berengaria Brown



EQ Welcomes Berengaria Brown

EQ: Welcome to EQ! Tell us a little bit about yourself!
Berengaria is a multi-published author of erotic romance: contemporary, paranormal (magic, ghosts, vampires, fairies, dragons, and werewolves), futuristic, medieval, and Regency-set historical. She loves to read all different kinds of romance so that is what she writes: one man/one woman; two women; two men; two men/one woman; three men, two women/one man, three men/one woman…. Whatever the characters need for their very hot happily-ever-after, Berengaria makes sure they get it.

EQ: Tell us a little bit about your most recent release.
 Tammy has been lusting after Lydia for ages. They attend the same gym and Tammy makes sure she’s there when Lydia goes. Lydia recently turned forty and has realized that there’s more to life than a career. She’s aware of Tammy’s interest in her and decides it would be good to get to know Tammy better and see what develops.

Damaris has loved Larnie for a long time, but Larnie’s unwilling to commit to a true relationship. They end up joining the gym together, and Larnie’s very nervous about taking this step.
Will these women deny what's in their hearts or will they find love?

EQ: Describe how you create characters.

Berengaria: I don’t actually create characters. They turn up in my head and demand that I tell their stories. Sometimes several of them are yelling at me all at once and it can get quite confusing, especially if my boss asks me a question right when I’m trying to tell a character to shut up and wait until I get home from work.

EQ: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your writing?

Berengaria: When I was small my Mom was quite ill. My Dad had never had to look after me for more than an hour or two at a time until then, and he wasn’t too sure what to do with me. The first day he bought me a wonderful set of blocks with bridges, and towers, and awesome things in the box, and I played with them all day. I’m pretty sure he enjoyed playing with them too. At least for the first hour or so. But by the second day he was once again at a loss to know what to do with me.

He loved reading, so he sat me down and taught me to read. I was already fascinated that the black squiggles on the pages of my books actually meant something, and picked up the idea fairly quickly. My Mom was ill for several months. Long before she had gotten better I was reading voraciously. All the kids’ books I owned, I could now read, and I read them over and over. When I got tired of that, Dad took me down to the local library, and signed me up for a membership card. That worked well for several years, until I’d read everything in the children’s section. Dad didn’t even blink. He just handed me his adult borrower card and I started to read the adult collection.

Some people were horrified that I might read something that little girls shouldn’t know about. Dad wasn’t worried. “If she doesn’t understand it, it won’t hurt her. And if she knows what it means, there’s no need to hide it from her,” he said.

And that is why I write erotic romance including FF, MM, and ménage. Because it’s fantasy. Because it fills the imagination. Because I can’t help asking “what if” all the time. Because my father taught me a very important principle to live by. Let people make their own boundaries. Let explorers explore. Let readers read. And for those who don’t want to try anything new, they have the freedom to choose that, too.

EQ: What is the biggest risk you’ve taken in your writing?

Berengaria: Writing Lesbian romance is a huge risk. Most people would advise me to stick with MM and/or ménage. But to me, it’s incredibly important to treat the love of a woman for another woman as equally as important as the love of a woman for a man, or the love of a man for a man. And the fact that my new lesbian romance “Women in Love” became a bestseller in just forty-eight hours proves that other people believe in lesbian romance, and want women to have the freedom to choose the partner with whom their heart resonates, too.

Find Berengaria Brown at these places:
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7 comments:

Berengaria Brown said...

Thank you for having me here today.
Berengaria

Jane Leopold Quinn said...

Welcome Berengaria. I love your story about your father introducing you to reading and then your reading everything you could find in the library. I don't remember how I came to be such a big reader myself (it wasn't my parents), but I too hung at the library and at a young age somehow got into the adult stacks and never looked back at the children's room or YA shelves.

And I agree with your comments about love for every pairing. Thanks for being here!

Unknown said...

What a wonderful memory to keep in your heart about your father. Great interview!

Melissa Keir said...

What a fabulous story about your father. It's obvious that he loves you very much and totally understood about the importance of learning lessons as you go.

Berengaria Brown said...

☺Thank you, Jane

Berengaria Brown said...

Thank you, Rose.
Berengaria

Berengaria Brown said...

Thank you, Melissa. He left me some wonderful memories.
Berengaria