EQ Welcomes Shelly Bell
EQ: Welcome to EQ!
Tell us a little bit about yourself!
Shelly: I’m a
hopeless romantic with a one-click book buying addiction and a book a day
reading habit. For the last few years, I’ve been learning how to balance my job
as a corporate attorney and mother of two elementary school-aged children, with
my new career as an author. I’m also President of my local Romance Writers of
America group and a member of the International Thriller Writers. Luckily, I
have a husband who supports and encourages me. I couldn’t do it without him.
He’s my real-life hero (see I told you I was a hopeless romantic!).
EQ:Tell us a little
bit about your most recent release.
Shelly: White Collared
is a four-part erotic thriller serial about a legal intern who goes undercover
as a submissive at a sex club to prove her client is not guilty of murder. The
first installment released on June 3rd and the last one releases
tomorrow. The back-cover copy of the first book nicely summarizes the entire
serial—
Driven by ambition …
Third-year law student Kate Martin outran her tragic past to become an intern for her idol and secret crush, the powerful attorney Nicholas Trenton. She is thrilled when Nick assigns her to represent his best friend and client, millionaire Jaxon Deveroux … the prime suspect in his submissive wife Alyssa's murder.
Seduced by desire …
Kate knows they have only a few days to find the real killer, and since signs point to a member of the BDSM community, she volunteers to go undercover as Jaxon's submissive at Benediction—the private sex club where he is a member—to covertly investigate Alyssa's last few months. For years, Kate has kept her dark fantasies a secret … but a chance to explore them with sexy, dominant Jaxon is just too tempting to pass up.
Driven by ambition …
Third-year law student Kate Martin outran her tragic past to become an intern for her idol and secret crush, the powerful attorney Nicholas Trenton. She is thrilled when Nick assigns her to represent his best friend and client, millionaire Jaxon Deveroux … the prime suspect in his submissive wife Alyssa's murder.
Seduced by desire …
Kate knows they have only a few days to find the real killer, and since signs point to a member of the BDSM community, she volunteers to go undercover as Jaxon's submissive at Benediction—the private sex club where he is a member—to covertly investigate Alyssa's last few months. For years, Kate has kept her dark fantasies a secret … but a chance to explore them with sexy, dominant Jaxon is just too tempting to pass up.
EQ: Pick out one of
the best lines in your novel. What do you love about it?
“If another man breathes the
same air as you, I want to rip his lungs out. Break his nose so he can’t inhale
the sweet perfume of your arousal. Blind him so he won’t see you smile. Burn
his hands so he’ll never touch you. I want all of you.” I find the
sentiment both romantic and chilling which aptly applies to the tone of White
Collared. His words can either be taken as an intensely erotic claim of
possession or as a threat. All the characters in White Collared have secrets
and up until the end, the reader may not be one-hundred percent certain that Jaxon
is innocent. It creates a tension which runs high throughout the book.
EQ: Describe how you
came up with the plot of your novel.
Shelly: White
Collared was inspired by a real murder which occurred a few years ago in
Metro-Detroit. The husband allegedly hired a hit man to kill his wife because
he was secretly a Sadist and Dominant. He allegedly wanted to leave her for his
slave, but feared he’d lose his money if he asked for a divorce. Because of the
success of Fifty Shades, the news reports focused on the BDSM angle and
inferred that he killed her because
he was a Dom and Sadist. Just because you’re a sadist doesn’t mean you’re a
murderer. The media knew nothing about the practice of BDSM, completely
misrepresenting it, and that infuriated me, so I decided to write a story about
a murdered submissive written from the perspective of a legal intern. My book
deals with the fallout from the misconceptions of BDSM and the prejudice that
those in the lifestyle face when their participation becomes public knowledge.
EQ: What kinds of
female characters do you prefer to write?
Shelly: I’ve
discovered I enjoy writing books more when they’re almost entirely from the
female point-of-view. It’s not that I don’t like the male characters in my
books, because I do, but for my erotic thrillers, I see the stories as female
driven.
The women I want to
write about are strong, capable women with traumatic backgrounds who defy
stereotype. I don’t want my female characters cursing their circumstances or
breaking down in tears whenever they’re challenged. They also don’t require a
man to complete them or save them from the impending danger. They’re strong,
self-reliant, and resilient. Kate Martin has not only put herself through
college and law school, she’s won prestigious awards and a coveted internship
at a top law firm. But Kate is also extremely flawed as evidenced by her secret
addiction to prescription anti-anxiety meds. She’s complex which makes her more
realistic. Anyone would be lucky to have her as a friend.
Find Shelly Bell at these places:
Read these titles by Shelly Bell:
White
Collared, Part One: Mercy, erotic thriller serial
White
Collared, Part Two: Greed, erotic thriller serial
White
Collared, Part Three: Revenge, erotic thriller serial
White
Collared, Part Four: Passion, erotic thriller serial
A
Year to Remember, contemporary romance
Sway
With Me, contemporary romance with magical realism
Stirring
Up Trouble, contemporary romance with magical realism
Tornado
Allie, erotic contemporary romance
