The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

According to the rules of the hop, I will be answering some questions (the same ones for every other blog hopper) about my forthcoming release–by the rules, I’m supposed to write about either my newest release or my WIP– and then at the bottom of the post I’ll listed authors who will do the same thing in their blogs next Wednesday Dec 26 (or maybe a day or two later–it IS the holidays, after all, and we all get busy .

What is the working title of your book? The book is called Knowing the Ropes, although it started out with the working title Making Master Right. The book took a turn toward the serious and away from the original idea, so the title changed as well.

Where did the idea come from for the book? My own experiences in the BDSM scene–the group dynamics and often quirky characters, as distinct with my experiences as a person who enjoys kinky sex–and meeting some people who worked with people experiencing domestic abuse in “non-standard” relationships.

What genre does your book fall under? Erotic BDSM romance

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? That’s a tough one. The hero, Nick, could be played by Daniel Radcliffe’s taller, buffer older brother. He’s dark-haired, fair-skinned and highly intelligent, with intense blue eyes, so he’s a similar type, but he’s definitely a man, not a beautiful boy.  Selene’s a farm girl from upstate New York who’s also a computer nerd, and I can’t think of the right person to portray her.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Selene and Nick have the sex factor in spades–but can their kinky relationship survive the “ex” factor?

What is the longer synopsis of your book? Here’s the official blurb:

Selene has harbored kinky, submissive fantasies most of her life, but her experience as a domestic abuse counselor leaves her leery of giving up that much control. Case in point: the ex-fiancé she didn’t love quite enough to test the limits of trust.

At a BDSM meet-and-greet, she sets out to learn how far is too far. Nick seems like the ideal dom to show her the ins and outs of ropes, floggers, and paddles—with no commitment clause.

After losing a sub he loved too much, Selene’s country girl common sense and smoking sensuality is like a dream that Nick never dared to have—a perfect blend of kink and long-term domestic bliss.

Yet it’s tough to figure out just how far they can push their limits when they’ve both agreed to a no-strings affair. Especially when an ex needs Nick’s muscle and Selene’s counseling skills to get out of a dangerous situation. By then it may be too late for love to survive all the things they’re afraid to say.

Warning:  Sexy, kinky, geeky dominant guy. Smart submissive woman. Crazy ex. A little experimentation between girlfriends. And lots and lots of kinky sex.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? It will be published February 26, 2012 by Samhain Publishing. The wording of this question sets up a false dichotomy, since, like many writers who work with established smaller published, I’m not represented by an agent.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Hard to say. An earlier version of this work had been trunked a few years ago, and I’d even cannibalized it, stealing several sex scenes to use as short stories. This spring I got the impetus to revise it drastically (and write new and improved scenes to replace the ones I’d stolen) after talking to an editor at a conference, and that took just a few months. In the interest of full disclosure, the editor who asked to see the manuscript isn’t the one who ultimately bought it.

Who or what inspired you to write this book? I’d read a lot of so-called “BDSM romances” a few years ago that had very little to do with actual safe, sane and consensual BDSM. I wanted to write something that showed believable everyday people doing kink and falling in love without doing anything that, in real life, would be either physically impossible or dangerous. (I have to say that the standard for BDSM erotica and romance has improved overall.)

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? This isn’t Fifty Shades of Grey. It contains no gazillionaires, no clueless virgins, just interesting everyday people who happen to be kinky. Which is what most of us kinksters are like in real life. Yes, I said us. I can write about BDSM and D/s from experience, because it’s a big part of my life and my marriage. Nick and Selene’s story, especially the parts involving his hapless former sub Natalie, is purely fictional, but I know about both the physical sensations of BDSM play and the emotional intensity, and sometimes pitfalls, of the dominant/submissive dynamic, from experience. And I know first-hand that sometimes scenes can go all sorts of wrong–which, if you’re smart and know how to communicate with your partner, can lead to greater trust–and amazing “redo” sex.

Here’s a taste:

Nick moved to [Selene’s] back, letting the strands of suede tease from her shoulder blades to her ass, and lower, onto her thighs. Just feather-light caresses at first, nothing more. Then he started to strike lightly, again starting at her shoulders and working down. The suede danced on her skin, kissing it. On her shoulders, it felt like a massage. On her hot butt and the tender inside of her thighs, it stung in a beautiful way. When she was sighing and pushing back for more, Nick stepped up the pace, hitting faster and harder. Now he was focusing on her ass and thighs, and there was a definite sting to the dance, the falls snapping against her in a way that made her yelp but also made her rise up on her toes in delight. So good. She could get lost in this rhythm, ride the sensual sting forever. Nick had stepped up the pace again, but it was gradual enough that her pleasure caught up. A couple of times, a good whack caught the spot where her ass and thighs met or curled around to her inner thighs, and she yelped. But the constant rhythm of the suede, though stingy and thuddy, was also soothing. Selene was aroused, keenly aware of Nick behind her, of the flogger on her skin, of her hard, crinkled nipples, aching, empty cunt and throbbing clit. At the same time, she felt no great urgency to do anything about the arousal. Maybe it was because she’d already come a few times, but there was something meditative about the way Nick was beating her, about the steady assault on her senses. She was having an in-body out-of-body experience, and she loved it.

For next week’s Next Big Thing, I’m not tagging anyone–it’s Christmas week–but I hope some of you will decide to play along and tell us about your Next Big Thing.