Men for Hire 2 Anthology Author Interview

MEN FOR HIRE ANTHOLOGY AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Welcome to the third of the ‘Men for Hire 2’ anthology authors. This time it’s the turn of the lovely Tatum Throne, who I have known for several years and even visited her in the USA.

Thanks, Jennifer. *waves* Like Jennifer, I am an author of erotic romances. I have a master’s degree in social work that I received from the University of Cincinnati. I left the field of medical social work in 2007 to be a stay-at-home mom of three rowdy boys, and to pursue my dreams of writing romance.

When not indulging my fantasies or writing, I enjoy heading to the beach to build sandcastles with my boys, hiking in Red River Gorge, and spreading awareness of eosinophilic disorders.

Your Writing

The ‘Men for Hire 2’ anthology has a specific theme. That of a firm in London run by Jennifer Archer offering ‘men for hire’ to do any job from dog walking, house sitting, DIY, chauffeuring, etc…. How did you find this theme easy (or hard) to work with?

A: It was very easy! I was in the middle of a kitchen renovation. So, it gave me lots of inspiration for getting into the theme.

(Oh – that’s where you got the idea! JD)

This is Luminosity’s second anthology following the success of Men for Hire 1. Have you had any short stories accepted in an anthology before and tell us the title of your story in the Men for Hire 2 anthology.

A: This is the first anthology for me. I’ve mainly focused on longer works. Subcontractor is the title of my story.

‘Men for Hire 2’ is contemporary MM/MMM stories. What other genres do you normally write or are you solely an MM writer?

A: I have several series going right now. I normally write contemporary BDSM, Cowboy, and Sci-Fi.

The stories in the anthology are all between 8-12,000 words. What is good (or hard) about writing a short story?

A: For me, short stories are like going on a vacation from my normal writing. I find them quick and easy to write.

(I agree! So nice to write a short story after writing longer ones. JD)

Tell us about the characters in your story (eg, a short paragraph describing them like Matt is 30 and he works as a plumber. He has dark hair, piercing blue eyes and is SOOO sexy).

A: Owen Murray is a Dom and a cowboy from the States. He has blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He’s muscular and likes to take control of everything. Peter Crawford is a cousin to the Royal Family with dark hair and gray eyes. He’s wiry like a runner who loves to do Yoga.

Blurb for ‘Subcontractor’:

Rough and ready cowboy Owen Murray is a Dom who has taken a job as a handyman in England for a change of scenery. When the complicated renovation he’s working on gets a little too intense, he knows he has to quit before he makes one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

Peter Crawford doesn’t advertise that he’s related to the royal family. When he falls for the hard edged handyman renovating his country home, he knows he has to take a chance and become his submissive. Will his Dom love him in return or will he leave forever?

About You

Although Luminosity Publishing is based in the UK, we have had authors from several different countries in the two anthologies. Which country are you from (and name of county/state). Did you grow up there?

A: I live in Cincinnati, Ohio. I grew up here but I have family all over the world.

When was your first book published and with whom?

A: My first story came out with Siren Publishing in 2012. I also write for Evernight Publishing and Luminosity Publishing.

Give one thing about yourself that you would like to change?

A: I would love to be a morning person!

(Haha! Don’t I know it! She can’t think without that first cup of coffee! JD)

Name three people you would like to be shipwrecked with (and why)?

A: My hubby, Brad Pitt, and George Clooney. Of course, they will all be madly in love with me and will do everything to get us out of the situation!

What’s the strangest (bravest, funniest etc) thing you’ve ever done?

A: I once had a heart episode when I was 28 years old where my hubby had to call 911 for me. I’m not a good patient and when we were in the ambulance, I started screaming at the paramedics, “You’re not going to stab me in the heart like Pulp Fiction are you?!?!” Of course, that spilled into the paramedics chatting about how they just saw the movie while they hit me with a drug that blocked the signal to my heart. Once surgery later, I’m right as rain.

(I don’t remember you telling me that story! LOL. I remember you told me about your surgery but not what you said to the paramedics. JD)

Please give links of how fans can find you on the internet/buy your books.

www.tatumthrone.blogspot.com

Amazon

Bookstrand

Luminosity

Thank you, Tatum. It was great interviewing you.

Easter in York

York is a terrific city all year round but particularly lovely in Spring!

HAVE A GREAT EASTER - DON'T EAT TOO MANY EGGS! 

Short or long?

Short or long?

Continuing with my reflections on writing – today I am talking about writing short stories over longer ones.

 

Advantages of writing shorter stories (usually around 8-12k):

·       You get it written much much quicker with less writing fatigue! (My quickest to write was Marital Duties in the Men for Hire anthology – did it in three days!)

·       It takes much less time to edit

·       You can get on with another story in quick time – particularly good if you have another story begging to be told

·       They sell for less so it is cheaper for readers

Disadvantages:

·       They sell for less so you get less royalties – particularly as books that sell under a certain amount get an even bigger slice taken off by Amazon before they pay out (something like – they keep 65% on books priced under $2.99 rather than 30% on books priced over $2.99).

·       There is a distinct skill in writing short stories. You don’t have space to tell the whole journey of your characters’ romance from meeting to falling in love so you have to write an episode in that romance so finding that perfect ‘episode’ can be difficult. I usually write about people who already know each other as that takes away the ‘getting to know each other’ part of the story.

·       You may fall in love with the characters and said characters may demand to have more written about them (don’t be fooled – a writer is never in control of their stories. The characters are the ones in charge!). Alien Manhunt was only supposed to be one story but Greg, Taran and Suva – not to mention a few readers – were insistent about me writing Alien Manhunts 2 and 3!

Short stories I have written:

Alien Manhunts 1-3 (Sci-fi/MM)

Kink After Dinner (BDSM/Contemporary/MF)

Marital Duties (in the Men for Hire anthology) (Contemporary/MF)

Naughty Christmas Wishes (Fantasy/Paranormal/Christmas/MFMMM)

Dark Captive (Contemporary/Kidnap/BDSM/MF) – due out in June

Advantages of writing longer stories (I generally write novellas, so that means 20k-36k with one that is 60k but that was a co-authored story so I only actually wrote 30k of it):

·       You have more scope for character and plot development – this is particularly necessary if you are writing menage stories as you need time to development each character such as Collared by Wolves which involved the heroine, three friends who were interested in the heroine and a Dominant who had his sights on the heroine, too).

·       You can add more detail/back story/world building without worrying too much about going over your word limit

·       You get more royalties

Disadvantages:

·       You can get very very tired by the end and are desperate to get it finished and sent off (quite often without giving it a thorough proof reading as you are so fed up with it at that stage!)

·       It takes so long to edit and if you haven’t been thorough before submitting it your editor can fill each page with millions of corrections or things you need to correct which can be very daunting

·       You can get carried away with back story/world building as you are describing your characters’ journeys from meeting – particularly if it is the first in a new series (even I admit that Wife for Three has a lot of world building because it was the first in a sci-fi series)

Novellas I have written:

Just Good Friends (Contemporary/MF)

The Submission Challenge (Contemporary/BDSM/MF)

Friendly Seduction (Contemporary/MF)

Submissive Training (Contemporary/BDSM/MF)

Friend or Foe (Contemporary/MF)

The Sub Who Switched (Contemporary/BDSM/MF)

Wife for Three (Sci-fi/MFMM)

Retraining the Sub (Contemporary/BDSM/MF)

Chasing Emily (Sci-fi/MFM)

Collared by Wolves (Paranormal/Werewolves/BDSM/MFMMM)

Retraining the Dom (Contemporary/BDSM/MF)

Bounty Hunters’ Captive (Sci-fi/MFM)

Torn Between Two Lovers (Paranormal/Werewolves/BDSM/MFM)

BDSM Weekend (Contemporary/BDSM/MFM)

Novels I have written (over 40k):

The Last Werewolf (Paranormal/Werewolf/MMF) – with Susan Laine

So, in conclusion – do I prefer writing long or short stories…. Hmm. Can’t say. I like both for their own reasons!

Light or Dark?

Light or Dark?

My latest short story to be accepted (due for release in the summer), Dark Captive, is a very dark story (one of the darkest I have ever written). Here is the blurb:

Laura has been kidnapped. She is bound, gagged and cannot see, and taken to a strange building. Her other senses are very important in determining where she is and who has taken her.

Her captor, Todd, is a Dominant who relishes his role. And Laura is special. He loves having submissives who challenge him and punishes Laura for trying to escape and cares for her when she stumbles—unable to see where she is going—in equal measures.

As the evening progresses, Todd keeps her off balance giving her out-of-this-world experiences, always making sure she climaxes. On the one hand he caresses her and the next he slaps her. Being into BDSM, Laura finds it very arousing, but that goes against everything her head is telling her. She shouldn’t enjoy it – should she?

Kidnap stories are on the edge of romance as, by their very nature, they are taking control away from someone and it’s necessary to include ‘trigger’ warnings for readers. But lots of readers like them and they are akin to BDSM stories, particularly those that like D/s stories where the Dominant takes control from the submissive – or in this case the Kidnapper from the captive.

But what makes someone write such a dark story – ah, well. I always say I put myself in the shoes of my heroines so maybe I yearn for someone tall, dark and masterful to dominate me?! (I have a very strong personality so that takes some doing!) I do admit I am a sucker for reading kidnap stories or alien abduction romances.

For that is the key here – at the end of the day it is still a ‘romance’. Without giving anything away, while the captive is out of her comfort zone, she finds herself enjoying the experience.

A slither of fear—or excitement went through her belly, knotting her stomach. I’m not aroused him. I’m not!

Although some of my other stories are dark, eg, ‘Collared by Wolves’ where the heroine gets captured by the bad guys who threaten violence, however, I don’t always write ‘dark’ stories. My ‘Friends & Acquaintances’ series are what I call my ‘romantic comedies’. One reviewer even described them as cheesy. Yup! That was my intention. Good, old fashioned, light hearted romance (with sex scenes). And the middle one in the series, ‘Friendly Seduction’ still remains my favourite book to write. I had such fun taking the micky out of erotic romance as the heroine tries to explain to the hero, a writer of sci-fi, why women like reading erotic romances.

He smiled indulgently. “If I understand correctly, you—and every other female reader possibly—like reading about manly heroes with beautiful heroines.” He counted these off on his fingers. “The hero has to be a leader of some sort and be dominant but caring, and there has to be some sort of conflict or misunderstanding, maybe even a kidnapping. If there is some BDSM involved and even a ménage a trois, that would be even better.”

“That’s it in a nutshell.”

Readers have commented that the humour in my stories is one of my strong points when writing and I certainly have great fun with these lines.

So what about you? Do you like ‘dark’ stories or ‘light’?

Wicked Weekends

WICKED WEEKENDS

Hott ‘N Handy by T. Lee Garland

Erotic ménage

Novelette

What’s hot: Mind-blowing sex between two smoking hot fireman.

Buy links:

http://www.amazon.com/Hott-n-Handy-Romance-Go-ebook/dp/B01CRKZW4Y/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

http://www.bookstrand.com/hott-n-handy-mfm

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html

http://www.evernightpublishing.com/hott-n-handy-by-t-lee-garland/

Blurb:

Shelby Barton was America’s TV darling having grown up in the public eye on a much beloved soap opera. Until the day she was fired. Embarrassed, she flees to the tiny town of Nugget Knob, West Virginia, to hide out and decide what to do next. She purchases a rundown house and plots her next career move.

Adam Hott and his best friend Eli Handy are firemen who also run a home repair business, Hott ‘N Handy repairs. The two take one look at the beautiful starlet and know they want her in their beds and in their lives.

Shelby has a decision to make. Was home New York, complete with the backstabbing people and her glamorous career in daytime TV? Or was home little Nugget Knob, West Virginia, between two hot and handy men who adore her?

Wounded by Maggie Walsh (The Angel Pack 9)

MM

Paranormal/Shapeshifters

Novel

What’s hot: a vamp who takes it into their head to bite during a blowjob!

Blurb:

King Dante places Shelby in the protective custody of the Angel Pack to guard the secret of who he truly is and what he is capable of. Shelby has known who his mate is since before he was kidnapped by his psycho father six months ago. But now he fears that being in the same house as his mate will finally show Xander who he is. He has been hiding from his mate, but now that they are face-to-face Shelby needs to stay strong and reject Xander. He can’t afford to get attached to anyone and have them turn on him when they find out the truth.

But Xander won’t give up on his mate and does everything he can to show the gorgeous man that he wants him for who he is and will never try to control him or tell him what to do. The battle to save their world explodes at the same time the battle to save his mating puts Shelby in danger.

Latest story accepted!

Yay! My latest short story has been accepted by Luminosity Publishing.

Called Dark Captive, here is the blurb:

Laura has been kidnapped. She is bound, gagged and cannot see, and taken to a strange building. Her other senses are very important in determining where she is and who has taken her.

Her captor, Todd, is a Dominant who relishes his role. And Laura is special. He loves having submissives who challenge him and punishes Laura for trying to escape and cares for her when she stumbles—unable to see where she is going—in equal measures.

As the evening progresses, Todd keeps her off balance giving her out-of-this-world experiences, always making sure she climaxes. On the one hand he caresses her and the next he slaps her. Being into BDSM, Laura finds it very arousing, but that goes against everything her head is telling her. She shouldn’t enjoy it – should she?

It was fun, and challenging, writing a dark forced seduction story but keeping it enjoyable, although it might trigger issues with some people, so you are warned. Expect it out in July.

Annual spa/sauna day at Center Parcs

Have just had my annual spa/sauna day at Center Parcs but this one was special as it was a hen do for my friend with six of us luxuriating in relaxing surroundings.

It was fabulous as ever – with several sauna rooms including Japanese Sea Salt and Greek Herbal, several meditation and hot rooms, footbaths/multisensory showers/pools, and bed to wrap up under warm covers and relax like the cabana or veranda.

(Pics come from Center Parcs website).

Last time I was there I came up with the idea of including my experiences in one of my stories…. Hence the references to having a hot stone massage and water beds in Alien Manhunt 3!!

Spotlight on series - Friends & Acquaintances

Spotlight on series: Friends & Acquaintances

This is a trilogy – Just Good Friends, Friendly Seduction, Friend or Foe.

But it is a crossover trilogy with the Doms & Acquaintances series. Both series are about six female friends as they find love. The Friends series is more light hearted, The Doms series includes BDSM. The books run in the following sequence: Friends 1, Doms 1, Friends 2, Doms 2, Friends 3, Doms 3

Just Good Friends – Jessie & Sam

Accidentally discovering shy Jessie’s secret stash of erotic romances Sam pretends interest to persuade her to discuss her favourite books. Soon they try out scenarios they are reading like bondage, etc, with laughs, tears and lots of improvisation. Before long they realise they are more than just good friends.

(Titbit – I had originally intended Jessie to be called Jennie but part way through writing it I couldn’t continue with that name as Jennie had always been MY alter ego and therefore I had to use the name Jennifer as my pen name!)

Reviews include from Goodreads:

Hot quick read, fantastic storyline

Buy links:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Bookstrand

Friendly Seduction – Lissa & Matt

Told to include sex in his stories sci-fi writer, Matt, enlists help from Lissa with the love scenes. Attracted to her he invents a story about space bounty hunters and a run-away girl. She’s so helpful he starts writing this for real and their scenes gradually become more intimate.

(Titbit – this is my favourite book to write as I had such fun taking the mickey out of erotic romances)

Reviews include (from Coffee Time Romance):

I loved, loved, LOVED Friendly Seduction! At times I found myself sighing because of the pure pleasure Matt took in discovering Lissa's body. Other times, Ms. Denys had me laughing so hard at the less-than-stellar sexy performances that the words seemed to be jumping around on my eBook Reader. Reading this book was such a pleasure and I enjoyed each erotic encounter, whether it was pure sexual or had the humorous scenarios that made me fall in love with this tale. I want to read more by this author and I can only hope that her other stories will grip me from the get go like this one has.

Buy links:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Bookstrand

Friend or Foe – Gina & Dan

Secret writer Gina bases her hero on Dan, a hunky colleague. Finding out her book recreates erotic movie scenes Dan teases Gina unmercifully. Despite receiving equal insults back he is interested to know more, in particular about those scenes. As she experiences the trials of getting published, their relationship develops.

(Titbit – the dog story is taken from real life about a friend’s dog. Since I was including her dog I also gave the hero my friend’s surname and one of the minor characters the same name as her husband!)

Reviews include from MER:

Wonderful book. Hate to see the series end

Buy links:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Bookstrand

A timeline chart for all six books can be viewed here.

Practicalities of story writing – to condom or not to condom

Practicalities of story writing – to condom or not to condom

To condom or not to condom

Depends on the characters – if they know each other, for instance, and are in a long term relationship. Readers will comment fiercely if the characters just met and didn’t use a condom! But that means the writer has to remember to include it (and the removal of) where necessary and it often breaks the passion of the moment.

To lube or not to lube

 

This is a hard one – similar to going to find a condom, it can break the mood if a character has to go and find lube and limits outdoor sex. Saliva is not enough for anal sex. I generally only get away with it for paranormal or sci-fi stories as if somehow, shifters and aliens have bigger butts or smaller cocks! (I have a sex in the sea with two gay characters in ‘Alien Manhunt 3’ – no lube used at all!)

To say I love you or not

Difficult if they have only just met as it doesn’t seem feasible – I know we are writing fiction but you still have to make it life-like. Particularly hard in the case of short stories – in most of my short stories they already know each other.

  

To have a ‘happily ever after’ or a ‘happily for now’

I talked about this in a recent post and it doesn’t feel right if they have only just met. See further up under ‘To say I love you or not’. Happily for now is just about accepted by erotic romance publishers. If they are just having sex for sex sake that generally falls into the realm of erotica.

To lose clothes or not to lose clothes if shifting

I laugh at this one. If a shifter is in the middle of a fight and needs to shift do they say, “Wait a moment while I take my clothes off”? So if they shift with them on are their clothes ripped, aka, the Incredible Hulk? I’ve gone down the Star Trek route, eg, when they shift they are beamed into molecules. However, when my shifters reappear their clothes fall to the floor! (Although in ‘The Last Werewolf’ it took some practice or they get clothes still stuck to a portion of their body).

To have main characters beginning with same initial or not

I once got terribly confused when reading a menage and both the heroes’ names began with T. I was never sure which one was talking. Similarly, in another story I was reading the hero and his sister had very similar names and it brought me out of the story as I had to think hard which one was which. Therefore I always have the main characters’ names starting with different letters.

To have a mixture of shorter and longer chapters or fairly even

I tend to be OCD about this. As a reader if I read a book that suddenly had a short chapter after reading several longer ones then I think, “Where’s the rest of this chapter?”. Similarly, if I get to a very long chapter after reading several shorter ones then I feel like I am trudging through treacle. Therefore I always try to make them reasonably the same length and that also helps with the pace of the book.

To have sex on the first page or not

Hmm. I have had them have sex at the start, or watching a scene, or reading a sex scene as in my very first book, ‘Just Good Friends’ the hero reads an excerpt of a book his best friend has been reading and is shocked to discover the sorts of books she reads. But generally it is better to build up the sexual tension.

To have passive voice or not

Arrrgh! This one drives me mad. It’s supposed to be bad to have passive voice as it slows down the pace of the story but I like to have my characters reflecting on what has gone on in the past or during their encounters – it’s a way of showing the reader what that character is thinking or feeling. *sigh* I have to limit my reflections!

To have more one sub or more

If you are writing a BDSM book a writer will generally find that the reader wants the Dom to be faithful to the sub – unless it is a menage but even then the Dom needs to be faithful to those in the menage. They don’t always like it if he has casual sex with others.

To have adultery or not

Oooo. Try reading my book ‘Kink After Dinner’. Is she having an affair or not? Comments from readers were along the lines of “No, don’t do it!” J