I am delighted to welcome my lovely friend, Janine
Ashbless talking about the challenges of writing the second book in her erotic
romance/ supernatural thriller series.
Writing Book Two
In
2014 my erotic romance/supernatural thriller novel Cover
Him with Darkness was published. It ends with my heroine Milja having freed
the fallen angel Azazel from five thousand years of imprisonment. Not being the
sort to let a grudge lie, he swears (to Milja’s great alarm) to release all two
hundred of his captive brothers from wherever they are hidden around the world,
and lead them in a war against Heaven. THE END.
This
week the second part of The Book of the Watchers is published, and I’m
currently busy writing the third and final volume. The story was conceived as a
trilogy since the beginning, but it’s the first time I’ve written in this way
and it’s been an interesting experience as a writer.
In Bonds of
the Earth
isn’t just about pushing the plot forward; it’s where I start to drill down
into the characters. As a Pantser, it was a voyage of exploration for me as
much as for the readers; as I wrote Book 2 I took everything in Cover
Him With Darkness and pulled it apart, asking “Is this strictly true or
does someone have a hidden agenda?” “Why did they do/say that?” “What is the
backstory to this?” “What is missing here – and why should that be?”
So
for Azazel, the fallen angel, I ask what he was like before he took human form
– what are angels really like when they’re not trying to look like us? How do
they relate to each other? What rules govern their behavior? How are the loyal,
“good” angels different to the fallen, “bad” ones?
For
Milja I wanted to know more about her backstory. In Cover Him With Darkness
she has a close relationship with her father and is devastated when he dies –
but her mother is long dead and she doesn’t mention her. I had to ask myself,
why should that be? In In Bonds of the Earth it becomes
increasingly clear that this is more a case of SHE REALLY DOESN’T WANT TO THINK
ABOUT HER MOTHER, NO WAY, NO HOW. There is something weird going on here, but
as the narrator Milja is hiding it (and all won’t be fully revealed until Book
Three of the trilogy, I’m afraid).
For
wannabe-love-interest Egan Kansky, it’s about secrets. He reveals one – that he
works for the Vatican, and he’s there to recapture Azazel – at the end of Cover
Him With Darkness. He’s got more, both professional and personal. In
fact, Egan is a never-ending pit of secrets; every time Milja thinks she’s got
to know the real him, another floor falls away beneath her feet. They succumb
to temptation whenever they’re together, but then he backs off leaving her
distraught. He loves her, but he’s terrified of letting her close. Oh boy, I
went to some dark, dark places following these clues.
And
Uriel … oh, my favourite loyal archangel … sarcastic, snobby, vain, and
sexually frustrated despite all his high ideals: what the hell is Uriel
planning? Because he’s too smart to be just standing idly by while his enemy
Azazel is running round fomenting a second War in Heaven. Uriel is definitely Up
To Something.
Maybe other authors plot everything out in advance, and never come cross any
surprises as they write. But for me it’s about treating the story as a reality
with its own existence. I’m just the one who asks the right questions, works
out what the truth has to be, and types it up ;-)
xxx
Janine
Thank you, my lovely. Good
luck with your book – sounds fab. Details/blurb/excerpt etc are below.
Would
you defy God, for love?
“Broad
at the shoulders and lean at the hips, six foot-and-then-something of ropey
muscle, he looks like a Spartan god who got lost in a thrift store. He moves
like ink through water. And his eyes, when you get a good look at them, are
silver. Not gray. Silver. You might take their inhuman shine for fancy contact
lenses. You’d be wrong.”
Janine Ashbless is back with the second in her paranormal
erotic romance Book of the Watchers
trilogy: In Bonds of the Earth.
Unafraid to tackle the more complex issues surrounding good
and evil in mainstream religion, Janine has created a thought-provoking and
immersive novel which sets a new standard for paranormal erotic romance. The
first in the series, Cover Him With Darkness, was released in 2014 by
Cleis Press and received outstanding reviews.
In Bonds of the Earth is
published by Sinful Press and is due for release on March 1st, 2017.
Blurb:
“I will free
them all.”
When Milja
Petak released the fallen angel Azazel from five thousand years of
imprisonment, she did it out of love and pity. She found herself in a
passionate sexual relationship beyond her imagining and control – the beloved
plaything of a dark and furious demon who takes what he wants, when he wants,
and submits to no restraint. But what she hasn’t bargained on is being drawn
into his plan to free all his incarcerated brothers and wage a war against the
Powers of Heaven.
As Azazel
drags Milja across the globe in search of his fellow rebel angels, Milja fights
to hold her own in a situation where every decision has dire consequences.
Pursued by the loyal Archangels, she is forced to make alliances with those she
cannot trust: the mysterious Roshana Veisi, who has designs of her own upon
Azazel; and Egan Kansky, special forces agent of the Vatican – the man who once
saved then betrayed her, who loves her, and who will do anything he can to
imprison Azazel for all eternity.
Torn every way
by love, by conflicting loyalties and by her own passions, Milja finds that she
too is changing – and that she must do things she could not previously have
dreamt of in order to save those who matter to her.
In Bonds of the Earth is
the second in the Book of the Watchers trilogy and the sequel to Cover Him
With Darkness.
Excerpt:
I was giving my
long-dreaded presentation on the anniversary footbridge to Misters Ellis,
Singh, Constanzo and Mackenzie…when Azazel walked in.
Oh hell.
“Excuse me, gentlemen,” I said loudly, lurching around from behind
my desk, grabbing Azazel’s arm and spinning him back to face the door. “Not
here, come on, please,” I implored through clenched teeth.
If there was one thing I’d learned by then, it was to not ignore
warning dreams. If I’d paid them more attention from the start, things between
me and Egan might have gone very differently back in Montenegro…
No, better not to think of Egan, not when Azazel was around. One guy
at a time was quite enough to wrap my head around. Especially this guy.
He humored me though, this time, letting me pull him out of the
meeting room and through the open plan office without resistance. We attracted
a lot of stares, but there was nothing I could do about that except hold my
head high.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Out. Anywhere.”
“You’re so impetuous.”
I didn’t need to glance up at his wicked smirk. I could feel it
burning its way into my breast.
Bryce, the beardy guy in my new team who’d shown me the ropes of the
job and seemed just a tiny bit too eager to talk every morning, stood up from
his cubicle to intercept us. “Milja, is everything okay?”
“It’s just fine,” I rasped, towing Azazel faster.
“She’s insatiable,” my demon lover confided with a helpless shrug to
my colleague as we swept past.
Bryce stared, mouth open.
“Goddamnit,” I muttered, and Azazel chuckled.
Sometimes it was hard to remember that he’d risked everything to
save me.
We reached the doors at the end of the room and I pushed through,
past the lobby with the elevators and into the concrete stairwell of the
emergency stairs beyond. The only people who came here were smokers on their
way to the roof, and it looked empty for now. My panicky momentum fizzled away
and I swung to face him.
“What are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” he countered, taking my face in his hands.
“Azazel—” But he cut off my protests with his hungry kiss; a kiss
that lanced through me all the way to my core. I gave up resisting, and
speaking, and almost breathing, as his lust rolled over me in a hot wet wave. I
slid my hands around his neck and tangled my fingers in his messy hair, pulling
myself into his embrace. His body was hard as rock, his hands heavy on my waist
and hips. The yearning for his touch that smoldered in my flesh day and night
woke to a roaring heat.
I’d missed him. His skin, his smile, the peppery scent and salt
taste of him. The sweetness of his lips and the harsh rasp of his stubbled
chin. I’d missed him so much—like an
addict missing her hit.
Author bio:
Janine
Ashbless is a writer of fantasy erotica and steamy romantic adventure. She
likes to write about magic and myth and mystery, dangerous power dynamics,
borderline terror, and the not-quite-human.
Janine
has been seeing her books in print ever since 2000. She's also had numerous
short stories published by Black Lace, Nexus, Cleis Press, Ravenous Romance,
Harlequin Spice, Storm Moon, Xcite, Mischief Books, and Ellora's Cave among
others. She is co-editor of the nerd erotica anthology 'Geek Love'.
Born
in Wales, Janine now lives in the North of England with her husband and two
rescued greyhounds. She has worked as a cleaner, library assistant, computer
programmer, local government tree officer, and - for five years of muddy feet
and shouting - as a full-time costumed Viking. Janine loves goatee beards, ancient
ruins, minotaurs, trees, mummies, having her cake and eating it, and holidaying in countries with really bad public
sewerage.
Her
work has been described as:
"Hardcore
and literate" (Madeline Moore) and "Vivid and tempestuous and
dangerous, and bursting with sacrifice, death and love." (Portia Da Costa
Links:
Ebook:
Print:
In Bonds of the Earth will be
available from all major online bookstores in both digital and print. Please
contact Lisa Jenkins at admin@sinfulpress.co.uk
for any further information.
