Monday, December 16, 2013

How I became an erotica author, by Katherine Rhodes

Guest Blogger:
Author Katherine Rhodes
So how does a girl who usually bills herself a scifi/fantasy writer end up writing erotic romance? I guess it’s obvious that I had never been much into romance novels. I always found the characters trite, and the female characters disinteresting at best.

It started with "50 Shades of Grey"-- as most of these story do.I was intrigued by the characters enough to get though the first and second book with issues. The third book was a bit drafty for the lack of plot, but I made it through and the best part of the whole book was the last 50 pages or so.
I wondered if there were more books out there that had the same erotic bend to them, but were… better written. More well crafted. Not based on Twilight, since I think that Bella is a vapid bitch. And Anastasia is a clueless dingbat.
I did find some that were interesting– The Bellum Sisters, The Black Dagger Brotherhood, the Kategan Alphas (though Ms. Grey learns how to write with this series). Then I found Sylvia Day’s Crossfire series. My goodness. Yes please and thank you. Along with Ms. Day’s stories came Sylvain Reynard’s “Gabriel’s Inferno” (oddly enough, also based on Twilight, but with a far more relateable -to me- female main character).
Most of these had the women as those who were the submissive. Either literally or figuratively. I am not really a fan of women who can’t care for themselves, who believe they aren’t worth anything without being on the arm of a man, who need a man in their life. Please, make no mistake, I am married. I very much love my husband, but we’re here because we want to be; neither of us need each other as though we were to die without the other. But the women who find their worth in being labeled ‘girlfriend’, ‘fiancee’, ‘wife’ hold no real charm for me.
I am not, to use the parlance, a submissive. At all. Literally or figuratively. So why couldn’t I read about a woman taking the reins? or the whips, as it were?
Why couldn’t I write a story better than EL James? Why couldn’t I make my main character the Domme. I was already good at writing strong females, why not add a little kink to it and subtract the scifi/fantasy aspect?
A good old fashioned erotic BDSM novel.
Club Imperial is set in an unlikely city– Pittsburgh. The story would be lost if I set in New York or LA. San Francisco was just too stereotypical for this. Even Anne Rice uses it. Plus, the lifestyle exists everywhere. Even in the Rust Belt.
Consensual is done. Broken Bonds, the sequel is being edited and hopefully-- soon-- you can find out more about Emmy and Nathaniel.

(a version of this appears on my blog, katherinerhodes.com)

Consensual: A Club Imperial Novel, Book 1

From the moment Nathaniel laid eyes on Emmy Westerly, he wanted her in his life. He would do anything to get her there and keep her there. To his surprise, Nathaniel found himself quickly pulled into Emmy’s dark world of whips and blindfolds, kink and submission. He was intrigued not only by the thrill of it, but by the enigma which led Emmy there as well.
Emmy could not resist Nathaniel Walsh. She couldn’t deny the electricity between them, the utter animal magnetism she felt for him. Emmy was mystified by someone as honest and uncomplicated as Nathaniel allowing her to lead him into the dark. She adored having him at the tip of her lash.
But Emmy had secrets – deep, cruel truths which led her to Club Imperial, and staying with Nathaniel would mean telling him everything. He wasn’t ready for that.
Neither was she.
Broken Bonds


Book 2: A Club Imperial Novel

 After finding Emmy beaten and unconscious, Nathaniel has to enlist the help of his brother Victor and Franz to make sure that Emmy's secret life doesn't make the headlines and interfere with the justice her attack deserves. But when Emmy wakes up, they find out she has absolutely no memory of the attack, causing problems with the investigation...
Recovering from her injuries at North Woods, Nathaniel's sprawling estate, Emmy has too much time to reflect on what's happened so quickly in her life. When a phone call causes her past to crash head-long into her present and old scars are ripped open, she's not sure she can make it through the pain again. She has to let Nathaniel go to protect him from the hell that is her past...
But he's not letting go.


Author Contact

Facebook: www.facebook.com/katherinerhodesauthor
Blog: http://katherinerhodes.com/
Twitter: @Mistress_KayR

Buy Links

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GIVEAWAY!

 It's a BIG ONE celebrating the re-release of Consensual.
There are dozen authors who joined in the fun and have prizes in the giveaway as well!

CLICK HERE:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/a55d1e1/

3 comments:

  1. Loved getting to know more about you, Katherine!
    Great post

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  2. Katherine ~ Consensual is one of the best novels I've read this year and I'm very much looking forward to Broken Bonds. Thanks for telling us a little about yourself and how you came to write Emmy's story

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    Replies
    1. Oh, goodness! Thank you so much! :)

      ~Kay

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