"Tagged" by Rollin Hand

I was recently "Tagged" by Rollin Hand, and I'm flattered and grateful for all the help he has offered.  

What am I working on?    

At any given time, I have a variety of projects under way.   At present there are five mainstream novels, one mainstream non-fiction book, and a sequel to KATY IN CONTROL that will probably be titled KATY IN TRANSITION.   If all goes as planned, Katy will be called upon to deal with her professional career, the legal plight of her dear friend Maria, a baby on the way, and a husband who needs to be kept strictly in hand.  

How does my work differ from others in the genre? 

I have done M/f, but I enjoy writing F/m.   Oh, I know that's contrary to the current flood of work by and about young ladies desperately wanting to be dominated and/or spanked, but I look at all those ads from Dominatrices all over the world on sites like MaxFisch.com, and I know that many, many men are searching for a strong, dominant woman to take them in hand.  My books are romantic.   I stunned the world of erotic books  with MY DARLING DOMINATRIX, when the two lead characters got married!   What a concept, huh?   I enjoy creating love scenes as much as disciplines, and exploring relationships in a plausible, real world arena.   If I'm successful, the result is a story.   In the case of KATY IN CONTROL, the story requires a second book to be told completely.   I ran out of pages with too many questions left unanswered. 

Why do I write what I do?

A lot of people are asking that question at the moment, and there's no easy answer.   I enjoy the genre, and have been very successful.   I don't sit down with the intention of writing erotica at the beginning, but the stories come to me and I love the big, bold sensations of formal disciplines as an insight into human behavior.   I love to create scenarios where common folks find BDSM, try it, and find it enhances their lives and relationships.   Is that wishful thinking?   Well, yes, in my case, but I am very aware of a great number of people who have successfully incorporated kink into their life styles, and I love to celebrate that accomplishment!   And yes, I try to touch upon social topics in my books.   Nothing preachy, but I like to encourage people to be respectful of other people.  I worry about the state of America and the world, and sometimes I have to say something about it.   At the same time, I realize that I am creating entertainment, and if a person chooses to sit down and read my book, they are forsaking all the other entertainment that's available to them today.   My books had better be good!

What is my writing process?

I write at my desk, usually with smooth jazz playing softly in the background.   Keiko Matsui's music is wonderful for writing, (and everything else!), and I listen to a lot of Jeff Golub, Brian Hughes, Bob James, Drew Davidsen, Chuck Loeb, and Grady Nichols.  I like soft folk too, Simon & Garfunkel or Peter, Paul & Mary.   I usually have a cup of coffee on the desk.   The stories come from who-knows-where, and they evolve as I am writing them.   I jot down a lot of notes, sometimes even in the middle of the night, and I think the sticky note is one of America's great inventions!    I write chapters, not always in order, but as an outpouring of what's affecting me at the moment.   I have a story structure that goes from start to finish, but one day I can focus on this chapter, and the next day another facet of the story needs to be explored because my head is in that space right now.   I become very wrapped up in my characters, and sometimes laugh or cry as I describe their adventures.   Then, one day, the story is told and I have to say farewell and ship it off to be published, and when it is done I can't go back and have any influence any more.  The book comes out and I try to read it as a story, and I discover a misspelled word!   How do they sneak through the process?  

I hope these comments give a little better insight into where my stories come from.   It really is a mysterious process.   I've just stumbled upon Erica Jong's description of the "silence and despair of a writer's life."   So true!   Now I am going to test my knowledge of Facebook, or lack of it, and try to "tag" Ms. Cara Bristol.