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Monday, February 8, 2010

All you want to know about...


Let’s Talk About Sex BayBee…

Or let’s not. That song just keeps on running through my head tonight, which is odd, since I haven’t actually heard it in years. But here, let’s all share the joy…



OK, so I’ve got to fess up, I’ve been stunned, amazed and humbled at the response to “An Uncommon Whore.” In fact, it almost made me forget that I had another book come out just within days to that release. (Devil’s Advocate, which I’ll write about later this week.) Anyhow, I decided to give some time to some of the questions and comments about this book.

Yes.
Yes.
Maybe.
No.

All right, enough smart ass stuff. I’ve had some letters, read some discussions and feel the need to talk about the book a little more in depth than I have. There are also a few questions I want to answer.

“Is this your first m/m book? Why did you decide to write in this genre? Are you leaving your other genres behind?”

  • No, actually, this is not my first m/m story. Bad Angels: Falling is for all intents and purposes a m/m romance. It was marketed as a bisexual ménage because it was the prologue to the story of Rion, Rex and Noemi that begins in Bad Angels: Burn and finishes in the upcoming BA: Heaven. We didn’t want readers to expect books 2 and 3 to be m/m.
  • Why did I decide to write m/m? Well, I’m a writer, and at times, I’m subject to my imagination. I write what the story demands. In this case, the romance is clearly between Griffin and Helios. That’s the way life is, romance isn’t just for boys and girls…and boys…and maybe another girl…In truth, I’ve also written f/f (Jimmy the Dog in the Masquerade Anthology) and gender queer and cross dressing. (Draggin’ in Phoenix in the Phoenix Rising anthology) I’ve been fortunate enough to live in a very diverse community and my writing reflects that.
  • I am not leaving anything behind. I really hate to get locked into any single genre. For those of you who didn’t know, I have a sweet western short floating around, and a BDSM novella on the way. Belle Starr has werewolves in space. :)

Was that really the end of the story? Will we read more about Helios and Griffin?
  • That was the end of Helios' narrative. No, it isn’t the end of the story, there’s still a lot to come. It ended there because frankly, politics is boring. What Helios and Griffin are facing at the end of Uncommon Whore is really not the stuff that action stories are made of.
  • Yes, you will read more about Helios and Griffin. Those two are the gift that keeps on giving. Next up is Griffin’s narrative. It begins about a year down the road when the young king is faced with the prospect of a mining run on their planet.

Helios doesn’t seem like king/warrior material.
  • Give him time. He’s been through a lot and is still finding himself.

Is this going to be a series?
  • Yes, there are other books planned. Yes, the series will continue as a m/m series.

Will we ever find out who was behind Helios’ kidnapping? Will he get his revenge?
  • Well, Markus is now enslaved on Warlan, so doesn’t that mean he’s guilty? Hmm? Hmm? (or does it? Mwahahahaha…)
  • Yes, Helios will get his revenge.

What culture did you base this story off of?
  • This was sort of a mish-mosh of ideas from Golden Age Greece, and Sparta with some Roman elements thrown in for fun. Mostly, I started with the Spartan tradition of young soldiers taking their brothers-in-arms as lovers. It was believed that a soldier would fight more bravely if he fought to impress his lover. Also, the Spartans viewed capture or the loss of the shield as horrifically shameful. “It’s better to come home on your shield than to come home without it.” That’s what Spartan mom’s told their sons. My mom just told me to wear clean underwear. That aspect of honor will come up in the next book.
  • The Temple of the Sun was drawn from Apollo, of course.

When will the next book in the series come out?
  • I’m working on it!
To read an extended excerpt of An Uncommon Whore, or to purchase the book, please visit: http://www.loose-id.com/An-Uncommon-Whore.aspx

8 comments:

Honey Bunny said...

Hi Belinda,

I loved this story and I'm glad more books are on the way!

Unknown said...

I really liked it as well. I think Helios' tattoo just renewed my general crush on guys with makeup.

Belinda M. said...

Thanks you guys! And Renae, I have a thing for guyliner; what can I say?

Lise said...

All I can say is I am in AWE at the depth and breadth of your creativity! What ideas! What worlds! What characters! How very cool - and thank you for sharing.

nettagyrl said...

Hi Belinda! I just wanted to say thanks for stopping by my site and leaving a comment! You rock for that. Second, I must get my hands on this book!!! I am a fan of the erotic, m/m, and sci-fi and you've blended all three of them together in what seems to be an awesome story. =D Have a good one.

P.S. See how you've given insite to your writing process for this book? That is what I was ranting about. I love to hear how you as the writer come up with ideas, and putting on a blog, well it makes me appreciate the writer in you more. =D

Belinda M. said...

Lise, you're embarrassing me! Especially since I know how your writing rocks! But thank you anyway. :0

Netta Girl!
Thanks for your comments. Uncommon Whore is an e-book and available at Loose Id. I enjoyed your blog...I'm a fairly new fan to LKH so your post on Twitter caught my eye.

Sometimes I feel that blogs like this are a little self-indulgent, but for every person writing, there's a different method. This helps me put it out there so I look at it myself.

Unknown said...

(some of my comments in here sound kind of grim at the start, but they're just lead ins to positive I swear)

Hello! I just finished reading Uncommon Whore, which is actually the first romance I ever read (nothing against them, I usually just read kids fiction). I was browsing for fun and the summary to it just seemed to intrigue me enough that I went ahead and bought it.

Actually, slavery, prostitution, rape, etc, are all things that made me feel physically ill and very upset for a while, so I'm not exactly sure why I kept reading your book all the way to the end... or why it didn't bother me at all. I actually really really enjoyed this, and definitely gonna give your other stuff a try, especially the f/f.

I really liked Griffin and Helios' dynamic, especially the sex politics stuff you explored in the story. I'm looking forward to the next one, especially if it features Griffin's daughters because they were cute and I wanna see him and Helios be dads.

I wasn't having much luck finding your email, so apologies for the long comment in here. I just wanted to tell you how much I liked this, and how you might have started an interest in romance stories in me.

Belinda M. said...

Hi A, thanks for your post! All comments are welcome,even it they come off a little grim.

Some of the topics in Uncommon Whore are really difficult and harsh, and my goal was to have my characters prevail over these circumstances. It seems to me that rape and slavery are often used as plot points (especially in m/f romance) to the point that they have become a gimmick. I take this very seriously and don't want to lessen the horror that comes from such acts. As a reader, you should feel uncomfortable with these subjects.

In the second book, there is a lot of emotional fallout for all of the characters. To give you an idea of what's going on, Griffin's daughter begins to have nightmares, and Helios' son Alexander tells the men that she'd never had nightmares before. His insight is that now that Helios and Griffin are at home, it's safe for her to have nightmares.

I'm glad you took a chance on my book and enjoyed it! Thanks!