Today we have erotic romance author Elia Winters in the spotlight, chatting about what's in her nightstand (which is by far more interesting than her lack of a desk) and her spicy BDSM release,
Purely Professional. Elia will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Interview
questions for Elia Winters… .
Quick
round:
Coffee, tea
or…what’s your vice?
I’ve
been a tea drinker all my life, but over the last few months I’ve finally
developed a taste for coffee, and it’s a dangerous road. I asked for a Chemex for Christmas and I’m so
excited to try it.
Favorite Movie:
I
have a special place in my heart for Contact. It’s part of why I was an
astronomy minor in college. (Advanced physics is why I didn’t keep an astronomy
major in college.)
Favorite Color:
Pink.
Really. I’ve been in denial about it but it’s true.
Favorite
book/author:
The
Red Tent
by Anita Diamant.
How do you feel
about bacon?
I
love it. There is no food that cannot be improved by the addition of either
bacon or chocolate. Chocolate-covered bacon is the perfect food.
The
REAL questions…
Tell us a little
about yourself.
I’m
a sex-positive feminist geek girl. I love gaming, especially tabletop games,
and my husband and I host Dungeons and Dragons every week for our friends. I
also love animals: we have a cat and a rescued mourning dove (who are never in
the same room together). I can’t imagine my home without animals, although our
Christmas tree would be in better shape if it weren’t for the cat.
What’s under
your bed?
The
fuzzy socks I kick off in the middle of the night. Some people might say “sex
toys,” but those are too valuable to keep under the bed, and instead my entire
nightstand is dedicated to them.
What comes
first, plot or characters?
I
come up with a very broad concept first, then develop characters. The detailed plot
arises from the characters.
Pantser,
plotter, or hybrid? Tell us about your writing process.
I’m
a NaNoWriMo veteran of 14 years, and my writing process has changed quite a
bit. I’m more productive as a plotter, and that’s how I still tend to work.
Sometimes, like last month, my story goes off the rails and turns (for
instance) from a police officer overcoming his social hangups to a doctor
getting involved with an underground boxing circuit, and in those cases I just
pants my way through it and revise it much, much later when I have some
distance.
Oddest thing on
your desk?
The
oddest thing is that I don’t have a desk. I have a laptop and write on the
couch. I’m a teacher, though, and on my desk at work I have a selection of
miniatures including Castiel from Supernatural and the Alien from Alien.
What’s your most
interesting writing quirk?
I
put together a writing playlist and listen to it on repeat the entire time I’m
writing a book. It’s not even usually songs that are related to the book, just
songs I’m digging at the time. For this past November, I spent the whole month
listening to my Appoggiatura
playlist.
What’s your
favorite thing about the genre you write in?
I
love reading and writing hot sex. I’m amazed at how sex can be new every time,
and how even though biologically it’s a limited number of moves, it can be
written so many different ways.
What is the
hardest thing about being an author?
Learning
which feedback to ignore and which to listen to. Also, believing in yourself
enough to pour endless hours of work into something and knowing it will
eventually come together.
What’s the
easiest thing about being an author?
I’m
a little stumped by this question, because none of it ever feels easy. Okay,
some days the writing is easy, but most of the time it feels like putting an
octopus into a snowsuit. However, it’s so rewarding. There’s nothing
like starting with a raw idea and taking it all the way through to a published
novel. That makes everything worth it. So very little of the process is easy,
but all of it is rewarding.
What do you wish
someone had asked you for an interview question?
I
wish someone asked me about my hot-button issues! I’m passionate about feminism
and sex-positivity. I hate woman-on-woman hate, this idea that we’re all in
competition for men, and that we have to hate our guys’ exes and gossip behind
each other’s backs. That stuff needs to stop, in literature and in life.
Support each other. Stop the internalized misogyny. Stop writing bitchy women.
Tell us about
your latest release!
Purely
Professional
started on a lark - I decided to write the BDSM erotic romance that I always
wanted to read. I love reading BDSM, but lifestyle BDSM isn’t my favorite. I
wanted to read about the casual practitioners, those who enjoy their kinky sex
but don’t live as D/s partners all the time. The book grew from that idea. I’m
excited to see people enjoying the book and hope they continue to do so!
~*~
BLURB for Purely Professional
Columnist Bridget Hartwell agrees to write about BDSM to impress
her new executive editor at Sultry, the “sex-positive magazine for sex-positive
women.” Unfortunately, it’s a topic she knows absolutely nothing about…but if
she ever wants that promotion, she’ll need to learn the ropes, fast.
English professor Max Harlow is active in the Dom/sub scene, but
only for casual play—he’s never found his ideal partner: a woman who is his
equal, but sexually submissive. When he’s asked to explain the lifestyle to his
cute but obviously inexperienced neighbor, Max is certain it’s best to approach
it academically—to keep things purely professional.
Until Bridget’s first article is a huge hit, giving her the
perfect excuse to delve deeper into the naturally submissive side of her
sexuality. But as their encounters intensify and each of her boundaries is
skillfully pushed, Bridget must decide what this all means… for her identity,
her career, and, most importantly, her future with Max.
Purely Professional is available from:
and other ebook retailers.
~*~
Excerpt for Purely Professional
“What about your fantasies?”
Bridget hesitated.
“What? What is it?” Catching her
hesitation, Max looked up from the Scrabble board.
“It’s just...” She paused and took a
swig of beer. “I’ve had a lot of crushes on men in positions of power. My
volleyball coach back in high school, my internship coordinator in college, a
few professors...” Realizing he was grinning, she blushed, remembering he was a
professor. “Right. Anyway, I never acted on any of them.”
“And yet you complain that you date
weak men.” He swirled the beer around in his bottle and held it up to the
light, his gaze thoughtful and distant.
“Well, I don’t want some guy to boss
me around.” To hide the discomfort she suddenly felt, Bridget looked down at
the board. She played reach off the H in hinder and fumbled as she chose four
new tiles.
“I think we both know that’s a lie.“
Max said smoothly, and he drank his beer. “I’ll bet you’re just afraid of what
kind of woman you would be if you gave in to those urges.” He rubbed a tile
between a thumb and forefinger, then set it back on his shelf. “I’ve been doing
this a long time, Bridget. You responded today like a natural submissive. You
liked more than just the sex. You liked all of it.”
She set down her beer and looked at
him. “All right.” She tried not to sound defensive. “So what does that mean?”
“It doesn’t have to mean anything.”
Max shrugged. “Maybe this afternoon, I just want to play some Scrabble with you
and order a pizza. But when we’re done with all this experimenting, you’re
going to have a lot to write about.”
~*~
AUTHOR
Bio and Links:
Elia
Winters has always been a New England girl, despite having spent much of her
childhood in Florida. She holds a degree in English Literature and teaches at a
small rural high school where she runs too many extracurricular activities. She
balances her love of the outdoors with a
bottomless well of geekiness.
Elia
dabbles in many genres, but erotic romance has been one of her favorites since
she first began sneaking her mother’s romance novels. In high school, she kept
her friends entertained with a steady stream of naughty stories and somehow
never got caught passing them around. Her erotic fiction and poetry have been
published online at Clean Sheets and Scarlet Letters under a different name.
Elia currently lives in New England with her loving husband and their odd
assortment of pets.
Elia’s
virtual life is as busy as her real life. In addition to her website, http://eliawinters.com/, you can also find
her on:
~*~
Contest Details
Elia will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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