We have come to an end of the April author interview session with question number seven. Romance and Erotica books have a huge number of fans all over the world. What do you think they want to achieve through their writings? Money, fame or pure fun? What do they hope to achieve through your writing journey? What’s their message to readers? Why must readers give their book a try? We have asked this question to all 7 authors as their stories are capable of shaping the mind of young readers. It’s time to know what all SEVEN Romance & Erotica authors think about this. A couple of days earlier, we revealed the answers for Question #6“Can you shape the thoughts of readers?” For those of you reading this post and not knowing what’s going on, we interviewed Romance and Erotica authors last month. You can click on the authors’ names below to learn about them more.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank all seven authors who took part in this author interview!

This month, we are interviewing Young Adult authors and if you have any questions for them, please send in your question via this link. It will take less than 5 minutes. I promise! 🙂 

Here is the answer to the 6th question: “What do you hope to achieve through your writing journey? What’s your message to your readers? Why must they give your book a try?” 

1) Author #1 Anne Conley

My books, for the most part, are about real life, real situations, and real people overcoming adversity and finding love in the process.  As for what I hope to achieve, that is two-fold.  I would like to make a living with my writing, which is the only career path I’ve ever travelled that I actually enjoy.  So, making a living doing what I love is a definite priority, but I also want readers to know they aren’t alone on their journey through life.  Other people have problems too, even if my characters are fictional, there are ways to deal with situations.

2) Author #2: Marie Lavender

I think what I hope for is that I can touch readers through a good story.  There’s always that hope that they will take something away from what they have read, either through the characters or a location in the story.  But, mostly, I just hope to give readers an escape, a brief respite from the stressors of life.  What more can you ask for with a good book?  I believe the literary world can be limitless. A book is a portal into another universe.

3) Author #3: Emily Eck

As I said before, my current series deals with the plight of undocumented youth in the United States. I have another book in my head that I want to write next, and it deals with a woman with a severe stuttering problem. This book is a work of pure fiction, but I’m a stutterer. As the book has formulated in my head, I’ve found myself becoming emotionally attached to it. It is the same way with my current series with Elle and J, I’ve grown attached to them as characters.. I am a passionate person. It drips from my pores, so it flows into my books. I can’t help but be passionate about the topics my books address. 

Romance and Erotica books have a huge number of fans all over the world. As an author, do you think your stories have positive influence on your readers? We have asked this question to all 7 authors as their stories are capable of shaping the mind of young readers. It’s time to know what all SEVEN Romance & Erotica authors think about this. A couple of days earlier, we revealed the answers for Question #5 “Violence in Your story, YAY or NAY?”For those of you reading this post and not knowing what’s going on, we interviewed Romance and Erotica authors last month. You can click on the authors’ names below to learn about them more.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank all seven authors who took part in this author interview!

This month, we are interviewing Young Adult authors and if you have any questions for them, please send in your question via this link. It will take less than 5 minutes. I promise! 🙂 

Here is the answer to the 6th question: “Do you believe that Romance can shape the thoughts of the younger generation through their stories? Can they successfully convey their message to readers?”

1) Author #1 Anne Conley

Absolutely!  Romance is about life and love, overcoming hardships, dealing with conflicts and communicating with others.  Those are all ways authors can help shape thoughts of readers, by showing ways to do all those things, and the consequences.  Stories have been used to shape thoughts for EVER.  Beowulf was an oral tale that spoke of taking care of responsibilities, and later when it was written down, included aspects of Christianity.  Julius Caesar was a thinly disguised political protest.   

2) Author #2: Marie Lavender

I do believe that romance can be influential.  It had an enormous impact on me growing up.  I always loved romance stories.  I think what we see shapes how we view the world.  For example, I grew up in a close-knit family and I saw the romance between my mother and father every day.  I knew that was real love.  Obviously, there are children that don’t have the same thing in their lives so turning to books that show that isn’t a bad idea.  Seeing that ideal of romantic love can help a young woman or man believe that that kind of love is possible, maybe even look for it in their own lives.  Real life isn’t simple.  It is challenging.  But, I did find true love and I believe anyone can.  Everyone deserves to find happiness.

3) Author #3: Emily Eck

I’ve heard talk of Amazon not wanting to sell erotica because young readers may be able to access it. I work with youth and sadly, few read. If a young person takes the time to either buy an Amazon gift card, score a credit card, log onto Amazon (or any other e-book retailer), then find a means to download the material, either onto their computer, phone, e-reader,etc–hell, at that point I say let them read it. Honestly, most kids won’t go to all that trouble. I’d rather have them reading books about sex than watching it on TV. In the United States, there are many adults with low literacy levels. I think we need to encourage our youth to read. Read anything! Comic books, manga, the cereal box, and if they really take the time to get it, let them read 50 Shades. At least they would be reading. 

4) Author #4: AJ Summer

Love is the best feeling you’ll ever experience, be it in real life or with your favorite fictional character. Write the right book and people will fall in love with your words. If you can strengthen their belief in love and romance I’d say that’s a job well done. So yes, books can definitely convey that message. 

5) Author #5: Lucien Bane

My books are not appropriate for anyone under 18, but I believe romance books in general do shape the thoughts of readers, which is why as a writer, I take great care about what thoughts I give. I want to make sure the shaping is realistic and free enough for the reader to not feel what they are reading is a required formula, but just a possible pattern. I want to teach them that their lives are their lives, and my pattern will never match theirs. But what I can do is show them how to find their formula and attain it.  

6) Author #6: Annie Edmonds

I think the younger generation that’s reading erotic romance already has an idea of what sex is about. The next generation by the age of 25 has already had more sex than I ever did by the time I got to that age. And I’m not sayin it’s wrong either. I’m saying most of the next generation can teach me and people my age a few things about letting their inhibitions go. 

As for relationships that’s where they need help. I know a few younger men and women in their twenties.  These kids as I call them are always breaking up with their boyfriends and girlfriends. For some reason they just can’t keep it together. The jealousy they have if someone looks at another person is nuts.

I think not talking to each other and using text messages and e-mails has a lot to do with how these young people communicate and don’t.  

7) author #7: Larae Parry

I believe just about anything can shape the thoughts of the younger generation. That’s why romances have subcategories, like chic-flic, comedy, erotica, etc.,

Good writers are always able to convey their message to readers—that’s a lot of power—it’s scary when you think about it.

Question #7 is “What do you hope to achieve through your writing journey? What’s your message to your readers? Why must they give your book a try?”

What do you think these authors’s will be? Watch out for the next post !

Signing out,

Jasveena

Founder of IBP

http://www.internationalbookpromotion.yolasite.com

Have you ever read a Romance or an Erotica book with violence being a part of the story? What do you personally feel? YAY or NAY? We have asked this question to all 7 authors as their stories are capable of shaping the mind of young readers. It’s time to know what all SEVEN Romance & Erotica authors think about this. Yesterday, we revealed the answers for Question #4 “If you write sex scenes, do you write it because you feel it is important to the story, or because you think you need one to sell the book?“ For those of you reading this post and not knowing what’s going on, we interviewed Romance and Erotica authors last month. You can click on the authors’ names below to learn about them more.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank all seven authors who took part in this author interview!

This month, we are interviewing Young Adult authors and if you have any questions for them, please send in your question via this link. It will take less than 5 minutes. I promise! 🙂 

Here is the answer to the 5th question: “Have you ever incorporate violence in your story? What do you think of stories exhibiting male dominance? How detrimental is the effect of it to readers?”

1) Author #1 Anne Conley

Sometimes violence is a great plot device to add conflict and suspense to a story, however it can be overdone, and I try to be careful about that.  I enjoy reading books with strong, dominant males, but have a hard time writing them.  To read a book with that sort of character, they need to be damaged somehow, have some sort of weakness to redeem by the end of the story. I don’t know the effect it would have on readers, generally, but I don’t enjoy reading about assholes who get the girl by being an asshole.

2) Author #2: Marie Lavender

That is a good question.  Truthfully, I abhor violence at all, but I know life is full of it.  I think that a violent hero might be necessary in certain situations, like in war or in the midst of protecting someone.  But, violence toward women or children is simply inexcusable.  It makes me really think back to the bodice rippers of the 60s or 70s because a lot of those tended to have male dominance.  I personally dealt with this issue in one of my own past relationships so it really hits home for me.  I think that it’s not necessary to have that kind of male dominance.  A real romance is a relationship between two people that have mutual respect for each other.  Having an arrogant character is one thing.  But, violence?  No, that’s not acceptable.  I can’t even stomach BDSM scenarios in erotica. Have I written about sensitive topics before?  Of course.  Because it’s out there, and it happens.  But, it doesn’t mean I want to show that it’s okay either.  The violence that happens in my books is done by other characters, by villains.  A hero should have some redeeming qualities even if he is a little dark, and he should certainly know how to treat a woman.

3) Author #3: Emily Eck

 There is violence in my books. As per questions three, my heroine is rather dominant. I know there are many alpha male books out there, and women eat them up. I think as a woman, it’s wired into our brains from prehistoric days to want a man to take care of us. In this day and age, women no longer need to be physically taken care of. What we are often looking for is a man to take care of us emotionally.  Sure, you have stories where women get kidnapped, are victims of violence, or other heinous acts to which the hero saves her from, essentially being her physical caretaker. To many women, I think this speaks to those prehistoric desires to have a man ready to lay his life on the line for his woman’s protection. Either way, in the romance genre, a weak hero is not going to sell. So a dominant male is commonplace. I personally do not care for weak heroines, though there are women out their who do. I have nothing against them, the books, they read, or their preference. To each their own. I know there are people who disliked my heroine’s aggressive nature. That’s fine. We are all different.

The sexual slavery theme seems to be all the rage. I personally cannot read it. I find it gives me nightmares. There may be a happy ending in the story for those fictional women, but I can’t read it long enough to get there. It makes my stomach roll. That being said, I don’t have issue with others who read this material. In the United States, we are more or less free to read what we please. I would never want to take the right away from someone. Unfortunately, in real life, sexual slavery is real, and there is no happily ever after for those women. 

4) Author #4: AJ Summer

Yes, I have violence in my stories. But just like with everything else that comes their way, my characters survive. They grow through it and come out stronger. 
How the reader experience this all depends on their own situation.
As for male dominance, if you aren’t into that type of read, then don’t read the book. I do believe the author should warn potential readers about it beforehand. 

5) Author #5: Lucien Bane

I like to demonstrate the right and wrong dominance in the Dom Wars Series. It’s important to strike that distinction in the mind of readers, it’s what they’re all wondering about. They’ve seen the wrong way glorified when in reality, there is nothing glorious about it. Show them the good dominance and the good pain, and they are able to choose what they want and not get fooled into the other.  

6) Author #6: Annie Edmonds

Yes I incorporate violence in my stories. And male dominance is prevalent in a book with BDSM. But there are men who will step over the line of Dominance and those are the men that are evil. 

They take advantage and use women for their own sick sexual pleasure. I write this kind of story because women should be aware of who they are submitting to before they decide to be submissive to any male. 

Trust is important in any relationship. But when that relationship involves kink or BDSM it’s even more important. And trust doesn’t happen over night. It takes time. 

This is something that I’ve learned a great deal about from the FetLife.com  community. Don’t go and meet a so called Dom who you’ve only spoken to over the phone or internet. 

To think he is going to be Christian Grey from Fifty shades or a Jake Monroe, or Mike Sloan from my books would be a huge mistake in real life.  

7) author #7: Larae Parry

Wow . . . this is deep. Yes. I incorporated violence in my story (The Danish Pastry). But, I swear Troy, the antagonist, wanted to do it.

I don’t think much about stories exhibiting male dominance—domination comes in all forms. For good fiction, the story must have conflict and tension—it doesn’t matter where or who it comes from.

I don’t know how detrimental the effect of male domination has on readers. I hope my readers realize they are reading fiction. Gulp.

Question #6 is “Do you believe that Romance can shape the thoughts of the younger generation through their stories? Can they successfully convey their message to readers?”

What do you think these authors’s will be? Watch out for the next post !

Signing out,

Jasveena

Founder of IBP

http://www.internationalbookpromotion.yolasite.com

So, what do you think? Can sex sell a book? Is Fifty Shades of Gray a good example to look at? It’s time to know what all SEVEN Romance & Erotica authors think about this. Yesterday, we revealed the answers for Question #3 “Who is more powerful in your story? The hero or heroine?“ For those of you reading this post and not knowing what’s going on, we interviewed Romance and Erotica authors last month. You can click on the authors’ names below to learn about them more.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank all seven authors who took part in this author interview!

This month, we are interviewing Young Adult authors and if you have any questions for them, please send in your question via this link. It will take less than 5 minutes. I promise! 🙂 

Here is the answer to the 4th question: “If you write sex scenes, do you write it because you feel it is important to the story, or because you think you need one to sell the book?”

1) Author #1 Anne Conley

Haha!  A lot of my sex scenes I write into the story because it’s the natural progression of the arc of the type of romances I write.  Other times, I’m writing about a topic that’s close to my heart, and I write the sex to cheer myself up.  Falling for Him was about a marriage that needed help, and that one was incredibly close to me, and ended up being pretty erotic…

2) Author #2: Marie Lavender

No, I never write to “sell” it.  I write a love scene if I feel it is necessary for the story or characters.  I have also written books with little or no details regarding sex.  I think it completely depends on what the book is about and who the characters are.

3) Author #3: Emily Eck

A little of both. I like to read sex, so I like to write sex. In the romance genre, depending on your target audience, you may need the sex to sell the book. I feel like I keep coming back to this idea that each person likes different things. My mother read my books and said in regards to the sex scenes, “Maybe you could have left more to the imagination.” That was her opinion. I told her to go back to her biographies of Holocaust survivors. (She loves those!) For my story, the first book is laden with sex as that is when the hero and heroine fall in love. In book two, there is very little sex, as that was not the focus of the story line. I think it all depends on the story, the author, and the reader. 

4) Author #4: AJ Summer

I struggle incorporating sex into my books. I always think of my Mom reading it. I don’t plan sex scenes but if it happens, I just go with it. 

5) Author #5: Lucien Bane

For me, sex is the deepest language of love. My book would be an empty shell without it, because when I have sex with the woman I love, my entire universe is speaking and expressing itself. It’s very three dimensional for me and no erotic story of mine could ever exist without that language.  

6) Author #6: Annie Edmonds

I chose to write erotic romance and that involves sex scenes. To sell books the story has to be good. Or It doesn’t matter how much sex you put into your books.

 And the sex has to be real.  Sure I go a little overboard with how much sex Sammy and Jake had in Second Chances. But it’s fiction. And the way I look at it is it sure would be fun to try and have all that sex. 

When I read an erotic romance I can’t wait for the sex scenes. So what I tried to do is put a sex scene in every chapter. And may I add that it wasn’t easy. 

7) author #7: Larae Parry

I don’t write sex scenes. I have some wonderful author friends who take care of that department extremely well. I’m just happy when my characters kiss.

Question #5 is “Have you ever incorporated violence in your story? What do you think of stories exhibiting male dominance? How detrimental is the effect of it to readers?”

What do you think these authors’s will be? Watch out for the next post !

Signing out,

Jasveena

Founder of IBP

http://www.internationalbookpromotion.yolasite.com

It’s time to reveal the answers for the next question from all SEVEN Romance & Erotica authors. Yesterday, we revealed the answers for Question #2 “Do you have a specific goal to achieve through your stories or is your story just for pure fun?“ For those of you reading this post and not knowing what’s going on, we interviewed Romance and Erotica authors last month. You can click on the authors’ names below to learn about them more.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank all seven authors who took part in this author interview!

This month, we are interviewing Young Adult authors and if you have any questions for them, please send in your question via this link. It will take less than 5 minutes. I promise! 🙂 

Here is the answer to the THIRD question: “Who is more powerful in your story? The hero or heroine?”

1) Author #1 Anne Conley

It depends on which story you read, honestly.  It could be either one, or both. 

2) Author #2: Marie Lavender

A lot of the time, the hero is powerful. But, I don’t want my female characters to be powerless either.  I always try to make them strong and capable in a lot of different ways.

3) Author #3: Emily Eck

I see power as being something that is easily corrupted. Neither character in my series has power, per se. Their love for one another is powerful, and their actions are often driven by this love. The heroine is quite strong willed. There are lines I’ve read in books that stick in my head. I’ll save you and not quote Twilight, but there are a handful of lines from those books that were so powerful they are burned into my brain. There is one line I wrote about my heroine that stands out to me, and makes me pat my own back. Chaos is happening and the heroine takes charge. The man who is supposed to be in charge says to the hero of our story, “You need to handle your woman.” He isn’t happy that a woman is taking charge of the situation. The hero’s response to him is “You don’t handle Elle. Elle handles you.” Elle is our heroine, of course. Her strength is what draws J, our hero, to her.

J is a strong man, who can be aggressive when the situation calls for it. His love for Elle is more powerful than any single person in the book, though. It brings him to his knees various times throughout the story. 

4) Author #4: AJ Summer

Both. You have to have a strong hero, but I don’t believe in helpless heroines either. They have to compliment each other.

5) Author #5: Lucien Bane

 I would definitely say Tara. She had me by the balls the moment I met her.

6) Author #6: Annie Edmonds

This is tricky. Because my stories seem to start out with the Hero as the strong and powerful. Then somewhere they lose a little footing as they try and figure out how to make things right again. Ultimately in the end good always wins over evil. And the love shines through.

Now the heroine’s in my books are evil and especially in the book I’m writing now. Master Mike’s story has a guy named Tyler Bishop. He’s a spoiled rotten evil man. Tyler can’t handle women with strong personalities. He gets off on breaking them down. 

7) author #7: Larae Parry

Will I get in trouble if I say “both?” The Danish princess is powerful, but so is the Dax, the playboy.

Question #4 is “If you write sex scenes, do you write it because you feel it is important to the story, or because you think you need one to sell the book?”

What do you think these authors’s will be? Watch out for the next post !

Signing out,

Jasveena

Founder of IBP

http://www.internationalbookpromotion.yolasite.com

Last week Saturday, we have posted the April author interview answer #1. It’s time to reveal the second answer today! For those of you reading this post and not knowing what’s going on, we interviewed Romance and Erotica authors last month. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all seven authors who took part in this author interview!

Here is the answer to the second question: Do you have a specific goal to achieve through your stories or is your story just for pure fun? (For instance: to promote certain moral values or love via your story)

1) Author #1 Anne Conley

Some of my stories, I do.  Some, I don’t.  I try not to preach, because I don’t want to alienate readers.  I think everyone has opinions, and sometimes my own outlook will shine through in certain parts of my books.  Other times, I educate readers through the story, if I can.  For example, Hot Mess was an attempt to attack the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS, as the main female character is HIV positive.  But I tried to round it out with a hot firefighter.

2) Author #2: Marie Lavender

When an idea first comes to me, it is just a seed.  I would say I do it for the pleasure of writing.  If moral values come out of the story, that is great.  For example, with my recent release, Upon Your Honor, I found that when I was almost done writing the manuscript that Chloe’s motivation really came out and she became a more three-dimensional character.  You could see her moral struggles throughout the book, but I certainly didn’t plan for that to happen.

3) Author #3: Emily Eck

I started out just writing a story, but it spiraled from there. I am writing the a book in series that will conclude one set of characters’ story. I never planned for the book to have a “lesson” but I recently received this in a review. 

“This is a series that I probably wouldn’t have read but I am so glad that I have it has opened my eyes and helped me to understand people who I may very well have simply judged in the past, if a book can help us understand others and helps to make us more tolerant of differences then it is doing a wonderful job and if in doing this we are being swept up and entertained then the author has indeed earned the right to be called a writer.” 

I didn’t set out to write about undocumented youth in the United States, but as the story came out of my fingers, pieces of my life were woven into it. This is a piece of my life. In the end, I was elated to share the struggles of a population that is essentially silenced out of fear. They have a story to tell, and I was honored to tell it. At the same time, the series is not about politics. It’s a fictional story with an adult and teenage romance running in tandem. Although fiction, I write things that really could happen, and sometimes things that really have happened. This is the world we live in, so you are bound to get some sensitive issues when you are dealing with reality. 

4) Author #4: AJ Summer

I hope to inspire. My characters go through hardships just like any of us, but they pull through. Never give up. Life is hard, but we are made of tough stuff, so we pull through!

5) Author #5: Lucien Bane

I do have a goal that stemmed from the sudden uptick of poor portrayals of true Doms. A lot of people are confused about the entire lifestyle and what’s currently out there in fiction form is rather frightening. I’m just offering my definition of it for a more complete picture.

6) Author #6: Annie Edmonds

 I don’t think I have specific goals in mind when I start the books.  But I do have strong female characters.  I think that comes from having a strong mom, two strong sisters. Most of the women in my circle all strong women. 

And I have always been surrounded by strong male figures.  I have always known that with one phone call I would be alright. My dad, and brothers which include my brothers in law.  And my husband. I have great strong men in my life. All with Character of steel.

And I use their qualities for the characters in my books. Yes the moral values and love that I have always been surrounded with shine through in my stories. 

7) author #7: Larae Parry

My fictional stories are for fun. I don’t want to preach to anyone, and I don’t want to be preached to. Just fun, fun, fun for my characters and me—although some of my characters do naughty things that I hadn’t planned on—it’s still fun. I love it when that happens.

Question #3 is “Who is more powerful in your story? The hero or heroine?”

What do you think these authors’s will be? Watch out for the next post !

Signing out,

Jasveena

Founder of IBP

http://www.internationalbookpromotion.yolasite.com

Hello everyone! So, it is time to reveal the answers for our April author interview session. We interviewed Romance and Erotica authors last month. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all seven authors who took part in this author interview!

Here is the answer to the first question: Do you plan the characters in your story? Do you believe that strong characters should resemble real-life people?

1) Author #1 Anne Conley

Absolutely.  The one book I wrote freely, with no planning, was a disaster.  J  I feel like characters should resemble real life people that readers can relate to, so I write my own stories with that in mind, giving characters real problems.  Most of my characters are in their thirties and forties, with real jobs.  I’ve never really spent much time with CEOs or billionaires, so I don’t write about them.

2) Author #2: Marie Lavender

Most of my story ideas come to me in the form of dialogue or full scenes so I wouldn’t say the characters are exactly planned.  Their personalities do come out in the writing of the book or story.  I do a major character work-up when I am more focused on the project; when I do that, I try to figure out the character’s secrets or how they would react to certain situations as well as their background.  I do believe that characters should be complex and as close to real people as we can make them.  I don’t usually base them on anyone in my life, but I do want readers to relate to them.

3) Author #3: Emily Eck

Most of my characters are based on someone in my life, or a mash-up of people. When I am coming up with a side character, I draw on people I have met. If I need an aggressive person, I will go through my mental Rolodex of people I’ve met to pull traits for that character. If I need someone more passive, I do the same. 

My primary characters tend to be based more so on a single person, although sometimes a side character demands to be heard and ends up in a more visible role in the story. When this happens, they tend to already have developed their personality in my mind and are easy to write. 

In regards to if strong characters should resemble real-life people, I think it’s to each their own. There are so many different books out there, so many different story lines, that I feel it is unfair to make hard and fast rules about characterization. We all like different things. I can give a book 5 stars, and someone else gives it 1 star. Who am I to say what someone else should read or like? I think the diversity of books available represents the diversity of the world we live in. 

4) Author #4: AJ Summer

No – they kind of just happen as I write. I do use some of the quirks and oddities of real people I know to make my characters seem more real.

5) Author #5: Lucien Bane

The characters in Dom Wars are a fictional form of my life.

6) Author #6: Annie Edmonds

 I do believe the strong characters should resemble real-life people. I plan the hero or main characters in my books but as I write and the story evolves the character’s come alive. 

You will see their flaws, their fears. Why they are who they are. Sometimes or most time I surprise myself as to how the story unfolds. 

7) author #7: Larae Parry

Um, that’s two questions, but I’ll answer both truthfully and honestly.   Yes. I plan the characters in my stories. Sometimes, however, some characters just show up and I have to make room for them. I love it when characters pop in.

I believe all characters, whether strong or not should be realistic—not cardboard. Even the strongest character has flaws. Even the weakest character has strengths. For readers to be able to connect, all characters must emit some kind of quality—even if it isn’t written outright, but implied instead. As writers, we need to ask ourselves, “Why should the reader care?”

Question #2 is “Do you have a specific goal to achieve through your stories or is your story just for pure fun?”

What do you think these authors’s will be? Watch out for the next post !

Signing out,

Jasveena

Founder of IBP

http://www.internationalbookpromotion.yolasite.com