I’m delighted to have Jennifer Denys on my blog today with her new book, Retraining the Dom.
Read on for a fascinating interview with Jennifer, and an intriguing excerpt from the book :).
Welcome, Jennifer. Here we go with the questions :).
How did you get started writing?
I had tried writing romances in the past but always got bored writing them so it was the advent of ebooks and novellas that I finally came into my own.
What was the best piece of writing advice you received?
I’ve had tons of excellent advice from my editors. I realised when I received my first edits back that I had made all the new author mistakes like head hopping. I can’t pull out one piece of advice. My writing experience has been a huge, exciting learning curve.
What do you think makes good BDSM erotica?
A hero that you want to be your Dom, a heroine that you want to step into her shoes as she gives up control to her Dom, interesting BDSM equipment, eg, authors not writing the same scenes every time, and some great sex scenes (even better if they include bondage!)
Where do you get your ideas and your characters from?
Ideas can come to me as I am shopping, taking the train home, laying in the bath. There is no rhyme or reason to the ideas. As for characters I start off with basic characterisations determined by the plot but they flesh themselves out as I write – sometimes in ways I don’t want them to go! Ann in ‘Retraining the Sub’ was much brattier than I intended her to be!
Who would play Trey and Olivia in the film of the book, and why?
I can answer this easily as I was just thinking this through the other day in readiness for a book release event on Facebook this Sunday.
Trey would be Ray Stevenson because I want someone in his forties who is rugged and hard, and Olivia would be Lucy Lawless (but dark haired like she was in Xena) – a beautiful older woman, tall and voluptuous.
Did you find it difficult to write both the Dom and the sub side of the story? Where there any challenges?
Oh yes. I put myself into the shoes of any heroine I read or write so I find it difficult to know what motivates the heroes, eg, the men. Similarly with Doms and subs, as I find it much easier to understand the sub mentality.
What do you think makes a good sex scene?
Everyone is probably going to answer this differently. As a reader, I love scenes where the woman is taken from behind, and even better if anal sex is involved. I like the frisson of submission that comes with those positions. A hero that cares about the heroine – so where he thinks of her pleasure, her comfort, her well being. And intimacy, a scene where the hero cuddles the heroine from behind, enfolding her in his arms can be as arousing to me as penetration.
Do you have any advice for new writers of BDSM erotica?
Don’t take reviews too seriously. You can’t please everyone. Take great delight in the good reviews because those people are your fans.
Do you have a writing routine? Do you need absolute quiet to write or background music/noise?
No routine and anything goes. Well, that and a supply of chocolate close by.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block and if so, how do you get over it?
I haven’t so much as suffered from writers block as I have no problems coming up with ideas. But I have suffered from lack of energy and motivation and have to pace myself. There is no easy solution.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Plotter – but once the basic plot is there I like the freedom of letting it flow from my pen.
What do you like most about being a writer?
The excitement that comes as you are writing and a story is created in front of you, almost as if by magic.
What do you do when you’re not writing?
I have a multitude of hobbies including genealogy, gardening, history, films, TV, hiking….
Out of all your books, do you think you could pick a favourite and why?
My favourite book is ‘Friendly Seduction’ in which the hero, who is a sci fi writer, is told by his editor to add more sex to his stories and so he enlists the help of the heroine who tells him what works and what doesn’t in erotic romances, like the fact that the hero must always be handsome and hunky and can never be the man who cleans out the sewer! I had great fun taking the mickey out of my own genre.
What’s next for you?
I have just about finished plotting the second in The Haunt of the Wolves series, title still to be determined. This story follows the fortunes of Evie and Stefan who we met in the first in the series, ‘Collared by Wolves’. I also have a story running around in my head for a fantasy story involving lion-men, mermaids and spirits that wants to be written… and several others I’ve got as far as a first chapter or plotting them but there just isn’t the time!!
Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Liv.
You’re welcome :). Now we have, of course, got the excerpt I promised you, and those all important buying links :).
Blurb:
Club Allure has a retraining program for Doms, and Trey must go on it. However, he is much too strong a Dom to let anyone else order him around. The owner of the club comes up with the idea of asking an older and extremely experienced Domme to retrain Trey, and try to understand his hidden past.
Unlike the Dom, Olivia sticks to the rules, and is also very imposing physically. What no one knows is that Olivia is a sub at heart, but through circumstances became a Domme. She has to try to stop Trey topping her, but he is everything she ever wanted in a Dom and a man, except too many years have passed.
Meanwhile, Trey finds himself having fun with a woman for the first time ever and gradually recognizes the sub in Olivia. But when Dom challenges Domme, who will win?
Buying Links:
Evernight – with another tense excerpt!
Excerpt:
The sound of a voice penetrated his daydream. It was Olivia repeating her question. “Sorry.” Sean explained further at her questioning look. “Didn’t you hear about the incident the other night?” Olivia shook her head. “Trey totally lost it. He was punishing his sub and went hell for leather at her, swearing, calling her all sorts of names. We had to pull him off before he did permanent physical damage.”
“Ker-rist!” Olivia was clearly shocked. She rarely swore, and then only when she was riled.
“Respect works both ways. Yes, a sub has to respect her Dom, but he has to return it. That’s the problem with Trey. He doesn’t care about his subs, neither their physical well-being nor their emotional.”
“Good luck telling him this.” Olivia’s misgiving was obvious.
Sean harrumphed and shifted in his seat trying to ease the tension in his shoulders.
Olivia frowned. “What are the options if he doesn’t go through with the Program?” She answered her own question. “I guess he has to leave, and that will affect his reputation in the community, so no-one will want to sub with him again, if another club will let him in, that is.”
Shrugging in response, Sean turned to glance at the object of their discussion, who was having a debate with one of the Club’s Monitors tasked with keeping an eye on the recalcitrant Dom that evening. Sean sighed.
“That’s the crux of it. He could advertise for a sub, but chances are any reputable sites won’t take his advert. Of course, there are the less-than-desirable sites. I worry that he’ll take a sub on privately and get carried away with no-one around to stop him. At least here we can keep an eye on him.”
Leaning back against the counter of the bar, Olivia replaced a clip to restrain a wayward curl. She always kept her long, dark hair tied back neatly giving her a severe look. “How about a warning to see if that will curb his excesses?”
“Done that.”
“Hmm.” She made a face. “Well, I know the air would turn blue if you tried putting a Master in charge of Trey’s retraining, if not murder committed on the premises.” She laughed at the image she had conjured up.
“Yup. Try telling me something new. Or even better come up with a solution.” Sean could hear the desperation in his own voice.
Olivia was silent for a few moments as she seemed to think through the dilemma. “Okay, how about teaming him with someone physically strong enough that he will think twice, like Mike?” A wrestler by profession, Mike was built like a brick wall.
“I asked. He won’t do it. And I agree. They’d just kill each other.”
A few more seconds went by, and then she said, “Here’s another idea. How about a using female, one of the Mistresses, but a resilient one? One he can’t dominate even if she is a Dominatrix. It’s more subtle than using a Dom.”
Sean stared at Olivia in astonishment. She wasn’t looking at him, but he knew that was exactly what he needed. “That is absolutely brilliant! And I’ve got just the person in mind.”
She swiveled her head around to look at him. “Who?”
He grinned at her. “So what are you doing at this moment?”
Jennifer’s Bio:
Jennifer Denys is a multi-published author of BDSM, sci-fi, paranormal stories and romantic comedies with more than one publisher.
An Englishwoman through and through, she lives in a beautiful historical city in England with her pet rabbit who is thoroughly spoiled and is the dominant one in her household…
She posts to her blog three times a week to keep readers up-to-date on forthcoming books and writing in general. Do email Jennifer she would love to hear from fans. Jennifer.denys[AT]yahoo[DOT]com
Author website: http://jennifer-denys.blogspot.com/
