Steamy ashes

Maree AndersonToday I’m delighted to welcome Maree Anderson to my blog. I love reading her blog posts as they are always hysterically funny and full of life! Her new book FROM THE ASHES has just been released by Red Sage and it looks fantastic – a very gorgeous hero on the cover šŸ™‚ And one lucky visitor will be taking him home to bed! Sigh… (And this is extra hot reading material.)

Maree I have to ask, where oh where do you get your fantastic inspiration from? A space courier who’s one feisty lady, a sex-slave that can read minds?? FROM THE ASHES sounds very, very hot!

What can I say? I have a very warped and twisted imagination. And I get my inspiration from magazines, TV, movies, books, song lyrics ā€” all over the place. Iā€™ll read or hear a phrase and something will just resonate in my mind and Iā€™ll start playing the ā€œooh! What ifā€¦?ā€ game. If it morphs into a keeper idea, Iā€™ll be lying in bed, trying to convince myself itā€™s time to sleep, and instead of drifting off Iā€™ll be seeing a scene or a situation with a character. And my sub-conscious will keep playing round with the idea until I either write it, or accept that Iā€™m gonna be an insomniac, LOL.

Calista, the heroine of From The Ashes, owns her own spaceship and travels the galaxy ā€” how awesome would that be? Pretty. Darned. Awesome! Sheā€™s a strong but very emotionally scarred heroine, whose heinous ex-husband sold her into slavery to pay off his debtsā€¦. Which is not at all awesome, but makes for some terrific motivation and conflict, because Asherā€™s a Phoenixae alien, and his kind are bred as sex slaves. Calista didnā€™t quite spring fully-formed into my mind. She was originally called something else that didnā€™t quite fit her. But once I changed her name, she was off like a rocket and there was no holding her back.

Asher. Well, he was a bit more difficult ā€” arenā€™t the male of the species always? Not to mention that he came with some, er, extras that I hadnā€™t actually planned on! *blushes* Extra man-parts aside, I wanted to make him truly alien. Hereā€™s kind of how Asher came to be Asher ā€” Warning: scary insight into Mareeā€™s warped mind dead ahead. Donā€™t say we didnā€™t warn you šŸ˜‰

“Asher hatches from an egg? Okay, I can work with that. But then Calista gets to deal with a squalling infant alien. And where on earth will she get diapers? Do they even have diapers in the future? Diapers. Ugh. Soooo not sexy. Soā€¦ he grows into a fully-fledged adult male in mere seconds. Yeah, that sure works for me. Oooh, oooh, and itā€™s genetically imperative that he psychically bonds with his intended master, so he knows exactly how to make his master happyā€¦ and then needs to do it. Coz, like, if the masterā€™s sad or angry, it rebounds and Asher feels physical and mental pain. How mean is that??? I like it! Andā€¦ Calistaā€™s the only living being on board the ship, so thereā€™s no choice: Sheā€™s gonna end up his master, even though she despises slavery. Oh, yeah *rubs hands and cackles with glee* Excellent plan.

Um, backstory. Coz, yanno, even aliens need backstory: Asherā€™s egg was stolen and intended as a gift for a sadistic young man whoā€™s been exiled to the pleasure planet Libertinus. Mmmm. Thatā€™s a nasty thought: Asherā€™s kin might have been tortured ā€” even killed ā€” by psycho masters in the past. Asherā€™s kind are a submissive race, whoā€™ll willingly subject themselves to their mastersā€™ whims. But I canā€™t have a hero whoā€™ll be so eager to please heā€™s practically powerless and therefore a victim waiting to happen. Or can I? Dammit, he can be a phoenix-alien, so if heā€™s killed and his bodyā€™s burned, he can be resurrected from the ashes. Oooh! And that will make him worth a small fortune, meaning that illegals will be falling over themselves to get their hands on him. Butā€¦. Rats. Not gonna work unless I can make Asher a true hero, instead of a victim that Calista feels compelled to protect. And this is an erotic romance, so the hero needs to beā€””

You get the picture. Itā€™s a scary-ass thing, my warped mind. Little wonder Iā€™m often distracted and socially inept. ā€œKids! Remember to stick the theā€¦ theā€¦ umā€¦ things we eat our food off in the thingy-bobby-whatsit.ā€ ā€œYou mean stack the dishwasher?ā€ ā€œYeah. Thanks. Thatā€™s what I mean. Now hush, Iā€™m trying to write.ā€

LOL – you give the idea of conflict/resolution an entirely new perspective for me!

You write YA as well as incredibly sexy Fantasy Paranormal. Do you write stories concurrently? How do you separate out such different genres in your writing?

I kind of fell into erotic romance when I entered a novella into the Red Sage Alpha Male Novella contest last year, and it finalled, and they asked to publish it. So I guess you could say I can obviously write pretty sexy stuff. But I started out writing fantasies and paranormals that were sensual, yes, but hardly candidates for the erotic romance genre.

The YA came about because Iā€™ve always enjoyed reading YA stories and sharing them with my daughter. And she desperately wanted to read one of my manuscriptsā€¦. Which wasnā€™t exactly possible given her age and the heat level of ā€œthoseā€ scenes. So when I came up with the idea for Super-Freak, about a teen cyborg, I just went for it. I figured that if nothing else, my daughter would enjoy reading a story her mom had written. Funnily enough, that manuscript went on to win the Maryland Romance Writers Reveal Your Inner Vixen contest, for ā€œsensualā€ scene. And the scene I submitted wasnā€™t even the one where my hero and heroine finally kiss!

Anyway, I loved writing that manuscript. And for me, it was a very welcome break from writing fully-realized sex scenes. I have another idea for a YA fermenting, which Iā€™m dying to explore ā€” especially after a solid year or so of concentrating on the erotic romance genre.

Do I write my stories concurrently? I used to start one story and see it through to the end come hell or high water. Lately, I havenā€™t quite had that luxury. For example, in between revisions on From The Ashes (my editor wanted me to expand the story even more), I got the chance to submit something for a Secrets anthology. So life, the universe and every-other-darn-thing got put aside while I wrote a novella in a huge hurry. Luckily Iā€™d already completed my first ever outline (like, EVAH!) for what was intended to be a novel-length story, so I ended up scaling it back to novella-length for Secrets. Then it was back to working on From The Ashes. And emailing back and forth with my editor to brainstorm whether Scent Of A Man might work as an erotic romance.

Looking back, Iā€™m not sure how I found the time but in between turning Scent Of A Man from a fantasy to an erotic romance, I also rewrote Super-Freak: I wanted to see what would happen if I turned my teen male cyborg character into a female. And now Iā€™ve had the seal of approval from my daughter ā€” ā€œOMG, I love it! Itā€™s even better now, Mom!ā€ (phew! it worked) Iā€™m querying that story. Oh happy joy. Back to queries and rejections. Tell me why I wanted to be a writer again?

I will never complain that I am too busy again… That’s a very heavy writing schedule… Which then begs the questions how did you develop your website? It’s a wonderful example of what to do when creating a writer’s spot in cyberspace.

I have The Best website designer. Heā€™s my husband, and he works for hugs and kisses *VBG*. It meant that I could say things like, ā€œCanā€™t you make that red less orangey but not too pinky? No, thatā€™s too pinky. Now itā€™s too orangeyā€¦ perfect! Now, about that background. Iā€™d like a kind of chocolatey colorā€¦.ā€ He also did clever stuff like set up a customized newsletter that automatically goes out to subscribers either daily or weekly, whenever I publish a new post. And he combined my website with a blog, which works well for me.

Can you share a couple of your ‘don’t leave home without them’ tips?

Donā€™t leave home without a pen and paper. Thereā€™ll come a time when your brain goes all mushy, and you wonā€™t be able to remember that really great idea for a story you came up with while you were careening down supermarket aisle, cursing because youā€™ve forgotten your shopping list, and fretting that youā€™ll forget some crucial item youā€™ve run out of. (Like toilet paper!) And when you next get time to think, youā€™ll have one helluva sore butt from kicking it because you didnā€™t take like 5 seconds to jot that fabulous idea down.

Where to from here? From The Ashes is your first book length release. What are you working on now?

Iā€™ve got another book length release coming out in February. Scent Of A Man is about Joseph Godwin, a virginal young nobleman raised in a world where chastity is rigidly enforced, who begins to emit pheromones that make him irresistible to women. Told you I had a reeeally warped imagination *VBG*

And another of my novellas, Kat On A Hot Tin Roof, will be published in Red Sageā€™s Secrets Volume 30 anthology in June. Itā€™s a light, funny, paranormal ā€” my first story to come out in print, so Iā€™m hugely excited by the prospect of actually holding one of my published stories in my hands, as well as seeing it in electronic form.

As for what Iā€™m working on now? Iā€™d like to finish a manuscript I started months and months ago before my life got a wee bit insane. And thereā€™s that cool idea for a YA I had a couple of weeks back. Plus the outline for a contemporary romance I started a few months back. And Iā€™m tossing up whether or not to rewrite another old manuscript as an erotic romance, like I did with Scent Of A Man. Honestly? I think I might have to go with writing something new, rather than re-writing an old story. My muse needs feeding or she gets cranky. And for some reason, she doesnā€™t count rewriting old stories as sustenance ā€” sheā€™s fussy that way.

There goes that overachiever gene again šŸ™‚ Maree it’s been fabulous having you here as a guest!

Thanks, Helene ā€” itā€™s been fantastic having a valid excuse to yarp on about my writing processes and my stories *VBG*.

(BTW, feel free to ask me questions ā€” I love questions!)

And Iā€™d like to give away an electronic ARC of FROM THE ASHES to one of your readers, too.

To be in the draw, please leave a comment telling me what kind of alien Asher is.

And because Iā€™m a nice person ā€” really, I am! ā€” youā€™ll find the answer in this handy dandy blurb:

FROM THE ASHES:From The Ashes

Calistaā€™s a freelance space courier recovering from a disastrous marriage during which her ex sold her as a slave. Sure, sheā€™s emotionally damaged, but you should see the state of her ex! Sheā€™s also an expert pilot who can illegally reprogram and augment all manner of tech. Sheā€™s been ripping off the system and flying under the radar her entire life. Until now.

Asherā€™s her ā€œcargoā€, the mouthwateringly gorgeous Phoenixae alien who accidentally hatched from the egg she was transporting, and bonded with her. Heā€™s been bred as a sex slave and he can read her mind. Which wouldnā€™t be so bad if 1) she didnā€™t abhor slavery and everything it represents, 2) she wasnā€™t horny as hell, and 3) he wasnā€™t doubly tempting because of his extra er, male parts! Oh, and then thereā€™s the small issue that if Asher is killed and his body burnt, he can be resurrected. Heā€™s one hot commodity that illegals will kill to possess.

Take one sex-deprived space courier whoā€™ll risk everything to save a Phoenixae alien from a life of slavery. Add one mouthwateringly hot alien sex-slave who knows her deepest desires, feels her pain, and lives to please her in every way. Mix with a ruthless ex-husband intent on vengeance. And stir in a sadistic Libertine noble who will do anything at all to get his hands on a Phoenixae.

From the ashes, an unexpected hero will emergeā€¦ and heā€™s full of surprises!

(And if youā€™d like to read an excerpt of From The Ashes, click here: http://www.mareeanderson.com/books/from-the-ashes)

Cheers!

Maree Anderson

http://www.mareeanderson.com/
http://www.writersgonewild.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/mareeanderson
http://twitter.com/MareeAnderson

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22 thoughts on “Steamy ashes

  1. Oh, boy, am I soooooo looking forward to reading Asher’s story – I love a good SFR, and this will be my first erotic SFR!!!!!!!!! šŸ˜€ šŸ˜€ šŸ˜€

    Thanks, Maree (and your magic name-out-of-the-hat picking DH) and Helene for a great end to the week.

    I’m going to use this as an incentive to get the next chapter of my WIP written – may my fingers fly fast over the keyboard! šŸ™‚

  2. Congratulations, Kylie, I know you’ll love it!

    Maree, your DH is sooo well trained! He builds websites, pours drinks and draws winners! Thanks so much for being a stellar guest. See you in 2011 after a safe and happy Christmas for you and your family šŸ™‚

  3. DH has just drawn a name from the hat, and….

    Congrats, Kylie! You’ve won a copy of From The Ashes — watch out for my email in your inbox very soon.

    Thanks heaps, Helene, for hosting me. And to everyone who commented and made me feel so welcome.

    Merry Christmas and big hugs,
    Maree

  4. Hi Cathleen, thanks for dropping by. Maree is a stellar guest!

    Laverne, there is so much talent in NZ (and you guys play a mean game of rugby!!) I can’t wait to make it to an NZ conference. Maybe 2011 will be the year!

  5. Wow! This sounds fantastic Maree! I can’t wait to get my copy and indulge(if I don’t win of course!) What a talented bunch we have here in New Zealand!
    I have to say, your twisted mind is a treasure trove of wonderful ideas – don’t stop!

  6. Thanks for having Maree on your blog Helene. It’s so lovely to have an insight into her twisted mind. Fantastic ideas and I enjoyed reading how you came up with them. I’m sure you have a great career in front of you and many publications to come.
    Best
    Cathleen

  7. Cathy, I’m not sure that I would call this story Romantic Suspense — at least, not as I understand the genre. I tend to describe it as Speculative Fiction Romance. And then, because I don’t want people being shocked by the graphic language it contains, I tag on the erotic label. Mind you, above all else this story is a romance — I couldn’t have written it any other way because I love my Happy Ever Afters *VBG*

  8. Hi Cathy — Mmm. I like that description. I guess it is romantic suspense in that it certainly is a suspense-filled romance. It doesn’t let up for my poor hero and heroine, that’s for sure!

    [WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.

  9. OK. I will try this. Funnily enough I normally do not read romantic Suspense, but SF Romancic Ssuspense, that’s gotta be a new one!

  10. Hi Sandy, you lucky thing! Hope you enjoyed Asher šŸ™‚ Yes, I’m looking forward to tomorrow! I know he’s a patient man!

    Saranna, it is an amazing premise! Not sure you girls should be let loose with bottomless cocktails though – Maree, your imagination needs no encouragement!!

  11. Hey Saranna — great to see you Downunder with the Aussies and the Kiwis! I have sooo got to try and get to one of the US writers’ conferences one day. You, me, Liane and the other Wild Women in a bar with bottomless cocktails…. Oh yeah, I can see it now šŸ˜‰

  12. That’s such a neat premise. I like how your mind works! All of it. When you posted your warning, I was all buckled in for a fun ride. You and me kid, we could bring the walls down. *g*

    As always, best of luck on your releases!

  13. Oh Kylie! You sound like you need a really strong coffee or two, LOL. But hey, I knew exactly what you meant šŸ˜‰ And I know exactly what you’re going through, too. Some days I just should not be allowed near anything electronic *eyeroll*

    Helene, you think I’ve got a busy schedule? Nah. Mine is nothing compared to yours — I don’t know how you do it!

    Sandy, our muses must get together for coffee — or better still, cocktails! — and swap stories one day.

    And ladies, yeah, DH is a treasure! And he even does his own ironing (ex RNZAF pilots are pretty good at ironing!)

  14. Hi Helene and Maree (waving across the sea atya),

    OK, I don’t need to enter the contest as I’ve already got my copy of ‘From the Ashes'(preening). šŸ™‚

    I think your muse and mine must be related, Maree – and yes joining the envious of your live-in web builder.

    Right, I must be off to my RWA group meeting, yay!

    Good luck tomorrow Helene, not that you need it – excellent pupil, excellent teacher – can’t go wrong! šŸ™‚

  15. Hi Kylie, that ‘warped mind’ account is hysterical isn’t it? And I wouldn’t mind a husband that could whip up a website either… mind you, mine does wash, clean and iron so that’s handy too!!

  16. Man, I am so not having success with technology this morning, hit the wrong button before completing my post – Ash hatches from an egg but when he dies he can be burnt and will rise again, so that makes him a Phoenixae.

  17. Hey Helene & Maree,

    I never tire of hearing how people come up with ideas for stories and how those ideas evolve – I loved the “warped mind” recount, Maree, LOL. šŸ™‚

    Soooo, envious though of your husband/web site designer/techie dude, I wonder if Santa delivers those sorts of guys under the tree or into stockings? Hmmm.

    OK, question for you, Maree. You’re published with Red Sage. Do you see yourself changing to a larger publishing house in the future? Do you want to?

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