Sunday, February 23, 2014

Our First Interview!!! With KD Grace, author of The Initiation of Miss Holly and The Pet Shop





Before I (Marissa) begin, I just want to say how exciting it's been to get to know one of my favorite authors, KD Grace. I've had the pleasure of chatting with her the last few weeks and it's truly been a joy and honor getting to know her. (Who am I kidding? It's been AWESOME!!!)

I came across her book The Initiation of Miss Holly on a free Kindle Books email that I receive a while ago and it took me a while to get to it. But, damn! when I got to it, I couldn't put it down. At one point I was thinking "Omigosh! People actually do that sort of thing?" And I'm not easily shocked. (I'm not gonna tell you what it is because you need to read the book yourself!)

Ok, enough of my rablings. This stuff is what you came to read, right? :-)

How long have you been writing?

First of all, I want to say how excited I am to be interviewed by Book Boyfriends Rock! Thanks so much for having me, and for asking me such totally cool questions. 

I'm really glad she said that because I asked some pretty unusual ones...

I’ve been writing since I was old enough to put a sentence together, and before that I drew picture stories. Lol! I’m much better with words than I am with artsy stuff :-)
 

Did you do well in your English/writing classes at school?

Yup! English was always one of my best subjects and as a result, I did quite a lot of faking my way through term papers all the way up through uni because I could write well enough to sound like I knew what I was talking about. 

I've learned that too. Professors never check to make sure what you wrote is true...They just want to know that you didn't steal it.

Where do you get your story ideas?

My story ideas can come from anywhere. The Initiation of Ms Holly came from me being stuck on the train in the Eurostar tunnel in the dark – that and the story of Psyche and Eros from Greek Mythology. My Lakeland Witches trilogy was inspired by getting lost in the mist out on the high fells in the English Lake District. Fulfilling the Contract was inspired by time spent in Las Vegas. The Pet Shop was inspired by watching how people interact with their pets in much the same way they interact with a lover – the speech patterns, the fondling, the baby talk. 

I cannot wait to read Petshop!!

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I love to walk. My husband and I do a lot of long walks in the British countryside. Two years ago we walked the Wainwright Coast to Coast route across England. It was one of the most exciting holidays of my life and one I hope to repeat at some point. We’re also making plans for several other long distance walks.

I also love to grow my own vegetables. The vegetable gardening has worked its way into my erotica as well, and I’ve earned a reputation for writing garden porn. :-) I love to get my hands dirty and I love eating what I’ve grown. It’s easy to spend too much time in your head when you’re a writer, and doing something so earthy as growing veg is a way of reconnecting. Plus my Muse seems to really love hanging out in the veg patch. 

Garden porn...right on! Oh, my mind wanders way to far for that... 
My Muse likes to go bike riding.

What is your favorite story that you've written and why? 

Wow! That’s so hard to answer. I think my favorite has always been the story I’m working on at the moment. I have to fall in love with my characters and their journey for the story to be believable and to pull me in deep enough to live there for the long amount of time I have to spend with those characters in that world to write a novel. I suppose I have a special place in my heart for The Pet Shop though. I love Tino and I love the raw relationship of denial that happens between him and Vincent. But then again, I love the Lakeland Trilogy, and I’m especially fond of Anderson and Cassandra’s story. I certainly had a great time with Elsa and Nick in Las Vegas with Fulfilling the Contract. And then there’s Grace Marshall’s Executive Decisions Trilogy. I’ve loved those characters for a long time. Sigh! I guess I really can’t choose when it comes right down to it :-)

Like choosing which of your children you love best...I get it. :)

What's your favorite sex scene you've written and why? 

I adore the scene in The Pet Shop when the Boss secretly brings Stella to Tino in the Dungeon at the Pet Shop. I think it’s the place where we see most deeply into Tino’s soul. Though I also love the scene in which Vincent punishes Stella for looking at his photo album. There’s a rawness about that scene that left me breathless and aching after I finished it.

Who is your favorite book couple from your books? From other authors? 

From my books, my favorite couples would have to be Stella and Tino from The Pet Shop or Anderson and Cassandra from The Lakeland Heatwave Trilogy. From other authors, I adore Vishous and Jane’s relationship in J R Ward’s Lover Unbound from her Black Dagger Brotherhood series. 

(Next book on To-Read list: Pet Shop...oh, wait, it's already there!) 

Where/when did you get your idea for "The Pet Shop" and other pet scenes?

One of the first stories for an anthology I ever sold was a story for the old Black Lace called ‘On Keeping Pets.’ I had only five thousand words to work with and it wasn’t nearly enough. I didn’t realize at the time, but it was the beginning of Tino and Stella’s story. I knew then and there that their story would have to be a novel.

What inspired the story to begin with was that I observed people were often much kinder to their pets than they were to the people they loved. They were often much more tender and caring. That relationship was mirrored in the complete trust pets had in their owners. I thought about how that dynamic would translate into a human, slightly kinky, relationship and The Pet Shop was born.

Do you ever worry that you're too kinky? (I love your kinkiness!)

Is it even possible to be too kinky??? Actually there are areas I explore in my mind that I’m not brave enough to submit to publishers mostly because I know the submission requirements well enough to know that no publisher would take them – at least not if they are submitted as ‘erotica.’ Erotica is much more highly policed than any other genre. Also, having said that, there are areas that I don’t feel I understand well enough or possess the writing skills to convey to my reader as I would feel compelled to do. Those may come later. 

(Does anyone else want her to start self-publishing? I want to know what else goes on in that kinky head of hers!)

To be honest, I think curiosity must surely translate to our sexuality as well as it does to all other areas of our human nature, and some people are more curious than others. I am curious. I try very hard not to judge any aspect of human sexuality that is safe and consensual, and even that term has a lot of permeable boundaries. What I want most is to, on some level, understand the areas of kink that may not appeal to me, and to find effective ways to let my characters embrace and practice their own brand of kink, even if it’s a brand that makes me a little bit nervous – maybe especially if it makes me a little bit nervous.

Do you have a writing bane? Something that you can never get quite right and drives you crazy?

I suppose the hardest thing for me is to keep a distance from my characters and let THEM tell their stories. It’s too easy for me to get emotional and become a drama queen writer, which does neither the story nor the characters any good. I struggle to keep enough distance to let the story unfold organically and let the characters make whatever mistakes they have to as they fumble their way to their Happy Ever After. I can sometimes be just too damned helpful :-)

What's one thing your readers should know about you?

I’m totally and completely obsessive when it comes to writing my stories. I love nothing as much as writing. There are way more stories in my head than I’ll ever have time to tell, and I’m never happier than when I’m writing one of those stories down. Though when I have a reader let me know that she loved my story, that’s a pretty close second. For me, the next best thing to the fun of writing a story is sharing that story.

Oh, and I DO love chatting on lovely blogs about sexy stories
Thanks so much for your time! :-)

 Thank you sooooo much for your time, KD. Now I'm off to start reading!


Book One in The Mount trilogy (Click here for: Book Two) 

Journalist, Rita Holly, never dreamed sex with the mysterious Edward in the dark of a malfunctioning train would lead to a blindfolded, champagne-drenched tango, a spanking by a butch waitress, and an offer of initiation into the exclusive mysteries of The Mount. Desperate to save her threatened job, she agrees, scheming secretly to write an inside exposé on the club that will make her career. But as she delves deeper into the intrigue of The Mount and the lives of its members, she soon discovers that her heart may have other plans.

Excerpt from The Initiation of Ms Holly:

He practically fell on top of Rita, his hand grazing her left breast in the complete darkness. She yelped and grabbed him to keep from losing her balance.

“God, I’m sorry!” He gasped. “Bloody nuisance, this, isn’t it?” His voice was warm, melodious, by far the most pleasant thing that had happened to Rita since she left Paris. “Oh dear. You’re trembling. Are you all right?”

“I’m claustrophobic” her words were thin and shaky, as though she didn’t fully trust herself to let them out. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t know where we are.” For an embarrassing moment, she realized she was still clinging to him, but the embarrassment passed, and suddenly she didn’t care. If they were going to die trapped in a train in the Eurostar tunnel, buried beneath a gazillion gallons of water, she’d just as soon not do it alone.

He either understood, or was too polite to leave her in such distress. He wrapped his arms around her engulfing her in a muscular embrace, the scent of which was maleness barely masked by deodorant and some spicy cologne, both fading at the end of a day much longer than either of them had anticipated. “Don’t worry.” In the darkness, he misjudged the distance between them and his lips brushed her earlobe. “It’s just an electrical malfunction. Anyway we’re better off down here than in the snowstorm up above. Sounds like all of London is shut down. Who’d have expected snow this late in the spring? Never mind that, where else do you get the chance to cuddle strangers in the dark?”

He pressed a little closer to her, and she was relieved to find other thoughts, thoughts more welcome than those of their predicament, pushing their way into her head. He felt good, broad-shouldered and tall, easy to lean on.

“Why are you huddled here in the corner rather than hunkered down in your seat?”

She concentrated on his warm breath pressing against the top of her ear. “I was on my way back from the loo when the lights went out and…”

“And this is as far as you got.”

She nodded against his chest, homing in on the reassuring sound of his heartbeat.

“Shall I help you back to your seat then?”

The train lurched forward, and she yelped again, tightening her grip around his neck. “No, please. It’s better if I just don’t move.”

There was a long pause. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

She realized the poor man had little choice clenched in her strangle hold, as he was. “I don’t want to be any trouble,” she lied.

He readjusted his stance and tightened his embrace. “No trouble at all. I can’t think of a better way to pass the time than in the arms of a beautiful woman. You are beautiful, aren’t you?”

In spite of the stress she felt, she forced a laugh. “Gorgeous, actually. Too bad you can’t see for yourself.”

He ran a hand down the contour of her spine to rest low on the small of her back. “I don’t have to see you to admire you.”

The thought that the man was rather cheeky barely crossed her mind before he lifted her fingers to his lips and planted a warm kiss across the back of her knuckles. “I’m Edward. I’m from London. Clearly you’re not.”
          
“Rita,’ she replied. ‘I’m from Seattle, but I live in London now.”

“Well Rita, from Seattle, we’ve established that you’re an exotic beauty. Perhaps you’d like to return the favour.” He lifted her hand to his face and guided it gently over the slight stubble of his cheek. As her hand cupped his well-formed chin, he pulled her middle finger into his mouth and nibbled it, teasing the pad of it with his tongue. Suddenly her struggle to breathe had nothing to do with being claustrophobic.
          
“Well?” He asked pulling her hand away to massage her fingers. “What do you think? Am I acceptable?”
If he was cheeky, she was downright brazen. She stopped his words with her mouth, amazed at how easily she had found the mark in total darkness. Perhaps it was the darkness that made her so bold, but whatever it was, he didn’t disappoint. His mouth was warm, opening eagerly to the probing of her tongue, responding in kind, caressing her hard pallet, nipping at the fullness of her lower lip before pulling away just enough to speak.

“There, you see? It’s not so bad being in the dark, is it? The other senses are too often overlooked, which is very sad, since they offer such exquisite delights.” His hand moved up to cup her cheek, and he raked a thumb across her still parted lips. “Taste, for example. Few pleasures exceed that of the tongue.”

She heard him fumbling in the darkness, then she heard the rattling of foil. ‘Open your mouth,’ he whispered. “I have something that’ll make you feel better, guaranteed. Oh don’t worry, it’s nothing illegal.”

Reluctantly she opened her mouth, which he primed with a wet kiss, then slipped a chocolate truffle between her lips. It was covered liberally in cocoa and warmed exquisitely almost, but not quite to the steamy melting point of his body temperature, which only enhanced the sharp, edgy flavor that separates expensive chocolate from the cheap stuff.

She gasped her surprise, then moaned softly at the intensity of the taste.

“Don’t bite,” he kissed her jaw, then her throat. “Savor it, roll it around in your mouth. There are places on the tongue that taste only sweet and places that taste only bitter or salt, or sour. Chocolate can have all those flavors. Caress it in your mouth like you’re making love to it, and you’ll be amazed at what you taste.”

She cheeked the truffle, slurring her words as she spoke. “I thought I was tasting you.”

He chuckled softly. “Everything tastes better with chocolate.” Without another word, he took her mouth, plunging his tongue deep against the melting truffle, whirling it, lapping at it, sighing with the pleasure of it. The more liquid and heated the truffle became, the more liquid and heated Rita became.

 
Buy The Initiation of Ms Holly Here: 
Print 
eBooks
iBooks
Kobobooks.com

Find K D Here:                 

Websites: http://kdgrace.co.uk/      
               http://gracemarshallromance.co.uk/                
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KD_Grace     

             http://twitter.com/GM_Romance


About K D Grace/Grace Marshall

K D Grace believes Freud was right. In the end, it really IS all about sex, well sex and love. And nobody’s happier about that than she is, otherwise, what would she write about?
When she’s not writing, K D is veg gardening. When she’s not gardening, she’s walking. She walks her stories, and she’s serious about it. She and her husband have walked Coast to Coast across England, along with several other long-distance routes. For her, inspiration is directly proportionate to how quickly she wears out a pair of walking boots. She also enjoys martial arts, reading, watching the birds and anything that gets her outdoors.
K D has erotica published with SourceBooks, Xcite Books, Harper Collins Mischief Books, Mammoth, Cleis Press, Black Lace, Erotic Review, Ravenous Romance, Sweetmeats Press and others.
K D’s critically acclaimed erotic romance novels include, The Initiation of Ms Holly, The Pet Shop. Her paranormal erotic novel, Body Temperature and Rising, the first book of her Lakeland Heatwave trilogy, was listed as honorable mention on Violet Blue’s Top 12 Sex Books for 2011. Books two and three, Riding the Ether, and Elemental Fire, are now also available. She was nominated for ETO’s Best Erotic Author 2013.
K D Grace also writes hot romance as Grace Marshall. An Executive Decision, Identity Crisis, The Exhibition are all available.
Be sure to check out K D’s latest release, Fulfilling the Contract, The sequel to The Initiation of Ms Holly. 


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