Cheating artistic license

I recently returned from Chicago. Modern day Chicago. A city I'd never been to before but which I converted into a futuristic dystopian city for my own convenience to write Smitten Image. I cheated. Because writing about a place you know and have spent time in honors the truth of your story. Even if you convert it. Chicago was not what I imagined, therefore what I imagined to write Chicago in a futuristic dystopian setting did not ring true. I can't even pretend it was artistic license.

Now I have a sense of Chicago, a beautiful city for the most part. As cities go. My daughter and I spent a day walking the shore to a bird sanctuary. Very cool. Right there in the heart of urban madness. But the skyscrapers pinned to the sky make it hard to breath. They squeeze, quite literally. The L-train is a constant sound like wind blowing somewhere. My mind made it into wind so I could sleep. Riding the "L" was an experience, not frightening, but not comfortable for one who has an inner ear disease to make her vertically challenged. Underground on the "L"... well, the less said about that the better.

Home now in Montana I do not regret my trip. I had reason to be frightened though I never saw any  disturbing behavior that scared me. The beggars are disturbing. I was told not to meet their eyes. I was told not to give them money. They got my compassion, nothing more.

I came home to so much, with my home, my garden, my view of the mountains, my dogs, my Montana life. I came home ignorant, with no comprehension of why people choose to live in cities. I did not learn or understand what is there that anchors them.

 

Tag! You’re It!

What is the title of your book? My Work in Progress is titled Bedrosian Born: Broken Eros. It is the first in a series. I hope!

 

Where did the idea for the book come from? I don’t write vampires and werewolves, and try to tell a story very different than your average paranormal. Legendary succubae were demons who sucked the souls from men while they dreamed of sex. So I chose the descendants of succubae as my heroines. Over millions of years, these once demons have been genetically bred, enhanced, and through genome magical manipulation, become humans designed for sexual pleasure. The “Bedrosian” family corporation is most famous for their bordellos of beautiful, high priced courtesans. The story is set in 2059 in a restructured, corporatized America. Plus, as in my first book Smitten Image, the pole has switched from north to south, releasing magical elements into the universe, creating all sorts of catastrophic problems but also unimaginable possibilities.

 

What genre does your book fall under? It is essentially a romance but with more emphasis on paranormal intrigue with some science fiction, futuristic concepts thrown in.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? This is an impossible question for me since these people are so specifically designed in my head. But if I had to choose, then the hero, Dawson “Cutter” Greely, would be played by Gabriel Macht (because he’s cute and has a lively grin) and the heroine, Garin Bedrosian, a misfit who refuses to conform with the family tradition of selling sex to the highest bidders… well, maybe a young Hilary Swank (because she’s an atypical beauty who is daring and intelligent). Ach, I’ve defined them in the flesh… the pressure is on!

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? In 2059 New Chicago where magic has gone viral, an apprentice courtesan genetically designed for sex but unable to love, fights to escape the family business with the unwelcome help of a space-rifting spy who will sacrifice anything and anyone to save her.

 

Will your book be self-published or agented?  I am currently a writer for Crimson Romance and hope to continue there, but in this business one never knows…!

 

How long did it take to write the first draft of the manuscript? Writing this first draft has been a struggle. So far it’s become over complicated and very busy and I am not done by a long shot. I hope to finish by Dec 1st and then my own personal grueling process of editing begins, which can last months. Or not…

What other books within your genre would you compare your WIP to?  I might compare it to Laurell K. Hamilton books, minus the vampires and shape-shifters. And without the sensual explicitness. There are small aspects of horror, but I’m not a fan of horror so I’m keeping that in the background. And it will be sensual, but more about character, magic, societal boundaries and tearing apart tradition. And string theory! See? Way complicated!

 

Who or what inspired this book? I’m a sci-fi/fantasy geek. Magic and wizardry mixed in with  futuristic science possibilities and off the wall steam-punk concepts totally fascinate me.

  

What else about your book might pique the readers interest? Maybe that I’ve carried around this idea for years and it keeps morphing in directions I can’t control. And that a story can be about a taboo, like prostitution, but that the characters involved can still wrap themselves around your heart, make you love and hurt with them and draw you into their struggles.