Just Erotic Romance Reviews

Lose yourself amongst these two interesting and wonderfully talented authors from Loose Id - Vonna Harper and Jules Jones

Welcome and thank you for allowing us all a peek into your world. Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Vonna: Let's see. I'm pretty much a country hick's country hick. Product of a one-room schoolhouse with my mother as teacher. I've been writing forever and wanting to even longer. I own, I think, four pairs of shoes, no pantyhose, two tubes of lipstick. Pretty pathetic, right? The thing is, I love my simple life. I also love my husband and two sons and adore my grandson, and his three little half siblings who call me Grandma. What more does a person need-except for a stack of paper, another of printer cartridges, a working computer and no spam. Oh yeah, also a vivid, sometimes kinky imagination.

Jules: : I'm British (which is not identical to English) but currently living in Silicon Valley with my husband. Not quite middle-aged, not for several more months yet. :-) We're both scientists, although he's the one in paid employment at the oment -- I didn't have a work permit when we moved here and although I have one now I haven't found a job yet. I'd been writing as a hobby for several years, so it gave me something constructive to do when I wasn't allowed to take paid employment for a couple of years.

What is the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning?

Vonna: Let dog out. Feed dog. Go to bathroom.

Jules: Tea. Thinking comes *after* caffeine, not before.

What is a typical day in your life like?

Vonna: Read paper, go for a power walk, clean up, feed husband, troop upstairs to office. Plant bod in front of computer. Write, write, write. Walk dog. Write, write. Fix dinner. Watch Animal Planet. Play on Internet. Email writer friends. Gossip with neighbors.

Jules: At the moment it mostly involves sitting in front of the computer plus making feeble efforts to a) get some exercise, b) have a social life that is not conducted entirely online, c) get a day job. I don't currently have a day job, so I'm writing more or less full time. "More or less" because I have a full and active social life on the net, and it's far too easy to get distracted and gossip with other sf writers instead of getting on with writing. This is so common that we have a term for activities that pretend to be useful but are actually ways to avoid doing the actual putting words on paper -- "cat-vacuuming".

What inspired you to become a writer?

Vonna: I grew up in areas so remote there was no TV and was raised by my mother and grandmother, both teachers. I loved reading and daydreamed through endless classes imagining myself engaged in grand adventures with Tarzan, the Lone Ranger, and his horse Silver. I don't think I ever had a choice in the matter. If I didn't write, I'd probably have multi-personalities. And as I've often said, if I wasn't a writer I'd have to go into the working world and wear pantyhose. Shudder.

Jules: I really and truly had the classic "throw very bad book at wall and declare that even I can do better than that" experience, although I didn't literally throw the book at the wall. Tempting though it was...

Have any other erotic romance/romance authors influenced the way you write? Whom would you say are among your favorite authors?

Vonna: I honestly can't say I have favorites. I sample as many writers as possible. I love finding a new voice, an over-the-edge imagination, but most compelling, someone who is a master with characterization.

Jules: I don't read much commercially published fiction that's marketed as romance (although I do read a lot of slash fanfiction). Which is not the same as not reading books with a romance theme - for example, I adore Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan books. A Civil Campaign is one of my all time favorite books. So the authors I'd cite would be ones normally thought of as sf or mystery writers. Dorothy L Sayers would be another one. Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint is wonderful. Elizabeth Peters -- a sex scene consisting of "Oh, Emerson!" can be *astonishingly* erotic with the right buildup.

What do you love about being a writer?

Vonna: Having a place to plant my imagination. Constantly asking myself 'what if" and letting fantasy people run rampant inside me.

Jules: Getting paid to write about attractive men having sex, with actual emotions there on the page as well? More seriously, it's *fun* when it's going well. Even on the days when it's a struggle to get the words out, it's very satisfying to be able to create these worlds and share them with other people. And I'm not ashamed to say that I get a real kick out of it when people write to me and say how much they enjoyed my writing.

Vonna your latest book, Surrender's Dance, has just been released by Loose Id. You must feel very excited about this publication. Can you tell us a little bit about your book?

Vonna: I wanted to create a world - God complex? I settled for my own island where people can play out their bondage fantasies, where the line between forced and free will blurs. Where there are few boundaries. Trading on a lot of people's fantasies of turning their back on all responsibility, I created a woman who is pulled out of the 'real' world just as it implodes and transplanted to a place where someone else (in this case a powerful man) calls all the shots and the most private sexual dreams become reality. It's a journey during which she discovers and embraces the real her.

How did the characters Asia and Zemar come to you? Did anyone close to you inspire these characters?

Vonna: No, other than drawing from conversations with work-weary people who don't want to worry about paying the bills any more. Asia represents all burned-out worker bees while Zemar is the kind of complex and haunted character I love to create. Poor man has a bundle of emotional baggage.

Do you have any more books planned to follow on from Surrender's Dance? If so, when can readers expect the next installment?

Vonna: I touched on this in my discussion of what I have in the pipeline. I've outlined Surrender's Mask which also takes place on Surrender Island. But instead of a heroine who slowly embraces the submissive lifestyle, Surrender's Mask is about a woman who pays the bills as a bondage model - until she pisses off a powerful man who has her kidnapped as a lesson in obedience for his other models. I have a book for EC to finish followed by a little tweaking on a suspense partial. Then it's onto Surrender's Mask. Hopefully I can turn it into my editor by the middle of Aug.

What stirs your creative juices?

Vonna: A particularly trustworthy trigger is going for a long solo car ride with the stereo cranked up. In the past year I've made seemingly endless trips to my mother who broke her hip and zoning out has resulted in an endless supply of possibilities. Sometimes a walk with the right music in the Walkman can do the same thing.

Jules: This is going to be deeply, deeply boring... Mostly conversation with friends, which can spark off ideas.

Jules, you have such an unusual job; you're a materials scientist. How does a woman with a science background find herself writing erotic romance books?

Jules: I read a tie-in novel for my favorite sf show, and it was *appalling*. And one of the worst things about it was that I could see that the writer was a good enough writer to have written a good, readable book in a genre he knew better, but he knew *nothing* about science or science fiction. "*I* could do better than this," I said. And very soon after that I discovered fanfiction, and the joys of writing your own stories about your favorite characters in someone else's universe.

More and more [though] my story ideas were coming from the original fiction side, and it was becoming easier to find a market for these weird, off-beat cross-genre stories I was writing. And then one day I realized that the only fanfiction work I'd done in over a year was editing a fanzine series--everything I'd *written* was original fiction, and I was selling some of it to paying markets. And getting fan mail... The book-length ones that have been published so far work as both science fiction novels and erotic romance novels, but it happened to be a romance publisher who was willing to take a chance on them.

Which is how someone with a degree in math and physics came to be writing science fiction about sex and love and mushy girl stuff instead of proper hard sf as by tradition I should be. Doubtless it will freak out that subgroup of hard sf fans who are terrified they'll catch girl cooties if they read sf books with actual relationships in them. :->

Do you have a particular routine while you write?

Vonna: Other than writing pretty much every day, I don't. I'm strongly motivated (aka obsessive/compulsive) so I meet my self-imposed deadlines. Writing is my job and that's how I approach it.

Jules: Make cup of tea. Stare at screen. Check email. Stare at screen. Play Solitaire for ten minutes. Make cup of tea. Stare at screen. Slowly, hesitantly, type a few words. Remember that there's housework I haven't done, which I haven't done because I hate doing it, but suddenly I realize that I must do it now, it won't wait. Stare at screen. Make cup of tea. Read LiveJournal friends page. Stare at screen. Start typing again. Realize that it is three hours later and my wrists hurt because I have just typed 3000 words, and by the way, where's the tea I made an hour ago?

How long does it normally take you to write a book?

Vonna: Depends-on a lot of things. I've done one in a month. A 120,000 word historical necessitating a lot of research took nearly 6 months.

Jules: A story idea can lurk and ferment in the back of my mind for years before I start writing it, but once I start serious work on it, typically three to six months for novellas and novels. I think. It gets complicated by the fact that I may not sit down and write something straight through, I may be working on more than one thing at once, I may not be able to do any writing for a while because I have to do other stuff instead.

You've written in a variety of genres, which include historical, futuristic, sci-fi and contemporary. Do you have a favorite genre for writing and reading? What are they?

Vonna: I crave variety so don't have a favorite for writing. I deliberately mix up lengths so I can play with plot complexities. When it comes to reading, I've always been attracted to suspense, particularly with a paranormal element.

Jules: Science fiction with a side-order of mystery, although I seem to have this large stack of Heyers acquired during recent gleeful trips through second-hand bookshops.

Is there a particular genre you'd like to explore in the future?

Vonna: Horror.

Jules: Maybe this het [heterosexual] thing so many people seem to like... :-) I also have a couple of contemporary short stories originally written for erotica anthology/magazine markets which I'm going to expand to novella or novel length. They ended up rather too long for most short story markets, and very clearly would have been a lot longer if I hadn't been attempting to keep them under the maximum length for a particular market. Plus I've had a Regency m/m/f thing kicking around the back of my mind for *years*, which I've never written because I don't know enough about Regency to do it justice. But Alex (Woolgrave my writing partner) is a lot more familiar with that sub-genre than I am, so it's now on the list of things to write together.

Vonna you've written in a variety of genres such as time travel, paranormal and contemporary. But I notice that you've written a few books on bondage. Is this a theme that interests you more than any other or do you find these particular stories were crying out to be told?

Vonna: The truth is, I started writing bondage because it's a popular genre. "Show me the money." But the more I researched BDSM, capture, etc, the more it fascinated me. As a teenager being kidnapped by Indians (or whatever) was an exciting, safe fantasy. Now I'm having a great time exploring it again. Being out of control can be a powerful turn on.

Do you have any upcoming books? Can you want to tell us briefly about them?

Vonna: I'm finishing up an EC book called Spoils of War that's a companion for Captive Warrior. Both stories take place in a mythical ancient land where survival (and sex) is pretty primitive. After that I want to write a sequel of sorts for my first Loose Id book Surrender's Dance that I'm calling Surrender's Mask. Both take place on a magical island created for Doms and submissives. I'm also polishing a mainstream suspense my agent will be peddling, but that's another story.

Jules: Coming out very soon is Spindrift, which is a paranormal romance set in present-day Scotland. It's about a human and a silkie (shape-changing seal fairy, since I've been asked twice so far) falling in love in difficult circumstances, and it's very different in feel to either the out-and-out comedy of The Syndicate or the dark and political tone of my solo science fiction series Buildup. Speaking of which, I'm working on the next book in the Buildup series. And for those who like their books on dead trees, the first two volumes of The Syndicate will be released by Loose Id as an omnibus trade paperback later this year. So you'll be able to read the complete story arc as originally planned, within a single book, from first meeting of geek and engineer to "Will you marry me?"

Jules can you briefly tell our readers a little more about Spindrift?

Jules: Richard is a writer who moved into a remote fishing village in Scotland for a couple of months to do some research for a book, and ended up staying. He's made friends with some of the fishermen who helped him with his research, but doesn't realize just how much they trust him until the night he stumbles into an argument -- and discovers that sometimes legends are real.

Niall is a silkie whose seal skin has been stolen by a man who's in love with Niall's sister, and who refuses to give it back other than in exchange for hers. Now Niall's trapped in human form. One small problem -- he doesn't officially exist. He needs a refuge while his human friends search for his skin, and his friends think that a wealthy man with a known ability to respect other people's secrets might be just the ticket. All the better that both men are gay and single and lonely, for a bit of matchmaking never did any harm.

But Richard's all too aware of the legends about silkie women being abducted and forced to marry land men, only to return to the sea when they found their stolen skins. It's hard to ignore the old tale when one of the fishermen's just made a bid to re-enact it, and it's not an example Richard wants to follow. He's determined to help Niall get his skin back, even though he knows it will cost him dear. Love hurts, when the thing you want most is that your love will be able to leave you....

("Briefly". Er, yes. Sorry. Now you know how my short stories sometimes end up as novels.)

Jules, The Syndicate series of books have proven to be a huge success. Can you tell us what inspired you and your co-author Alex Woolgrave to write this series?

Jules: We write together using software that allows us to see open windows on each other's computers, and have a voice link over the internet. Only it's very temperamental software, and often bits of it don't work, and you have to prod it. So there would be these conversations in the chat window about "stupid bloody software isn't working", and they'd veer off into the voices of the fanfic characters we were working with at the time -- one of whom was a geek with very little patience with misbehaving kit and/or users. Some of that eventually inspired short stories using these fragments of conversation. After the third one, I looked at them, and said, "You know, this is really all about the sex life of a geek. And we could probably get a novel out of this."

So we planned a story arc that was nothing more or less than your classic romantic comedy, complete with "Will you marry me?" scene at the end, rewrote the material we already had to fit into this, and wrote more short stories to cover the year that it takes the two characters to go from "how convenient to be able to have sex with someone I like" to realizing that they want to spend the rest of their lives together. We'd originally only planned to do the story arc in volumes 1 and 2, but we got to the end and then couldn't resist the idea of Allard in white wedding robes. And neither could our beta readers, who started nagging as soon as the idea was floated. Hence volume 3 and the wedding story, "Something Blue".

And can you tell us briefly about The Syndicate series of book for those of us who may not be familiar with the books and sexy characters?

Jules: My usual one line description is "fluffy BDSM gay romantic comedy in space." Its set in the future, but some things haven't changed, including computer guys hating their pointy-haired bosses and their comfortable-but-boring jobs herding corporate computer systems. Allard's a systems administrator who's hated every corporate job he's had in the last five years, so he grabs the chance to do something different when he sees an ad for an IT job with the small crew of a syndicalist spaceship. What he doesn't allow for is that they're interesting, intelligent, *attractive* people, and the attraction to the captain is mutual...

Have things changed for you, and how, since becoming published by Loose Id?

Vonna: I'm the new kid on the Loose Id block but because I've embraced e-publishing via Ellora's Cave, I can't say much has changed. I did go to the Writers' Weekend conference in Seattle so I could meet my LI editor Allie McKnight who I adore. Writing a 40,000 word story was a fun experience-a little shorter than I'm used to.

Jules: : Feedback, lovely, lovely feedback. Writers often suffer from "Is anyone actually reading this?", and I'm no exception. The money is nice for obvious reasons, but it's also nice to know that people like my writing enough to pay for it. And I'm getting fan mail, which I hadn't had on the short stories I'd had published.

Vonna you have such a great outlook and view on your writing career and seem to be enjoying the experience. Is it the feeling of accomplishment that keeps you going or is it your fans that inspire you to keep on writing?

Vonna: Thanks for what you said. My standard reply is that I have no other marketable skills (except for some basic computer repairs, darn it) so I have to write. But I have an incurable imagination and am along for the ride. I'm delighted that readers 'dig' what comes out of my mind, soul, and fingers.

The e-publishing community is often likened to a big family. Loose Id promotes this type of atmosphere. Is this your experience?

Vonna: Very much so. I'm a veteran of the Big Apple publishing companies which is corporate America in all its hidebound complexities so being in instant and intimate contact with my fellow epublished writers and various editors has been WONDERFUL. I feel as if I'm part of growing the program, no longer on the outside waiting for the powers that be to grace me with crumbs of information. Can you tell I'm rabid on the subject?

Jules: Very much so. Of course, because it's publishing online, most of the people involved have email and can easily talk to one another.

What are the positive aspects of working for such a new but innovative publisher?

Vonna: See the above. The big positive is the interaction, energy, and possibilities.

Jules: Their openness to non-standard romances. I write material which doesn't fit the needs of mainstream publishers. I write gay romance, I write explicit sex, in the solo books I tend to happy-for-now rather than happy-ever-after, and most important of all, I often write non-standard lengths. There are practical reasons why print publishers can only take material within certain length ranges, so some of my material just won't suit even those print publishers who are interested in explicit gay romance. I also write material that is firmly cross-genre -- it's as much a science fiction novel as it is a romance novel. That can be difficult to market to the big book chains--which section do you file it under so that potential readers can find it? Loose Id is willing, indeed eager, to experiment with stories that don't fit the marketing pigeonholes, so I don't have to write to a strict formula. They're also very hot on editing, which is wonderful. I get support with making my work better, without trying to make it fit into narrow constraints.

How do you envisage yourself in the next five years?

Vonna: Oh boy, where's that crystal ball? I love writing erotica, experimenting with lengths and sub-genres. I'd love to still be writing for publishers such as Loose Id, chasing my muse wherever it takes me. But because I cut my teeth with traditional publishers, my crystal ball shows me also doing the occasional mainstream suspense. (agent, are you reading this?) In other words, it's my dream to write until they put me in the ground - unless I'm watching Little League/gymnastics/soccer/swim meets etc.

Jules: I'd really quite like to have a day job again... Apart from that, still writing, still writing what I want to write even if it doesn't fit neatly within a marketing category, and still getting published anyway. :-)

Jules can you tell us a little about your "day" job for those of us who don't know what a materials scientist does?

Jules: I'm currently unemployed courtesy of my original visa conditions, but I used to work at an industrial research and development lab. I was doing quite a mix of things, mostly to do with ore mineralogy and optical microscopy. I used to spend a great deal of my time either peering into a microscope, or scrambling about in piles of very dirty stuff collecting samples or just generally poking at it to see what happened. As a side effect of this, I'm a qualified forklift driver. Answering "what's this weird shit I found in my equipment" questions. (Come to think of it, I'm still answering that sort of question for my characters.) The weirdest one of those I ever dealt with was the time the police asked us to help identify which pile of building aggregate a murdered corpse was most likely to be under.

Vonna to quote you, "I don't know where this great adventure will end but the journey, ah, the journey!" Can you tell us what you've learnt since becoming a writer?

Vonna: I'm still learning, but to be serious here, what being published has taught me is that writing is very much a left brain/right brain function. Half of me creates imaginary worlds. The other half deals with the business aspect of publishing. In other words, I've learned to tailor my creativity to meet the needs and demands of the industry.

Vonna your family's support must mean a great deal to you. Do they keep you motivated with your career aspirations?

Vonna: I've spent some time mulling over my response and have decided to be honest. My mother has always been my greatest fan, but she's 87 and her mind is fading. Neither my husband or sons understand (or care) what writing truly entails and in some respects it's better that way because their input comes from the outside looking in. (No dear, you don't know what you're talking about) I'm pretty much self-directed - and what sanity I've retained comes from being able to connect with other writers, the only other people in the world who truly understand.

Click here to read part 2 of the interview.

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