Interview: Janet Mullany

Here’s an author interview with Janet Mullany.

Take it away, Janet…

• How did you start writing erotica?

I’m not even sure I am an erotica author! I may be here under false pretences… A reader commented about the sex scenes in Hidden Paradise that they were quite realistic for erotica, whatever that means. Why shouldn’t they be realistic? I’ve always written fairly explicit scenes but I’ve also written scenes, and in fact whole books, where there is no explicit sex or language yet the erotic level is very high. I may be the only writer who’s criticized for having too much sex and not enough sex in the same book(s).

• What’s your favourite published work of yours and why?

That’s a difficult question. I occasionally pick up an author copy, read a couple of paragraphs, and think, “hey, this is pretty good,” and naturally at the moment I’m very involved with my next book (or the book after next). I think possibly The Rules of Gentility (2007, HarperCollins), one of the aforementioned books that “doesn’t have any sex,” because I had such a blast writing it and felt that I was doing something no one had done before.

• What erotic authors do you enjoy reading?

I’m all about good writing. I love Portia da Costa and Molly Weatherfield’s books.

• Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I mainly write historicals and generally I come upon a strange historical fact that tickles my fancy and I think I’d like to write a book based on that. My latest inspiration was a book about ambergris, Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris by Christopher Kemp.

• Do you have any unusual writing rituals?

Yes, I like to listen to choral classical music for love scenes. There’s nothing like Handel’s Messiah to get me all hot and squirmy.

• Where’s your favourite place to write?

I don’t know that it’s my favorite, but usually I write in my office at home. I know it’s possible to get very creative when I take the laptop out for a cup of coffee but I don’t do that much. Generally any place with a power outlet, relative quiet, and without wifi is excellent for productivity.

• What’s the best writing tip you’ve ever been given?

To keep going. Jump ahead if necessary but keep the story going.

• What’s your favourite genre within erotica and why?

Oh, to write, historicals, absolutely. The Regency period was so wonderful for clothes, all those stockings and no underwear and bosom displays, and the tight pants and cutaway coats and boots for men. And then in the Victorian period you get some very serious underwear indeed. Yum.

• What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on something that is a new subgenre to me, an erotic historical set in a world of altered history (this is the ambergris-inspired book) and I have tentative ideas for a couple of historical novellas. And I hope I’ll be able to write funny books again at some point.

• What’s the biggest writing challenge you’ve ever taken on? Did you succeed?

I’ve only very recently emerged from a long period where I didn’t/couldn’t write—not writers’ block, but a lack of faith in what I could do and a complete void in the ideas department. So, yes, I’m hoping I will have succeeded. The way I got out of it was to edit one manuscript and then pick up and rework a partial of something I started a couple of years ago, after the ambergris idea kicked in. I’m also working with a critique group of people who actually enjoy writing and that’s a great privilege.

Thanks so much for having me visit today, and remember, nothing says hot romance like a water buffalo!

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CALL IT SENSE AND

Sensuality…

Louisa Connelly, a recently widowed Jane Austen scholar, needs some relief from her stifling world. When a friend calls to offer her a temporary escape from her Montana ranch, she is whisked into a dizzying world of sumptuous food, flowing wine…and endless temptation.

She’s an honored guest at Paradise Hall, an English resort boasting the full experience of an authentic Georgian country-house weekend. Liveried servants tend to the every need of houseguests clad in meticulous period costume: snug breeches, low-cut silken gowns and negligible undergarments.

It’s Mac Salazar, a journalist immersing himself fully, deeply, lustily in the naughty pleasures of upstairs-downstairs dalliances, who piques Louisa’s curiosity-and libido-most. He’s a dilettante straight out of a novel: uninhibited, unapologetic and nearly insatiable. But Lou’s not romantic about this much, at least: Paradise Hall is a gorgeous fantasy, nothing more. A lover like Mac is pure fiction. And the real world beckons….

Available from:
Amazon UK
Amazon US

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Excerpt:

[Hero and heroine]

Mac handed her a glass. “Should we be discreet and pretend our first meeting didn’t happen?”

“It’s certainly not the sort of meet cute Austen wrote about.” He might talk of discretion but his eyes shone with mischief and energy. An attractive man, she thought, and not only because she’d seen him half naked and lustily enjoying sex.

He grinned. “Chris and Peter told me a lot about you.”

“Yes, we’re good friends. Where are you from?”

“Chicago by way of London. I got this commission to do an advance piece on the house, so here I am. What are you doing in…Montana, I think Peter said?”

“Oh, long story.” She sipped her champagne. “My husband and I lived on a ranch and we taught at a school a couple of hours away. He died suddenly last year.” She could say it now, the short version, stark and matter-of-fact.

“I’m sorry. Do you think you’ll stay there?”

“I don’t know.” Her glass was empty. “Don’t you want to ask me about historical authenticity at Paradise?”

“I guess so. After you’ve settled in, we should set up a time for an interview. It’s an interesting concept, time travel with no chance of getting stuck in the past, or treading on a bug and changing the course of history.”

“It’s a very sexy period.” She was halfway down another glass now and the room was beginning to take on a subtle, mellow glow that was half sunset, half alcohol. “Mainly because of popular culture, of course. People say there’s no sex in Austen. They’re wrong. Her books are full of sex, but it’s all subsex. Subtext.”

“That’s the champagne talking.” He took her glass from her hand.

*****

Janet Mullany, granddaughter of an Edwardian housemaid, was born in England but now lives near Washington, DC. Her debut book was Dedication, the only Signet Regency to have two bondage scenes (and which was reissued with even more sex in April 2012 from Loose-Id). Her next book, The Rules of Gentility (HarperCollins 2007) was acquired by Little Black Dress (UK) for whom she wrote three more Regency chicklits, A Most Lamentable Comedy, Improper Relations, and Mr. Bishop and the Actress. Her career as a writer who does terrible things to Jane Austen began in 2010 with the publication of Jane and the Damned (HarperCollins), and Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion (2011) about Jane as a vampire, and a modern retelling of Emma, Little to Hex Her, in the anthology Bespelling Jane Austen headlined by Mary Balogh. She also writes contemporary erotic fiction for Harlequin, Tell Me More (2011) and Hidden Paradise (September, 2012).

Website: www.janetmullany.com

Twitter @Janet_Mullany

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Janet-Mullany-Author/144530775580812

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COMMENT TO WIN!

Janet will pledge $1 for every comment made on the blog tour to Heifer International (which has absolutely nothing to do with the book but is one of her favorite nonprofits), up to $250.  Additionally, she’ll award the choice of the following eBooks from her backlist to one randomly drawn commenter at every stop:  Forbidden Shores (erotic historical romance w/a Jane Lockwood), or Tell Me More (contemporary erotica) or The Rules of Gentility (funny sexy Regency).  To one randomly drawn host, she’ll award their choice of either a 1 lb. box of Leonidas chocolates (US only) or a flock of chicks in their name from Heifer International.

Make sure to follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:  http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/05/virtual-book-tour-hidden-paradise-by.html