Ava-Ann Holland Interviews Erzabet Bishop

Hello everybody,

I’m Ava-Ann Holland, a newbie among the UK erotica writers and one of the contributing authors for the Forbidden Fruit: Stories of Unwise Lesbian Desire anthology. Today I have the great honor of interviewing Erzabet Bishop, whose contribution to Forbidden Fruit: Stories of Unwise Lesbian Desire, the intriguingly entitled Ascending Amelia, is one of my personal favorites in the anthology.

Before we get started though, a big thank you to eroticaforall for letting us have this space and to Lucy Felthouse for organizing it.

Over to Erzabet.

Thanks for having me on the blog today Ava-Ann. For those of you whom I haven’t met before, I’m Erzabet Bishop. I am a writer of erotica and erotic romance spanning several genres. In my off hours I’m a manager at a bookstore but in my real life, I am an author. Or is it the other way around? It changes on any given day.

Well, here is a question for the author. In his 1938 novel ‘The Last Human’ A.S. Neill describes the adventures of a small group of people who come back to earth after a flight in a Zeppelin and find all other people on the planet have been turned to stone. If this happened to you during a writer’s dinner, which five other authors (living or dead) would you like to be stuck with during the final days of humanity and why?

Now that is a great question. I would love to be stuck in a room with Kim Harrison, Anne Rice, Jonathan Maberry, Melissa Marr and Rachel Kramer Bussel. I love all kinds of writing but listening to these people talk would be super amazing. In my other life I write young adult, horror and romance and I would love to pick their brains about how they write, what their thought process is and about a million other things.

Who is you favourite literary heroine and why?

I have been reading the Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison and she kind of sticks in my mind. Urban fantasy is a love of mine from younger days and I just can’t get enough of strong women in kick ass boots. She has a vulnerability intermixed with strength and is able to find her way through a myriad of problems not entirely without scraping her knees either.

Cashmere or Silk?  Discuss.

Hmmm. Neither. I live in Houston, TX and it is not really conducive to cashmere except for maybe a week or two in January if I’m lucky. Sad because I have some very lovely sweaters I would love to wear more often. Silk just doesn’t really do it for me either. You try keeping anything nice with a pack of ten rescue dogs running about. Nope. It’s more like linen and light weight house dresses for my off days where I get to write at home. Doesn’t work too well at the bookstore either.

Your story ‘Ascending Amelia’ in Forbidden Fruit is told through the eyes of a Domme who takes care of a young girl during the girl’s first night at a fetish club. All action is taken with consent yet there is a sense of the forbidden throughout the story. Tell us something about where that sense stems from.

The inspiration for this story is about perception and the element of the forbidden. In BDSM clubs around the world you must abide by a set of rules. Safe, sane and consensual are what is agreed upon most of the time but there are those that prey on the unsuspecting and trusting. At Club Ascension, you do not leave a person who is not a participator in the lifestyle alone and unchaperoned. It is not safe and puts the person at risk. Our Domme finds Amelia sitting at a table and is captivated by her beauty but is unsure of what her status is. Is she even old enough? There is some doubt about that too. When it is made clear she is not a part of the BDSM community and not certain of her sexuality the Domme has a few things to think about.

The nature of what is forbidden is an interesting cultural aspect. In some cases, what my story reflects would not be forbidden at all. They are both consenting adults, are they not? Change the ages-forbidden. Change the relationship-off limits. How did the young woman arrive? Is she even a lesbian? All of these things are a risk for the Domme in “Ascending Amelia.” Ask yourself this…what would you do?

From Amelia’s point of view, she is at the club on a lark but now that she’s there, she’s a bit afraid and unsure. Her friends left her alone and now a strange woman comes up to her. All around her are people half clothed and for someone not used to the BDSM circuit, this can be a bit staggering. Should Amelia remain a wallflower or go with the Domme for a forbidden adventure? You’ll have to read and find out…

I hope you enjoy the excerpt.

Ascending Amelia – Excerpt

“Is this your first time at Club Ascension?”

You nod, not speaking.

Undaunted, I forge ahead. “Would you like me to show you around?” I offer you my hand.

You hesitate, nervously meeting my eyes, picking at the fabric of the “We don’t have to, if you’d rather not. I couldn’t help but notice you sitting here all alone.” I reach out and brush your cheek with my hand and watch your lips curve upward in a shy smile. It electrifies me and my pussy begins to tingle. I wonder, does it resonate in yours?

“Please,” you say, and stand up. “I let them bring me out here on a dare.”

“Really?” My lips twist into a frown. Is she straight then?

You gaze at the floor, completely at a loss for words. Another pulse of desire bursts between my thighs.

“What’s your name?” I ask.

“Amelia,” you say.

“Are you straight, Amelia?”

“What?” Your eyes go wide.

“I don’t want to waste your time or mine. Simply answer the question

please,” I state, not wanting to mince words.

“I’m not sure.” You fumble with the glass on the table, looking anywhere but at me.

“Follow me, lovely schoolgirl.”

You move away from the table and we walk together through the crowd and head to the first station.

“I’m not really a student,” you say.

“Are you sure?” I pause and look back. “You do seem the type that is up for learning.”

You follow, your teeth worrying your lip. Your eyes glance in all directions, unsure of the scenes happening around you. We stop at the first location. I want to see what kind of mettle you have under that short skirt.

“This is a spanking couch.” I run my hand across the padded leather seat and gesture to you to do the same.

“What am I supposed to do? If I was going to play I mean?” Your fingers touch the leather and your gaze takes in the wall of paddles.

“Well, usually you would strip in the locker room and come out here with your Domme for the night. Everything is agreed upon before anything ever takes place. Safe, sane and consensual is how we roll here,” I say, pointing to the rules posted on the wall. “I am sorry your hosts left you uninformed and unattended.

That was very inconsiderate of them.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” you say. “I told them to go have fun.”

“No, it isn’t actually,” I tell you. “You should never be left unattended on your first time in the club. Not without someone watching over you.” I purse my lips and frown. I will look your friends up later and have a word. “What about you?” I ask. “What do you do for fun?” I stand closer to you and the scent of your perfume wafts toward me. Simply lovely.

The next stop on the Forbidden Fruit blog tour is Beth Wylde http://bethwylde.wordpress.com/ who is interviewing Jean Roberta.

Leave a comment on any post in the Forbidden Fruit blog tour to be entered into a random draw to win one of these great prizes.  Prizes include a paperback copy of Girls Who Score, lesbian sports erotica edited by Ily Goyanes, Best Lesbian Romance 2011 edited by Radclyffe, an ebook of Ladylit’s first lesbian anthology Anything She Wants, and a bundle of three mini-anthologies from Ladylit: Sweat, A Christmas to Remember and Bossy.  All of these titles contain some stories written by the fabulous contributors to Forbidden Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire. You must include an email address in  your comment to be entered into the draw.

Forbidden Fruit: stories of unwise lesbian desire is available direct from the publisher, Ladylit (http://www.ladylit.com/books/forbidden-fruit/) or from Amazon, Smashwords, and other good retailers of ebooks.  Check out http://www.ladylit.com/books/forbidden-fruit/ for all purchasing information.

About Erzabet Bishop:

Erzabet Bishop has been crafting stories since she could pound keys on her parents’ old typewriter. She has only just learned that it is a whole lot more fun writing naughty books. She is a contributing author to the Silk Words website with her Fetish Fair and Temptation Resorts interactive romances, Sci Spanks 2014 Anthology, Potnia, A Christmas To Remember, Taboo II, Forbidden Fruit, Club Rook: The Series, Sweat, Bossy, When the Clock Strikes Thirteen, Wicked Things (upcoming). Unwrap these Presents (upcoming), Unbound Box, Milk & Cookies & Handcuffs, Holidays in Hell, Corset Magazine: Sex Around the World Issue and Man vs. Machine: The Sex Toy Issue, Smut by the Sea Volume 2, Hell Whore Volume 2, Can’t Get Enough, Slave Girls, The Big Book of Submission, Hungry for More, Gratis II, Gratis III (upcoming), Anything She Wants, Dirty Little Numbers, Kink-E magazine, Eternal Haunted Summer, Coming Together: Girl on Girl, Shifters and Coming Together: Hungry for Love among others. She is the author of Lipstick (upcoming), Dinner Date, Tethered, Red Moon Rising (upcoming), Red Boots (upcoming),Pomegranate (upcoming), Sigil Fire, Written on Skin: A Sigil Fire Short(upcoming), The Erotic Pagans Series: Beltane Fires, Samhain Shadows and Yuletide Temptation. Erzabet was a finalist for the GCLS 2014 awards in two separate categories. She lives in Texas with her husband, furry children and can often be found lurking in local bookstores. She loves to bake, make naughty crochet projects and watch monster movies. When she isn’t writing, she loves to review music and books.

Follow her reviews and posts on Twitter @erzabetbishop.

Links:

The Romance Reviews: http://www.theromancereviews.com/100004193823883
Wix: http://erzabetwrites.wix.com/erzabetbishop
Are: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html?searchBy=author&qString=Erzabet+Bishop
Ylva Author Page: http://www.ylva-publishing.com/ylva-verlag-e.kfr.–erzabet-bishop.html
Unbound Box Dessert Comes First Flash Fiction: https://unboundbox.com/magazine/blog/posts/dessert-comes-first
Liz McMullen episode: http://www.thelizmcmullenshow.com/lbs_episode18/
About Me: http://about.me/erzabet.bishop/#
Facebook “like” page: https://www.facebook.com/erzabetbishopauthor
Author WordPress blog: http://erzabetbishop.wordpress.com/
Amazon author page: http://amazon.com/author/erzabetbishop/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6590718.Erzabet_Bishop
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erzabet.bishop
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/erzabetbishop/
Lesfic Blog: http://lesficandlipstick.wordpress.com/
Review Blog: http://erzabetsenchantments.blogspot.com/
Author Database: http://authorsdb.com/authors-directory/2690-erzabet-bishop

About Ava-Ann Holland

Ava-Ann Holland is a European mongrel who has written all types of words in all sorts of contexts for a very long time. She currently resides in the United Kingdom where she spends her days fantasizing about wet dreams and dry land.