I had $10 and this menu to build my ideal story on AusRom Today.
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Initially, I thought this would be a straightforward challenge. I love ordering from menus. I do it often, and I do it well. However, in less than five seconds I spent a whopping $53.00! I searched high and low for the buffet option. Unfortunately there isn’t one. After much deliberation, here’s how I decided to spend my grand total of ten dollars:
$5 on a Happily Ever After
This, for me, is an absolute must. I’m an incurable and unashamed romantic. As a reader, if I don’t get my happily ever after, I get cross. So even though I write what has been described as intense and unflinching BDSM erotic romance, I always deliver happily ever after’s to my readers.
$3 on Conflict that forces personal growth
When I read a story, I love the kind of conflict that causes my heart to beat a little faster and has me turning the pages more quickly in anticipation. Characters who are flawed or misguided, those who have an arduous journey to reach their happy place, growing and discovering along the way, are the types of characters who stay with me long after the book is finished. In Hurt Me, Heal Me, Caitlin— my poor anguished sub—believes she’s too messed up to have the kind of loving relationship she really craves. And Paul has his own demons that affect his ability to give Caitlin what she needs. Here’s a snippet.
“I love you, Caitlin.” He didn’t recognize his own voice. “I love you.”
Her face crumpled and her body seemed to fold in on itself, as if he’d given her a body shot.
She wrapped her arms around herself, looking as if she were trying to stop herself from falling apart. Her words came out between broken sobs. “Please, Paul. Please don’t make it more excruciating than it already is.”
They stared at each other for a long moment. He gazed into those beautiful, haunted eyes, filled with so much raw pain, and he knew—he knew, even though she hadn’t said it—she felt the same as he did. She loved him.
She turned and walked out the door. He heard the quiet click as the lock snicked into place.
And then Paul went fucking crazy.
$2 on a take-charge hero
“Waiter, I’ll have my hero with a soft center of sweetness and kindness, wrapped in a well-done, almost-impenetrable outer shell. Oh, and can I have him with a small side of bossiness. Thanks.” This guy’s giving me unimpressed waiter side-eye right now. The heroes in my Dante’s Purgatory Series are Doms, so take-charge alpha male guys they are—every last one of them.
Read the rest on AusRom Today. While you’re there, check out all the other Australian Romance Authors. There are heaps of interesting interviews, reviews and articles. You never know, you might find your next favourite author lurking down under.
