First, let me apologize for not posting this Friday. Suffice it to say... it's been one of those weeks. Without any further delay... here is the wonderfully talented Annabel Joseph...1.) Thank you for visiting today and answering a few questions. I'm going to step into uncharted territory with a few of my questions, but let's start with the staple... Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Sure! I’m a mom, wife, southern girl, and I’ve been writing since I was about, oh...five or six years old. I love beautiful things, strong alpha men, and fried zucchini. Oh, and really emotional relationships, which is why I love romance so much.
2.) Tell us about your latest book.
Fortune came about when a girlfriend of mine started seeing someone who was really into rope play. This guy also did origami compulsively. A story started to take shape in my mind of a man who was very dexterous with his hands--oh, the possibilities. I knew I wanted the book to have a rope/shibari theme, and so I created a heroine who was very flighty and difficult to tie down, both literally and figuratively. Their struggle to create a workable relationship is the main focus of the story, but there’s a lot of mysticism too. The heroine’s mother is a fortune teller, so aside from the hot sex and shibari there’s a lot of deep thought about life and intuition, and taking chances even when it’s scary. I think that’s something we can all identify with.
3.) Romance heroes come in many flavors, but most are some epitome of a woman's fantasy, rather than a truthful everyday guy. However, because they represent what many women need/want or wish for in a partner, what could men learn from your heroes?
Oh my, what a great question-- although I may not be the best person to ask, since many of my heroes have flaws. I mean, they’re all hot, successful, and sexually voracious, but they also make mistakes and get carried away with passion and emotion sometimes. I guess the one thing men can learn from my heroes is that if you make a mistake, or the heroine makes a mistake, it can be an opportunity for growth, and not always an ending. Forgiveness is powerful. Never give up on love.
4.) The heroine is the backbone of every romance and represents for the reader, a little part of themselves. I daresay, even for the male readers. What aspects of yourself, might we see a hint of in your heroines?
I think I’ve always been a fairly flighty, uncertain person. I’m also very secretive and self-protective, which makes being a sub that much more challenging. I think of all my heroines, Kat in Fortune and Wednesday in Owning Wednesday are most like me, because of their uncertainty and their struggles to commit and open themselves up to their dominants.
5.) A followup question, if I may. What aspects common to your heroines, would you like to see in yourself that isn't readily seen by others in real life?
I would like to be better at processing pain in my BDSM play! My heroines are great at it. Me, not so much.
6.) Who is your favorite Disney Heroine?
It’s Cinderella all the way for me. I remember making my mom read me the Disney Cinderella book every night before bed for about six months in a row when I was little. I just love the Cinderella story. The beautiful gown! The castle! The ball! Something about being whisked away from your desperation to a whole new glittering world, and your life being transformed by love. My next book, Lily Mine, is a Regency historical in the Cinderella archetype. It’s about a common girl who ends up playing wife to a member of the aristocracy due to some extenuating circumstances. Of course, they fall in love and...well, you’ll have to read it. There’s drama and torment and bliss.
7.) What's your favorite non-romance book?
Oh, it’s hard to narrow it down to one, but I have to say The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor. I love her voice, I love the way she’ll shock you when you never even saw it coming. She so subtle, and then she’ll hit you with a ton of bricks! She’s just really good at the craft of writing...setting the scene, drawing you right in without even realizing she’s doing it. Her writing is very powerful.
8.) If you could be any fictional heroine/hero, who would it be and why?
Cinderella, of course! I want that diaphanous silver-white gown from the Disney movie. And a handsome prince...
9.) Pure fantasy here, someone seduces you. Who would it be, and how would they ignite the fire? (It's fantasy here, so there's no boundaries. If its Leonardo Di Caprio taking you on the bow of the Titanic, so be it! Run wild with it!)
There’s something about the collaborative process that is just unbearably sexy to me, like Prosper and Jackson working together on the ballet in my book Firebird. The whole “give and take” of collaborating and brainstorming would seduce me in a second, especially if the result was something successful and impressive. Plus, intelligence and ideas arouse me, which would add flames to the fire.
10.) It’s been said by many a romance writer, that beta heroes don't sell. What defines a male character as beta to you?
I suppose a beta is just very tender and sensitive to the heroine’s needs and feelings first and foremost. That doesn’t work for me because I like my men to be just a little selfish and demanding. I know, I know! I can’t help it. In BDSM books especially, I need the dom to be alpha all the way.
Thanks for having me, Brindle. These questions were a lot of fun to answer!
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