Someone asked me what the best part of writing was. I thought off all sorts of satisfying moments – when the characters seem to come to life and do something you weren’t expecting, when real-world research facts fall mysteriously into line with your fictional background, when a story idea hits you so hard that you just write and write and write …
But nothing about writing erotica and romance is quite so
wonderful, I think, as the fact that you get to fall in love with your hero(es).
And then you get to have long, torrid, heart-wrenching relationships with them,
feeling the butterflies-in-the-stomach and the uncertainty and the terror as
well as the joy and the pleasure. You get to work your way through from first
glance to flirtations to consummation – emotional or physical or both. You find
total satisfaction; not, as the reader does, over a day’s reading, but over
weeks and months as you work it out step by step.
In writing The Book of the Watchers trilogy I
got to fall in love with two men at the same time, just as my heroine does. A
tall, dark, terrifying fallen angel, as much force of nature as man. And a
complex, uncooperative hero who turns out to hiding a past as dark as any
demon’s.
It’s been an affair of the heart that has lasted four years
now – and my real-life husband hasn’t complained once!
Love is the drug that keeps me coming back to my keyboard
;-)
xxx
Janine Ashbless
Excerpt from In Bonds
of the Earth
Wrapping the cheap cotton throw from
the foot of the bed around my bare body, I padded through to the doorway. The
Archangel Michael stood in the middle of my small apartment, looking about him
at the book shelves and the pictures. A paperback copy of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo slipped from his hand back onto the
low table.
“Hello, Milja. Nice place. Has he moved
his toothbrush in yet?”
It was like waking to find a giant bird
of prey in my tiny living room; he looked wildly unsuited to a domestic setting
and way too big for it, even with wings furled. In fact, with that Roman nose
and those unblinking amber eyes, there was something distinctly golden
eagle-like about him. If he stretched out he could knock over walls, I thought.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I
asked. “This is my home. You can’t
just come barging in!”
“You’re right,” he said, looking
startled. “I have to have your permission. No, hold on, wait…that’s vampires.
Shame.”
I pursed my lips. “Well, God certainly
did not hold back on the sarcasm when he made you guys.”
He smirked. If you’re that
good-looking, even a less-than-warm smile can be a weapon of devastating charm.
Turning to the couch, he sat down with arms draped over the back and knees
spread. It was not so much an invitation as a claiming of territory.
“What do you want?” I kept my voice
hard, even as I thought of the icon of Saint Michael that had stood guard over
the key in my father’s church. That holy painting had always made me feel
nervous as a child, and he was no less intimidating in the flesh. His piercing
gaze rested lightly upon me, with all the gentleness of a sword-point.
“Nothing.”
His rigger boots were caked in dried
mud, I noticed, and flaking on my rug. I wished he would blink. It still
creeped me out, even though Azazel should have inured me to it. “Angels aren’t
supposed to lie. What are you doing here?”
“Waiting.”
“So, what…you’re sitting guard over me
until Azazel comes back? Is that your plan?”
“He’s too much of a coward to face me.
Runs every time.”
“If that’s the way you want to call
it.”
He looked at the kitchen door. “I see
you have a kettle. You got any tea? I like that Earl Grey stuff. Tastes like
flowers.”
“I know the rules, you know. You can’t
actually do anything to me.”
“True enough. And I’m not stopping you
leaving, if that’s worrying you.”
“I can move out. Get a new place.”
“That’s fine, I’ll find you. This
apartment’s a bit small for the two of us, to be honest.”
I clenched my jaw, weighing my options.
“Okay,” I said, and dropped my wrap to reveal my naked body, in all its
post-coital salty glow.
That wiped the smile off his lips.
“Don’t play those games,” he growled, sitting up and looking away from me.
Love is Azazel’s weak spot. Shame is
theirs. They’re terrified of their own human flesh.
“What? Does this make you
uncomfortable? That’s a pity, seeing as how it’s my house and I like to walk
around it naked.”
“You are shameless.” His gaze was
sliding all over the place, not daring to settle on me.
“I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.” I
hefted my breasts and jiggled them. “They’re my tits. In my apartment. If you
don’t want to see, clear out.”
“Put your robe back on,” he rasped.
“Oops,” I said. “Did I drop it?”
Turning my back to him, I spread my feet and, straight-legged, bent over to
pick the fabric up again. Nice and slow…
He moved so fast he’d launched me
across the room and onto my bed before I even realized he was out of his seat.
The abused mattress twanged in alarm. It knocked the wind out of me—and more
than that, shocked me half to death. I wasn’t in the least bit hurt, not even
bruised, but I hadn’t expected him to touch me at all, under the rules. Maybe
the Boatman sailed closer to the wind than I’d bargained for.
“Don’t do that, whore!” he barked,
leaning into my face. He looked furious. I knew why. It takes a human decades
to learn how to deal with all the things that come with an adult body—all those
hormones and instincts—without losing control. Angels never had the advantage
of a gradual introduction.
I had two choices: surrender or fight.
I bared my teeth and snarled right back at him, matching his rage and contempt.
“Or what? You’re going to rape me?
’Cause I think that might just count as a fall from Grace, don’t you? And then
you’d be royally fucked, Mister
Michael.”
He recoiled, drawing himself up in
undisguised horror. I took advantage of the gap between us to roll over and
pull the drawer of my bedside cabinet open, pulling out the silicon rabbit sex
toy I’d been given at my graduation party. I hadn’t used it in months, I
couldn’t even remember if there were any batteries in it, and I certainly
wasn’t feeling horny, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me.
“Wanna watch?” I asked, spreading my
legs wide. “Because that’s what us girls do when we’re home alone these modern
days. You can go into the other room if it squicks you out to see. Then you’ll
only have to listen to the noises I make.”
He turned on his heel and stomped away,
slamming his hands into the doorframe hard enough to crack the wood. But he
didn’t leave altogether. He was just that bit too stubborn.
Book Blurb
When Milja Petak released the fallen angel Azazel from
five thousand years of imprisonment, she did it out of love and pity. She found
herself in a passionate sexual relationship beyond her imagining and control – the beloved plaything of a dark and furious demon who
takes what he wants, when he wants, and submits to no restraint. But what she
hasn’t bargained on is being drawn into his plan to free
all his incarcerated brothers and wage a war against the Powers of Heaven.
As Azazel drags Milja across the globe in search of
his fellow rebel angels, Milja fights to hold her own in a situation where
every decision has dire consequences. Pursued by the loyal Archangels, she is
forced to make alliances with those she cannot trust: the mysterious Roshana
Veisi, who has designs of her own upon Azazel; and Egan Kansky, special forces
agent of the Vatican – the man who once saved then
betrayed her, who loves her, and who will do anything he can to imprison Azazel
for all eternity.
Torn every way by love, by conflicting loyalties and
by her own passions, Milja finds that she too is changing – and that she must do things she could not previously
have dreamt of in order to save those who matter to her.
In Bonds of the Earth is the second in the Book of the Watchers trilogy and
the sequel to Cover Him With Darkness.
Buy links:
Ebook:
Print:
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your small publisher and buy direct
About the Author
Janine
Ashbless is a writer of fantasy erotica and steamy romantic adventure. She
likes to write about magic and myth and mystery, dangerous power dynamics,
borderline terror, and the not-quite-human.
Buyer
beware! If you like dark romance and a hard-won Happily Ever After, try
"Cover Him with Darkness," "Heart of Flame," or "The
King's Viper." If you prefer challenging erotica, go for "Red Grow
the Roses" or "Named and Shamed" instead. All her other books
lie somewhere on the spectrum between.
Janine
has been seeing her books in print ever since 2000. She's also had numerous
short stories published by Black Lace, Nexus, Cleis Press, Ravenous Romance,
Harlequin Spice, Storm Moon, Xcite, Mischief Books, and Ellora's Cave among
others. She is co-editor of the nerd erotica anthology 'Geek Love'.
Born
in Wales, Janine now lives in the North of England with her husband and two
rescued greyhounds. She has worked as a cleaner, library assistant, computer
programmer, local government tree officer, and - for five years of muddy feet
and shouting - as a full-time costumed Viking. Janine loves goatee beards,
ancient ruins, minotaurs, trees, mummies, having her cake and eating it, and
holidaying in countries with really bad public sewerage.
Her
work has been described as:
"Hardcore
and literate" (Madeline Moore) and "Vivid and tempestuous and
dangerous, and bursting with sacrifice, death and love." (Portia Da Costa).
Author picture credit to David Woolfall.
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