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Thursday, November 22, 2012

#Interview with M/M #Romance #Author Kay Berrisford!


Today I have the honor of interviewing fellow Loose Id author Kay Berrisford. She has a new brand book out this week!

Thanks so much for being here today, Kay! Congratulations on your new release Simon, Sex and the Solstice Stone. And thanks for letting me ask you five nosy questions today. Let's get started!

1.   Your latest erotic romance sounds fascinating. Can you tell us more about it?

Well, for a start, it features a lot of al fresco sex—which, given English weather at this time of year, is a bit of a risky activity. Nothing kills passion like the wet and the cold. But don’t worry, there’s plenty of sizzling passion to counteract that.

The story is about a lonely, geeky history student, Simon, who meets the man of his dreams in the middle of a stone circle that he’s studying.  One problem – the amazing guy, Aubrey, claims to be a time traveler from 1647, and despite their mutual attraction, Aubrey’s desperate to get home before Christmas.  What’s more, Aubrey’s method of shifting through time involves outdoor sexual rituals at the stone circle, and shy Simon’s not entirely sure he’s up for it—particularly as he’s trying to resist falling in love with this man who seems desperate just to shag and then leave him. So there’s all sorts of trouble ahead for my guys, particularly when Simon realizes Aubrey’s getting home might just be a matter of life and death.

2.   What is it about M/M romance that appeals to you as an author?

I know a lot of people have long and complex answers to this question, but m/m romance is just where my imagination wants to go. Simple as that.  I’ve always fantasized about two guys together. I love sharing those fantasies and will do so as long as people want to read. That said, I love reading m/f romance and all combinations of ménage, so I’m sure I’ll branch out one of these days.

3.   Besides fantasy and paranormal elements, your romances also contain quite a bit of folklore and history. Is there a lot of research involved?

Oh yes!  I love research—my background is as a historical researcher. When I choose a setting or a theme for a book, I always immerse myself in the relevant literature, and if possible, make time for some little field trips.  My Greenwood novels (Bound to the Beast and Bound for the Forest) are set in a fantasy version of The New Forest, which is an ancient royal hunting ground about fifteen minutes drive from where I live in Hampshire, England. There’s many wonderful and often gory legends associated with the New Forest, including the murder of several kings and princes who imposed the strict hunting laws on the folk of the forest. There are plenty of supernatural theories behind the killings—maybe they were murdered by the fair folk, or even the forest itself? I’ve included some of the tales in my stories, and I like to brainstorm my plots while I’m among the trees.

For Simon, Sex, and the Solstice Stone, I drew on another wonderful body of myths—those surrounding the many stone circles in the south of England, including Stonehenge.  Relatively few made it into the final novella, but it was fun refreshing my memory.  In medieval times, locals often believed that the stones were raucous revelers turned to stone by the devil for having too much fun on a Sunday.  I hate to think what the devil might have done if he’d caught my lads in Sex, Simon, and the Solstice Stone having al fresco sex on a Sunday in the middle of the circle!

4.   On a personal note, your blog mentions that you've brought a new kitty, Siena, into your home (and includes a very cute picture of her, as well). I'm an animal lover, too. Have pets always been a part of your life?

Yay for animal lovers! Funnily enough, Siena, who was a rescue kitty, is the first pet we’ve ever actually gone out and collected. However, yes, pets have always been a part of my life, but they’ve always before come to us.  My first pet—who lives on today—is Archibald, a tortoise.  He turned up in my parent’s garden before I was born.  Nobody claimed him, and he’s been roaming our grass, munching lettuce and cucumber, ever since.
 
Our second arrival was Florence, our fiercely intelligent black and white cat. Fifteen years ago, homeless Florence laid siege to our house and converted us into lifelong cat lovers. She sadly passed on earlier this year and left us bereft with an empty home, till Siena came to fill the gap.  Having been in a small run at the rescue center for five months, Siena loves her new garden with a passion. She’s learned how to batter her cat-flap open when it’s shut at night—like Florence, she’s one determined moggy, and she loves cuddles.

5. Please tell us what the future holds for Kay Berrisford! Are you working on anything at present that you can share with us?

Right now, I’m working on the third novel in my m/m paranormal Greenwood series—the ones inspired by the myths and legends of the New Forest. The first book in the series, Bound for the Forest, is set in the nineteenth century in the spring; the second, Bound to the Beast, is set in the sixteenth century in the summer.  Number three, provisionally titled Lord of the Forest, is set in the twelfth century in the autumn—so I’m going back in time, but forward through the seasons.

The books can also be read in any order, though certain themes unite them. Now I think of it, one of those themes is al fresco lovemaking, so maybe that is a common theme to all of my books!  Anyway, I’m having great fun writing the medieval period, and while Bound to the Beast was the tale of the brooding, mythical alpha male, Herne the Hunter, Lord of the Forest features another famous Greenwood legend, Robin Hood.

Thank you for letting me drop by, Nona.  Answering these questions has been lots of fun :-)

Thanks again Kay, and much continued success to you!

Simon, Sex, and the Solstice Stone (published by Loose Id, m/m paranormal/time travel, 45k).

Blurb: Simon’s holiday season is looking grim. His boyfriend’s dumped him, and his self-esteem is rock bottom. Stuck in the UK where nobody celebrates Thanksgiving, the shy, geeky student drowns his sorrows at an ancient stone circle. When a gorgeous stranger, Aubrey, shows up and attempts to seduce him, Simon is flattered but also freaked—especially when Aubrey claims to be from an historic sex cult who’d uncovered the true powers of the circle. It’s a time machine. Aubrey intended to travel back three hundred and sixty-five days, but an error propelled him forward three hundred and sixty-five years into a world alien to him.

Simon reluctantly takes the lost time traveler under his wing, and Aubrey teaches Simon the ways of sex, love, and magic. Simon’s never felt so alive, but as their bond grows, Aubrey remains determined to perform a dangerous ritual and return home at the winter solstice. Fearing he’s no more to Aubrey than a sexual sacrifice, Simon must discover the dark secrets of Aubrey’s pagan past. Only then can Simon choose between risking all for the man he loves or a lonely Christmas without him.

Excerpt:

    Simon pointed. “So what’s your theory on this one?”

    This image,” said Aubrey, “symbolizes the relentless shift of time, the sun over the ring.” He slid his hand over Simon’s wrist, and Simon inhaled sharply. He ought to pull away, yet his skin tingled beneath Aubrey’s palm. The world beyond, even the crispness of the rain, seemed to fade. He found himself scrambling closer so he knelt on the Solstice Stone, letting the man manipulate him till Simon’s finger pointed to a carving similar to the first. Here the sun and the stone were bound together by what he took to be curling vines, but the sphere representing the sun had been torn in two.

    “This one,” continued Aubrey, “shows us how the power of the Ancestors can tear the very fabric of time and undo the injustices that rip loved ones apart. This is andaga.”

    “Eh?” Simon had never read anything about a ritual that tore the fabric of time. Then again, he recalled the words of the naked guy looming over him on this very Solstice Stone well enough. He’d said something about spinning back time, and that set Simon’s nerves jangling. “What evidence supports this theory?”
Aubrey looked to the misted horizon, clenching his jaw against a tremor that shook his body from head to toe. “The power of the Ancients remains alive in this place.”

    Simon opened his mouth to snap that he needed a better answer than that, but his words jammed. As Aubrey moved, the lacing that fastened his white shirt fell loose, revealing a physique chiseled to lean perfection by either gym or hard labor, his carved chest adorned with soggy golden curls.

    Simon’s throat tightened. So did his groin. Aubrey slid his gaze to Simon and lowered his lashes. He seemed to be begging a silent question, but Simon could not even start to comprehend.

    “But let’s forget time tearing,” murmured Aubrey.

    He stroked Simon’s sodden brown hair from where it had clumped across his eye, and Simon’s usually sharp mind dissolved to mush. He could hardly remember how to breathe. The man slid featherlight fingertips down Simon’s smoothly shaven cheek, setting his skin aflame and doing nothing to dissipate his growing hard-on. Simon sent a final, desperate message to his fingers to swipe the man away; he needed to say something, anything.

    Next thing he knew, the man grabbed him and kissed him hard.

    For a blissful moment Simon surrendered, and his senses reeled under the onslaught. Aubrey plundered deep into Simon’s mouth, and Simon slid his tongue against Aubrey’s, hot and slick in contrast to the chill of their skin, willing him to intensify their coupling. Aubrey worked the kiss like his life depended on it, scrubbing his coarse stubble against Simon’s chin. Simon relished the sensation even as the man’s hunger astounded him. Aubrey’s hands trembled as he splayed them across Simon’s back. Then he balled fists in the fabric of Simon’s coat as if he were a drowning mariner grasping a rope from the shore. Their bodies notched together so naturally, and something Aubrey wore—a belt, maybe, concealed beneath his clothes—dug into Simon’s stomach. Simon shifted, looping his arms about the man’s neck, his knee nudging between Aubrey’s. He reveled in the hardness of the man’s thighs, and—oh yes. The length of Aubrey’s cock pressed against Simon’s leg, with only Simon’s tight, wet jeans and Aubrey’s loose clothing between them.

    What in heaven, hell, or any realm in between could have possessed this cross between a god and a soggy wolf pup to kiss him? And at a time like this?

    Aubrey’s frenzy proved infectious; Simon grew needier by the second. Some awesome power bound them together, as surely as the carved vines wound about that phallic stone. His cock stiffened for this guy, his contact-starved body screaming for more, so much more. Aubrey lowered Simon till he lay flat on the stone, and Simon could not resist. He feared this strange man, but with fear came thrill—an awakening of desires that, since his experience at this very spot, he’d dared visit only in the dusky realm between nightmares and dreams.

    Aubrey broke away, both of them panted. Aubrey cupped Simon’s face and whispered in his ear. “That’s just the start of our offering, Simon. Shall we show the Ancestors how much we adore them?”

    Simon gazed up at him, so turned on the man’s words were hard to comprehend. With Pete sex had been so complicated. They’d spent more time arguing about who should do what than they had actually doing it. With Aubrey their conjoined desires grew so stark that Simon bit his tongue against vocalizing his darkest cravings.

    I want you to fuck me here and now. To heaven and back on the Solstice Stone.

    Aubrey pulled away a moment, raking his hair—and Simon suddenly realized what had pressed into him as they embraced. Aubrey indeed wore a belt. It had shifted around as they’d kissed to reveal an old-fashioned dagger sheathed in black leather.

    His common sense became deafening.

    He didn’t fuck strangers, let alone ones who carried knives. Maybe he was finally starting to understand what he’d seen last Christmas. It had been a premonition.

    The Ancestors warning him never to lie beneath another man on the Solstice Stone.

    “Shit!” he yelped. “Get away from me!”


Visit my website!

Buy it now links for all my books:

Fictionwise     Loose Id    Sony    

Thanks so much for being here today, Kay, and may you have much success with your new release!

Have a wonderful weekend, all!


Nona Raines
Hot Contemporary Romance
Edgy ~ Emotional ~ Erotic
www.nonaraines.com



3 comments:

  1. Thank so much for having me :D :D :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great having you here, Kay! Thank YOU!

    ReplyDelete
  3. :D Enjoyed the post! Eeek! I really hope I can get this book soon. lol...
    Thank you for the blurb. :)

    ReplyDelete

TRR

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