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Random thoughts on our impending doom and everyday life, courtesy of a Romance Writer who occasionally feels the need to talk like a Sailor.

Friday 18 January 2013

A look at 'Steel Dominance' by Cari Silverwood – The Jigsaw Puzzle of Writing



Today my guest is Australian Erotic Romance Writer, Cari Silverwood. I discovered Cari's work when I read 'Lust Plague', a Zombie/Steam Punk/BDSM/Erotic Romance. Yes, you heard me right. And it rocks. If you haven't read it then you bloody well need to do so. Take it away, Cari...



With this novel, the third in my Steamwork Chronicles series, I introduced so many different subplots that it became like knitting a sweater with cooked spaghetti after the dog has eaten half of it. Yes, Steel Dominance is complicated and fun, and sexy and hot. Though it released on the 15th of January but I began writing the book way back at the end of last year. I have many many pages of crazy indecipherable notes to do with it scribbled in a huge diary I use when typing on the pc doesn’t help me.



Ironing, vacuuming, and scribbling out summaries of characters, plots and stupid things that refuse to sort themselves out without my help!! … is what I do when I’m stuck. Yes, frustration is second nature to writers.



It was, of course, my idea that I write a book based on the vast and imaginary steampunk Byzantine empire. In our world the ancient Greeks changed the name of the city of Byzantium to Constantinople and then got themselves all besieged and conquered by the Ottoman Turks. In my book the Ottomans never quite finish the siege and it becomes a centuries old stalemate.



So I dragged out a big cauldron and threw in many ingredients: 
     Dankyo, military, strict, a man with a need to dominate his partner.

     Sofia , a smart steampunk geek who has a submissive streak she’s not yet figured out.

     An emperor who loves getting his own way and who has a nasty habit of eliminating those who get underfoot by squashing them. He rewards his assassin with people she’d like to kill.

     Xiang is the emperor’s assassin with a decades old need for revenge against Dankyo.

     Final ingredients – the tangled spaghetti of political intrigue, BDSM power dynamics, some clockwork spiders with graffiti on their little minds, and the puzzle of the Clockwork Warrior.



If you love colorful and complex plots, fantasy, and novels you can immerse yourself in, Steel Dominance is awaiting you.


Excerpt:
     The bow viewing lounge with its three long reinforced windows was crowded with eager passengers. Dankyo had found them a spot at the front and stood behind her, his body up close, his chest pushing at her when he inhaled, and his palms heavy on her shoulders. She’d have protested and stepped away, but there was nowhere to go and no way to do it without seeming strange.
     So instead Sofia breathed in and out with little tight movements, watched the scenery go by, and dug her nails into her skin.
     Scenery, watch the scenery.
     Ahead was the city of Byzantium with the crosses and domes of churches and mosques lacerating the sky, and farther to the right was a slithery silver hint of the Bosporus. Beyond that, just visible on the opposite bank, were some of the taller buildings of the rival Ottoman city. Centuries of off-and-on sieges had left Byzantium with stout metal walls shaping its outskirts, and they shone with gold and silver in the afternoon sun as if they intended to flare into molten incandescence at sundown.
     A loudspeaker came on. “Time for disembarkation in twenty minutes. Passengers are advised to have their baggage in order.
     People either side of them moved away, and when only a few were left and Dankyo hadn’t said a word, she made to follow them. He stopped her. His hands tightened on her neck, and he shifted behind her until his lower body pressed into her buttocks.
     “Stay.”
     She stiffened.
     Then he nipped her ear and spoke in a warm, rumbling tenor. His breath carried his words in deep to curl inside her mind and paralyze her with their power.
     “This is Byzantium, where slaves do as their Masters bid them. Where no one will know if you surrender yourself to me. Not your friends; not your family.” As he spoke, he slid one hand down her front, following the curve of her breast, then lower, until the flat of his hand rested on her belly. He pulled her back against him, gentle but sure.
     “Sofia, will you let me take you to the edge and beyond?”



A brilliant researcher, Sofia must unravel the ancient puzzle of the Clockwork Warrior or her career will be in tatters. Yet the tomb of the warrior is in the dangerous city of Byzantium, inside the harem of the Emperor. She knew she’d have to pose as a slave—but not that her “owner” would be the incredibly bossy, gorgeous bodyguard she’s been assigned.
A life of military duty has left Dankyo unprepared for Sofia. He’s never met a woman quite like this. She’s smart and beautiful, and she’s something that he’s finding almost irresistible—despite the way she fights against masquerading as his slave, she’s submissive right down to the bottom of her soul. And that’s bringing out every dominant instinct in his body. 
But even as he realizes she’s captured his heart, the city explodes into madness. Surviving seems impossible. Can love and a Dom who will never give up overcome sheer bloody-minded evil?

You can find out more about Cari and her books here.  Follow her on facebook or twitter.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for hosting me, Kylie!
    And good luck with your amazing post-apoc stories.
    I love all that action, gore, and sex, just like you. :)
    Awww... and you put all my covers up together. Pretty.

    ReplyDelete