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.
Dankyo, military, strict, a man with a need to dominate his partner.
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.
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?
Thanks for hosting me, Kylie!
ReplyDeleteAnd 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.