Writers At Work
This is the fifteenth in Ravenshead's series of interviews with
writers.
Annabel Joseph is the author of numerous romantic erotic or '
romantica' novels.
These deal with adult themes. She writes two or three novels each year.
Her web-site is
here.
She is currently working on two novels. The first:
'Firebird' comes
out on June 15th at
Loose Id. The second book is called '
Deep In The Woods'.
This will be published by
Ellora's
Cave which has a planned release in the fall.
Ravenshead (RH) interviewed Annabel Joseph (AJ) in March
2010 and the interview is reproduced here:
An Interview with Annabel Joseph
RH: Please tell us a bit about your
background.
AJ: I grew up an Army brat and spent most of my formative years on
military installations. I think the military life -- moving a lot,
constantly having to lose and then re-make friends -- had a lot of
influence on the person I am today. I think it predisposed me to
writing, or at least bred in me a fascination with diverse people and
their stories. Even now that I've settled down with my husband and
started a family, we still lead a pretty peripatetic life.
RH: When did you start writing?
AJ: Oh, I remember writing little short stories and plays as
soon as I figured out how to read and write. I was literally five or
six, stapling multi-page stories together and illustrating them. They
were always about things like misunderstood flowers or grouchy worms
that learned to be friendly. Then I went through my emo poetry-writing
phase in my teens and through college, and had my first experiences
with being published. College was also my first exposure to formal
writing classes and critique, although I eventually earned a degree in
another field. I dabbled in screenwriting, which taught me worlds about
story structure, visual writing, and economy of words.
I think I've been writing for so long because it's always been an
emotional release for me, perhaps a way of coping with the upheaval of
my childhood. I remember bursting into tears while doing a poetry
reading in front of my entire high school. It was so embarrassing, but
looking back I don't regret the turmoil of those years. That raw
emotion is something I still try to tap into when I'm writing. If I
move people with my writing, if I can get them to laugh or cry, that's
a huge victory for me.
RH: Where do you write?
AJ: I write on a laptop, so I'm pretty mobile. I do most of
my writing at the kitchen table, just because that's the center of our
family life and I can write while I'm helping the kids with homework or
putting dinner together. I've been known to write in a lawn chair out
front while the kids are riding bikes, or on a couch in the living room
next to my husband. I've trained myself to write on the fly because I
have so little solitary time. But when I'm coming up on a scene that's
especially emotional or intense, or a love scene, I wait until night
time and write those scenes in bed.
RH: What makes you write?
AJ: For me, it's like therapy. I work through a lot of my own emotional
issues on the page. I'm also motivated to write because I've been lucky
enough to find an audience. When a reader takes the time to email you
and say, "Your book really resonated with me. When will you write
another one?" there is nothing on earth you want to do more.
But I think my main drive to write is my desire to create those
moments. Moments when we feel very human; when we are hurt, or
exultant, or terrified, or a mixture of all three. Those moments that
raise the hair on the back of your neck. I guess that's why I've been
drawn from the start to writing drama and romance.
RH: What's the easiest thing about
writing? What's the hardest?
AJ: For me, the easiest thing is crafting the language, the style and
metaphors. Words have always flowed for me. A lot of times I read back
and think, wow...I wrote that? That's pretty good! I get in this zone
where the words just come to me, and I find it very easy to express
myself. I'm grateful for that ability.
The hardest part is what I call "
Middle-Of-The-Story-Purgatory."
I
don't often have writer's block, but when I do, it comes in the middle.
In the beginning, I'm always enthused about the new characters,
fleshing them out, setting up the plot points and establishing the
theme; and at the end, I'm motivated by that build to the climax, and
the satisfaction of tying up the loose ends. But when I'm in the
middle...ugh. Sometimes it's a grind, forcing myself to go on and write
through the chapters when I really want to skip to the
happily-ever-after. That's something that Write It Now has really
helped me with, pushing through that no-man's-land, because I can click
over to my ideas and notes and stay focused by seeing the chapters laid
out for me on the left.
RH: Have other people's comments
affected your writing?
Oh, definitely. I'm an audience-aware writer. I google myself and pore
over any reviews I can find. I'm not one of those writers with the
conviction to let my soul pour forth and not tidy it up somehow to try
to please others. As such, the editing process is probably not as
excruciating for me as it is for some writers.
For me too, I write in a very specific subgenre, and the houses I
publish with have various conventions you have to adhere to. I know
there are certain things readers expect to find in my stories, and I
want to deliver them so they'll come back for my next release. It's a
balance...fulfilling the conventions while still making my storylines
and characters as original as possible. When a reviewer calls my work
"different" or "fresh" it is the most wonderful feeling in
the world, considering I write in a genre where there's not much room
for unconventionality.
RH: Which writers have influenced you?
AJ: When I was younger, I was very influenced by the
romantic poets:
Shelley, Keats, Byron. I read a lot of poetry in general, which may be
how I developed that ease with language. I read a lot of mythology too,
which gave me a good sense of classical story structures. It's funny
how the themes of so many current stories have mythological origins.
As far as modern writers,
Flannery
O'Connor had a huge influence on me,
both as a writer and a person who was a "southern misfit" like me. Her
work astounds me. She used such a light hand to deliver moments that
were like anvils to the head. She was a master of the "moment" and her
work remains a great inspiration to me.
As a romance writer, I really admire
Laura Kinsale.
I believe she is
the most skilled romance writer of our time. I corresponded with her
briefly a few years ago, when I was still on the fence about actually
attempting a novel, and she was so encouraging. I sing her praises
whenever I can.
RH: How long does it take you to write
a typical book? Do you have to revise or rewrite it much?
AJ: In my genre, and being primarily e-published, quantity is
everything. I try to finish at least three to four novels a year,
ranging in length from 50,000-80,000 words. I did complete one at
99,000 but
that was my upper limit. The revising and editing process for a book
that length was brutal and the final published version ended up cut
back to 89,000 anyway. I would be hard pressed to put an actual time
length on writing my books, since I rarely write a book from start to
finish. I usually switch between two or three, and sometimes I'll be
eight chapters in, put a book away for six months, and then come back
to it with a fresh view.
As for the editing process, I don't do a lot of revising myself,
usually just one or two passes through the manuscript before I submit
it. Once my editor gets her hands on it, I expect another couple passes
of edits. Occasionally, the publisher requests more extensive changes
where I have to soften things or spice things up, or tweak characters.
But editing is not that distressing for me. I find most of the time
that the changes they suggest improve the finished book.
RH: Do you work on more than
one novel at a time?
AJ: I've had up to six open manuscripts at one time! Since I'm not an
outliner, I sometimes reach a point in a story where I don't know where
to go next. When that happens, I set it aside and begin a new
manuscript if I've had an idea for one. If not, I go back to one that
was previously put away and start on it again. I find that putting some
chapters aside and coming back to them with a fresh eye helps me see
things that are missing, and more often than not, see where I need to
go next.
Although I rotate between books, I do always write chronologically. I
don't let myself skip around, writing the beginning and end before I
write the middle, or writing specific scenes before I arrive at them in
the book. I feel that gives my books a better flow and more cohesion.
It's just a rule I've set for myself.
RH: Was it easy to find a
publisher for your first book?
AJ: Actually, it was!
The funny thing is, I self-published my first three novels because I
assumed it would be too difficult to find a publisher. I thought I
would need to wrangle around with agents, deal with a bunch of
rejection letters, so I just published them at Lulu for fun. I joined a
few BDSM sites to promote them and I happened to start messaging with a
gal there about my writing. It turned out she was an editor for Loose
Id, which is one of the bigger romantic erotica publishers online. She
agreed to look at a partial and liked it, so she asked for the full
manuscript, and after a few points of contention were ironed out,
Loose
Id accepted it.
If I had known it would be that easy, I would have taken that route
from the beginning. At least now my self-pubbed titles get some traffic
from readers who discover my work at Loose Id.
RH: Can you tell us more
about the "romantic erotica" genre?
AJ: Romantic erotica (sometimes called "romantica") is a sort
of melding of traditional romance themes with the more explicit
sexuality of erotica. A lot of readers enjoy romance but are looking
for more spice in the sexual encounters. By the same token, a lot of
readers enjoy the "heat" of erotica but are turned off by the
storylines, which tend to be contrived at best, and downright offensive
at worst. With romantic erotica, readers get the best of both worlds.
They get the heat they want, and characters with a positive emotional
connection too.
RH: What drew you to writing
romantic erotica?
AJ: It was actually a bit of a journey to get there. I had
always loved mainstream romance novels and read a ton of them. The
genre felt comfortable to me, but I knew I didn't have a 125,000-word
historical novel in me, and I wasn't interested in doing the serials.
At the
same time, I began writing erotica as a hobby while I was staying home
raising the kids. It was a way of keeping things spicy with my husband
while we were drowning in diapers and Barney reruns. I shared them with
a few close friends and they begged me to write more. They were like
addicts for the stories, and I thought...hmmm...maybe I'm on to
something here! I wrote the erotica in the context of romance just
because I enjoyed it, even though I knew Harlequin wouldn't touch
something so explicit with a ten-foot pole. I had no idea there was a
huge, mostly-online community of readers who wanted this exact
combination -- the romance they loved, but with a lot more explicit
sex.
When I realized what I was writing was actually called romantic
erotica, and that there was a big market for it, I started looking at
houses that published it. I discovered places like Loose Id and
Ellora's Cave that were already well established. I was really thrilled
that I could write what I wanted, and that other people were totally
into it. The only downside has been the issue of secrecy. When you are
a suburban housewife with kids from a really conservative family, you
can't exactly shout it from the hills when you have a new book out, or
when you've received a great review. Only my husband and a few friends
know what I write, and unfortunately, it has to stay that way.
RH: Which classical and modern authors
of erotic literature do you most admire?
AJ:
Molly
Weatherfield's two novels, "Carrie's Story" and
"Safe Word," seemed revolutionary to me in a genre that tends toward
lazy story development and tropes. Her books inspired me to craft
deeper, more thoughtful relationships between my characters, even if
the onus in erotica will always be on sex. She helped me see that the
sex is hotter when the people involved in it are interesting, when
their relationships are more complex. Her books inspired me to try to
transform the genre from the inside out.
Another erotica author I admire for sheer artistry is
Anneke
Jacob. She
writes much more intense kink than I normally read, but her characters
and scenes are so vivid and well-written, you can't help but get caught
up. With erotica, a huge part of what we try to deliver is sensation
and arousal through the written word. Anneke is truly a master of that
craft.
RH: How has your writing developed and
changed over the years?
AJ: I've become more aware of the conventions of different
genres and the expectations of readers. I've also tried to improve the
readability of my work by cutting out distractions like unneeded
adverbs and convoluted sentences.
I also used to seriously overuse the word "
murmured" as a
speech tag,
so much that my editor flipped out one day and told me I was NEVER to
use it again. Now every manuscript I submit to her has one and only one
use of the word "murmured," just to tease her. She inevitably finds it
and puts a big balloon there -- CHANGE OR DELETE!! It's fun.
RH: Where do you get your
ideas for settings and plots? Do
your readers suggest ideas that they would like to appear in your
stories?
AJ: I'm pretty active in the online BDSM community and in my
local kink community, and I find a lot of inspiration there. A lot of
times people will share an experience or kink that tickles my fancy,
and I'll file it away to use in a book. For instance, an online friend
was talking about how he liked to chase his girlfriend as a form of
foreplay, literally chase her around the house or even through the
backyard. Now, that's something I never would have thought of, but as
he described the effect on her, it sounded crazy hot. The adrenaline,
the fear, the excitement of being caught and dragged off to be
"ravished..." That ended up inspiring a major scene in a
recently-completed book. Another friend was telling me a story about
her current partner's obsession with origami and shibari, or Japanese
rope
bondage. I am building an entire novel around that right now, where the
intricate shibari is a metaphor for the hero's complex feelings about
the heroine. It's just pure gold, and I never would have come up with
it on my own because me and hubby are not particularly into rope. So
being able to hear my reader's suggestions, fantasies, and ideas is
unbelievably important to me. It's something I actively work at
soliciting. I always want to be coming up with new and compelling
erotic scenes.
RH: Your characters are often
artistic people. Why is that?
AJ: I am a big proponent of creativity. I think it would solve a
million problems in the world, if everyone was more tuned in to their
creative side. I find myself drawn to creative types, so I have a lot
of friends who are artists, photographers, performers, and writers. I
suppose that's why a lot of the storylines that come to me involve
those types. My current work-in-progress, though, is actually about a
surgeon and a translator. I suppose surgery and translation might both
be considered art forms from a certain point of view.
RH: What are you currently working on?
AJ: I've got two novels going right now. The first is the one I just
mentioned, about the origami- and shibari- obsessed surgeon who takes
up with a flighty translator. It's sort of a
boy-wants-girl-but-girl-needs-some-convincing-first kind of tale. The
other book was inspired by a friend who has a Victorian clothing
fetish. Yes, I am actually trying my hand at a BDSM regency romance!
From what I understand, it was quite a kinky time period. The heroine
is a flower seller who's fallen on hard times. She's convinced by a
local member of the gentry to play his wife, since his actual wife
absconded to France with her lesbian lover. The original agreement did
not include "marital duties" but as you might suspect, they end up
between the sheets.
RH: When is your next book published
and what is it about?
AJ: I've got two books coming out in the next few months. The first is
called Firebird and it comes out on June 15th at Loose Id. It's about a
romance that develops between a ballerina and a choreographer. It's
pretty neat -- the heroine's journey kind of parallels that of the
Firebird role she plays.
The
second book is a suspense-themed novel called Deep In The Woods. It's
been contracted by Ellora's Cave and will probably come out sometime in
the fall. The book was inspired by that perpetual question all BDSM
practitioners ask themselves at some point: Where is the line between
sado-masochism and abuse, and what if you can't tell when it's been
crossed? The heroine is coming off a BDSM relationship that went
haywire and descended into abuse. The hero tries to heal her emotional
scars, but she is dogged by nightmares and flashbacks of a mysterious
event she can't remember. Eventually it all comes out and it's a
nail-biter of a climax. But like all my books, the hero and heroine
find their way to a happy ending.
RH: What do you enjoy doing when
you’re not writing?
AJ: I like to exercise. I love aerobics and walking or hiking. I
actually solve a lot of story problems when I'm doing mindless
exercise. It must relax my brain or something, and let the ideas leak
in. I also do a lot of stuff with my kids; I really enjoy being an
active parent. On the weekends we always try to do stuff around town as
a family. I like to read when I have time, but I also have this horrid
addiction to mindless computer games like Luxor and Bejeweled that cuts
into that time.
Then
of course, I spend as much time as I can seeking the company of
interesting people and chasing inspiration. For me, that is what life
is all about.
RH: Finally, do you have any advice
for anyone who has just started writing or is thinking of becoming a
writer?
AJ: My best advice would be to talk to other writers, and just talk to
as many people in general as you can. Be a participant in life. Join
local writers' groups, or writing forums online, and utilize them to
help yourself grow. This is especially important if you have hopes of
getting published someday. You can be the best writer in the world, but
at some point you'll need to depend on another person to give your work
a chance, whether it's an agent, a publishing exec, an editor, or
someone with helpful connections you happen to befriend.
All
the contacts I've made in the writing world, and all the inspiration
I've found didn't fall into my lap. It was me taking a chance and
writing that email, or messaging someone interesting who turned out to
be someone who could help me. And I'm a really shy person! You just
have to get your face out there, get your voice out there, and talk to
as many people as you can manage, not just to network but to find new
things to write about. Writing may seem like a solitary pursuit, but
it's really an eternal collaboration between the writer, the reader,
and all the crazy little moments that make up life.
RH: Thanks for taking the time to
answer our questions, and good luck with the two books you are
publishing soon.
AJ: Thank you.
