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A couple of years ago, I was waiting for my second novel to be published and had an itch to get writing. I came up with the idea of an older heroine (thanks to a reader’s suggestion), having an affair with her boss and discovering the darker, more adventurous side to sex. The Black Door. It sounded like a great title, and the name of a fetish club! Ooh idea… Jot that down. She discovers a fetish club.
The problem is that I’ve never been to a fetish
club. In fact the most adventurous I’ve been is walking into an Ann Summers shop
and proudly walking down the street with a branded bag. Of course I have an
idea what fetishes exist – I’ve seen those weird documentaries about living
dolls **shivers**, I’ve also seen the “Real Life Fifty Shades” documentaries
about doms and subs.
Realising that it was going to take a lot of
research, I decided to let my characters take me where they wanted to go, and
if I needed to go to Torture Garden with my friends, then I would. (We didn’t
go, but we are this December!) Of course my husband is more than willing to
help out with the research side of any erotic novel that I’m writing. Men.
So, I put fingers to keyboard and started typing.
A lot changed between the first draft and the final version of the novel.
Originally it was going to be at least a duet, and there was a lot of hot sex
in it! Unfortunately I came to realise that it was going down the same
storyline as my previous novels. Written in first person, it was a love
triangle. I didn’t want people to think I’d hashed an already used storyline,
so I swapped and changed it about. This meant having to rethink the plot.
Names changed, relationship statuses were
switched around, two people became one, several characters were cut altogether,
and I centred the story heavily on Imogen and Cal. I wanted it to be an erotic
romance – I like sex, and I like writing about it. But I also wanted it to be a
contemporary romance. I didn’t want people to be hiding behind their e-Reader,
ashamed that someone might see what it is that they’re reading.
You see, in the beginning, The Black Door had a
more prominent place in the novel. Most of the story took place there, and like
I said, there was a lot of sex, involving all manner of toys and stuff. By cutting
it out I got down to the bones of the novel and found a love story, a story of
self discovery as opposed to sex discovery, and I think it works. But I’ll
leave you to be the judge of that.
About the book:
Imogen Pearce is a
single mum of four children and fast approaching 40, she works at Ryedale
Incorporated where she has to battle a younger and smarter generation to get to
where she wants to go. If that means taking on the account of Cherry and Sean
Rubin’s adult shop, then she will. But what happens when Imogen discovers the
private club that they run at the back? And what happens when she realizes she
knows quite a few members?
Purchase links:
About the author:
British author
Charlotte Howard, was born in Oman and spent much of the first part of her life
flitting between Oman, Scotland, and England. Now settled in Somerset,
Charlotte lives with her husband, two children, and growing menagerie of pets.
Her career as a
writer began at an early age, with a poem being featured in an anthology for
the East Midlands. Since then Charlotte has written many short stories and
poems, and finally wrote her first full-length piece of fiction in 2010.
During what
little spare time she has, Charlotte enjoys reading and writing (of course),
spending time with her family, and watching action movies whilst eating curry
and drinking tea.
Charlotte is an
active member of Yeovil Creative Writers.
Author Links:
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