Author Interview: Anne Calhoun on Her Writing and Erotic Romance

I love finding new to me authors and Anne Calhoun is one of them. Anne is a perfect example of what word of mouth can do. As soon as three other bloggers reviewed or mentioned Liberating Lacey and how much they enjoyed it, I knew I had to read and review Liberating Lacey myself. Liberating Lacey was a great read that I went as far as having a call to action for everyone to get their own copy, something I don't do that very often.

Click here to read my review

When I read Anne's interview at Katidom, I knew I had to interview Anne here. (Thanks Kati for the idea.) To read Anne's interview at Katidom, click here.

KB: Would you say you write erotic romance or romance with erotic undertones?

Anne: I’m going to say erotic romance, because I don’t think you can call what I produce “undertones”. It’s downright explicit, blatantly sexual, and always emotional. What it is exactly…?

KB: Not only do you publish on-line with an epublisher such as Ellora’s Cave, but also with Harlequin for their Spice Briefs line. How is writing for an epublisher different than writing for a traditional print publisher?

Anne: Spice Briefs are basically epubbed. A few stories may get collected into a trade paperback anthology, but my experience wasn’t much different than the process I went through to sell to EC. I submitted What She Needs, waited six months, and got a nice email.

KB: How long did it take you to get published?

Anne: A little over a year. I started writing seriously in January of 2007. I sold Liberating Lacey, my first sale, to EC in May of 2008. In order, I wrote 3 category romances that went nowhere, the rough draft of Lacey, a 50K erotic romance that also went nowhere, the first Spice Brief, the sequel to one of the categories that went nowhere, sold Lacey and then spent 4 months revising into the book that was released.

KB: What’s your definition of erotic romance?

Anne: For me, an erotic romance is a sexual journey with emotional consequences. So, in Liberating Lacey, Lacey goes on a sexual journey with Hunter, exploring all the things she didn’t do when she was married to her first lover. She falls in love with Hunter, and that’s a consequence of the sexual exploration.

A regular romance novel is an emotional journey with sexual consequences. In the single title romance suspense I just finished, the characters have sex at a specific point in the story based on their emotional progression, and the plot. In this particular story, for a variety of reasons, they can’t have sex any earlier than they do (not without the hero being a major asshole and acting way outside character…it’s key to his honor that he NOT sleep with the heroine until a certain point). It wouldn’t be true to their emotional experience with each other.

So I start erotic romances by thinking about what the characters are going to do sexually and how that will impact them emotionally. I start regular romances thinking about what the characters are going to do emotionally (and in the plot) and then figure out where sex will have the greatest impact (usually making things worse for them) in that story.

KB: What’s your writing schedule like? Do you have a specific word count you try to write each day?

Anne: My writing schedule is dictated by my son’s school schedule. He goes to school at 8. I’m in the chair by 9:30. I write (this includes pages, planning, promo stuff, etc) until around 3 (this also includes fooling around on Twitter, a habit I’m trying to break). I rarely write after 5, but if I’m inspired or working on something, I will do a little work at night. Family time comes first. I absolutely suck at maintaining balance, so I tend to be pretty strict about not working when my family’s home. I will do a few hours of work on Saturdays, almost never on Sunday.

KB: What’s your favorite type of hero? An alpha or a beta?

Anne: My favorite type of hero is a really well-written one, with unique, distinctive character traits. I prefer (and tend to write, I think) heroes who let the heroine do her own thing but know when it’s time to be male. Sometimes that’s protection, it’s always in the bedroom (or car, or park, or whatever), but for the most part, they’re not very domineering in day-to-day life. I like keeping them real because then when they do act alpha, it’s a nice surprise for the heroine. A big part of Tess’s dilemma in Under Her Hand is that despite being a Navy SEAL, Drew’s not a badass alpha most of the time, so when he’s utterly serious about the consequences of leaving the windows open, she really pays attention, and it unlocks emotional doors for her.

KB: How did you come up with the idea for Liberating Lacey?

Anne: I read a ravishment scene in another book and wondered how I’d do that (I get a lot of ideas that way, to be honest). The hero in that book was a cop, so Hunter was a cop. EC at the time was calling for Older Woman Younger Man stories, which is why Lacey’s older than Hunter.

KB: There’s a love scene between your heroine, Lacey and the hero Hunter that is very erotic. Hunter pushes Lacey to the limits where they are acting out her fantasy and she is “forced” by Hunter who’s pretending to be a bad cop. I didn’t really read it as a rape fantasy, but more of a more forceful and sensual way for both these characters to love one another and bring more excitement in their physical relationship. Would you call this intimate scene a “rape fantasy” or is that too strong of a label?

Anne: I don’t think it’s a rape fantasy, and if it has BDSM overtones, I wasn’t aware I was creating them. To me it’s just pushing really hard at the edges of power dynamics, but really, any time a woman has sex with a man, she’s putting herself at his mercy. Men are almost always bigger, stronger, and more powerful. This is just extending that idea, exploring it. I built the whole book around those power dynamics. In every other area, Lacey has more power than Hunter. People in her social circle don’t face charges for crimes any other individual would (Vince, her drunk acquaintance at the Met). She has money, status, connections…all the things Hunter doesn’t have that really do make the world go round…except a badge and cuffs and a gun. So how does that play out? Where are the erotic edges in that? What’s it like on that edge?

KB: What’s the first romance you ever read?

Anne: Kathleen E. Woodiwiss’s A Rose in Winter. I’m dating myself here, but it was serialized in a women’s magazine when I was in junior high school. I was hooked. Close second was Linda Howard’s initial Silhouette Intimate Moment Against The Rules. I still have all of KEW’s books, and most of LH’s SIMs and early single title romances.

KB: What future projects are you working on?

Anne: I just finished a single title contemp with a suspense element, and am working to find a publisher. I just started the sequel to a ménage I wrote as Raine Latimer called On the Edge (available through EC). All six people who asked for Ty’s story (and wished for more of John and Lucy)…I’m working on it!

KB: I adore a man in uniform, much like Hunter! Do you see yourself writing more heroes in uniform in your future books? How about a fireman? *KB loves her firemen ;)

Anne: It will depend on the story. I rarely start from the job, and I’m usually more interested in the effects or consequences of police or military service than in the uniform. In the book I just finished the hero is a cop, but due to the circumstances of the plot he spends half the book fending off the heroine’s rather determined advances. The sexual tension is high (I think) but there’s no sign of Hunter in this story. And firemen don’t interest me as a writer at all. I’m probably missing some key point there. ;) If you do like firefighters, get your hands on Jill Shalvis’s Blaze books Flashback and Flashpoint. I really like Jill’s voice, and those two firefighters are hot.

KB: What advice would you give writers who are ready to throw in the towel because they are so frustrated?

Anne: Interesting question. If anyone has any good advice, send it my way, okay?

More seriously…this business is so much about just coming back for more, like you’re the kid getting beat up on the playground every day. Rejection? Slap. Trashed in reviews? Jab. No money, or very little? Right hook. The sheer frustration of taking what you see in your head and translating it into words on the page that someone else wants to buy? TKO. It’s all about fall seven times, get up eight…or eight thousand.

More practical advice includes refilling the well. Read as much as you can, outside your genre (or subgenre). I think of my brain as a compost heap. I put in good stuff: writers who have neat, unique ideas, writers with a stronger voice or better technique than I have. I study them (after gnashing my teeth with envy). I let things sit. If I read something awesome I might want to adapt, I don’t sit down the next day and try my hand at it. Respect your muse…give her time to work at it. And I pay attention to writers I can’t read for long because they make me want to go write. Shannon McKenna is one. Talk about lush writing with seriously over the top heroes…she’s amazing. Joanna Bourne. Megan Hart…Megan’s work really transformed the way I think about what and how I write. I read Meljean Brook’s The Iron Duke all the way through only because I was a) stuck in an airport and b) completely enthralled, otherwise I would have set that book down and gone to write because it was that amazing/inspiring. I can’t wait for the sequel.

Just keep at it, but if you need to walk away for a while, walk away. Your brain can’t work at optimum performance if you’re drained, or worse, jaded. Sometimes a break provides the clarity you need to get back at it.

You can purchase Liberating Lacey at Ellora's Cave for $6.99 (click here for link)
You can also purchase more Anne Calhoun reads at Amazon (click here for link)

Anne's latest, Under His Hand is available at Harleqiun Ebooks for $2.69.

Whenever Tess Weston's Navy SEAL boyfriend, Drew Norwood, returned from a mission, their lovemaking was always hot and intense. It made Tess feel what it meant to be female at its most primitive. Taken. Possessed.

But Drew's latest unexpected reappearance is different. He's filled with raw need for Tess—and anger that she has left the windows open in her rough neighborhood, the one thing he made her promise never to do. Independent Tess can't believe Drew wants to follow through on his threat to spank her for defying him...but she's also intrigued. Can Tess trust him enough to let Drew dominate her body and her heart?

Want your own copy of Under His Hand? Anne has so kindly denoted an electronic copy to one lucky winner! In order to have your chance to win, leave a comment here by Tuesday 1/25 for Anne or perhaps mention what type of hero in uniform you love reading about.