Why don't you start with telling us a little about yourself? What genre do you write in and why?
My name is Tara Lain and I’m a new fiction writer, although I’ve been writing non-fiction for a lifetime. People told me for years, I should write a book, but I couldn’t think of what I was really passionate enough about to want to spend so much time living with it. Then in 2009, I fell in love with erotic romance, especially male/male and ménage, and I thought for the first time “I could write a book like this”, and for the first time, I really wanted to. One day, I just sat down and started writing. That book is Genetic Attraction, my first novel.
What comes first for you when you sit down to write a book? Plot or Characters?
I’m a character girl, all the way. Usually, I create my heroes first, my beautiful boys of romance. I’ll see something on television or have a conversation and think, “what if I created a hero like that?” For example, I have a dear friend in London who is mad for ballet (I love it too). I sent her a book on ballet, and it inspired me to write a ballet dancer hero. That’s my current WIP. After I think of the character, I start to create a plot around him, and that suggests the other characters.
Do you "cast" your characters using pictures or actors to help inspire you when you're writing?
Not at first. I get a very clear, mental image of my characters, and then it’s actually hard to find pictures that satisfy me. I will do it, however, eventually.
How long does it take you to finish a book from start to finish?
Being so new, it’s hard for me to say. Mt first two books, Genetic Attraction and The Scientist and the Supermodel which comes out from Loose Id in the spring, I completely rewrote after first submission. I was so new and had many things to learn, so I started taking workshops like mad to fill in the blanks in my fiction writing education. I rewrote the books based on what I learned, and the whole process took a year. I wrote my third book, Androgynous Dreams, in rough draft in 30 days for Nano. So, I expect my natural rhythm is probably a month or two for a rough draft, and then a month for editing and review before submittal.
What are you working on now?
I’m editing Androgynous Dreams, the sequel to Genetic Attraction. This tells the story of Caleb (the younger brother of my hero from Genetic Attraction) who is a soccer star and is having a crisis in choosing a life path. He meets a mysterious man who is as beautiful as a woman, and a cute, tomboy woman. The two together change his life. My WIP is the ballet story I mentioned. It’s a m/m/m ménage with a dancer, an online reporter and a billionaire art collector. I’m having fun with ballet terms and Russian profanity. It’s tentatively titled, Pas de Trois (Dance for Three).
If there was a soundtrack to your latest novel, what genre/songs would be included?
I love music, but I can’t write while it’s playing, so I guess I don’t have one. I created a book trailer for Genetic Attraction and used a piece of free music that I downloaded called Impromptu in Blue. It’s kind of a sound track.
Which of your characters would you most likely fall for if they were real?
Which of your characters would you most likely fall for if they were real?
Easy. Roan Black, my supermodel. He is beautiful, gentle and wise. Plus, he has this great tattoo on his shoulder that says, “I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself”. He’s been in three books so far, and now he’s demanding another one that takes place in his world of modeling.
What do you feel are the benefits of the new electronic readers such as Kindle 2 or Sony Digital Book Reader to the environment?
Like so many avid readers, I thought I would never be happy without paper in my hands. I was so wrong. I ADORE my KindleDX. I say if there was a fire, I’d grab my husband and my Kindle. I think e-readers will dominate the market probably within five years. There will be paper books for a long time – like coffee table books, and, perhaps, some text books. But for books like I read, e-readers will dominate in no time. In fact, romances are already the number one genre on e-readers, and that will only increase. And we’ll save gazillions of trees, and greatly reduce all the pollution that accompanies paper-making. In addition, digital publishing is a huge boon to subgenre writers like me.
What character (s) in any of your books is most like you?
They each have a piece of me, but I guess the most like me might be Dr. Emmaline Silvay, my heroine in Genetic Attraction. She is a combination of mainstream and counter-culture, a genetic researcher who was raised in a commune by a hippie mom and ends up living her life with the TWO men she loves. I am very monogamous (LOL), but otherwise I have similarities. I own a marketing business and work with large corporations, but I also practice yoga, adore alternative medicine, and write very naughty books. : )
What is the most ridiculous thing that you have thought about doing to any of your characters but never did?
Hmmm. One of the joys of writing erotic romance is you don’t have to use much restraint, so I’ll have to get back to you on that one.
What is your favorite Ice Cream flavor?
Years ago, I had some coconut chocolate chip ice cream. I NEVER forgot it.
If you could have been the servant to any famous person in history, who would that be and why?
I can think of many people I would have loved to know, but to be their servant? I started to say Audrey Hepburn. I adored her. But I think my choice would be Emily Dickinson. Imagine following her around as she wrote the most phenomenal poems ever on tiny scraps of paper, and lived a pretty outrageous life while convincing the world that she was a shy wren.
Where can we find you on the ‘Net?
I really want to say thank you for inviting me here today. I enjoyed the interview – it was very thought provoking. May I ask your readers what kind of books they want to see in 2011? What they’d like to see more of? Less of? New subgenres?
And Happy New Year to you all. : )
Sneak Peek into Genetic Attraction
Available from Loose Id
Buy HERE
At a conservative Long Island University, renowned researcher, Dr. Emmaline Silvay, has two great loves – her life-saving work, and her younger research partner, Jake Martin. The romantic love is impossible. She’s his boss and he lives with his girlfriend. The the “girlfriend” is actually a boyfriend, the beautiful and infamous supermodel, Roan Black.
Resigned to a platonic relationship, Em accepts a weekend invitation to their home, but the men have a menage on their minds. She can’t resist, doesn’t even want to. But their intentions go far beyond passion. They want her to “be a part of them”. Their three-way love defies propriety and the standards of the University that funds their work. The supermodel’s fame makes secrecy impossible. Their ménage threatens to crumble all she’s worked for. What will give way to make room for genetic attraction?
Adult Excerpt:
Tree shadows crowded the road. He loved the drive home. Narrow, winding roads with turns he could feel in his gut, and every curve brought him closer to Roan’s beautiful ass. His baby. Now it was up to him.
Finally Em was coming to their house. Should he be thrilled or scared shitless? He’d wanted her to visit much sooner but he’d always chickened out. Of course, chickening was still an option. They could play the charming hosts, wine and dine her, and nothing else. A lot depended on Roan’s reaction and Jake’s own courage. Even more depended on Em. He hit the speed dial on his cell phone.
The sleepy, silky voice he loved answered. “Are you hurrying home to me, love? ’Cause man have I got a big thing waiting for you.”
Shit, big was no joke. Blood rushed to Jake’s groin, and he was instantly hard. The man was sex on a stick. He still couldn’t believe he’d walked into that hotel bar just when Roan had been hiding out from his hounds. “Hi, darling. Don’t let that big thing go to sleep before I get there. I’m about twenty minutes away.”
He heard a lascivious chuckle. “No chance of sleep. I’m keeping it warm for you.”
Jake moaned on purpose while Roan laughed.
“Before I have to pull over and jerk off, let me tell you what just happened.”
“What? Something sexy, I hope.”
“One-track mind. Yes, potentially sexy. Emmaline is taking you and me to the Belden Award dinner on Friday and…wait for it…she’s coming home to spend the weekend with us.”
“No shit! Does she know who ‘us’ is?”
“Well, she knows you’re a man, if that’s what you mean.”
“Jesus, finally. How did this all happen?”
“I’ll tell you all the details when I get home.”
“No, baby, you’re not going to be doing any talking when you get home, ’cause your mouth will be full. So tell me now.”
Jake laughed. “Yeah, you’re right. Well, short version, she started insisting that I had to come to the awards dinner and bring my girlfriend.”
“Just call me Angelina.”
“So I figured, what the hell? I might as well tell her.”
“About time, love.”
“I know.” It had been a huge deal between him and Roan, but he just hadn’t been able to get up the nerve to introduce his lover to his boss. For him it had been the final statement. Tell her, and he’d have to admit he was gay. It was easy to do with everyone else. His parents had said they’d already known he was bisexual, and women hadn’t really done it for him for a couple of years when he met Roan. It had been easy giving up women. All women but one.
Roan’s purr broke into his reverie. “Awfully quiet, love.”
“Sorry. Just thinking. Is it my wishful imagination that she might want more than a professional partnership with me?”
“Can’t say for sure, love. But when I meet her I should get some insight.”
“You know it’s up to you, right, baby? Just because I think you’ll love her doesn’t mean it’s true. I know not many women do it for you.”
“Well, it’s some up to me and more up to her.”
“I can’t tell you what it means to me that you’re open to this. I was pretty shitty about Alexandra.”
Roan chuckled, and the sound shivered right up Jake’s spine. “I loved that my fucking Alex made you green, baby, but I didn’t love her. I want you to have what you love.”
“But I feel the same way about you. Nothing gets in the way of us no matter what.”
Roan was quiet.
“Baby?”
Jake heard the tightness in his lover’s voice. “That means everything to me, Jake.” There was a sigh. “But she still turns you on, right?”
Jake laughed. “Like a raging horndog.”
“Then the chances are damned good I’ll feel the same way. Now, get home here, baby, and let me show you where you can put that horn.”
Oh Jesus, his cock was pressing out of his jeans as his foot slammed the accelerator.
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