Blog Stop: Ann Mayburn!

Well, hello again, and happy Monday! Am I allowed to say that or will my laptop implode on itself? Today, I'm glad to welcome Ann Mayburn, author of The Breaker's Concubine. As you can tell by the cover, this is a hot little piece from Loose ID publishing. She's on board today with an interview and excerpt, so without further ado:

Please tell the readers a little about yourself:

I’m a 35 yo mom of three boys under six, a daydreamer and a huge fan of strong women who endure the worst life has to offer and still come through with their dignity and sense of humor intact.

I decided to start writing in June of '10 after the pre-mature birth of my third son. He was born at 31 weeks, nine weeks early, and it was a very rough delivery. I lost a great deal of blood and had some touch and go moments. While I was recovering from my c-section, without my baby, I had a lot of time to think. In my morphine pumped induced state, I considered all the things that I'd done and what I still wanted to do.

I'd had A LOT of fun in my life, and marrying my husband and having my children was a joy that I can never fully explain. One thing I'd wanted to do was write a book. I've always been a heavy reader, my husband used to moan at my monthly bills from the bookstore, and I have an over-active imagination. The trouble was focusing my ADD 'Oh look a squirrel, oh look a penny' self to sit down and write.

Basically, I stopped making excuses about why I couldn't do it, and sat down and DID it. I found that once I started, I couldn't stop. My muse went into overdrive and I have more ideas than I have hours in the day. I’ve been so fortunate to find myself surrounded by supportive publishers and fantastically helpful authors. The romance community has to be one of the most loving, gracious communities out there.

How about your latest release?

‘The Breaker’s Concubine’ is my first foray into the world of Sci-Fi romance as a writer, but not a reader. I’ve found that the same kind of intense world building and imagination that goes into paranormal romance can be found in Sci-Fi romance and I adore it. Trust me when I say ‘The Breaker’s Concubine’ isn’t your Dad’s Sci-Fi. It’s a hot, steamy, sometimes hard to read book about Kyrimia a world where every aspect of reproduction is carefully controlled and being a Concubine is considered a great honor. Unfortunately, our hero Devnar is from another planet, captured when he raids the wrong space ship, and finds himself being trained as a Concubine by a beautiful and passionate Breaker named Melania. I don’t want to give away anymore of the plot, but I will say that things are not always as they seem and those that have read it have been quite surprised at how things turn out. ;)

What was your primary inspiration for this book?

Forced seduction! I love reading about it when it’s done right, and by that I mean we are deep inside the minds of our characters and know that even though they are saying ‘No’ we understand that what they really mean is ‘yes yes yes!’ but they can’t say it for a variety of reasons. It is important that the reader knows that forced seduction and rape are as opposite as can be and one can never be mistaken for the other.

Do you have any muses?

Yes, a really mean one:

Do you control your characters or do they flog you into shape?

My characters are irritating. :P I’ll be writing a perfectly lovely scene, going with the flow, and all of a sudden they pull the rug out from underneath me. The story I have in mind vanishes and I’m left standing all alone, holding my proverbial pen with nothing to write. Then I have to go back into the story and find out what isn’t working and fix it to their liking until they’ll let me write again. Quite annoying. ;)

When you write, is there a special routine you follow?

Well, if you consider madly dashing for the keyboard whenever my kids are all happy, fed, and occupied a routine, then yes I follow a special one. ;)

If you could be one animal, person, or at a place for a day what/who/where would it be?

I’d like to go to Heaven and make sure I’m doing what they need me to be doing down on earth. Yes, I realize that to some people a religious author of smut hot enough to burn your fingers seems odd to some people, but I’m cool with that. While I may not be the biggest fan of organized religion I love God and God loves me so that’s all I need to know.

Five random facts about you:

I love Norman Rockwell paintings.

I crochet.

I’ve always wanted to go to Amsterdam.

We have a Maine Coon kitten named King George who thinks he’s a dog.

I live in the mountains and have a totally bad ass sledding hill in our back yard.

Are you working on any new releases later this year?

Ummmm, I might be. ;) Here is my insane release schedule for November and December. If you see me hyperventilating please hand me a paper bag and a martini.

November 11th- Wild Lilly (Historical Erotic Romance)

November 16th- Blushing Violet (Contemp Ménage Romance with BDSM elements)

November 22nd- Onyx Moon (M/M Paranormal Romance) Prides of the Moon Series, Book 4

December 5th- Dreamer (Paranormal Romance) Chosen by the Gods, Book 2

December 6th- Peppermint Passion (Holiday Ménage Romance with BDSM elements)

December 22nd- Amethyst Moon (M/M/M Paranormal Romance) Prides of the Moon Series, Book 5

Anything else you’d like to say?

Just that I thank all my readers for giving me a chance to make them smile. Making you happy makes me happy. :)

Here is your chance to win ANY book from my backlist! Simply go to the ‘books’ section of my website and tell me which book you’d like to read and why.

Contact info:

www.annmayburn.com

http://twitter.com/#!/AnnMayburn

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001759870653

The Breaker's Concubine:

Erotic Sci-Fi Romance with BDSM/Forced Seduction elements

Prince Devnar of Jensia is goaded into raiding the wrong space ship, springing a trap that captures him for use as a Royal pleasure slave, a Concubine, on Kyrimia. He vows  to do everything he can to escape and keep from forming a psychic bond with his captors that would render him absolutely and totally in love. This proves difficult to do when  the female Breaker assigned to turn him into a Concubine, Melania, is the epitome of his perfect woman.

Melania has been raised and trained to help reluctant and abused Novices to break through their personal blocks and attain the ultimate prize of becoming a Concubine.  When she is given Devnar to train, she finds herself in danger of doing the forbidden and falling in love with her Novice. This angry, scarred, and utterly seductive male tests her self-control like no other.

Devnar and Melania find themselves at the heart of a galaxy wide political battle that will test a love that they must not acknowledge, and cannot live without, to its very limits.


About the Author:

Ann is Queen of the Castle to her wonderful husband and three sons in the mountains of   West Virginia. In her past lives she's been an Import Broker, a Communications Specialist,   a US Navy Civilian Contractor, a Bartender/Waitress, and an actor at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. She also spent a summer touring with the Grateful Dead-though she will deny to her children that it ever happened. From a young age she's been fascinated by myths and fairytales, and the romance that often was the center of the story. As Ann grew older and her hormones kicked in, she discovered trashy romance novels. Great at first, but she soon grew tired of the endless stories with a big wonderful emotional buildup to really short and crappy sex. 

Never a big fan of purple prose, throbbing spears of fleshy pleasure and wet honey pots make her giggle, she  sought out books that gave the sex scenes in the story just as much detail and  plot as everything else-without using cringe worthy euphemisms. This led her to the wonderful world of Erotic Romance, and she's never looked back.

Now Ann  spends her days trying to tune out cartoons playing in the background to get  into her 'sexy space' and has learned to type one handed while soothing a  cranky baby.