What is one of your favorite things about writing?
It perks me up, and broadens my horizons
When you’re brainstorming for a new story, what usually comes first for you, the plot or the characters?
Always the characters
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I must be a pantser, as plotting is not my strong point
When you’re writing, who is more in control, you or your characters?
I think I am in control, though there are many times when my characters come near to taking over.
Can you write sex scenes at any time or do you have to be “in the mood?”
I definitely have to be in the mood. For me, a sex scene must feel special – dramatic and romantic, with a strong sense of mystery and suspense
What do you like best about writing?
It temporarily liberates me from an oppressive world.
What is the most difficult thing about writing?
The achievement of clarity (I tend to be obscure)
What do you like about writing series books?
A feeling of detective work, exploring a theme.
What is one of your favorite ways to learn about your characters?
Seeing how they react to the situations I put them in.
What do you feel are some of the pros and cons of epublishing?
Epublishing vastly increases accessibility, and reaching a potential readership. But it may discourage some people from reading carefully, and in depth.
Where do you find inspiration for your stories?
People I have met, snatches of small talk, books, films, videos.
What do you like best about writing menage?
I have never done so
What do you like best about writing erotic romance?
The feeling of excitement and euphoria.
What are your favorite research resources?
Now – the Internet.
What usually comes first for you, characters or plot?
Characters.
Do you find it harder to write novels or short stories?
Novels are harder, because I tend to write in depth rather than at length.
Would you tell us about your latest release?
It is a collection of erotic poetry and artwork Sensual Rhapsody
What are you working on now?
A story which combines romance, mythology and speculative fiction
Do you have an excerpt from your latest release you would like to share?
This poem is a retrospective reflection on my first one-night-stand:
The First Adventure
That shadowy entrance, subdued glint,
spark of eyes!
You trod all cultures with your classic grace
Of posture, figure, profile
The breathy touch, so tentative,
The answering squeeze
All beams and tiptoes as we trod
Unspoken message:
“The dream’s come true”
The curtain nearly volunteered
To close itself.
I was poised to give the word;
Fired by our kisses, you took it from my mouth
Each garment spoke surrender as it fell
A flower-show of fabrics
Adoring those limbs which they had covered;
Warm air on new divested skin
Near liquid in its heady density
Our bodies new-revealed, dreamed up
A gallery of art-figures,
Our mounting breath
Kindled their animation in our honour
Those facing entities suffused with mutual nourishment
The rising sun the backcloth of our dual climax
The bathing epilogue
The farewell walk
A froth of blossom round our tender steps
That fleeting perfection was the purest art
Framed in an idyllic memory.
What three words would the hero of your story use to describe his love interest?
Sensitive, empathetic, mystical
What three words would the heroine of your story use to describe her love interest?
Assertive, passionate, glamorous
If the main characters in your latest release were invited to a masquerade party, what costumes would they wear?
I’d have one of the women wearing an ancient Egyptian robe, another wearing an 18th Century ball gown; I’d have the men in 18th Century gear
What makes the heroes of Dreamtime Sensuality hot?
Gorgeous, toned bodies and whiplash erotic intellects
Would you give us a sneak peek at one of your upcoming releases?
This is from Pearlman, which hopefully is an upcoming release:
The latent earthquakes and volcanoes, rumbling at the extremity of my hearing, or in my unconscious, mutely echoed the depth of my foreboding about the impending revelation. Although I had been a victor in so many other struggles, I felt ecstatically submissive in this one, raised my arms and held my breath in total surrender. Her skill in undoing my armour was worthy of any trained white man. “We are supremely adaptable; we learn avidly from those we observe and oppose”, she whispered, her teeth gleaming in her smile. As I saw the chain mail and the cuirass lying there, discarded, I saw that the rust had all disappeared.
Deft hands tenderly peeled my sweat-ridden leather and cotton; it was lovely to be nursed without immediate wounds to distract from the exquisite sensations.
“You must be proud of your exertions!” she said. The power in her words was akin to a duelling challenge. (The time warp flashed me into my happy collaboration with that beautiful fitness trainer, when I imagined that lithe, toned form excelling itself at the Olympic High Jump as her prelude to our delicious consummation.)
I looked up towards her breasts, to see the matching metal, discs, chains, bangles – an array of gold, silver and jade; I sensed their resilience beneath their cover. She read my response with total ease; with a radiant smile, she whispered “do as you have been done by.”
My hands trembled a little as I delicately negotiated the pins and clasps, but I succeeded in making a harmonious pattern of them, like a crown at the head of my discarded armour.
Do you have a favorite character or characters you feel especially close to?
I guess I feel specially close to Selene, the heroine of Self’s Blossom
Would you share one of the sexiest or most romantic lines from one of your books?
This is from the denouement of Self’s Blossom:
They tiptoed. For all their obvious freedom, they each had a slight twinge about the hazard of being overheard. Selene’s wardrobe planning had been right; something would have been lost if Hudson had started the encounter in a bathrobe. After Selene’s hips propelled a last, tantalizing, elevated swirl of her gown, the grand undress began.
Knowing their beauty and proud of it, they matched each other’s motions with caresses of sight. Shoes, stockings and socks peeled gracefully off to open the gambit. Hudson’s jacket broadened his shoulders as it left his body. The buckle of his belt harmonised with the front clasp of Selene’s gown as they were both undone, then the zip of his trousers with the back zip of the gown. Hudson’s fine, tapered legs were now revealed. His torso was bared in two stages: shirt and vest thrust back, and pulled over his head without a struggle, revealing gleaming white briefs – or were they bathing trunks? Selene loved those half way garments. She lit up. Great minds had thought alike about foundation garments for this occasion! Hudson had led in one stage of revelation. Selene was transported by his wonderful body control, with ballet assurance – this smooth, eased, arched shedding of reticence. The dream had come to roost. Who rules love, if anybody? The one who strips first, or the one with more finery to shed? But what did rules matter now anyway? The loose gown was ready. Gentle touches on the shoulder straps lowered it, shimmering, to rest. After that departure from simultaneity, action embroidered the first dream. Selene stepped out of the gown, cast it in the corner, and moved towards Hudson, holding him tightly in her beaming, commanding gaze – him with legs astride, deep chest out, briefs gleaming in the light from the open window. At his deft touch, petticoats flowered, rose and fell, floating to make a crest upon the gown. With a ripple of biceps, and lissom forward thrust of legs and hips, the cloudy slip came up head high, and was suspended for a second in the suspicion of a breeze, then, too, wafted to rest. Now they faced each other, almost as if for a first swim. Selene thrust her breasts forward, and tossed her head, making her hair cascade. Hudson took her hips and swung her round. With an almost imperceptible stroke, the zip of the one-piece parted. Hudson swirled her round to face him again, and slid the garment down the front. “Bikini belle,” said Hudson, with a giggle. He sensed the precise moment when his briefs were redundant, enhanced his looks no more for her, or for himself. They dropped, with a thrust of thighs and swing of hips. By being deferred, prepared so well, Hudson’s nudity, for Selene, now became suffused with total beauty. “Undo me,” she half-sang, raising her arms. Hudson’s unerring hand tended the clip of her bra, which tumbled asunder and fell on the chair. A breeze kissed Selene’s rising breasts as they were bared. Her own hands removed her briefs, finalising her own nakedness. The execution of those actions had been faultless on both sides. “What a fantastic sense of timing!” cried Selene. Each, to the other, became universe god and goddess.
What are a few of your favorite book covers that have been done for your books?
I’ll attach a selection of covers
If you could meet one of your characters, which one would it be?
Probably Selene, or Janice, the heroine of Explorations and Further Explorations.
Do you prefer writing your heroes, your heroines or do you like writing both equally?
I prefer writing my heroines, as I imagine fabulous trysts with them.
If you were a shapeshifter and could become any one item owned by your latest romance hero (or heroine), what would it be?
I’d like to become a Pentacle
If you could step into one of your books, which one would it be?
One of my books, An Ecstatic Rendezvous, was based on a real experience, so I stepped into that book in advance.
Would you share a favorite quote from your latest hero, heroine or villain?
From Dreamtime Sensuality:
She handed him a volume of the collected poems of John Donne. “Now, I think you know which one I want you to read me. Hmm…while we’ve been working together, I bet you’ve had some reveries of me undressing, you undressing me.”
“I have to admit that is so and I know which poem you mean, it’s Elegy Nineteen—To His Mistress Going to Bed.
“We really are on the same wavelength darling. I had learned of that poem as a young girl, with a desperate desire one day to enact it. Every word of it struck home as I disrobed alone, for years I yearned for that lovely partner to give me those instructions live.”
Would you tell us about yourself?
I am a writer of romance, speculative fiction and poetry. I am also a literary journalist, a visual artist and singer/songwriter
What are your favorite genres to read and write?
History, romance, speculative and historical fiction.
Where can we visit you online?
www.davidrussell-author.blogspot.co.uk. Speculative work published in International Times. Music tracks under Dave Russell on YouTube
When you’re not writing, what do you like to do?
Practise music, and paint.
How long have you been writing?
For about 4 decades.
To you what makes a great romance hero?
A touch of mystery, a feeling of depth and experience.
To you what makes a great romance heroine?
Some inhibitions or past distress to overcome.
Do you have any particular writing habits? (Listening to music, best time of day to write, etc.)
I never listen to music while I write; evening is the best writing time.
Where would you go on your dream vacation?
Central America, though the reality may not match the dream.
Name three fictional characters (not your own) that you find hot. They can be from books, movies, or TV.
Vanina, heroine of The Girl Beneath the Lion, by Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues. D H Lawrence’s Ursula, Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity.
If you could be any kind of shapeshifter, what kind would you be?
I’d be a bear.
What is your favorite season?
Spring.
What book are you currently reading?
Splitting in Two – a documentary of Punk Rock and Mad Pride.
What is the last movie you watched?
Le Lis de Mer, based on the novel by Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues.
What is your favorite comfort food?
Muesli bars.
Do you have any pets?
No pets.
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