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Tell us a
bit about your most recent release, Switch from MLR Press.
How is it different from your other books with a BDSM focus?
Switch was super fun to write, because I turned the usual idea of the
black-leather-clad super sexy, super confident Dom on its
head. Dane swaggers into a bar near the underground BDSM
clubs where he reigns supreme, pegs a good looking guy he
hopes is gay, and flips out when the guy asks him how long
he’s been a sub. Nathan is not your typical Dom. He doesn’t
go to the clubs, he doesn’t wear the uniform, he doesn’t
even define himself as a Dom. He’s a dreamy artist in
tattered jeans and sneakers, who routinely forgets to eat
and has no idea what time it is. But his quiet confidence,
devastatingly hot sexuality and natural dominance uniquely
position him to lead Dane along a path of submission he
never dreamed he’d want to take.
Another recent release that is extremely popular is Handyman
from Samhain Publications.
Did you have fun writing this book?
Any fun stories you can share?
I always have fun writing my books! Though this one was
especially enjoyable because again I tried to turn the
traditional ideas on their heads. When you think of a
handyman story, you think of the rich woman of a certain age
permitting herself to be seduced by the younger sexy blue
collar laborer. In this story, the widowed handyman Jack is
considerably older than the young, sexy guy who hires him to
renovate his kitchen. Jack, who never came to grips with his
own homosexual yearnings, is confused and frightened when
Will makes his interest known. Will, who is used to lovin’
and leavin’ ‘em, is thrown for a loop by the older man,
whose quiet dignity and innocent honesty are outside of the
realm of his shallow experience. I guess the most fun scene
to write was when Jack’s grown son enters his father’s house
unannounced and stumbles in on Jack kneeling in front of his
new young lover with his cock in his mouth. The son is
flabbergasted and horrified. I had fun imagining the
outraged response of a twenty-something kid as repressed as
his father once was, and also Jack’s carefully measured and
ultimately compassionate response in defense of his choice
to live his life honestly.
Several of your male/male stories involve a character who
has never had a homosexual relationship before.
What is the allure to using “first time” characters?
What aspects does it add to a story?
These are such good questions! When something’s new and scary,
there is so much room for exploration. There is so much
leeway to take the character in many different directions.
He isn’t hardened yet into any role. He doesn’t know yet who
he is. Layers of self-deception have to be peeled away in
the process of that exploration, and this leaves lots of
room for a writer to explore the angst and full range of
emotions he goes through.
You have a wonderful ability to express the power of BDSM
relationships, from both dominant and submissive viewpoints.
How did you start writing within this genre?
As an exploration of my own submissive impulses, which at the
time were little more than a secret fantasy, shared with no
one. My first writings are somewhat stilted as a result,
because I knew what excited me, what moved me, but I didn’t
really understand certain basic tenets, like never leaving a
bound sub alone for a long period of time, so unfortunately
some of my heroes were less than proper Doms! It was a
thrill to write for myself stories that tried to capture the
sense of deep desire and wonder I felt when I was finally
able to admit and embrace my own sexuality. And since then
(I was first published in 1996) I’ve gained plenty of real
life experience, as well as continued to research as the
Internet has come into its own. But the really cool thing is
the thrill has never gone. I’ve been writing in the genre
for twelve years and I never plan to stop.
The Golden Boy and Golden Man stories are a captivating
exploration of a man discovering his submissive side.
How did these stories come about?
My editor at Ellora’s Cave, Mary Moran, suggested I write an m/m
story. I had never considered it until she brought up the
idea. I liked the idea of taking a repressed, beaten down
blue collar kind of guy who was raised by a man who hated
“pansies” and “queers”, and push him, gently at first, along
a journey of self-discovery. Because of his background and
family, Johnny had a very hard time coming to grips with
first his homosexuality and second his submissive nature.
Enter Eric Mendez, a hot, sexy and very defended Puerto
Rican Dom by night, successful psychologist by day. By
defended, I mean he was very active in the BDSM scene, but
until the innocent, beautiful “Golden Boy” fell into his
life, he’d never been involved in a loving, romantic D/s
relationship. So both of them, not only Johnny, took huge
risks in the name of…you guessed it—love.
You are one of the few authors brave enough to explore the
“rough stuff”, the darker side of submission.
Of these books, which has struck the strongest chord
with both you and readers?
Two oldies but goodies, Toy and Frog, continue to
sell well after all these years. They are both nonconsensual
kidnap tales, which tapped into my own personal, dark dirty
fantasies. The key word being fantasy. No one would really
want to be subjected to that kind of abduction and sexual
torture, but as a sexual fantasy, it can be pretty hot. More
recently I wrote yet another nonconsensual story, titled
Golden Angel-Unwilling Sex Slave and I had a lot of fun
writing it. This one, however, does have a happily ever
after ending, because I’ve become a sap in my old age, and I
wanted the girl to get her guy and the bad guys to get their
just desserts.
You write both male/male and male/female BDSM stories.
Do you approach the genres differently?
Do you find that there is a different underlying
dynamic when working with male versus female submissives?
Another excellent question. I have to be very careful when I
write m/m, because I tend to feminize the sub without
meaning to. I have a male reader who points this out to me,
and I try to remember, just because a guy is gay, that
doesn’t make him a woman. So yes, in that regard there is a
different underlying dynamic. Men, even gay men, tend to be
less effusive in their praise, less forthcoming about their
real feelings and tougher on each other, in the scene, than
a man might be with a woman. I try to be mindful of all that
when I’m creating the characters. On another level, though,
I believe subs are hardwired a certain way, male or female.
They crave the release and heightened intensity of
experiencing the exchange of power a D/s relationship can
offer. Masochists yearn for the sting of the whip or smack
of the hard palm, whether male or female. So in that regard,
the dynamic is the same.
What is your favorite published story?
I’ve been thinking and thinking and I can’t decide. They’re like
my babies. How can I choose one sibling over the others?
Golden Boy does have a special place in my heart,
because it was my first m/m and it was so much fun to write.
I’m very fond of Obsession, one of the “rough stuff”
stories, as you call it, because I got into the head of the
Dom, who is really an unstable, dangerous stalker and
sociopath, posing as a Dom. I really got into his evolving
relationship with the woman he abducted, and the flowering
of his realization that what he had done was terribly wrong.
I wrote the whole first section of the book from his point
of view, the mid section from hers and the last section a
mutual discovery of their feelings and reactions to one
another. It was a complex book, in that regard, and I liked
that I didn’t tie everything neatly up. There were
consequences for behaviors that had huge impact on both
their lives.
If you could bring one of your characters to life, who would
it be and why?
Nathan, from Switch, or maybe Eric from Golden Boy.
Of course in real life they would be straight and we would
marry.
When you start writing, do you already have the story
plotted out or do you let the characters dictate what will
happen?
I have the basic storyline outlined in my head (and on paper) but
invariably at some point the characters take over, sometimes
pulling me in directions I hadn't even considered. It is a
peculiar sensation, when a character starts dictating the
scene. For example, in the manuscript I just finished, I had
no idea Elizabeth
was going to break down in tears at one point. Of course, I
understood why she did, but until my fingers typed it, I
honestly didn’t know it was going to happen. Scary stuff
when the subconscious takes over, but also thrilling. I call
it, “being in the groove.”
Do you draw inspiration for your characters from real life?
Absolutely. Most especially from myself, when I’m trying to
pinpoint and capture the illusive magic of D/s. But also
I’ll put people I know into my stories, especially people I
don’t like, who get cast with their real names and all their
irritating faults, though of course the character is usually
up to things the real guys would never get into. But that’s
the power of the pen and creative license!
Name one thing that your readers would be surprised to know
about you.
By day I’m a boring, quiet clerk in the administrative office of
a small town school district.
Do you have a guilty pleasure?
Me? No way! I’ll never tell…wink
What are you currently working on?
I just today finished the rough draft of a new m/f BDSM entitled
Accidental Slave, about a driven advertising
executive who finds herself embroiled in a BDSM sex slave
auction through no fault of her own. The man who makes the
winning bid turns out to be the sexiest, most compelling man
she’s ever laid eyes on. He takes her on a sensual journey
that turns her world inside out.
My next project is going to be the promised m/m/m ménage – three
scientists stranded in a science lab in
Antarctica
during a violent snowstorm turn to each other in their fight
for survival…stay tuned!
Where can readers find Claire Thompson?
Website -
www.clairethompson.net
And please join my yahoo chat group – lots of fun conversations,
excerpts and contests! -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/clairethompson/
And sign up for my newsletter by dropping me an email at
Claire@clairethompson.net. I put it out once every
couple of months or so, to let readers know what I’m working
on, what’s in the pipeline and what’s new. Contests there
too, plus one of my personal favorites – a Reader Spotlight
where I get to interview a reader!
Any other tidbits you would like to share?
I absolutely love hearing from readers. There is nothing more
thrilling than feedback from someone who was affected
(hopefully in a positive way!) by something I’ve written. I
will answer all emails, so let me hear from you!
In case you want the links to some of the novels referred to
above, here they are:
Golden Angel (paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Angel-Unwilling-Sex-Slave/dp/1419688308/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202900286&sr=8-7
Golden Boy/Golden Man
(paperback)
http://www.jasminejade.com/p-3770-golden-boy-golden-man.aspx?skinid=11
Golden Boy (ebook)
http://www.ellorascave.com/productpage.asp?ISBN=1-4199-0503-1
Golden Man (ebook)
http://www.ellorascave.com/productpage.asp?ISBN=9781419907449
Obsession (paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/Obsession-Abducted-Formerly-Stalker-Expanded/dp/1419695088/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211023658&sr=8-1
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