May | 2013 | C. K. Crouch

Today I welcome author Julie Shelton. Welcome to my Blog Julie.

Julie and I met while searching for someone to share a hotel room with during RWA Nationals in Atlanta, GA this coming July. She mentioned her book and I invited her to join me. Please welcome Julie Shelton.

Her book is Loving Sarah.

Q. Tell us a little bit about yourself

I’m recently retired after a 25-year career as a professional storyteller and puppeteer. I just moved for the seventeenth time in my life. I spent four months touring Europe on a shoestring budget—forty years ago! England was my favorite of all the places we visited. Amazingly, the girlfriend who went with me is still friends with me! In 1982,Kidstuff, a monthly language-arts resource newsletter for early childhood educators that I wrote, won the 1982 EDPRESS Award, given by the Educational Press Association of America. I love violets, ballet, England, the Middle Ages, gorgeous scenery, reading, and writing. I am the author of Loving Sarah, my first published novel.

Q. Tell us a little bit about Loving Sarah.

Loving Sarah, an M/f/M Menage, BDSM Collection, with a Heat Rating of Sextreme, was published by Siren-Bookstrand on November 28, 2012.

COVER BLURB

Eight years ago Jesse Colter fled his small town, leaving behind eighteen-year-old Sarah Marshall, broken-hearted and devastated. Now a retired Navy SEAL, he’s back and he wants only one thing—Sarah Marshall—preferably bound, naked, and on her knees before him.

She has never forgotten Jesse. He’s been the object of all her sexual fantasies since she was fifteen, as well as the star of nightly dreams that have become increasingly erotic over the years. So when he suddenly reappears in her life, she is torn. Can she trust him not to hurt her, or will he once again break her heart? Warily, she agrees to let him introduce her to his world—the world of bondage, Domination, and erotic slavery. When he also introduces her to his best friend, Adam Sinclair, Sarah faces a daunting future of sexual submission to two powerful alpha males.

But Sarah faces an even bigger challenge. Someone is stalking her. Is it the old enemy who’s just been released from prison? Or is it someone else from her past who is determined to destroy any chance she has at happiness? Can Adam’s and Jesse’s love protect her? Or will her world explode in a cataclysm of betrayal and violence that will destroy them all?

Q: Sounds delicious. What are you working on at the moment?

The sequel to Loving Sarah, titled Owning Sarah. It completes the story of Sarah, Jesse and Adam and includes a collaring ceremony, some M/M action, a devastating car crash, a visit to a sex club, a raid on an armed skinhead encampment, and a wedding, not necessarily in that order. I’m hoping to complete it in the next three weeks.

Q. Why did you decide to write romance novels?

Because that’s what I’ve been reading all my adult life, ever since I discovered Mary Stewart and Phyllis Whitney many, many, many years ago. I’ve also been writing romance novels all my adult life, just never sending them out to any publishers. Until Loving Sarah. BDSM, which I incorporated into Loving Sarah, is a fairly recent discovery on my part and I’m so intrigued by it, I plan to incorporate it in all my current and future projects.

Q. What influenced you to send your novel off to a publisher? And why Siren-Bookstrand?

I felt that Loving Sarah was a really well-written book, with enormously appealing characters, an exciting plot and a once-in-a-lifetime romance that was at once sweet and scorching hot. I felt it compared favorably with books written by my favorite best-selling authors and that it had the potential of providing pleasure and entertainment to a lot of people. Plus, lol, I figured it would be a good way to earn a little pocket change. (Obviously, I did not check this assumption with any currently-published romance authors).

Siren was the first publisher I submitted it to, mainly because they publish many of my favorite authors. Around three weeks after I sent it off, they emailed me and asked me to make a few minor changes (mainly, upping the heroine’s age at the time of an attempted rape, from seventeen to eighteen). I figured this was a pretty good sign, thinking if they weren’t interested in it at all, they wouldn’t have bothered to ask for the changes. They offered to publish it less than two weeks after I submitted the revised manuscript.

Q: Could you tell us a couple of favorite authors who inspired you to write?

Round up the usual suspects—Lora Leigh, Maya Banks, Cherise Sinclair, Sophie Oak, Lisa Marie Rice, Lauren Dane, Joey W. Hill, Leah Brooke, Eden Bradley, Kristen Ashley, the list goes on and on. My earliest influences, years and years ago, back in the dark ages, were Mary Stewart’s romantic suspense novels and Phyllis Whitney’s gothic novels.

Q. What were some early influences on your writing?

Nancy Drew and Mad magazine.

Q. Where do your ideas come from?

Everything I’ve ever seen, read, heard or done. I wrote an entire Medieval Historical romance just from seeing a blue gown worn by a minor female character in the movie Becket. The entire novel just sprang into my mind fully-blown. I could hardly write it down fast enough. I wrote it on 3 x 5 index cards, one sentence at a time, so I could switch the order of sentences or entire scenes more easily. I still have it, as a matter of fact. It’s in two shoeboxes on top of my bookcase.

Q. Do you feel humor is important in romantic fiction?

I feel that humor is important in everything! I can’t imagine how dreary life would be without it.

Q. Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

Sometimes. Although, when I put music on, I usually put it on to listen to it, so I find it distracting to have it on when I write because I find myself tapping my feet, bopping in my chair, or singing or humming along with it. See? Distracting. That being said, I happen to be listening to music right now as I write this—the soundtrack from the movie Rudy.

Q. What is your favorite kind of music?

Classical. Followed by movie soundtracks, Folk music of the 60’s, and light rock—especially the 80’s rock ballads. I also love Christmas music, but only (Spoiler Alert!) at Christmas.

Q. Are sex scenes easy or difficult to write?

Easy, in that I know where all the parts go. Difficult in finding exciting and interesting new ways to describe how the parts get there and what happens as a result. Otherwise it’s a medical treatise. After all, there are only a finite number of words in the English language suitable for describing an orgasm. And they’ve all been used ad nauseum.

Q. Name three things that inspire you?

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, the Smoky mountains, England’s Royal Ballet’s version of Romeo and Juliet, starring Wayne Eagling and Alessandra Ferri, with choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan, and medieval illuminated manuscripts. Okay, that’s four things. So sue me.

Q. What was your favorite part about becoming a published author?

Getting the email from Siren telling me they wanted to publish my book. (I framed it) Seeing my cover for the first time. (It’s immortalized on a T-shirt). Reading all the glowing 4, 4.5, and 5-star reviews it has already received and continues to receive. Seeing it on Amazon, my favorite website of all time. Getting my first royalty check (small, very small).

Q. How about your least favorite part?

Having to promote, publicize and, basically, pimp my book. If I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done. For someone like me, who is totally non-computer savvy, this has been an unendingly frustrating nightmare. Hopefully, by the time Owning Sarah is published, I will be more of an expert at it. (But I’m not holding my breath.)

Q. What’s your favorite part of Loving Sarah?

The soul-deep emotional bond these three people share. And the smoldering hot sex. Oh, and the part between page 1 and page 291. And did I mention the sex?

Q. What did you think when you first saw your cover?

Honestly? Since my heroes are both 6’3 and Sarah is only 5’3, my first thought was, “The guys are too short.” But the more I looked at those three gorgeous people, the more I realized that the photographer had made the heroine stand on a box (lol). Now I absolutely love it.

Q. Have your ever experienced writer’s block? If so, how do you work through it?

I go back and rewrite/edit the last scene I wrote, or I go through my notes, looking for scenes, dialogue, or fragments of ideas that might inspire me. Or I read. I try to avoid writer’s block altogether by stopping at a point where I know what’s coming next and can pick right up on it the next session.

Q. What are the elements of a great romance for you?

Great characters, a sweet, tender love story, conflict, heartache, and, since I write erotic romances, lots and lots of hot, steamy sex.

Q. Where do we find out more about you and your books?

My website at http://www.juliesheltonauthor.com

My Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/Juliesheltonauthor

My Goodreads Author Page at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16162502-loving-sarah

Q.: Dogs or cats?

Cats

Q. Chocolate or Vanilla?

Pistachio

Q. Coke or Pepsi?

Coke. Definitely Coke.

Q. Coffee or tea?

Coke. Definitely Coke.

Q. Leather or Lace?

Lace. And Velvet. And silk. Oh, and satin. Yeah, satin…with lace…

Q. Now or Later?

Hoping for Now, I’ll probably get Later.

Q. Sparkles or Bursting into flames?

Without a doubt, Bursting.

Q. Guilty Pleasure?

Coke. Definitely Coke. When the Coca Cola company made their epically boneheaded decision to go with Coke II, I thought my life was over.

ADULT EXCERPT

Jesse’s hands reached out and began unbuttoning her blouse, slowly pulling the flaps up out of her jeans. The fabric parted, revealing the dusky slopes of her breasts, the shadowed valley between them. For a moment he just stood and stared, breathing harshly. Then he reached inside, skimming his hands up the sides of her rib cage, nudging the shirt off her

shoulders and down her arms. It dropped to the floor, baring her completely above the waist. Her nipples distended, becoming hard little beads of pleasure.

Adam’s hands came around her from behind to cup her breasts, lifting them, kneading

them, marveling at the pink flush spreading across her creamy skin. “Christ, Sarah, you have the most beautiful breasts,” he whispered in awe. “They’re perfect, absolutely perfect.”

She moaned, pressing back against his hard chest, arching her back to give him fuller access. He flicked his thumbs rapidly across both nipples, sending aching curls of sensation straight to her clit. She cried out in rapture, lifting her hands to hold him harder against her. Giving her nipples a hard pinch, he twisted and rolled them back and forth, making her cry out sharply.

“Oh! God!” She hissed in her breath as pleasure shot straight to her pussy. She had never been more aroused or more wet in her life. Her clit pounded, sending need pulsing through her with every frantic beat of her heart.

Jesse unzipped her jeans and pushed them down her legs. “Step out.”

Shivering, she did as she was told.

While Adam continued to plump her breasts, Jesse’s hands grazed the smooth, firm skin of her belly, hips and ass. He cupped her mound and she let out a groan, squirming as he skimmed two fingers through her wet folds. Chuckling softly, Jesse pulled his hand away, nodding for Adam to do the same, leaving her bereft and panting and whimpering with loss. “Kneel up, little sub.” The harshness of Jesse’s tone sent her heart plummeting to her feet.

“Um….”

“On your knees, back straight, eyes down, legs spread wide, hands clasped behind your

neck, elbows out.”

Sarah sank to her knees, trying to maneuver into the awkward position.

“Bend your toes forward.” He pushed against her knees with the toe of his boot. “Legs

wider apart. We want to see our wet, shiny pussy.”

Good Lord. She had never felt more vulnerable in her entire life. Or more aroused. She was completely naked, her glistening folds exposed to the avid gazes of two Dominant men. Her entire body hummed, shivering with the excitement coursing through her. She was floating, buoyed by currents of energy that seemed to flow through her like electricity. She was sparking, crackling, like short-circuiting live wires.

Adam stepped around her, his jeans open. His fist was wrapped around his cock, stroking it slowly from base to tip, slicking his thumb over the slit, picking up the pre-cum that dribbled from it to lubricate his glide. He stood directly in front of her, his cock mere inches from her face.

She stared, transfixed by his long, hard, elegant penis, thick and nearly purple with engorged blood, curving upward from a nest of dark blond curls. Longer than Jesse’s. Thinner than Jesse’s. The shiny satin knob flared out at the end of a stalk that was heavily corded with thick veins. His balls were suspended beneath the base of that stalk like two ripe plums.

She could hardly wait to taste him.

Grabbing her chin with one hand, he forced her gaze upward. “You are not actually a slave, Sarah, but we are going to give you a slave name. A name we will call you when we are ready to use your delectable body for our pleasure, like right now. When we address you by this name, you are to stop what you are doing and assume the ’Kneel Up’ position and await our further orders, do you understand?”

“Yes, Master.” Good Lord, had she just called him…Master? The title fell so naturally from her lips she hadn’t even realized it.

“Good girl. Many Masters give their slaves demeaning names, like ‘Hole’ or ‘Thing’ or ‘Worm’. But we love and respect you, and we honor the gift of your submission. Therefore, your slave name will be Sunny, because you are like sunshine to us.”

Her throat tightened as if being gripped by an invisible hand. “Thank you, Master,” she whispered.

“That doesn’t mean we won’t punish you when you’ve done something to earn it,” he chuckled. “We will. Punishment, after all, is merely a tool for us to use in order to make you a better sub. It is our gift to you, and you will thank us for it every time we administer it.”

“Yes, Master.”

Releasing her chin, he pressed the weeping tip of his cock against her nose. “Smell it, Sunny. Smell my cock.” She inhaled his musk and her mouth began to water uncontrollably. She gulped, knowing that her mouth was just the first of many holes that this cock would eventually penetrate tonight. What was she doing? She had to be completely insane! But even as her mind questioned, her body was already betraying her. Eyes closing, she leaned toward him slightly and drew his musky, masculine scent into the bottom of her lungs.

“Lick the head.”

She stuck out her tongue and curled it around the spongy head, licking up the pearly drops of pre-cum that oozed from the tiny slit.

“Open your eyes, Sunny.”

Her gaze flew up to meet the glittering hardness of his.

“Now, I am going to allow you to suck my cock. Use your mouth only. You have two minutes to make me come. Every minute it takes you beyond that limit will earn you five swats on your bare ass, do you understand?”

She gulped. “Y-yes, Master.”

“You must not come. This is for my pleasure, not yours. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Good girl. Open up.” He forced her chin downward and held her jaw immobile as he slowly fed her the tip of his massive cock. “I like it wet, so lots of spit. You must swallow all of my cum.”

Here are just a few of the nice things people are saying about this superbly sexy book.

THREE PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS

5 Angels from Fallen Angel Reviews. “I’d be interested in reading the next offering Julie Shelton has in store for us salivating readers.”

4.5 Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies. “Ms. Shelton did an excellent job in developing the characters.”

“The book is filled with gut-wrenching moments that pull at your heart.”

4.5 Rating from Risque Reviews. “Compelling and gripping novel.” “Sex scenes were so sultry, it felt as if the pages actually started to steam.” “Can’t wait to read more from this author.” Winner Top Pick Award.

READER REVIEWS

5 Stars. “50 Shades of Grey was good…well, it ain’t got nothing on Loving Sarah.” Jaime

5 Stars. “Read this book.” Mendi

5 Stars. “Loved this story.” Marcella

5 Stars. “Intense but wonderful read.” Daphnie

5 Stars. “Awesome book.” L. Manci

5 Stars. “Can’t wait for the sequel.” JoJo

5 Stars. “A really well-written book.” Angie

5 Stars. “Fabulous story—a really outstanding book!” dasm

5 Stars. “Great new author!!!” Augusting

5 Stars. “Julie Shelton does not disappoint.” BookJunkie

5 Stars. “I love this storyline and these amazing characters.”