Tag Archives: Rachel Leigh

Rachel Leigh Gives an Explicitly English Story Behind the Story

I’m happy to welcome Rachel Leigh to A Hopeful Romantic, and since she is speaking of things explicitly English, I’m already intrigued. Welcome Rachel!

When I was invited to appear on this blog, K D asked that some aspect of my post includes a ‘story behind the story’ aspect. So what is the story behind Explicitly English? I’m not sure you’ll actually believe me even if I tell you but here goes…

I am British, living in South West England which I have all my life so I know little else accept from an English way of life, English history and English customs. Apart from holidaying in the Mediterranean, a four-day trip to New York and camping in France, England is what I know best.

So because of that, I decided the heroes and heroines in my books would always be British because authentically, that is the best I could do for my characters – and my readers. So believe it or not, the story came from watching a very British and very popular TV adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.

However before you assume this is an historical erotic romantic suspense, it isn’t – it’s a straight forward contemporary erotic romance. The inspiration came from the traditional UK country living and the train journey. As soon as my heroine steps on the train, it is the start of her new life and her fun begins almost at once…here’s the blurb:

 Laura Markham needs to forget – just for awhile.  Be someone else for change – live as her parents will never have the chance to.  And for Laura, that means leaving the City for the English countryside and doing just what the hell she feels like…wherever she feels like doing it…

British stockbroker, Stephen Cambridge knows by going home to his country retreat two days early, he’s likely to surprise his contracted interior designer.  And when he finds out she’s the woman who performed the solo masterbation show for him on the inward bound journey, Stephen will do anything to further convince her to miss the outward bound train and stay with him forever… 

Hmm…quite far removed from the stereotypical British tweeds and Poirot twirling his famous moustache but inspiration is inspiration and we writers take it whenever and wherever it appears. I love what I do and hope to continue to write forever. One of my favorite things is attending my monthly Romantic Novelists Association (UK RWA equivalent) chapter meetings and listening to my fellow members nuggets of inspiration. Believe me, the ideas are out there, you just have to use a little imagination sometimes, lol!

Rachel loves to hear from writers and readers, find her here:

www.rachelleigh.co.uk

www.rachelleighromance.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Leigh/266044849655

Thanks for sharing the Story Behind the Story with us Rachel! As a transplant to South England, no one will appreciate hot tales of the English countryside more than I, and this one definitely sounds hot!

Fun and Frolic Through the Week

It’s been another exciting week of making friends and visiting fabulous websites and blogs, of spending time with the Pets and walking the story.

 On the 15th, I had the pleasure of raising a ruckus on Rachel Leigh’s juicy blog, and she didn’t mind in the least. I think it says a lot about a person’s character when they don’t mind a little ruckus raising on their site. A lovely lady, and a lovely place to hang out and talk smut.

 On the 16th  the delicious Nichelle Gregory interviewed me on her terrific site, Simply Sexy Stories. We talked about the unusual challenges writing The Initiation of Ms Holly presented for me, with its roots in Greek mythology and more than a few of its pages flavoured with BDSM.

 At the same time, The Initiation of Ms Holly was being featured on The Romance Reviews site for a give-away. A busy day for me and for Holly

On the 17th, I got to talk about inspiration on the lovely Tina Donahue’s site, and the discussion of continued with some terrific people dropping in to talk about mythology and inspiration. Tina and her friends made me feel right at home, and it was great to talk about one of my favourite topics. 

I capped off the week by going to visit Lasabet Sarai on her fabulous Beyond Romance site. I told her all about why I write sex, and when some of her friends stopped by, the conversation heated up. Isn’t it wonderful to have such fun sites where sex is not only a welcome topic, but it’s the standard feast.

More good news in the short story department, as The Mammoth Book of Hot Romance had its first sneak preview on Scribd. I’m very excited about this fabulous anthology, edited by the mysterious and delightful Sonia Florens. Not only is my steamy, arty, myth-tinged story ‘Inspiration’ included, but the table of contents reads like a who’s who of great erotic authors. I feel honoured to be in the presence of so many of my writing idols.

 On the home front, I am doing the last little bits of grooming and preparing my Pets for their big send-off. If all goes well, I hope to be able to wave them on their way to Hazel at Xcite mid-week. Then she’ll put them through their paces and turn them loose on the public when The Pet Shop debuts in October. I’ve had so much fun with the misbehaving Tino and his cohorts. I’ll miss them. In the meantime, while I’m waiting for them to go public, I’ll be ghost hunting in Keswick and twisting and reshaping more mythology. All in all, it promises to be a terrific spring.

 I’ll leave you with a little excerpt from The Pet Keeper’s Manual to better prepare you for the arrival of those mischievous Pets. 

Pets don’t like to eat alone. They prefer to sit on the floor by the table next to their keeper’s chair, where they enjoy being hand-fed. If this is not possible, place food in a bowl next to the water dish. Make sure meat is always cut into bite-sized chunks.

Note: The former is preferable, as most Pets and Pet keepers find sharing a meal in this fashion very enjoyable and a part of their bonding experience.