Alexis: Today we have my longtime friend and Erotic Romance author Cassie Ryan who is giving away an ecopy of My Obsession!
Welcome Cassie. What
has been the most memorable fan comment you ever had?
Cassie: I had a fan
approach me at the last Romantic Times conference I attended in 2009.
She gushed over my Cassie Ryan books (the hot ones!) and told me that
they were a wonderful combination of Sherrilyn Kenyon, Sylvia Day, Cheyenne
McCray and Nora Roberts. Wow! Can you say fan girl moment??
No – me, not her!! What writer wouldn’t want to be
compared to any of those terrific ladies!! All
writers I respect and enjoy! Cheyenne is the only
one I know personally and am lucky enough to call a good friend,
but I tell her all the time I want to be her
when I “grow up” :) I still get goose bumps
when I think about how I felt at that moment, and how that
reader looked at me as she begged me to write more books! I don’t
think there’s much higher compliment you can get out of a reader than to be
compared like that!!
Alexis: Wow,
what a wonderful compliment! That would give me goose bumps too. So we know
what your fans think about your writing, what does your family think
of your writing career?
Cassie: It’s
funny, growing up, all my teachers told me and my family that
they wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up writing someday.
I even had a high school Accelerated English teacher tell me
that I was a great writer but if I ever hoped to be
published I would have to stop writing all the dark stuff and tone
down the sarcasm. I haven’t seen or talked to her since graduation,
but she would probably shake her head to know that all of that stuff
was really what I’m known best for, in my Tina Gerow pen name at least.
Okay, some in the Cassie Ryan books too! But somehow I don’t
think any of my family is surprised that I ended up writing erotic
romance – or what so many just call “smut” :) I used to
take that personally, but now I sort of think it’s a compliment.
And I take my smut or kink very seriously!!
Two
of my sisters think it’s great that I’m a writer and don’t blink an eye at
my subject matter. The third I suspect has quite a few blinks at the
subject matter but is fine with me being a writer. My husband is very proud of
what I do and has no problem telling all his friends and coworkers to go
and buy my books. My son is also quite proud and gleefully tells
people I write porn! I’ve tried to break him of that habit, pointing
out that my books don’t have pictures in them, but I think he likes the
shock factor it has. Smartass! :)
My
Mom insists that she wants to continue to think of her baby as innocent and
sweet, even though she knows full well that ship sailed long ago! When my
Dad was out visiting from Ohio a few years ago, he attended a writing panel
with me where readers were asking questions. One of the readers asked the
panel what our parents thought about us writing “smut.” When it came
to me to answer I told her she should ask my Dad since he was in the
front row. My smartass Dad stood up and shrugged and said he didn’t think
it was all that racy. I laughed and told him I now knew what kind of
sick bastard he was! He laughed back and said, “You’re welcome.
Where do you think you GOT that sick mind from?”
Damn I
love my family!! :)
Alexis: I think
it’s fantastic you have such a supportive family. Especially your
husband and son since writing does take time away from family sometimes
(especially around deadlines). How long did it take you to
write your most recent release? Why?
Cassie: It
took me well over a year, and not just because it takes me longer to write a
book since my brain blowout than it did before. I used to be able to
write a book in 4 months if I had to. Now I would
guess the “had to” would be more like 8 months and the stress alone
might shut the pissy brain down for a while. But this one took even
longer. Why? Well, Sue Grimshaw approached me at the local Desert
Dreams conference and asked me if I was still writing erotic books
and then told me about the Loveswept line she was editing for at Random House,
and asked me to submit.
To
say I was excited would be an understatement. I had met
Sue back when I was with the small press publisher, Triskelion, and
Sue was the book buyer at Borders. I only met her once at a writers
conference and was shocked she even remembered who I was! But
excited, too! I was also excited about the prospect of writing for
Random House – I mean, who wouldn’t be???
BUT – while I had
written several erotic books, those were all paranormal, not contemporary.
And I had never written BDSM before, and didn’t really know
anything about the true practice of it beyond the myths that I knew
were probably bunk and the few books I’d read employing it. But with
the popularity of 50 Shades I felt a bit out of my element and knew
it would take some extensive research to do it right. And I didn’t
want to do it any way except right!! So I hit up a few friends
who I thought might be in that lifestyle and they guided me to some
sites and even some people I could talk to to get the REAL story
about the BDSM lifestyle and the D/s (Dom & sub) dynamic.
So
after my wonderful hubby laughed but told me in no uncertain terms that while
he was proud of me and my writing and would always support me, he
would NOT visit a local dungeon with me so I could research for my
book, I dove in to research, reading, interviewing, etc., to find out
what the actual lifestyle is like! Not the Hollywood version we’ve all
seen and heard about. I still haven’t made it to a local dungeon,
but maybe the BMG’s (my critique group) will go with me! Only to watch!
Although I’ll admit, if I was still in my 20’s and a wild
child I might dive into much more than that…LOL! But for
now – I think our group consensus would be just to watch!
It wouldn’t be the strangest thing we’ve done in the name of writing
research, after all! :)
Alexis: I love research. Just sayin’ ;-) What do you
think everyone should know about your critique partner?
Cassie: I am
so lucky to have several critique partners! My critique group is called
The Butterscotch Martini Girls (the BMG in the above). They
include such terrific ladies as Kayce Lassiter, Lisa Pietsch, Tia Dani, HD
Thompson, KT Roberts, and our honorary member because we love her
madly, and all want to be her when we grow up, is Cheyenne McCray. The
BMG’s as we call ourselves were started in August 2003 by Brit Blaise, and we
were all unpublished at that point and grew as writers together until we are
ALL multi published. We recently lost Brit to breast cancer, but we miss
her dearly, and carry on the BMG’s, as we know she would’ve wanted. In
fact, whenever I’m tempted to get down on myself or wonder if a book is
going to be good or not I can hear her voice in the back of my head
telling me to get to work! That I always worry about it mid
book and it always turns out well! And damn if she STILL isn’t right! :)
I love each and every one of these ladies! We’ve been through
a lot together over the last more than a decade both writing related and not.
I’m so blessed!
Alexis: The BMGs are awesome but then again so is
your husband! What do you think everyone should know about your him?
Cassie: My
husband is amazing. I know most women say that about their husbands
but mine truly is. I was a cougar before it was cool, so he’s my boy
toy…er….9 years younger than me and a damn sexy man that it’s very
easy to base my heroes off of! He doesn’t read my books – not
because he’s not proud or is ashamed of what I write, but he just isn’t a
reader. He’s even tried to listen to audio books and he just can’t get
through them. He gets something of an input overload and has to stop. But
he’s very supportive, loves all my writing friends and has even gone to and
worked at writing conferences that I was attending. He never balks
at any money I need to spend for promotions, conferences or even girls
writing weekends away. He’s also a techie – so patiently and valiantly
fixes my laptop, iPhone or any other tech stuff that I have that
malfunctions, which it does often. He’s convinced I have a weird
magnetic field around me that causes that stuff to go haywire, but he just
kisses me, takes the malfunctioning technology away from me and brings it back
fixed. He’s a gem! And besides that he’s a wonderful father and
still loves to make me laugh!
Alexis:
Thank you Cassie for coming to visit Happily Ever After Thoughts. It was so
great to have you! Now I need to tell everyone about the giveaway.
Be
sure to leave a comment or question for Cassie and someone will be randomly
drawn to win a copy of her latest ebook My Obsession. Check out the blurb!
Blurb of My Obsession
Running
from a troubled past, Sandra Barry spent years hiding out in New York City’s
BDSM scene, finding satisfaction and even a sense of community as a sub at a
large dungeon. But when a stalker joins the dungeon posing as a Dom, he crosses
her personal boundaries, giving her no choice but to return home to Arizona.
Seeking refuge once again in the kink lifestyle, Sandra meets a sexy new Dom
whose tutelage drives her wild—although there’s something familiar about him
she just can’t place.
As a
teenager, Brent Weston was a nerd. Now he owns the hottest dungeon in Phoenix,
enjoying the power and success he’s always craved. All that’s missing is the
right woman to share it with. Then one day Sandra, his secret high school
crush, walks into his club. She’s just as beautiful as he remembers. She’s also
scared as hell. Brent has been waiting for this moment, and now that Sandra’s
in his sights, he’ll do anything to protect her, pleasure her—and prove that
he’s the only master worthy of her devotion.
Buy
Links:
About Cassie:
Cassie Ryan (aka Tina Gerow)
started her career writing steamy paranormal romance
under another pen name. However, when one of her critique partners suggested
she try her hand at erotic romance, she gave it a shot—and Cassie Ryan was
officially born. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and besides being a write-a-holic,
is a frequent speaker on several writing and motivational topics.
Website: http://www.cassieryan.com
Twitter: @TinaGerow
