V: Today I’m welcoming Lillian Grant to the blog. Lillian writes erotic romantic comedy and is sharing some thoughts on writing her “Reigning Men” trilogy with us.
When I first started writing I was in awe of people that could write really long stories, and people that could manage a series amazed me. How did you do that? How did you make one story, into two or three or four? It turns out love is the answer. You fall in love with the characters and you just can’t let them go. Their lives become so real you just have to know what happens next. However, like in real life relationships, sometimes you know it’s time to say goodbye.
I have just typed the words “The End” for book three of my Reigning Men series. The story is done and it’s time for me to move onto something else.
I still remember the idea that sparked book one; what would happen if a girl who had never enjoyed a mutually fulfilling relationship accidentally became a pimp for a stripper who wanted to try being a prostitute? And so were born Meg Riley and Irishman and male stripper Michael Monaghan. Now, you might think okay so we have our heroine and hero, but alas no. Michael had a long way to go to become hero material. No need to fear, in steps Sam Stephens, Meg’s flatmate and a man who starts out wanting to show her how good sex can be and ends up falling in love with her. Meg and Sam needed more to work with if I was going to have a plot big enough for a full length novel. I had the brilliant idea to toss in Meg’s mother, a woman who appears to have a pathological fear of sex, especially if it involves her daughter and any male of the species. Just for shits and giggles, I invented Great Aunt Maud. The octogenarian who thinks every man she meets wants to lay her. Voila, Male Order, a romantic comedy was born. The plot grew and grew and when I got to the end I had fallen in love with the crazy people now living in my head. The star of Book One was undoubtedly Sam. The man was put through things that would test the patience of a saint but he never gave up on Meg even when she thought he would.
Not able to shake off the story I got to work on Book Two, Male Review. My crazy cast all get involved in a BDSM themed Male Strip club that Maud buys into. Maud and Meg’s mother move into the poor girl’s flat and Sam moves out. Now my lovers have to sneak sex in where they can. However, deciding to use the club after closing opens them up to a whole new world; a world of submission, spanking and inadvertently providing entertainment for voyeur Michael Monaghan. The club isn’t just the backdrop for the story it also provides the solution to getting the crazies out of Meg’s flat. The star of this story is Great Aunt Maud. She causes most of the mayhem but proves to be more astute than you would imagine if you were to ever try to have a sane and sensible conversation with her. I absolutely love Maud. She is one of those old ladies that says whatever comes into her head, appropriate or not.
I thought I was done, but one cast member wanted his moment in the spotlight. Michael was ready to step up and show he had grown enough to be a hero. Unfortunately he had already chosen his heroine, Meg. Now how do I get him and Meg together without upsetting lovely Sam? A ménage perhaps? Although Michael would need to do something pretty spectacular to convince Sam to let him get into bed with them. Does he manage it? Well you’ll have to wait until I get book three contracted and published to find out.
V: Thanks, Lillian, for sharing the story behind Reigning Men with us! Readers, you can find buy links for Male Review below, and don’t forget to check out Lillian’s website: www.lilliangrant.com
http://www.amazon.com/Male-Review-ebook/dp/B0086WCFES/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1338242528&sr=8-16
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-malereview-804339-149.html