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Today I am interviewing guest blogger Elizabeth Finn. Welcome to Silken Sheets and Seduction.

What genres do you write besides contemporary erotic romance

I’m currently in the middle of writing a paranormal erotic romance, and I’m really excited about it!

Do you write to music? If so what was the sound track to The Devil’s Pawn? Does the sound of my son’s cartoons blaring in the background count?

No, I don’t write to music – though I might have to give that a try… I love music and come from a very musical background – singing was a huge part of my upbringing, and I kind of like the idea of writing with something in the background.

Where do you write?

Sitting in my lovely daisy chair from Pier One Imports in my living room with my feet propped up on my favorite reclaimed railroad cart coffee table. I never sit at a desk to write.

What is the most you have written in one day?

Hmmm. I can’t say for sure, but it would have to be over 7000 to 8000 words.

What are you currently reading?

My Statistics text book… Not my first choice, but it’s fall term – go stats!

You have to jump out of a plane w/ a holey parachute or edit your 100K MS by hand, what. do. you. do?

Oh I’ll take the MS any day – it takes a rather large dose of Valium to get me on to the plane to begin with; jumping out will NEVER happen.  

What inspired you to write your first book?

I started my second release, Brother’s Keeper, five years ago, and I don’t know about inspiration, but I had just gone through a divorce, and writing became something of an outlet for me. I ended up putting that manuscript away for five long years where I didn’t write and only picked it up again recently and finished it!

How did you come up with the title?

It was more of a collaboration. I struggled with The Devil’s Pawn and while I came up with Pawn, someone else tossed out Devil’s… Brother’s Keeper was kind of a natural fit for that book and my third release, Restoring Jordan came pretty easy too.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

The Devil’s Pawn is a really gritty story, and the characters really go through an evolution. The lead male, Derek, is not a likable or kind fella to begin with, and that bends what we think of in terms of the relationship dynamic in a romance novel, but that’s also what I like best about this book. There’s an element of redemption and sacrifice that I think shows through. It’s setting yourself aside for the sake of someone else I want to impart more than anything else.  

What are your current projects?

I’m writing a paranormal erotic romance (vampires) right now, and so far, and I’m loving it! It’s untitled at this point, but I’m about 20,000 words in right now. I also have two upcoming releases after The Devil’s Pawn. Brother’s Keeper will release on 10/22/2012 and Restoring Jordan will release on 12/17/2012.

Do you see writing as a career?

I want to see writing as a career. If I had the freedom to give up the day job, I would have no problem immersing myself in this every day in the same way I approach my job. It’s a dream…

Who designed the cover?

Valerie Tibbs – and she rocks!

What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Finding the time and energy. I find that I do my best writing early in the day, but because I have to work during the day, my writing gets pushed to the evening and sometimes by the time I get my son to bed and sit down, I’m just so darned tired or I have school work that I need to work on.  

Bonus Round:

Coffee/Tea? Coffee and lots of it. It is no mistake that my characters tend to drink as much coffee as I do. I’m fanatical, and I’m not a very nice person without a cup of coffee in my hand.

Cake/Cookies? Cake… but only limited amounts – gotta watch the sugar…

Coke/Pepsi? Coke

Heels/Flats? I’m only a little over five feet tall – heels!

BDB/The Order? I’m not sure what this means!

Vampires/Werewolves? Vampire – what can I say, I’m a thirty something twi-hard fan!

Cats/Dogs? Dogs, but I do love my geriatric cat too.

Fly/Drive? Drive if possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb:

When Ashton is left orphaned after her parents are murdered, her life becomes a hell she could never have imagined. Left to fend for herself, and responsible for a debt she doesn’t owe, she is swept into a life as a gentleman’s escort at a private men’s gaming hall. Her new manager makes it abundantly clear he doesn’t appreciate her inexperience, innocence, and shyness. On the contrary, he despises everything about her.

Derek can be “difficult,” she’s been told. And however dark and handsome he may be, he terrifies her in a way that chills her to the bone, but leaves her begging to understand him. As they are pulled along together, more secrets and threats than either one could ever conceive are revealed, and a common enemy emerges. This enemy will stop at nothing to bring Derek to his knees while using Ashton as the greatest pawn in his torturous game.

Will Derek be able to let down his shield of cold, harsh emotion before it’s too late? Will he be able to sacrifice himself to save Ashton, or will they both be destroyed by the secrets of their pasts?
Excerpt:

Once in the fitting room, Derek takes the chair again while I start to remove my clothes. I intentionally wore ugly, stretched-out, white cotton underwear that is entirely too big on me in the event he should be here. My mouth isn’t the only thing that can get me into trouble—my sarcasm knows no bounds when I’m unhappy.

As he sees the appalling excuse for an undergarment, his eyes move up to mine, narrowing darkly at my obvious defiance. I look coolly back at him before looking away dismissively. My anger and resentment of him from the humiliation he subjected me to the previous morning, not to mention his treatment of me over the past two weeks, have charged me into a bold, fiery bitch that no longer cares what retribution I might face. While my tongue usually gets me in trouble, today I decided to let my underwear do the talking.

Jacob enters with an armful of dresses for me to try on, and he cringes as he takes in my defiant granny panties, hated the world over by men, including, apparently, gay men.

He turns to Derek, and with a scrunched-up face, he worries out loud. “The dresses aren’t going to lay right over those…” He tosses a nod in my general direction.

Derek wastes no time at all reassuring Jacob and striking back at me. “No worries. Ashton was just taking them off. She won’t be wearing underwear anymore.”

I glare defiantly back at him as I drop the loose fabric to the floor. He returns the glare for a moment before letting his gaze travel down my body to my sex, and as it lands there, smoldering with heat, I turn abruptly from him, intentionally showing him my backside instead. I look to the mirror in front of me, and I catch his eyes flit away from me in annoyance. He worries his lip with his thumb and index finger as he contemplates, and the slightest of smirks crosses over his mouth. Jacob is standing by looking from one to the other of us, obviously wondering just exactly what he’s gotten himself in the middle of.

Derek finally looks back to Jacob. “Get on with it.”

I try on one after the other of the dresses. Some are perfect; Jacob pins in additional alterations in others. Derek sits by bored, only glancing up from his cell phone occasionally. One such occasion is when Jacob remarks that I’m “just not curvy enough for this one.”

Derek looks up to Jacob, but he shifts his eyes to mine before commenting, “Yes, well, if you can figure out some way of making her look female, you let me know.”

Jacob again lets his eyes pass between us, seeming to wonder all the while what he’s missing. As I hold Derek’s eyes with my own, my anger falters, and the pain that is behind my fury pushes through. I try to wrangle my tears into submission, but it’s no use. In defeat, first one, and then another spills from my eyes and slides down my cheeks. Jacob regards my state and excuses himself from the room.

I stand on the hemming block in the center of the room, refusing to look at Derek. But he’s looking at me, and as my hurt continues to work through my entire body, I let my tongue do what it does best. “Why do you hate me so much?”

He says nothing, but stands and moves to me. Reaching around behind me, he pulls the zipper of the dress down, and then, returning his hands to my shoulders, he pulls the straps down, exposing first my small breasts, and then the rest of my naked body as it falls to the floor.

He leans in to my ear and speaks. “You don’t know anything about me.” He then takes me by the hand and pulls me to stand in front of the mirror, and leaning to my ear once more as I watch him in the mirror, he speaks gently. “Lean forward and put your palms on the mirror.”

Author Bio:

Elizabeth Finn is an Iowa native, where she lives with her husband and son. By day, Elizabeth is a Human Resources Specialist, but by night, she checks her professionalism at the door and immerses herself in the world of writing contemporary erotic romance. Look for more to come from Elizabeth Finn.

Visit Elizabeth at ElizabethFinnFiction.com, Facebook.com/ElizabethFinnFiction or email to ElizabethFinn77@gmail.com. She would love to hear from you!