Blurb:
“A seductive brat tempts a sexy artist to risk his one shot at partnership for a fling with her. But when he takes control, who will come out on top?”
Help me welcome one of Red Sage's newest authors,
Chellesie B. Dancer
I asked Chellesie to come by today and answer a few questions, so let the grilling...I mean, interviewing, begin!
Hi, Chellesie! Tell us a little about yourself. Is writing your day job? If not, how do you work writing time in? Do you have any secrets to finding writing time that the rest of us could use?
Like most of my published author friends, I do also have a day job, and a husband and three kids. So I write between and around everything else. Of course the best way to get in writing time and not neglect your family is to forgo eating and sleeping, or clone yourself, but I haven’t figured out how to do either of those yet…
Hey, if you figure out the cloning thing you better be prepared to share the knowledge!
Have you always been a writer? I always want to know how someone gets sucked into this crazy business.
I started out as an actress, working several years on stage and a little bit on camera. I even had my own live theater for a while. To make a living, I began to work as an entertainer-I'm sometimes a mime, sometimes an M.C., sometimes a paleontologist's assistant for dinosaur parties. And occasionally a dancing gorilla.
Once I started having children, I didn’t have the time to pursue acting and I needed a creative outlet. So I began writing stories, in the wee hours of the night, because they were in my head and I needed to get them out. It took me several years to finish my first novel. Friends thought it was pretty good, but needed something more. Another couple years and I rewrote it again. Then I joined Romance Writers of America and found out all the things that were ‘wrong’ with it, or rather not popular in commercial fiction, like the use of present tense for third person point of view.
In the six years since then, I've attended hundreds of workshops, learned a ton about writing fiction, gained a wonderful group of writer friends, and launched a new career. I’ve written a couple of novellas, and begun several more novels. And based on the good response I’ve gotten from the overall story, I do plan to eventually rewrite my first book,In Hot Water.
Oh, you're a brave one! I wouldn't touch my first manuscript with a ten foot pole!
Well, actually I got an email, and it went into my ‘junk’ folder so I missed seeing it for more than 24 hours! When I saw it, I was surprised because it had only been a few days and I wasn’t expecting an answer yet. I couldn’t jump up and down and scream because I was at work and the other two gals were on the phone, and besides, I wanted to tell my husband first. He was at work too, so I forwarded him the email. Then called him right away to make sure he got it, and I was too excited to wait. I told him as calmly as I could, keeping my voice contained, then waited for his reaction. After fifteen years of supporting me in my writing hobby, then my professional writing aspirations, my very verbose husband said, “That’s a start.” LOL
Isn't that just like a man? Well, it's a great start, so we'll dance around and shout enough to make up for his response!
Power Play has the most gorgeous cover. I’ve told you how jealous I am of that cover, so tell us why it’s the perfect cover – or not - for your story.
Yes, it is the perfect cover for this story, because the red power tie is a symbol of their power struggle throughout the story. And of course the heroine, Liz, is naked for a good portion of that time!
Wowser!! I guess you don't have to worry about describing wardrobes when your characters are never wearing any clothes. Hmm... maybe I should try that.
I’m a big fan of contemporary romance, but the romance genre seems to be all about paranormal and fantasy these days. Why write a contemporary?
I have written one medieval fantasy. You’ve gotta write what inspires you, and I don’t have any desire to write paranormal or fantasy at this time.
I hear you. I'm pretty much grounded in reality myself right now. Medieval fantasy huh? Dragons and stuff? Were they wearing clothes?
Now that I’ve grilled you (so to speak) tell us about “Power Play.” What sparked the idea? Who’s story did you have first – your hero or your heroine?
A friend had said it would be fun try to seduce someone at work, when the two of them were only alone for ten minutes, and that was all the inspiration I needed. Envisioning this as a little ‘quickie’ story, I wrote that scenario. But then I knew that Sergio needed to get his revenge. I had so much fun writing his seduction of her later that night, that it went from a two scene short story to a ten chapter novella!
It’s absolutely his story at first, because the heroine catches him off-guard and seduces him. So we see it as it happens to him. Then it becomes her story as we experience what it’s like to be at his mercy when he gets his ‘payback.’
Ohh, payback is good!
What are you working on now?
Because the theme of “Power Play” is control, and the characters dabble with dominance and submission, I have two more stories with that theme, “Have It Your Way,” and an unnamed work in progress. But I have many other stories I’ve written, or begun, on many other themes. Some are steamy, and the others are very steamy! I have a ménage story called Restless that is almost ready, and two different series I’m working on. And soon I hope to rewrite and sell my first book In Hot Water. It’s a full-length novel, and it also has a long playful seduction that spans a couple of chapters.
Well, I for one can't wait to see else you come up with. Congratulations on the release of POWER PLAY. I'm sure it's just the beginning of wonderful things!
Now, dear readers, here's an excerpt from POWER PLAY.
Excerpt:
No way he'd fail this time, Sergio thought as he pulled into the parking garage an hour early. After years of honing his competitive edge, he wouldn't go soft again. He locked his burgundy Civic, flipped the keys into his pocket and slung his suit coat over a shoulder. With his other accounts sacrificed to his coworkers, nothing could distract him from nailing this presentation and finally making partner, just in time.
Heading to the elevator, he saw a profile in the dim light–the silhouette of her flirty dress, her Grecian nose, and her high cheek bones set against the harsh light behind her. Poetic.
She turned and caught him staring. "Did I forget to put on clothes?"
The amusement in her voice stirred him back into motion. As he neared, he saw long strawberry-blond hair and caught his breath. A gorgeous figure and a red-head too? Damn! "Sorry, didn't mean to stare. I was just captivated by the classic lines of your face… and, uh, dress. It's just–your silhouette was so lovely against the glare of that bulb."
She smiled. "You're an artist."
He shrugged. "Well, a graphic artist."
"An artist nonetheless." Her tone suggested she was accustomed to being correct. "Art is art."
"I'd like to make art with you." Damn, he didn't mean that. Well he meant it, just didn't mean to say it. Something about her made him to want to strip her nude and pose her in a hundred classic poses. And take her in every one of them.
"Really?" She couldn't contain her wickedly sexy smile. "Let me guess, you paint nudes?"
Damn, was he that obvious? She watched him in anticipation. Was she flirting with him?
"No, I don't paint nudes." A flicker of disappointment in her eyes. "But now that you've suggested it, I think it's a great idea. When are you available?"
An eyebrow raised, then her mouth tightened. "I'm a very busy woman. I'll have to check my schedule."
Busy how? A gorgeous woman like that, how many men did she have in her life? Brushing aside that unsettling thought, he forged ahead. He'd never met a woman who intrigued him like this, and he wasn't gonna let her run away. "We're all busy. Let me know when you have an opening and I'll clear my schedule to fit you in." After he'd said it he noticed the double entendre.
She must have gotten it, because she looked away. "It might be a while till I can find the time."
So she wanted to play coy. That's all right, he was determined, he'd persist till she gave in. He approached her, instinctively summoning his most authoritative voice.
"Make the time."
Her eyes widened for a split second before hardening into slits. "Oh, do you think I do anything that a man tells me to do?"
Her scathing tone was meant to put him in his place. Instead it made him bolder. He stepped closer–too close–and that felt good. "No, of course not." He moved again. An inch from her breasts. The electrical charge from invading her space zinged through his body. "Just anything I tell you to do."
Her mouth fell open and her eyes got steamy. It felt as though that electrical charge from his body had surrounded her and drawn her in. She was his.
The elevator doors rumbled open behind her. As she stumbled back, he stepped forward and held them for her. She nodded her thanks, and turned. The soft turquoise fabric draped like silk over her curvy hips as she passed him, and he wanted to slide his hand along those curves. As she tapped the button, he darted a quick glance at her fingers–no ring. This was his lucky day.
She fled to the far corner, almost against the wall. He envisioned himself pressing her against that wall, lifting her skirt and taking her right here in the elevator. His cock was flooded and hard, ready to take control. He shook his head slightly, trying to get blood flow back to his brain. Think. Gotta do something. Appropriate.
Heading to the elevator, he saw a profile in the dim light–the silhouette of her flirty dress, her Grecian nose, and her high cheek bones set against the harsh light behind her. Poetic.
She turned and caught him staring. "Did I forget to put on clothes?"
The amusement in her voice stirred him back into motion. As he neared, he saw long strawberry-blond hair and caught his breath. A gorgeous figure and a red-head too? Damn! "Sorry, didn't mean to stare. I was just captivated by the classic lines of your face… and, uh, dress. It's just–your silhouette was so lovely against the glare of that bulb."
She smiled. "You're an artist."
He shrugged. "Well, a graphic artist."
"An artist nonetheless." Her tone suggested she was accustomed to being correct. "Art is art."
"I'd like to make art with you." Damn, he didn't mean that. Well he meant it, just didn't mean to say it. Something about her made him to want to strip her nude and pose her in a hundred classic poses. And take her in every one of them.
"Really?" She couldn't contain her wickedly sexy smile. "Let me guess, you paint nudes?"
Damn, was he that obvious? She watched him in anticipation. Was she flirting with him?
"No, I don't paint nudes." A flicker of disappointment in her eyes. "But now that you've suggested it, I think it's a great idea. When are you available?"
An eyebrow raised, then her mouth tightened. "I'm a very busy woman. I'll have to check my schedule."
Busy how? A gorgeous woman like that, how many men did she have in her life? Brushing aside that unsettling thought, he forged ahead. He'd never met a woman who intrigued him like this, and he wasn't gonna let her run away. "We're all busy. Let me know when you have an opening and I'll clear my schedule to fit you in." After he'd said it he noticed the double entendre.
She must have gotten it, because she looked away. "It might be a while till I can find the time."
So she wanted to play coy. That's all right, he was determined, he'd persist till she gave in. He approached her, instinctively summoning his most authoritative voice.
"Make the time."
Her eyes widened for a split second before hardening into slits. "Oh, do you think I do anything that a man tells me to do?"
Her scathing tone was meant to put him in his place. Instead it made him bolder. He stepped closer–too close–and that felt good. "No, of course not." He moved again. An inch from her breasts. The electrical charge from invading her space zinged through his body. "Just anything I tell you to do."
Her mouth fell open and her eyes got steamy. It felt as though that electrical charge from his body had surrounded her and drawn her in. She was his.
The elevator doors rumbled open behind her. As she stumbled back, he stepped forward and held them for her. She nodded her thanks, and turned. The soft turquoise fabric draped like silk over her curvy hips as she passed him, and he wanted to slide his hand along those curves. As she tapped the button, he darted a quick glance at her fingers–no ring. This was his lucky day.
She fled to the far corner, almost against the wall. He envisioned himself pressing her against that wall, lifting her skirt and taking her right here in the elevator. His cock was flooded and hard, ready to take control. He shook his head slightly, trying to get blood flow back to his brain. Think. Gotta do something. Appropriate.
Chellesie B. Dancer enjoys writing contemporary, historical, and erotic love stories with a sprinkling of comedy. The women in her books dare to ask for their desires, so they truly will be satisfied ever after. Be careful what you wish for...
Chellesie lives on top of a hill overlooking the smog of sunny Southern California. Other than writing, she entertains at parties as an M.C., a paleontologist’s assistant, and occasionally a dancing gorilla. She’s the mother of three beautiful boys and an assortment of other critters. Luckily her husband cooks!
Here's how you can get your copy of POWER PLAY -
To buy “Power Play” on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/
To buy “Power Play” on Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
Here's where you can find Chellesie -
Thanks so much for coming by today, Chellesie!
Readers, it's your turn to grill...I mean, ask Chellesie your questions!
I don't have any questions, just commenting that I love the cover and the excerpt was quite enticing. Great job!
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