Thursday, September 27, 2007
His Toys by Ruby Storm
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Reading and writing are two things I’m very passionate about. What better way to get away from it all, step into another’s shoes, and let my fantasies take be where they will! I started my first book when I was twenty-three. Wow…that was so long ago that my feeble mind finds it unimaginable! I think I’d run through a string of stories that simply weren’t doing it for me. So, I picked up a notebook and pen and started to jot down a plot and character names. Of course, that’s when my first baby arrived and the old notebook found a new hiding place in the bottom of my underwear drawer for the next twenty years. More babies followed, jobs, a joint business venture with my husband. There never seemed to be any time to get that story written. But it aged in my mind like fine wine as the years passed. Yup…some day I was going to write a book.That day finally arrived about ten years ago. I pulled out the notebook, slipped to the floor, and leaned against my bed as I read through the scribbled pages. I had to get this story started on my computer. Originally, I had absolutely no plans whatsoever to publish. I had set a goal to simply get the story written for my own peace of mine. Once I passed it on to some friends to read, they urged me to try marketing it. Here I was, a virtual virgin, wading into the publishing waters without a clue! No one would help me or give me any ideas of what I needed to do. With perseverance and a fair amount of stubbornness I decided I’d get this publishing thing figured out and to hell with those who rolled their eyes.
Boy, does one need to develop a very thick skin early on when dealing with submissions! Whew, I felt like the skin was being shaved off my body little by little. But eventually, my first story was accepted, and the rest is writing history. The one thing I learned is that you don’t become a writer…you simply are a writer. And now I’m a full time writer, working out of my home office and loving every minute!
Visit my website: www.rubystorm.net.
INTERVIEW:
Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?
Becoming a writer was not a conscious goal but more a desire to simply see if I could write a book. I used to be a voracious reader (too busy these days to read as much). But I’d come across so many average stories that I figured I may be able to do better (pretty arrogant when I think about it now!) I wrote my first story with all intentions of putting the manuscript in my underwear drawer and just telling myself that I’d done it. My mom and my good friend refused to let that happen after they’d read it. They insisted I try to sell the story. That insistence lead to three years of research on how to publish, got me some horrible rejection letters, and made me grow a much thicker skin. LOL. Eventually I did sell my first story and the biggest thing I’ve learned from that entire experience is that the publishing world is not for wimps. I mean, you’ve written a story and it’s like your baby, it’s full of blood, sweat and tears. Then it hits the shelves and there is always someone who doesn’t get what you had tried to say. They take your ‘baby’ and rip it to shreds. Ouch.
What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?
I absolutely love doing what I’m doing! Think about it. I get to put myself in someone else’s skin, live out their fantasy (or create one for them) and actually make a living while doing it!
The part I dislike the most is the business end of writing. Things like keeping up with self-employment taxes, of all the paperwork that goes into a book before and after publication. Suddenly it feels like a job. But, I get over it, get the work done then get to writing again.
How do you balance your personal and writing time?
It’s easier now because my children are grown and gone. There’s not much balancing anymore. It’s kinda like it’s Ruby Storm’s world now. After thirty years of raising a family and trying to find time for myself, I now have the time and I’m thoroughly enjoying this phase of my life. At 51, I’m young and healthy enough to have fun, yet mature enough (my sister would dispute that last statement) to get done what needs to be done.
How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?
It can happen either way. Sometimes I imagine this great hunk of a hero who is a bit of a bad boy yet can sweep a woman off her feet. His story most times will just appear along with him. Or I may see a title of a movie or book and it will kick off an idea. Sometimes I outline and sometimes I just sit down and start pounding on the keyboard. I have no definite style whatsoever.
What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?
Books with a more mainstream and sweet romance feel: I’ve got a historical romance series called the Keeper Series. The books have done wonderfully! In fact, Book One, Keeper of the Spirit was awarded the 2006 Romantic Reviewers Choice Award for BEST ROMANCE for Small Press! The entire series has garnered Recommended Reads and top awards.
I like writing in the many different genres simply because of the challenge.
What is the biggest misconception about being an author?
That we’re somehow different from the norm. I worked my entire life, raised kids, went to Little League games, camped, fished, vacationed…
Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
LOL…well, if you hang around with me, you’ll often see my friends pointing a stern finger at me while warning they had better never see the conversation of the moment in a book somewhere. I smile and tell them “writer’s license, honey, writer’s license!”
Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?
Oh man, I hate this question! Why? Because an author loves all their heroes and heroines and they try not to play favorites, but I have to be honest. I have yet come across any characters that can match my Wilkins family in my Keeper Series. It’s like those people live in my house with me. The men are heroes through and through. I loved writing them because they are vulnerable hunks who absolutely will stop the world for the woman they love.
If you were writing a script for the big screen, who would you want to act in your movie?
Gale Harold and Drew Barrymore. I first saw Gale on the award winning QUEER AS FOLK on Showtime. He is phenomenal! If you haven’t had a chance to catch him in anything, make sure that you do. He reminds me of Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Kevin Costner, Johnny Depp all rolled into one fantastic persona! And Drew? Well, she’s just a great actress all around.
What would you want readers to take away from your books?
A sense that they’ve just been on an adventure of a lifetime. That the characters within the pages have become close friends.
Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?
Cliché I know, but write what’s in your heart. Of course you must tailor to market dictates in order to make a living, but never ever forget that book in your heart.
Who are your favorite authors?
The late Kathleen Woodiwiss, hands down. Celeste De Blasis, Victoria Holt
What are you reading right now?
I have Ms. Woodiwiss’s The Reluctant Suitor sitting on the table beside my bed. THAT will be the next book – sheesh, I’ve had it for over a year now. I want to read it before her last release comes out this fall. She was in edit when she died and the book will be released.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
HIS TOYS has been chosen by the NightOwl Romance Review Site as one of the top picks for BEST CONTEMPORARY EROTICA for 2007! Click HERE to vote for the book through October 31st.
BLURB:
Sanford Willard is a crafter of toys. Not your standard run-of-the-mill playthings created for the general public, mind you, but items designed for the woman who basks in her sexuality on all levels. He has one more step to complete before taking the adult market by storm and that's to ensure his prototypes are the perfect complement to a woman's body.
One weekend. One thousand dollars on the table for payment to co-worker Melodee Dayton. Forty-eight hours of extreme pleasure in exchange for her honest opinion.
Two consenting adults. A fantasy come true. Get ready to roll the dice of fate.
EXCERPT:
She stared into his appraising eyes, struggling for air. Her fingers scratched at the linen tablecloth until it bunched in her hands. Her breasts heaved as she fought to breathe and not attract attention. A fine sheen of perspiration glistened on her brow. She couldn’t do it anymore. She couldn’t forestall her body’s need.
When the orgasm hit her, her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip. Her eyes slammed
shut as she fought to sit still. Over and over the hot contractions ripped through her womb, igniting a hot path to her breasts. She continued to come hard, her clit throbbing against the wild vibrations, the blood pounding in her ears. Her knees spread wider and it was all she could do not to reach down and cup her wet and dripping pussy. God, the desire for something thick and hard inside her burgeoned higher. She clung mindlessly to the fact that she had to remain mute no matter how loudly she wanted to moan. She couldn’t give herself away to the many patrons around them. Her body reeled with sensual pleasure, heightened by the fact that Sandy controlled each of the pulses.Finally…finally it was over.
She couldn’t open her eyes. Her brain spun and her body thrummed from the release. She could only suck in deep breathes to clear her head and slow her heart rate.
Sandy had watched Mel in the throes of her orgasm, his cock hard and leaking. The sight of her parted lips as she’d panted hard, the glazed look in her eyes as her nails clawed the table, the sweet tension of her body. It had set him on fire.
The gut level reaction he’d experienced made his heart rap crazily beneath his breastbone and at the moment he wanted to toss her onto the table, yank her legs wide and bury himself inside her hot cunt. But he needed her reaction. He needed to stay focused on the reason they were here and not the fact that he’d never been so turned on in his life. That little detail stunned him. Here he’d thought he would be an interested and observing bystander this weekend, jotting down notes and reactions like a senseless robot. Fat chance.
“Mel?”
Her heart still thudded when she finally glanced up.
“Want to take the panties off now?”
A slow smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “Not on your life.”
He chuckled. “At the risk of ruining the ‘moment’ for you, I need your reaction.”
She snorted, wondering if her clit would ever feel normal again. “My reaction?” She took a deep breath, picked up her wine and downed it completely. “I’m not going to be electrocuted, am I?”
“I’m not following you.”
“You, the toymaker who has come up with the perfect pair of underwear and you’re not following me? I don’t know if it’s the wine or if I just don’t give a damn what I say because I feel so damn warm and tingly. Sandy, I’m wet—like dripping wet. I just sat here at the table and experienced one of the best orgasms I’ve ever had. And if I continue to stay wet, I just might be electrocuted.”
REVIEWS:
5 Blue Ribbons!"For many readers, Ruby Storm has become an icon of the romance genre and I know for me, she’s a ‘must read’ author. I have to admit I was a bit leery of venturing into reading an 'Exotika' story . . . after all I want my riding off into the sunset happily-ever-after, and this line isn't necessarily romance - but I have to say I adored this story. The characters are realistic and neither of them pretends to be looking for a real relationship. They admit that what they want is a mutually satisfying sexual relationship and friendship. There’s a simple honesty in their time together that really draws the reader into this storyline and keeps you reading to find out just how their relationship turns out. There’s something so refreshingly different about this story that I’m left in awe of Ms. Storm’s constantly evolving talent to write in whichever genre she chooses and always giving me a reason to smile."
-- Chrissy, Romance Junkies Reviews
5 Angels! "His Toys was a delight from beginning to end. A truly unique story, we are able to watch as two people with repressed fantasies let it all burst forth during a steamy as all get out weekend. I couldn't put down this book and found myself, ahem, squirming in my seat almost embarrassed to be reading it while my children were in the room. Not only did I enjoy this book, but my husband did as well. I’ve got to make the man read stories like these more often. Oh, well, needless to say, the imagery and the characters themselves were fantastically wrought and Ruby Storm cranks up the heat in His Toys."
-- Serena, Fallen Angel Reviews
His Toys by Ruby Storm
ISBN #9781419911620
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Release Date:
Genre: Sensual Romance
$4.45 from Ellorascave.com
Purchase His Toys by Ruby Storm HERE!!!
posted by Rachelle
at 4:28 PM
at 4:28 PM