1. Tell us a little bit about the book Unexpected Consequences.
First, thank you for having me today. Your questions were quite thought-provoking. Unexpected Consequences is about a naïve, somewhat spoiled, bride who marries a man who belongs to the Rod and Cane Society, an organization of men who spank their wives to maintain domestic discipline. Although she consents to the discipline, she’s not fully aware of how it will change her life.
2. Why did you choose to write about Domestic Discipline?
First, like you’ve said, Alta, dominant, alpha men are sexy. That’s why cowboys, firemen, Navy SEALS, and cops abound in romantic fiction. When a thoroughly macho hero acts out of tenderness and caring for the woman he loves – while still remaining tough – it’s sexy as hell. What many people don’t realize about domestic discipline is that when it’s done for the right reasons, it’s motivated by caring and concern. I find that domestic discipline adds a nail-biting edge to a story as the heroine thinks,“I’m going to be spanked by this hot, sexy alpha man if I screw up.”
3. What pros and cons do you experience by writing erotica with topics such as spanking?
The pro is that there aren’t many authors writing domestic discipline, and so one can carve out a niche within an otherwise HUGE romantic/erotic fiction market. I believe that there is huge untapped potential readership out there. The con is that domestic discipline makes some readers uncomfortable. It’s interesting really, because bdsm fiction is very popular. A submissive can be stripped naked, chained spread-eagled & whipped for erotic pleasure, but a wife punished with an over-the-knee, by-the-hand spanking bothers people. I think what people object to is a perception of a lack of fairness or equality – the woman is spanked when she screws up, but not the man. In reality, it’s only the specific act and not the general scenario in DD fiction than differs from other erotic genres. There’s gazillions of contemporary romances where the Navy SEAL/bounty hunter/FBI agent/neighboring rancher/competing business owner thwarts the heroine from doing/getting what she wants. In historical fiction, often the woman is forced to marry and obey the hero. Domestic discipline only widens the power differential a notch (or two).
4. Where do you pull your inspiration from for your book and your other writing?
Honestly, ideas just come to me out of the blue. Often it’s an idea that can be expressed in a single sentence, which I then develop.
5. What are your views on Domestic Discipline? It appears in Unexpected Consequences that you are very knowledgeable on spanking. How did you research the topic?
I’m big proponent of freedom and personal choice. What two consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home is their business. To research DD, I read a lot of blogs written by couples who practice DD to get a sense of how the relationships work. I think many people think domestic discipline is all about the spanking, when really it’s about specific roles within the relationship. The man leads the household; the woman follows and supports. As you’ve mentioned, Alta, couples who practice spanking, whether DD or erotic, do so secretly because of fear of what other people might think. I empathize. Not everyone approves of erotic romance/erotica, and it took a while for me to come out of the closet as an erotic romance author and tell people how I spend my days. So, just as you did in Traditional Love and Traditional Terms, I wanted to allow my characters to practice DD openly, so I created the Rod and Cane Society to which the characters in Unexpected Consequences belong.
6. What other books have you written?
Reckless in Moonlight, published by Loose Id, is an erotic romance involving an older woman/younger man. Secret Desires and Intimate Submissionare both domestic discipline stories published by Black Velvet Seductions. The latter two are available individually and in the BVS anthology Spanked! Secret Desires is also a ménage.
7. What are you currently working on?
I’m in editing on False Pretenses, a sequel to Unexpected Consequences. One of the minor characters in Unexpected Consequences is not who he or she claims to be, but is an infiltrator seeking to the expose the Rod and Cane Society and the members who practice domestic discipline. That character is the hero/heroine in False Pretenses. I do hope to create a series of Rod and Cane Society stories. I’m also writing a paranormal erotic romance I intend to submit to Loose Id, and I have another paranormal that was accepted by Decadent Publishing for its 1 Night Stand series.
8.What do you foresee for the future of this genre?
I think it will grow as more people discover it exists because it really is a sexy, erotic genre. It offers the seductive psychological domination/submission elements of bdsm fiction without the extreme practices and rituals.
9. Is there a ritual you do before or during your writing?
No, not really. I’m a morning person, so I try to do the bulk of my writing in the morning. I also use my daily walk as time to think, and work out plot points for my stories.
10. Who is Cara Bristol? What makes you the wonderful author that you are?
Well, thank you for the compliment! I’m a wife, a stepmother and a life-long writer and romance reader. I started my career in journalism and worked as a newspaper reporter and then switched to public relations. Writing erotic romance is lot more fun than covering local government meetings or writing corporate press releases! Besides reading, I enjoy traveling, and reality TV shows (something else, we have in common, Alta). And thank you again, for having me today. It’s great to connect with another author of domestic discipline fiction.
Links:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/CaraBristol
