In the increasingly bizarre and dangerous alternate dream world, sexy fantasy becomes an all-too-real and dangerous reality. Will Ella and Phillip be able to resist their growing and undeniable attraction to each other, while finding a way to overcome the cruel powers that control their parallel dreams?
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Read an excerpt from Dream Master
About Claire Thompson Claire Thompson has published erotic fiction and romance since 1996. Claire's work includes the sensual exploration of D/s and erotic romance, as well as the darker side of BDSM. Claire's work includes in-depth exploration of both m/f and m/m relationships, in the context of romance and D/s. Claire has published over fifty novels and short stories, both in print and ebook format. Recently gone indie, Claire publishes under the Romance Unbound Publishing (www.romanceunbound.coma>) imprint. Claire lives and writes in upstate New York.
Backlist
See www.clairethompson.net for full backlist (50+ novels).
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An Interview with Claire Thompson
By Holly Hewson for The Romance Studio
HH: Claire, thank you so much for talking with us. Your featured book is Dream Master. This story of sexy dreams has a unique twist. Where did you get the idea for this intriguing and sizzling story?CT: I don't recall exactly how it came to me, but I love the idea of blending dreams and reality, of making the impossible suddenly possible. It gave the characters the freedom to explore sexy fantasies without any of the risks…but then the paranormal element of someone else controlling those dreams adds a dark element. I haven't done too much with paranormal or magical stuff, so it was a fun challenge.
HH: What do you like best about Phillip and why will he appeal to romance readers? CT: Phillip is someone who has a tough road, because of a car accident that badly damaged his vocal chords, and threw him off the fast track of rising star at his law firm. It basically shut him down emotionally for a long time, until the right woman appeared, not only in the office, but in his dreams. I like Phillip because he is a strong, sexy Dom, who wasn't afraid to try again—to pull himself out of his own stuff and focus on another person. Because he's had a tough road, it's matured him and given him perspective he didn't have when the world was handed to him on a silver platter. It gives him more depth as a person. Also, it doesn't hurt that he's gorgeous, sexy and a natural alpha.
HH: What do you like best about Ella and why do you think readers will relate to her? CT: Ella has had sacrifice a lot for her family. When her parents died in an accident while she was in law school, she had to basically put her own life on hold to raise her two younger siblings. What I like about Ella is she didn't let it get her down. She moved forward, making the best life she could. I also like that she is strong -- when she gets in a very dangerous potentially life-threatening situation, she doesn't wait for some man to swoop in on his white horse -- she takes action and she kicks ass!
HH: How did you go about creating the world where their story takes place? CT: It evolved on its own, really. The dreams are a lush setting out of Louis XIV's sumptuous court, but with a BDSM twist, illuminated by candlelight, filled with sexy slave girls and their leather-clad Masters, surrounded by the “onlookers” present in every dream, who dictate the action and are the true Masters. I wanted something quite different from Ella and Phillip's workaday lives at the office. A place of complete escape, nothing like real life.
HH: What do you think today's reader is looking for in erotic romance and how does this story meet that need? CT: I can't really say what others are looking for. I can tell you what I strive for. Real characters with depth and experience. Not cardboard cutouts walking through a formula. I put a lot of myself in every character, thinking how I would react or feel if that happened to me. I read the dialog out loud to see if it flows the way people really talk. I want a story where you think about it later, where you find yourself wondering about certain aspects, and mulling things over in your mind after you've already finished the book. The real challenge with erotica is to make it matter, to make it sexy, to make the reader actually read the sex scenes and have a gut reaction, rather than skimming them because they are just ho-hum more of the same. I hope this story meets those goals. Readers will have to be the final judges.
HH: What else do you have in the works for lucky readers? CT: Ah, right now I'm working on my first “dark and dirty” in quite some time. It's titled Slave Island, and it's a non-consensual abduction tale about a young woman who thinks she's headed for a Caribbean vacation, but ends up trapped on a small private island at a kind of BDSM slave training camp, being prepared for sale to the highest bidder. It's not a romance, but the character is strong and full of fight and doesn't take this lying down. There is redemption and growth, against terrible odds. And of course its chockfull o' intense BDSM scenes and rough scenarios. Folks who enjoyed Golden Angel will like this one too.
After that, another m/m cowboy romance, working title of Heart Thief!
HH: Claire, why did you want to be a writer? Why do you still?
CT: I have always loved to write. I just had no idea other folks would want to read it! I started writing erotica in my mid-thirties to explore my own sexual fantasies, and when I shared some with people, they said, hey, maybe you should think about trying to get published. This was pre ebook days (way back in the mid 90s), but I got really lucky, and my first novel was accepted right off the bat and I haven't stopped since.
I love writing, and now, having gone indie, it's even better, because I get to control every aspect of the process, from the cover, the release date, and all the creativity in between. Plus as sole breadwinner supporting four other people, two of whom are in college, the royalty income added to my day job has literally allowed us to survive.
HH: If you weren't a writer, you'd be a...?
CT: A woman of leisure, independently wealthy, traveling the world. Do you know if there are any opens for that job?
HH: What's your favorite guilty pleasure? CT: Sweets. Sugar. Ice cream, cookies, cake, candy…get the picture? I hardly ever indulge, because once I start, I can't seem to stop.
HH: What is your biggest hope for 2011? CT: To keep on doing what I'm doing, and write books that folks want to read! Also, now that I've turned 50, for the first time ever I am focusing more on me and what makes me happy and fulfilled. I figure it's about time! =)
HH: Thank you!
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