By
Lisabet Sarai
This
past January I published my most recent novel, The Gazillionaire
and the Virgin. The creative
seeds for this genre-busting BDSM erotic romance were planted right
here at the Grip, in a conversation involving Annabeth Leong and our
frequent guest Fiona McGier (who is responsible for the title). The
book takes the currently fashionable tropes of the billionaire
alpha-male Dom and the too-innocent-to-believe virginal submissive
and turns them on their heads.
In
my book, the heroine is the billionaire. Rachel’s an MIT graduate,
founder and CEO of an enormously successful high tech company, bossy
as hell in her career, but secretly a sexual submissive who tries to
satisfy her needs through anonymous encounters at kink clubs. The
hero is the virgin—and
the dominant. Theo’s a
brilliant computer scientist, but shy, neurotic and socially
maladjusted. He has a wealth of knowledge about BDSM from Internet
research, but zero practical experience.
As
you might guess, I had great fun with these characters. I took every
opportunity to shred the stereotypes made so popular by the
Trilogy-Which-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Although I realized that I might
turn some romance fans off, I was writing for people out there who
were like me—people
who’d appreciate a fresh take on a tired plot. I was deeply
gratified to discover that my readers seemed to love the book. I
can’t say anything yet about sales, since the publisher pays
royalties on a quarterly basis, but G&V
has received more positive reviews than anything else I’ve ever written,
including praise from bloggers active in the BDSM lifestyle.
I
hardly wrote anything other than promo material for the first months
after the release. When the flurry of marketing died down a bit,
though, I started to consider what to write next.
And
found myself paralyzed.
Let
me explain that due to the demands of my real world work, I have very
little time for writing these days. I try to set Sundays aside to let
Lisabet come out and play. Even then, I often find my time consumed
by writing blog posts or by other marketing activities. I can write
2-4K per day when I’m in the groove, but it took me nine months to
write G&;V, which
is about 62K words. So a decision to commit myself to a new novel
means that (if I stick with my plans), I’m pretty much letting go
of other ideas for at least half a year.
My
notebook is full of story concepts I’ve put on the back burner. I
want to write a steampunk series about a guild of engineers who
construct custom sex toys. I literally dreamed a tragic sci fi
romance about a genetically engineered male sex bot programmed to
“die” after five years in order to prevent him from becoming too
powerful or self-aware. He falls in love with a human woman and tries
to escape his fate. There’s the BDSM romance featuring the
quadriplegic Dom I’ve talked about previously here at the Grip. I’d
love to write more lesbian fiction. For instance, I have an outline
for a book about a female journalist in Bangkok and the bar girl she
thinks she’s rescuing. Then there are possibilities of sequels to
my earlier books. Although I generally don’t write series (or at
least, haven’t), some of the worlds I’ve created have been
nagging at my imagination, urging me to make a return visit.
When
I looked at the (relative) success of G&V, though, I began
thinking about a second book that smashed stereotypes. For instance,
how about a ménage entitled The Werewolf and the Vampire,
that wreaks havoc with the tropes from the Twilight Saga (and its
imitators)? I even had a couple of relevant characters from a short
story, who wanted more space to expand. My mind began to churn with
all the possible ways I might twist the accepted standards for the
vampire/werewolf genre.
I
might finally have hit on a brand—books that break the genre rules.
That
set me thinking about the style of W&V. Should it parallel
G&V, first person present, alternating characters with
each chapter? Wouldn’t that be tough with three main characters?
The story I wanted to use as a starting point was third person, but
if I was trying for some sort of consistent branding, did I have to
change that...?
All
at once, I saw the paradox. If I began a series of books predicated
on the notion of upending tropes, the strategy would almost
immediately lose its impact. I’d no longer be generating surprise
and delight by violating readers’ expectations.
Once
again, I was stuck. You know how it is. Damned if you do, damned if
you don’t.
Mired
in indecision, I didn’t write anything, except a story for
an anthology, for a couple of months. I was disgusted with myself.
Just
do it. Do something!
So,
finally, I sat down to work on W&V. But
I decided to treat it as a standalone novel, not some kind of
follow-up to G&V.
It’s a very different story, with different characters. I know if I
try to force it into some preconceived mold, I’ll snuff the life
out of it.
Thus
far I’ve written about 6K. It’s Sunday, so after I post this to
the blog, I hope to write more.
Hey,
it’s a start. And hopefully, those other ideas will keep.
