Monday, January 11, 2010

MICHELLE POLARIS - Another New Chick on the Block!




Hello all. I am thrilled out of my black leather boots to be with you today, joining the Naughty Author Chicks as a regular member. I'll be dropping by here every other Monday to chat.

Let me introduce myself. I write dark, erotic romance--futuristic, contemporary and fantasy. My first release, BOUND ODYSSEY at Ellora's Cave is a futuristic post-apocalyptic BDSM Fem Dom menage intrigue with male domination elements. Try saying that three times fast.

To get more of a sense of my story, here's the blurb:

The year is 2067 and Earth is self-destructing from environmental cataclysms. A portal to a new world is ripped open and refuge there is Earth's only hope. Enter Jace, cowboy diplomat, who is preparing for the negotiation of a lifetime. A sexually conflicted alpha male, he hates everything with a cock, especially himself. The last thing Jace expects is to fall in love with both a woman and a man.

His dark history presents the ultimate challenge to Mira and Roman, the sexual Dominant team hired to prepare Jace for the female-dominant culture of the new world. Tragedy has made Mira distrust her Mistress abilities. Survival is her priority, and she resists her deep attraction to Jace's haunted eyes and sculpted body.

Roman, however, falls hard and fast for Mira and Jace, ready to honor Mira as his Mistress and force Jace to recognize him as Master. Bound in one another's chains and pushed to the limits of arousal and pain, they must outrun sabotage and conspiracy to find salvation for their bodies, souls and hearts.

Although the book has gotten fantastic reviews, (consider visiting my web site's Books page to read a few of them) I didn't want to dwell on shameless self-promotion today. I'll leave that for a later post.

What I really wanted to discuss today were superheroes. Writing Bound Odyssey, my muse threw me a completely unexpected bit of dialogue involving my heroine, Mira. It turns out Mira collects mint condition Batman comic books. Hard to do in a post-apocalyptic setting, but there you go. She explains to Roman, one of my heroes, why she collects:

Excerpt from Bound Odyssey by Michelle Polaris

He glanced down to where she stood frozen with eyes glazed. After a good thirty seconds, she shook out of it, reached to run her hand behind her neck in a quick massage. If he hadn't been above her, he might have missed seeing the slight tremble, gone a moment later. He didn't know what it was about, but that brief moment of vulnerability pushed his buttons, stirred a need to attack whatever ghost had his Mistress trembling. Because even though he'd known her a brief two weeks, he already knew this woman was his Mistress.

Roman was difficult to anger and he counted on that fact. But the violent protective urges he felt in Mira's presence, and the desire to wrap his arms around her curves, sink to his heels and offer worship, confirmed his suspicion. He'd acted as a Dom for too long. The relief of his reaction to Mira lapped through his body, the soothing waves of the ocean along Carolina's coast from his distant memory caressing his muscles, relaxing away his tension.

"Holy conspiracy, Batman," he said with his best Robin impression. The distraction worked.

Her head snapped up and her face brightened, shadows fleeing. "You son of a bitch. You got into my boxes." But she was smiling. It was like the sun had gone supernova in his chest and lit all the dark places.

"You sent me to find the extra buckles in your bedroom. I thought it was another box of supplies. But several hundred Batman comics?" He let out a long whistle. "Damn, Darlin', a collection of comics in mint condition like that nowadays is impressive. Not to mention worth a fortune."

She shrugged. "Most I got before the explosions. But I wouldn't sell. Not that anyone interested is left with money to buy."


He unhooked the cuffs from the chain and climbed down. He held out the leather. She hesitated, but took them.

"Why collect the comics?" he asked.

"One of the signs I was a budding Domme was when I started fantasizing about Wonder Woman tying up Batman with her golden lasso, with me starring in the role of Amazon Princess. The Caped Crusader's had a soft spot in my heart since then."

He laughed. "I always imagined it was Batman tying up Robin. Thought Robin was the luckiest son of a gun around."

Her answering smile, eyes a chocolate sunrise treat, started his palms itching. He ached to trace the lids with his fingers, travel them down to outline her cheek and jawline. He had no doubt if he tried without permission he'd be down on the ground, screaming uncle. And the idea of that revved him almost as much. Roman might be a sexual switch, a person ready, willing and able to play either Dominant or submissive depending on the circumstance, but his body responded to her as all sub.

End excerpt.

The Batman/Wonder Woman dialogue above got me thinking about erotic romance superheroes. We need some.

Superheroes have made it into non-erotic romance. Not as frequently as other paranormal creatures, but they're there. Notably in urban fantasy, whose lines have blurred with paranormal and fantasy romance. I'm thinking of Vicki Pettersson's Signs of the Zodiac series. Another series closer to straight romance is A.J. Menden's Elite Hands of Justice books which include Phenomenal Girl 5 and Tekgrrl.

But what about in erotic romance? I admit there may be stories of which I'm unaware with superhero motifs. Certainly there are plenty of vampires and alien species running around in these books with power to inflame desire with a single breath and feeding on raw sexuality. But do any of them have official costumes? Fight on a team of do-gooder kick-butt good guys against evil and injustice? What would an erotic romance superhero power be? The ability to cause an orgasm in a partner faster than a speeding bullet while simultaneously bringing them a romantic happily ever after? To subdue worldwide evil and strife by slamming bad guys with an afterglow ray, causing them to fall to the ground in sexual repletion and then rise and declare their undying love to the first person they encounter? To cure impotency with a single blink, thereby bringing increased satisfaction to couples throughout the world, saving relationships left and right? I think all erotic romance authors deserve erotic romance superpowers. A lot of us already have secret identities, choosing pen names to protect our mundane identities as we blend in with the average Janes driving mini-vans, running to the supermarket, and schlepping to day jobs and kids' sporting competitions.

My superhero persona, if I got to choose one, would be Wonder Whip Woman, apologies to DC Comics. Her cape and lasso would be black leather and her invisible jet would come with an invisible spanking bench. Imbued with the power to bring out the hidden submissive in even the most alpha of males (grin). Okay, maybe not. Instead I think Wonder Whip Woman would fight intolerance for diversity of sexuality, valiantly battling closed minded bigotry against non-mainstream sexual practices between consenting adults. In a way I touch upon this issue in Bound Odyssey, where the post-apocalyptic setting has heightened bigotry against all sexual minorities.

What do folks think of these ideas? Would the superhero motif make it in erotic romance fiction? Should all erotic romance authors be entitled to erotic romance superpowers? What would they be? What persona and power would you choose? Leave a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Remember, safe, sane and consensual.

Michelle aka Wonder Whip Woman

15 comments:

Wynter said...

Love the post! How about Bad, Bad Bat Girl, dominatrix who bites;-)

Jennifer Mathis said...

loved the post but I'm afraid that its to early to think for me so I have nothing lol :0

Savannah Stuart said...

I'd love to have the powers of teleportation so I could visit Vin Diesel in the shower anytime I wanted. ;)

Valerie Douglas aka V.J. Devereaux said...

I love Bad Bat girl, but on the teleportation thing with Vin, but wouldn't it be a b*tch to get there and find out he's already got company?

Me,I'd like empathy, so I'd know exactly when I get the right spots, and so would he. A shared orgasm...(rocket man...)

Michelle Polaris said...

I love Bad, Bad Bat Girl. Wonder Whip Woman should invite her over for a party. Then the Tantalizing Teleportress can woosh them all over to Vin Diesel's shower to get the party started. (LOL) Obviously it's not too early for me.

Michelle Polaris said...

Ooh, I love the empathy thing, VJ. Rocket Man can come to the party any time he wants.

Unknown said...

Hi :)
Thank you for the interesting post Michelle. I enjoyed the snippet too. Superheroes in erotic romantic fiction sounds like an excellent idea. It certainly intrigues me. Thank you again for sharing.

Dita Parker said...

Great post and topic, Wonder Whip Woman!

Mine's from/in 2033: Tank Girl! I think fondly of her anarchy and wild ways standing civilly in line at the grocer's. And look quite mad, I'm sure, smiling to myself.

What I'd really want is a power related to empathy and WWW's mission. What is bigotry but fear of the unknown and a severe lack of imagination, right? I'd like the power to put a person in another's place.

Just think of the research possibilities: changing places, switching roles...making love as a man, letting a man experience what it feels like for a woman...

Jina Bacarr said...

Super post, Michelle, and welcome to Naughty Author Chicks!

Your thoughts about erotic superheroes are well thought out and valid. Here are some interesting quesions to consider: because they're superheroes, how do you handle their emotions? Their motivations? Their goals?

This can be a real challenge to create 3-D characters (not the kind with the funny glasses) the readers can identify with. I've discovered that when you find their weaknesses as well as their strengths, the characters come alive.

Good job!

Naima Simone said...

Hi, Michelle!
Whoo-hoo! Awesome post!

First I'd like to tell Savannah that I will get in a girl fight over Vin Diesel! LOL!

One of my favorite superheroes was Catwoman...kinda apropos for an erotic romance writer. Hee-hee-hee! Bad kitty! She already comes equipped with her whip (Hah! That rhymes!) and nails that could really scratch an itch...or back. Her secret erotic power? Superhuman vision that could identify every "hot spot" on a person by just looking at them! Oh my...my my...I'm going to go write now...hee-hee-hee!!

Michelle Polaris said...

Thanks so much all for responding to this fun topic.

RK--I'm glad I could intrigue.

Dita--What a great power to build empathy by having others change their roles. The ultimate Switch in kink terms.

Jina--You are right that no character is interesting without weaknesses. I don't think superheroes need be without this type of three dimensional development. And I don't just mean Kryptonite. The best of the current comic based movies have integrated this idea. I'm thinking of all of the internal drama of the X-men characters for instance. Our erotic romance superheroes wouldn't need to be plastic. There's so many talented authors out there who know how to put the kick into character development even among fantastical situations.

Naima--Cat woman rules! I'm thinking of your mention the other day of the Thundercats cartoon. Do you have a cat fetish dear?

Finally, I always thought there was more erotic potential in a number of less popular superheroes. The whole Wonder Twins situation was terribly wasted on two young, innocents who were related. That bond could be totally reworked into a story if we find a way to scratch out the taboo element. And I was always kind of partial to Aqua man.

Thanks everyone for commenting.

Savanna Kougar said...

Hi Michelle, I was always partial to Aqua Man and have been doing some thinking about him recently, which usually means a story idea.

If anyone is interested in reading a superheroine/superhero erotic romance, I wrote one, a fantasy of mine. Actually, it's my best-seller to date, gaining PAN status fairly quickly.
Her Insatiable Dark Heroes ~ Ebook & In Print ~ http://bookstrand.com/product-herinsatiabledarkheroes-13865-200.html

Michelle Polaris said...

Oooh, Savanna, I'll be looking this up right away. I'm so glad you spoke up.

Savannah Stuart said...

I was wondering if you were gonna notice my post, Naima! Maybe we can just share Vin ;)

Michelle Polaris said...

Savannah, Naima, there is a market for f/m/f for your shared Vin fantasy. (grin)