Saturday, December 25, 2010


Please welcome our holiday guest blogger - Anh Leod/Heather Hiestand:

Without realizing it, I seem to find myself writing more and more about female power. Here are my last four heroines:

  1. Lexie, a retail buyer with a wealthy family (Christmas a Go-Go, new release)

  2. Lenchen, a British princess (Victoriana Adventure, upcoming release)

  3. Abbie, a college student/housewife with a trust fund and life insurance from her late husband’s death (The Bachelor, upcoming release)

  4. Nell, a mysterious long-lived warrior (work-in-progress)

And here are the equivalent heroes:

  1. Adrian, a shoe salesman/Ph.D. candidate

  2. Ollie, a college student/retail worker

  3. Jake, a grade school teacher

  4. Luke, a new protector

In two of these cases, the heroes are younger than the heroines. In one case, the hero is from a higher place in society, but due to the dynamics of the story, the heroine is more powerful.

Why am I writing about these unequal relationships? What makes them sexy to me? In the case of Christmas a Go-Go, the story is coming out of personal history. When Ellora’s Cave authors were offered a chance write something kinky, I remembered that shoe salesman who fondled my new white boots many years ago and a story was born. But instead of a confused high school student like I was, I made my heroine powerful. To say more would spoil the story.

My personal story echoes these patterns I’m finding in my work, since I married a younger man. When we met, I was mid-career and he was just starting out. This may simply be the kind of relationship I understand best. What I’ve learned is how thoroughly the tables can turn. Now I’m a housewife/mother and writer on the side and my husband is mid-career, while my high-tech career is long out of the picture and can’t really be picked up again. I also remember, because of the time period of my work-in-progress, Queen Victoria and how carefully she kept her new husband Albert out of the political picture until she started having babies. Gradually, the words from her mouth and pen became mostly his.

Maybe this is why we keep children out of erotic romance. They tend to turn the economic tables and therefore the power structure of relationships. What fun it is to be a woman in charge of life and pleasure. We might not need them, but men bring spice into the picture. Sometimes, we even find the man who adds so much to our existence that we keep him around permanently. That time of discovery can be the most exciting of our lives and how nice it is to start of a position of comfort so we don’t have to settle for something less than we want, sexually or otherwise.

Christmas a Go-Go is my newest Anh Leod release.

Blurb:

Lexie has a serious love for go-go boots and an heiress-sized fortune to build her collection. She has everything but a man who shares her fetish. When her new custom-made Christmas go-go boots capture the eye of Adrian, she wonders if she has finally found the one.

Adrian has always been turned on by a woman wearing boots, and he is immediately smitten with the lovely Lexie. Sparks fly and he leads her away to the VIP dressing room for a sultry, sexy tryst.

They both want more, and Lexie plans to have it. She wants Adrian at home, in front of her boot wall—naked, touching her body, touching her boots—while they have the best sex of their lives.

Buy link: http://www.jasminejade.com/ps-8800-50-christmas-a-go-go.aspx

Links:


www.anhleod.com

http://www.jasminejade.com/m-430-anh-leod.aspx

http://blog.heatherhiestand.com

Contest:

To celebrate the December 21st release of Christmas a Go-Go , as well as the releases of all the wonderful holiday guests at my blog, I'm throwing a contest! Comment here, or visit me and my guests at http://blog.heatherhiestand.com, or email me at anh @ anhleod.com (remove spaces before sending). There will be two prizes for the winner. A story from the Anh Leod backlist (tell us which one you want) and a story from a guest blogger's backlist (tell us which one you want). See further details at my blog.

6 comments:

Michelle Polaris said...

Thanks for sharing the holiday with us Anh. I love the topic. Women's power is a favorite of mine and I like that you've taken a look at your heroines and noticed the trends in your writing. I also love that you've written about a boot fetish in your Xmas release. I love boots, although not sure it's to the point of fetish. My DH, on the otherhand.... (grin). Good luck on the new release and so glad you stopped by.

Wynter said...

Thanks for joining us, Heather. And congrats on your release - I love the title and it sounds like a fun read.

Sherry said...

Your new book sounds very good. I love the title and the cover. I hope you had a very Merry Christmas.

sstrode@scrtc.com

Heather Redmond said...

Thanks for stopping by, Michelle, Wynter and Sherry!

Dalton Diaz said...

LOVE the cover of Christmas a Go-Go. Wowza!

OMG, you really had a shoe salesman fondle your boots when you were a teenager? Creepy. Visions of Al Bundy, only not funny.

Michelle, I've seen your boots, I've seen you in your boots. Totally hot!

Brenda said...

Story sounds great...love the boots, wish I had a pair. Thanks for sharing. Have Happy New Year!