Interview and Giveaway with Olivia Cunning!

Olivia Cunning is the author of BACKSTAGE PASS and ROCK HARD, two very very sexy erotica books that are sure to scorch your fingers as you read them! We're chatting with her today, so Maidens, please help me welcome Olivia to Under the Covers! For more information on Olivia, please visit her website here.

UTC: Thanks for stopping by today, Olivia! We are thrilled to have you! So let's talk first about your Sinner books. Rock stars are always a great choice! Talented and super hawt, what made you decide to write about them?

I’ve had a thing for rock stars since I was a teenager. I think it’s their mix of musical talent and self-confidence that is so appealing to me. Plus, they always look like they’re having a great time! I just wonder why it took me so long to start writing about them.

UTC: Oh yes, self-confidence is definitely sexy! How did you come up with the name of the band?

I honestly don’t remember. I think it was just one of those things that came to me suddenly and had the perfect double meaning. I did some searches and found there is a real band called “The Sinners”. So when my publisher tried to change the band name of “Sinners” to “The Sinners”, I really held my ground. They’re not THE Sinners. Just Sinners. And they are. Just a group of sinners. On tour.

UTC: If you could compare Sinners to a real band, to give us an idea of their sound and look, who would it be?

I got the idea for Backstage Pass at an Avenged Sevenfold concert, so their influence is obvious. That’s where Sinners started, but they morphed into unique characters with a unique music style quickly. Though they are fictional, my creations become very real to me. So to me they look like Sinners and sound like Sinners.

UTC: Naturally, we have to ask! Who is your favorite real life band?

I have so many favorites, I can’t choose just one. I’ve been listening to a lot of Bullet for My Valentine, Three Days Grace and 30 Seconds to Mars this week. Last week it was Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed and Slipknot. Ask me next week and my favorites will change. I’m a fan of certain genre of music more so than a certain band.

UTC: I think most people will agree with me that your stories are quite creative, in a good way. Who or what do you look to for inspiration?

I get very wrapped up in my own mind when I write. I listen to music and that does inspire me, but most of the time I’m living the scenes in my head. So what really inspires me? My over-active imagination.

UTC: Can you give us any idea as to what we can expect from Trey's book? Yeah, we can't wait!

Lots of sex.

UTC: Woo hoo! I can deal with that! I'm dying for more Sinners! When is your next  release date and what can we expect from it?

The sad truth is, I don’t know. I wish I did. I learned secondhand (because no one ever tells me anything) that the next book might come out in Fall 2012. The series release schedule is in limbo right now. If that annoys you, imagine how I feel.

UTC: The epilogue for Backstage Pass was scheduled to be released, but now maybe that won't happen. Do you have any other plans for publishing a Sinners short story sometime?

No. Not because I don’t want to, but because my contract won’t allow me to do so. There’s a reason why my next rock star series will be self-published. Having no control over release dates and being unable to do what I want to do with my characters (including, but not limited to short stories) would be the two main reasons.

UTC: I know this is probably hard because I'm sure you love all your characters, but who's your favorite Sinner?
That’s not hard. It’s impossible. I love them all for different reasons. And I have to fall in love with all of them, or the reader won’t fall in love with them. Brian gives me the warm fuzzies. Sed gives me heart palpations. Jace needs hugs. Eric makes me laugh. Trey makes me melt. So I guess it depends on my mood.

UTC: You just released a non-Sinners book, Loving on Borrowed Time. What can readers expect from this book, and how is it different from Sinners (obviously apart from the music aspect)?

It’s very different from Sinners. It has the humor and the sexy, bad boy hero with the tender heart, but the similarities stop there. First, it’s a novella (shorter) and is part of a serial series. Think of each book in the series as two episodes of a TV show. The same two lead characters get into various situations in each volume. Their story builds fairly slowly and ties all the volumes of the series together. Second, it’s time travel, not contemporary. The hero, Reece, and heroine, Lara, are travelling through time (think quantum leap), sharing an existence with some other couple as they make 3-day-long pit stops in the past. They have two goals. To stay ahead of Carl, who is trying to see Lara killed in contemporary times and to help couples in the past find their happily-ever-afters, mostly by having great sex. It’s meant to be fun, not to be taken too seriously.

UTC: Thanks again for participating, we're so excited to have you!!!

Thanks for having me.

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