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* Skye Warren: Author Override
* Narrator Lorelei King: Interview
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* J.T. Geissinger: Interview | UTC Review
* Men and Women of the Military Giveaway Hop
* Keri Arthur: Interview | UTC Reviews

Monday 3 October 2011

Interview and Giveaway with Eden Bradley!

Eden Bradley

Maidens, we have erotica author Eden Bradley here today.  We are very excited to be chatting with her.  Come take a sneak peak into her brain with us!

Who is Eden Bradley? List 5 things about you that no one else would know!

Yikes-5 things? I’m so open about everything…lemme think…Okay:
1-When I was 4 or 5 I wanted to marry Kimba the White Lion, despite the fact that he was a cartoon character. And a lion.
2-I’m shark phobic. It’s so bad that I can barely make myself wade in the ocean (and never alone), and I can’t even look at them on TV. During Shark Week I can barely turn the TV on. *shudder*
3-My 1st album was Rubber Soul by the Beatles. I was 8. (That album was only a few years old at the time!).
4-My hair color is all fake-I’m 80-90% gray under here. I had my 1st gray hair at 15-it runs in my family. I’ve been coloring since I was 30. Thank goodness for my awesome hairdresser!
5-I feel naked if I leave the house without my toes painted, perfume, and a minimum of jewelry (earrings and my rings).
(*side note: on my favorite writer’s forum, RomanceDivas, there was thread once asking for everyone to tell something weird about themselves. There was some awesomely crazy stuff! Which made me feel so much better about myself-lol! Creative people are generally a strange, neurotic bunch, but I think that’s part of what drives our imaginations).


Your book, The Lovers is a f/f/m menage, something that we don't see that often published by a mainstream publisher. Why did you decide to push the envelope on this one?

This story just came to me, and I loved the idea of exploring a really complicated love triangle and the psychology of my heroine, Bettina, in a very deep way, which is why I wrote it in first person. And it came to me all at once, with the full ensemble cast of characters. I love every one of them.
I wish there was more f/f/m out there. It’s interesting to me that studies show that sex with another woman is one of the top two female fantasies, yet the erotic romance publishers shy away from these stories, saying readers won’t buy them.
I really think female sexuality can be very fluid, and I wanted to address that in this book. I know it’s not for everyone, but this is, IMO, my best work to date. And this book played like a movie in my head the whole time I was writing it-it was a very visual experience for me. I’d love to see it made into a film!


In your Midnight Playground series, you explore the darker side to eroticism. Where did the inspiration for this series stem from?

I’ve always adored vampires, and have wanted to write them forever-and vampires are naturally dark creatures. My vampire Aleron came to me first, demanding to be written (he can be a bit bossy). Mixing some BDSM into these stories seemed natural to me-after all, if you’ve lived a few hundred years, you’d need more extreme forms of stimulation to hold your interest.
The bisexuality seemed natural, too. It didn’t make sense to me that these primal creatures who live on human blood would have any sort of boundaries about sex-and they don’t!

In Eversong, most of the sexual interactions are m/m/f. Why do you think this worked for this particular book?

Ever is a thousand years old, and since he lost his first love, Vérún, his companions have all been male-he hasn’t been able to bond with another woman for more than a night of sex. He’s been involved with the characters in BLOODSONG and THE TURNING KISS, both male and female, so this is nothing new for readers. What is new is Ever discovering an irresistible combination in Mercy and Deo. I think a dual partnership was necessary for Ever-he couldn’t try to echo his one-on-one relationship with Vérún. And he’d need both a male and a female partner to satisfy his tastes.

What would you say are the essential elements of a good erotica story?

A consistent sensual pacing (not actual sex) is the probably the most important aspect. The sex/sexual tension has to drive the story, relationship and character arc. If a writer veers too far from the sexual tension between characters, then I believe something is lost. In one of my favorite erotic novels there is only one fully realized sex scene, but it’s still one of the most erotic books I’ve ever read. That said, I like to read a really well-written sex scene, and that means one that includes as much attention to response as to who’s putting what, where.

What's the best thing about being an erotica writer? The worst?

Writing sex is fun! And I get to write off erotic novels and sex toys on my taxes. *G* The worst? Family members who think it’s okay to ask for details about my sex life. I swear this happens! Do they really want to know? Really??


What would we find on your bookshelf?

A little of everything! Looking over, I see a lot of Anne Rice and Tanith Lee (huge influences on my work!), sci-fi, classic erotica, contemporary romances, romantic comedy, fashionista chick lit, a lot of women’s fiction, mainstream titles like The Lovely Bones and The Secret Life of Bees, some YA, a volume of Shakespeare’s complete works, and of course my treasured signed books from my fellow Smutketeers (authors RG Alexander, Crystal Jordan and Karen Erickson).

Tell us, what's next for Eden Bradley?

A lot! Right now I’m working on finishing my third ‘Edge’ book for Berkley Heat (written as Eve Berlin, my evil twin), TEMPTATION’S EDGE. After that I’ll finish my fourth Celestial Seductions book for Samhain, FALL EQUINOX , which will be out early next year, and is another contemporary ménage story with two very hot heroes I think readers will love!
Next up will be my steampunk erotic romance, THE DREAMBOX GIRL-I can barely wait to get started on this book-it’s been in my head forever, and it’s taking me on an unusual journey already (and it’s just in the early planning stages!). I’m also going to start another self-pubbed novella as soon as possible-this one will be my first shapeshifter story, and I’m very excited about it because it’s part of a continuity series the Smutketeers are working on together!
After that-or maybe somewhere in between-I’m dying to write a multiple-partner contemporary erotic romance (think BIG multiples!) for a new publisher, hopefully, but I can’t say more yet.

If you could switch places with one of your characters, who would it be and why?

Oh no! So many books, so many hot heroes, and so little time-lol! I suppose it would have to be Mercy in EVERSONG, because I would love to get my hands on Ever, my favorite vampire! Plus, she’s immortal, and she also has Deo, who is gorgeous and sexy and is madly in love with her-she’s one lucky girl!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! 

Ms. Bradley has been kind enough to offer an exciting giveaway to you!  We are giving away and ebook of THE SEEKING KISS and an ebook of SUMMER SOLSTICE





To enter you have to:
1. Be a follower of this blog
2. Fill out the form below


32 comments:

_yay_ said...

Love your interviews. Questions point on & it was so fun to read these 5 facts. Kimba!!! Lol Good choice.
As for exploring "the darker side": I agree. Boundaries would make these creatures (for lack of a better word) NOT seem like themselves.
_yay_ @ BookthatThing!

Jess B. said...

love reading your books and cannot wait for the next in the celestial series... as a pagan i just love that the stories are based around celestial holidays.

Kristin said...

I haven't read any of Eden Bradley's books yet, but she's been recommended to me. I LOVE erotic romance! Great interview!

Megan@Riverina Romantics said...

I've never read any of Eden's books before but I know I've heard of then because she looks familiar! Great interview!

Drmgrl99 - Dawn said...

Eden like I've said before I learn something new from every interview you do - Kimba the white lion, lol. Love all your books, looking forward to the upcoming releases and can't wait to start Eversong been waiting forEVER for it. Xoxo
Eden is a MUST READ people!

Anonymous said...

Hi Eden!
I've never heard of Kimba the White Lion. I'm going to have to look that up.

Great interview =)

erin said...

Thanks for the great interview and giveaway! I've yet to try Ms. Eden and I really, really want to! Loved the interview!

Eden Bradley-Eve Berlin said...

LOL-Kimba the White Lion was a cartoon on in the 1960's (yes, I'm that old!)-it was a Japanese anime from the same folks that did Speed Racer-very cute cartoon. Um...apparently I thought so when I was five. *G*
Glad to 'meet' a few new readers here today. :)
I'm on deadline and have been writing like mad and making myself a little crazy, so I'm taking an afternoon break with a friend to go see Abduction with Taylor Lautner! What? He's legal now. And those abs...

Elena said...

Great Interview ladies!

I love how the author flowed right through these questions. AWESOME!Loved her "5things about herself"

jfort357 said...

Great interview!!! I haven't read Eden's books yet, but I definitely plan to!!! I luv Erotica Romance!! The HOTTER the read the BETTER!!! ;-) Thanks for the chance to win!!

Sam S2 said...

Nice work!! Please for the love that is all good books and awesome authors - let me win!

Lolarific said...

Loved the interview. Always learn something new from each one, but this one was great!

Vanessa N. said...

Great interview. I love the fact that you did a story line, f/f/m, that isn't done often and stayed true to what you were writing at the time. Thanks for the chance.

Bona Fide Reflections said...

Hello ladies! This is new to me author. And I am curious. Where has she been hiding? The variety of erotica she writes sounds enticing. I must add her to my TBR continent. Thanks for hosting!

Happy Reading,
Laurielu
Bona Fide Reflections

Unknown said...

I had fun reading that! Awesome interview! I loved reading her answers..

Thanks for the giveaway!

Best Regards,
Krishna

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the chance to win a great book!

iarvd@yahoo.com

ML said...

I haven't read any of Eden's books, but they sound great. Thanks for the great interview!

mljfoland AT hotmail DOT com

Unknown said...

Awesome interview! I haven't read any of her books, but they sound great.

I just wanted to let you know I left you an award on my blog :)

Thanks for being a follower!

www.theclumsycoquette.com

Eden Bradley-Eve Berlin said...

Back from watching Taylor Lautner take his shirt off...er...the movie. :)
Loving everyone's comments! To answer the one question-I definitely haven't been hiding, but isn't it funny how you can suddenly discover an author who has 20 or 30 books out? Happens to me, too, when I think I already know everyone writing erotica from the conferences and online networking and writer's forums... I think it's good, though, that there are so many of us writing erotic romance-our readers are voracious! If there were only a handful of us, we'd never be able to keep up!
If you ever want to discover some more awesome erotic romance authors, drop by my group blog, www.Smutketeers.com It's a great group of amazing writers, plus we have lots of guest authors and fun contests, our photo galleries with our (almost) yearly steampunk photo shoots...we have a good time! My favorite is when RG writers her annual smutty X-mas carols-dirty and hysterical! :)

Carmen Shaw said...

I'd love to win the book sounds awesome and the cover is so steamy!

xander_316 said...

You guys always introduce the best authors - thanking you for adding a new one to my list
xander_316(at)hotmail(dot)com

Eden Bradley-Eve Berlin said...

It's midnight on the East Coast, which means EVERSONG is for sale right now!

Unknown said...

Hey Eden! I'm just jumping in here to say that's really cool that you're owning up to the "drooling over Taylor's abs" obsession that we most have! Hope you enjoyed your day and Happy Release Day!

Francesca

Anne R said...

Happy release day. Eden, I can totally relate to whole shark thing. I love water but the thought of sharks fears me right out.

Areeths at new dot rr dot com

Eden Bradley-Eve Berlin said...

Thanks so much to the folks at Under the Covers for having me!

Sebella Blue said...

These books sound delicious, and I am All about a menage. Thanks for the heads up and the intriguing interview. Sorry about the shark phobia, I love sharks, I think a shark shifter story would be awesome.

LethalLovely said...

Thanks for the giveaway! I've never read Bradley before but I'm very curious-especially since I enjoy BDSM romances.

June M. said...

I love Eden's books! BDSM vampires...what's not to love? I really need to finish reading all her books, including her Eve Berlin ones.

Oh, and I understand about getting gray hairs early. I found my first one at 13. My mom did not find her first one till like 5 years after I had them.

lexi_ella said...

Thanks for the giveaway count me in on this awesome giveaway :)

Denise Z said...

Thank you for sharing with us today and since Eversong is now out I will be hopping over to check that out as well. Thank you for the fun giveaway opportunity.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the interview, it was interesting to read.

chibipooh(at)gmail(dot)com

Darlene said...

I haven't had a chance yet to read anything by Eden, but her books definitely appeal to me!

Thanks for the giveaway!