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Guest Blogger: Anitra Lynn McLeod
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

Psst! Yesterday’s winner is named at the end of this post! ~DD

Using Romance Clichés for Fun and Profit

by Anitra Lynn McLeod

You’ll never believe what inspired my erotic Onic Empire series . . .

wait for it . . .

a romance cliché.

Yep.

You know the one where the woman is almost always a virgin and the man is a total slut? Yeah, that always bothered me because all the guys must be banging one very tired (and IMHO one very lucky) woman.

Now, this cliché has really gone by the wayside, but when I started reading, this was practically a standard part of romance novels.

So, I was thinking about virginity, and why it’s so sacred for a woman but not a man, and then I got to thinking about what if everyone lost their virginity in the same manner at roughly the same age, and what if the act of taking virginity was a religious rite?

And so the Onic Empire was born.

It’ll take more than one man’s love to tame her wild heart.

Bithia, newly crowned empress of Diola, indulges herself with as many men as it takes to satisfy her voracious passion. Now that it’s time to continue the family line, though, her advisors expect the unthinkable: for her to submit to one man from a sexually primitive planet.

Drahka disobeyed his tribe’s strict sexual rules once. The shame still haunts him. He longs for a fresh start, but breaking one cardinal rule—a man gives, a woman takes—is not an option. His struggle to learn local customs is complicated by a mentor whose eyes hunger for the empress…and for him.

Viltori is exhausted. He’s tried to teach Drakha that there are many ways to find pleasure, only to be met with anger, even violence. Touching the handsome primitive only sharpens his unbearable lust for Bithia, making him wonder if execution for failure wouldn’t be a blessing.

When Bithia witnesses the results of Viltori’s training, she realizes only these two men can fill her empty heart, inspiring her to take command of the throne at last. Except those who’ve held the reins thus far have a sinister reason for keeping Bithia—and her new consorts—in their place.

Warning: This erotic romance contains a lusty empress, a primitive alpha male, a dedicated acolyte with domineering tendencies, copious amounts of hot m/m and m/f/m sex, secret torments, burning desires clashing with duty, and a little bit of meddling by future gods.

Read an Excerpt

Yesterday’s winner is…Dawn Jackson! Dawn, congrats, and email me about your prize!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 at 7:47 am in General. Tagged: . You can feed this entry. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

10 comments to “Guest Blogger: Anitra Lynn McLeod”

  1. Heather Brewer
    Comment
    1
    · March 16th, 2011 at 10:30 am · Link

    I absolutely love this cover. I saw it on Samhain’s website and fell in love with it. The story sounds really good too. I am definitely going to have to pick this one up.



  2. Jen B.
    Comment
    2
    · March 16th, 2011 at 10:46 am · Link

    Thanks! I am always so excited when the woman isn’t the innocent, wide-eyed virgin and the man a total slut. What a neat spin on the old cliche.



  3. Anitra Lynn McLeod
    Comment
    3
    · March 16th, 2011 at 11:01 am · Link

    Thanks, Heather! I love Kanaxa’s work. She’s done all my Samhain covers so far–I hope I get to keep her. 🙂

    Hi Jen! I hear you on that! I never did understand the appeal of that blinky-eyed-innocence thing. 🙂



  4. Anitra Lynn McLeod
    Comment
    4
    · March 16th, 2011 at 11:02 am · Link

    I just have to say I love the funny little avatars your site generates, Delilah. I feel about how that thing up there looks! 🙂



  5. Bobbie B.
    Comment
    5
    · March 16th, 2011 at 2:25 pm · Link

    Ah Ha! So that’s what started this. lol I wondered, but I was too dazzled by the cover and writing to ask 😉 Thanks DD and Anitra 😛



  6. Anitra Lynn McLeod
    Comment
    6
    · March 16th, 2011 at 3:43 pm · Link

    Now you know the truth behind some of the inner workings of my mind, Bobbie. Scary in here, isn’t it? 😯



  7. Lauren Gallagher/L. A. Witt
    Comment
    7
    · March 16th, 2011 at 8:16 pm · Link

    I loathe that whole virginity-is-awesome thing, so having it spawn something so deliciously dirty is AWESOME. 😀 I can’t wait to read this one.

    Lori



  8. Anitra Lynn McLeod
    Comment
    8
    · March 16th, 2011 at 8:30 pm · Link

    LOL! Yes, taking the clean and making it filthy is totally my thing! You know that whole “you should wear clean underwear in case you get in an accident” thing? Yeah, you’ll never believe what THAT spawned. 😉



  9. Christina Crooks
    Comment
    9
    · March 16th, 2011 at 9:18 pm · Link

    “what if everyone lost their virginity in the same manner at roughly the same age, and what if the act of taking virginity was a religious rite?”

    Engaging idea. Thanks for sharing the story genesis, those are so fun to hear about. Looking forward to reading my copy.

    And agreed, that’s a riveting cover! Flashy in a good way.



  10. Anitra Lynn McLeod
    Comment
    10
    · March 16th, 2011 at 9:21 pm · Link

    Hi Christina! I love hearing where writers get their ideas–mine always come from the weirdest places. 🙂

    Thanks on the cover! I really think the dark-haired man, Drahka, is hot. *swoon* 🙂



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