First of all, a huge thank you to the lovely Delilah Devlin for hosting me here today. It is a privilege to guest blog on a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author’s site!! The opportunity is very much appreciated.
So my topic today is…If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
In his song, Rocky Mountain High, John Denver sings about coming home to a place he’d never been before. I recently felt that way while doing research for my Red Masks series now available through Ellora’s Cave. The series is set in Charleston South Carolina, and after doing a ton research into the city I became fascinated with the place.
Row upon row of historic houses line The Battery, a beautiful promenade that was originally built as a defensive seawall and named after an artillery battery that was set up there during the Civil War. This part of town also holds the White Point Garden that was so named because of the sun-bleached oyster shells once found along the shore.
Charleston also has its own French Quarter, which is still located within the original walled city and boasts cobblestoned streets and gas lit alleyways. This is where the inspiration came for making Manette and Thibaut Brisson the owners of the notorious Gaston Plantation and its private Red Masks Club, and giving them their French-American heritage.
There are several plantations near the city with immaculately kept gardens and moss covered trees. And I have heard there may be ghosts haunting several of the sites—war-torn lovers who wait eternally to be reunited and the spirits of slaves who haunt the grounds of their former owners in search of freedom…or revenge.
Charleston is an international travel destination that has been named one of the top cities to visit in the United States, so where better to set a series of books whose characters come from all different parts of the world? Zayne Saladar in Master of Silk hails from the Middle-East, and his belly-dancing wife—Isabella Seda—has Spanish ancestry, while both Sakura and Ian Hideo Shoji of Binding Cherry Blossoms are of Japanese descent.
After looking at picture after picture of the beautiful city and reading the descriptions of its historic districts and sultry sea breezes, I am completely enamored of the place, although I have never once set foot in the town. To remedy that, hubby and are planning a trip to Charleston in September so I can stroll down the streets I have written about and hear the water crash along the shore.
What about you? Anywhere in the world you have read, seen or heard about that makes you ready to plan your next vacation? Are you addicted to a certain place on the Travel Channel, or catch every episode of House Hunting where that particular city is featured? Stop by and let me know. I will be giving away a couple of copies of Roar of Thunder, the most recent release of my Red Masks series, along with some lovely red costume masks and pretty red mask bracelets.
Roar of Thunder
Book 5 in the Red Masks series
After a disastrous tour of duty in Afghanistan, wounded veteran Thibaut Brisson returns home as half-owner of the Red Mask BDSM club. But a severe case of PTSD leaves the Dominant surly, sleepless and sexually impotent.
After long months of nightmares, Ty finally allows himself to submit to the beautiful Domina Grace Heathcastle, hoping a session beneath her whip will allow him to release his pent-up fury. But he makes it clear he will not submit to her forever.
Once a submissive herself, Grace switched sides after a bad relationship left her injured. She knows Ty needs someone strong enough to break through his resistance, but she finds herself doubting her dominance—especially after a night of submissive pleasure in his arms.
Who will eventually win the war when Dominant and Domina battle for position?
Reader Advisory: This story has graphic sexual language and scenes—no closed bedroom doors (or other rooms) here!
A Romantica® contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
For buy links, excerpts, and my other books:Â www.GiaDawn.com
Thanks so very much!! Gia Dawn
