{BLOG TOUR} DOUBLE TIME (SINNERS ON TOUR #3) by OLIVIA CUNNING

You guys. I am DYING here! I am so, so thrilled to be taking part in the Double Time Blog Tour, brought to you by Sourcebooks Casablanca. I kid you not, I sort of squealed when I got the invite to join the tour! I am a huge fan of the series and of author Olivia Cunning. In fact, Sinners on Tour is one of my very favorite series ever and Olivia is on my "Auto-Buy" author list. My stop on the tour includes an interview with the lovely, talented Olivia Cunning, and a GIVEAWAY.

Series: Sinners on Tour #3
Genre: Erotic Romance
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: 11/6/12

Olivia Cunning delivers the perfect blend of steamy sex, heartwarming romance, and a wicked sense of humor in this menage story featuring the hottest guy in the Sinners band.

Trey Mills, the notoriously sexy Sinners rhythm guitarist, gives up his bisexual lifestyle and is swept into a hot, heady romance with Reagan Elliot, a female rock star sensation. But when Trey encounters Reagan's sexy bisexual roommate, Ethan Conner, he can no longer deny who he is or what he wants. Reagan heartily agrees to a solution that opens up a hot new world of sexual experience--and love--with the two men she wants the most.

My review of Double Time  

 

You can purchase Double Time at:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

 

Interview with Olivia Cunning

 

Did you go into writing Double Time knowing what you wanted for Trey, or did the story come to you as you were writing?

 

Olivia: A little of both. I knew I was writing a ménage way before I started writing the book. I had no idea how I was going to get from point A to point B to point C. I always knew that Trey needed an alpha male. I wasn’t sure what he needed in a woman, but I think I found the right mix of sassy and sensitive in Reagan. The hardest part of fashioning Trey’s story was creating a woman who could love him enough to allow him to be true to himself. Because let’s face it. Trey is a high maintenance piece of work, but well-worth the effort.

(Trey is soooo worth it.)

 

 

Have you gotten any negativity for having written Trey as bisexual?

Olivia: Not for having written Trey as bisexual, but I have heard negativity about Trey not being sexually fulfilled by Reagan, as if I intended that to be a condition of his bisexuality as opposed to it being part of his personality. His lack of fulfillment is not a sweeping philosophical statement about bisexuality. It is not meant to imply that a bisexual person cannot commit to one person. That never even crossed my mind. I was floored when someone mentioned it. So here’s the down low. The lack of fulfillment thing is Trey’s personal hang-up. This fictional person, Trey, happens to find another fictional person named Ethan with the exact same hang-up (so they connect quickly) and here is this wonderful, yet fictional, woman who is willing to accept them both despite their I-need-both-male-and-female-loving hang-up. She embraces their hang-up at great personal sacrifice (yeah, right). That’s all it is. As unconventional as their relationship is, it’s what Trey needed to be happy. It’s no reflection upon anyone in the real world. I now wonder if there are people out there who think I was attempting to make a sweeping philosophical statement about butt plugs and anal retentive behaviors. I’ll put your mind at ease if this has been keeping you up at night. No, I was not. Certain characters like butt plugs because they like butt plugs. That’s all there is too it. Trey wants a man and a woman because he is a horny pleasure-seeker and likes the way it makes him feel on a physical and emotional level. Ethan and Reagan are in complete agreement. That’s all there is too it. No hidden agendas or intended offense.

(How much do I love this answer? So much!)

 

At any point, did you ever consider pushing Trey and Brian into a romantic relationship?

Olivia: No. That would have made the tour bus really awkward. Jace would have been totally freaked out by them making out all the time. And I don’t think Trey would have made a good mother for Brian’s children, even if they were adopted. Heck, I didn’t know Trey had a thing for Brian until the exact moment that Myrna knew. So by then, I was already way too invested in Brian and Myrna working out and Brian getting that perfect family he’s always wanted to even consider letting Trey’s misguided affection interfere. Besides, Trey always gets his way. This was a good lesson for him. They’re all happier the way it turned out, even if they do reflect upon what could have been.

(Now I'm picturing Jace all red-faced and embarrassed!)

 

Did you ever worry about adding Ethan to Trey and Regan's relationship as an equal partner?

Olivia: I tried writing the ménage with Ethan just being a spare penis at first. Two pages of discarded text later, it was apparent that he had to be an equal partner or someone was going to end up with another concussion (Trey). Mostly because Ethan was still so in love with Reagan and him pretending he didn’t care about her lasted all of two seconds in the bedroom. So I decided not to bother making Ethan feel used and instead went back and amped up the emotions in his scene alone with Trey. Trey and Ethan are both used to getting their way. Trey lays on the charm and Ethan lays on the macho bullcrap, which, if they were vying for top dog, would have led to a hundred pages of very unsexy drama before they figured out how to make it work for all three of them. I was ready for the smexy by that point and not feeling the drama.

 (I love an author who can just get to the "meat" of the story.)

 

If you could use one song to describe Trey, what would it be? Reagan and Ethan, too.

Olivia: Trey’s theme song fits him perfectly. It’s “Wanna Be Loved…” by Papa Roach

Reagan’s theme song is more of a feeling. When I hear it, it “feels” like Reagan—high energy. “Tonight” by Seether.

Ethan’s theme song is all about the smexy. “Sex Type Thing” by Stone Temple Pilots. He’s a caveman; what can I say?

 

I know you love all the Sinners, but is there one who has a special place in your heart? 

 

Olivia: The one who breaks my heart is Jace, so I guess that means he has a special place in the “shattered and lying on the floor bleeding” place of my heart. But you’re right. I love all of my rock star characters. I’m most in love with them when I’m almost finished writing their book, because that’s when the heroine is most in love with them. I feel you, girl.

 

Have you ever written a scene so "hot" that you either rewrote it or pulled it from your book?

Olivia: The first m/m scene in Double Time was originally an m/m/m threesome scene. There were a couple problems with that. A) Trey rushed into sex with an ex way too fast B) I had a hard time keeping track of male members (and I don’t mean band members)  C) I had to take the third male character out of the book entirely because I’d been told that Double Time was being released out of order and it would have been a huge, huge, HUGE spoiler for Eric’s book (now being released last) and D) it was way too explicit for mainstream. The explicitness was the least of the problems though. I honestly don’t have a problem with how explicit the scenes in my books are. Obviously. I don’t think readers would have liked the scene for reasons A and C.

(*daydreams...considers all the male members*)

 

I love that the books in this series have a happy ending. Is that something that is important to you?

Olivia: Though highly erotic, they are romance books and a happy ending is guaranteed in a romance book. As a reader (and a writer), I don’t necessarily need a happy ending at the end of each book to be satisfied, but I do require a happy ending by the end of a series. I do want my Sinners to be happy, so no way was I messing that up for them. It’s important to me that my characters find happiness. Especially after all the crap I put them through. Poor guys.

 

Fun Question: What is Trey's sucker of choice, Dum Dums or Blow Pops?

Olivia: Trey’s a rebel, I guess. His favorites are Jolly Rancher cherry-flavored lollipops. Dum Dums are too small to satisfy him, and with blow pops (and tootsie pops), the stuff in the center hinders his enjoyment of the pure cherry goodness.

 

Thanks for having me on your blog today! November has been a fantastic month for me. I guess that makes you the cherry on my Trey-licious sundae.

 

 

Thanks to Olivia for taking precious writing time to answer my questions. This is a highlight for me and for The Bookish Babe. Also, Special Congratulations to Olivia on becoming a full-time author!! You know what this means, right? Keep buying her fabulous books so she can keep going full-time.

 

 

Combining her love for romantic fiction and rock ‘n roll, Olivia Cunning writes erotic romance centered around rock musicians. Raised on hard rock music from the cradle, she attended her first Styx concert at age six and fell instantly in love with live music. She's been known to travel over a thousand miles just to see a favorite band in concert. As a teen, she discovered her second love, romantic fiction -- first, voraciously reading steamy romance novels and then penning her own. Growing up as the daughter of a career soldier, she's lived all over the country and overseas. She recently moved to Galveston, Texas.

Connect with Olivia Cunning at:

Website | Blog  |  Facebook | Twitter  |  GoodReads

 

 

Giveaway

 

I have one copy of Double Time to give away, courtesy of Sourcebooks. I can say that Double Time is a fantastic and the winner will be one lucky person. I've been known to stare lovingly at my copy from time to time. ;-)

 

Rules:

• Must be 18+ years of age to enter. No exceptions.
• Must have a US mailing address.
• Fill out the Rafflecopter form to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to Sourcebooks for asking me to take part in the Double Time Blog Tour.