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 #3Genre: 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.
You can purchase Double Time at:
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.
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.
Connect with Olivia Cunning at:
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.
