Author of the Month Interview - Eli Easton

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Today the UM has Eli Easton visiting the clubhouse. Eli's Superhero was the subject of our Happy Hour Chat, learn more about Superhero, her love of good sexual tension and more!

BMBR: Hi Eli, s'cuse me while I have a fangirl meltdown. I LOVE your books, all of them, but Superhero (and Blame it on the Mistletoe) are two of my absolute favourites. What I particularly love about your writing is the sexual tension, build up and the first kiss. It is always, without fail, super hot. How easy is it writing good sexual tension, what bar do you measure it by? (Thank you for your super awesome, sweet and hot characters.)

EE: Thank you so much! I'm really a slut for sexual tension. As a reader, I often enjoy the sexual tension leading up to that first kiss more than numerous sex scenes afterwards (depending on the book/author). There's just something about wanting-and-not-having (yet) that really gets to me. So I tend to postpone sex in my books and try to have a number of those USTy moments before two people finally get together. I guess I just write what works for me and hopefully there are people who like what I like out there!

BMBR: So we see Jordy and Owen's story from when they were quite young, how difficult or easy was it to chart the changes from children to teenagers?

EE: The story really begins in high school, but I wanted to *show* how they first met rather than just tell it as back story. That first scene was pretty simplistic and it was told in an older-Jordan-as-narrator voice, so it wasn't too difficult.

BMBR: The wrestling....now Jordy gets a little hot under the collar watching Owen wrestle, how much research did you have to do to get the wrestling scenes accurate? *gazes into space imagining hot men slamming each other to the floor.*

EE: My brothers were high school wrestlers when I was growing up. Not that they ever were that good at it. lol. But I remember some of the moves and holds. And I did research watching high school tournaments on YouTube, looked up stats, etc.

BMBR: One of the things I loved about Superhero was the anti-bullying campaign. I liked how Owen's conscience was pricked by the fact that he didn't do anything to stop the bullying even though he was in no way part of the actual bullying. Was this a conscious message you wanted to send, that apathy can be as bad as being an instigator?

EE: It was really in the plot as a lead-up to Jordan coming out and how scary that was at their high school. And to show Owen's intrinsic code of honor while not having him be perfect. I couldn't see him as someone who would bully but I could as someone who could let others be bullied and not step in -- which I think is a situation a lot of us find ourselves in. Making a conscious choice not to be that around the death of another student helped put Owen in a mental place to defend Jordan when he came out.

BMBR: Do you have a favourite moment in Superhero?

EE: I really do like the first sexual encounter. I know some people have commented that it's too much for a YA but honestly, when I wrote Superhero I wrote it for myself not necessarily aimed at young teens. I was sort of ignorant of the fact that, just because they were in high school, it was YA! Duh. Anyhow, I enjoy coming of age books about first sexual experiences, and I thought it was very realistic how that happened between Jordan and Owen. A lot of teen boys, even straight ones, end up experimenting with other boys at that age. And I myself was sexually active quite young, so to me it's false to pretend teens aren't sexually active. That scene is the most honest and wide-eyed-wonder sex scene I've ever written. I've had comments like that from male readers who found it very sexy because it was a lot like their own early encounters.

BMBR: Any chance we'll see Owen and Jordan again....even if only in a holiday short? hint, hint! :)

EE: Yes, I think so. Not sure how or when. ;-)

BMBR: You've written YA, Contemporary, Fantasy, etc., what is your favorite genre to read? To write?

EE: Contemporary with humor. I want to do another YA at some point, and I guess Mistletoe is NA (college). Those have been my most popular stories so I should do more like that, but I like writing more mature roamnces too.

BMBR: Do you have any new projects we can look forward to?

EE: I recently turned in my first full length novel "The Mating of Michael" which I really like. One MC is a sex therapist and the other is in a wheelchair. That will be out in Jun/July. I'm also working on a series of gothic m/m romances called gothika. The first is due out in April and there will be another in October. And I'm starting a new story now--probably cowboy themed.

We thank Eli for stopping by to hangout with the Unicorn Mafia. We have even inducted her to the herd. Check out Eli *coughs* excuse us, Daffodil Dapple Mane in all her glory!