21 Jul, 2010
Quick note… I’m the feature author of the week over at Long and Short Romance/ Whipped Cream and *YOU* should enter to win an Adult Dirty laundry basket! Come talk to me and comment to enter!
And without further ado…
I have guy author David Bridger with me today , giving a sneak peek into his version of roMANce. Don’t you love his title?
Saul the Bastard is a fallen angel who works as a bounty hunter for powerful urban demon families. Rebecca Drake, a modern day demon princess, is being hunted by dangerous desert demons. When Rebecca’s family hires Saul to protect her, they are both unhappy with the arrangement, but before long sparks fly as they try to resist their strong mutual attraction. For the first time in living memory, Saul has someone to love; someone he is scared of losing; someone the desert demons have marked to be their next sacrifice.
Interview with David Bridger
You’re the father of grown women, planning their weddings. Care to share your thoughts for them on their big day?
The eldest of our three daughters is getting married in September, and the second eldest in October. Our youngest will be bridesmaid for both her sisters, and the brides will also be bridesmaids for each other. My wife is making both three-tier wedding cakes, and the girls all inherited their mum’s arty crafty talents, so this year is a whirlwind of do-it-yourself design and manufacture. Also, we have a decorator in our house for two weeks (he started on Beauty’s release day) to paint and paper right through.
Stress. We haz it.
So my thoughts for them are:
- on your big day, put all the stressy stuff aside and enjoy yourselves
- I’m so proud of you I could burst
- I love you
What do your ‘girls’ think of Dad writing romance? Have they read your work?
Reading and writing paranormal romance and urban fantasy is as natural for me as breathing, so they don’t think there is anything unusual about it. They’re simply thrilled for me. They read a lot, and widely across various genres including romance, but they haven’t yet read my work. I’ll be happy for them to do so when they want to. And if they don’t want to, I’ll be happy with that too.
So talk, tell us who is David Bridger?
I’m a five-year-old boy whose yachtsman father just died.
I’m a fourteen-year-old swimming star who carries the secret shame of being sexually abused by a teacher.
I’m a young man who sails the oceans in search of my silent father’s approval and who finds freedom and forgiveness under the stars.
I’m a husband and a father to the four people I love most in the world.
These days, I’m a writer and a beachcomber. My preferred attire is bare feet, shorts and t-shirt, freshly washed but not ironed, for the lightly creased sun-bleached look that says: don’t worry, be happy. In my experience, when you feel happy and sexy, you are happy and sexy. Soft sand between my toes and a sea breeze on my skin make me feel happy and sexy.
What are the unique challenges about being a male romance writer? Are there any?
I spent a long time trying to think of a unique challenge, and I can’t come up with any. There are minor irritations, such as dickheads putting-down the genre, but those aren’t unique to male writers and they’re not even challenges.
This is your debut. What was your writing journey like for Beauty and the Bastard?
I always knew I would write when I came home from the sea, but I never expected the homecoming to happen in my early thirties. Nor did I expect it to be traumatic. It took me several years to recover my mobility, progressing slowly from paralysis, to bedbound, to a wheelchair, to up and about on sticks, until finally I stood and walked unaided. One of the things that helped me stay sane (ish) through that long process was learning how to write novels.
I’m a romantic (as many sailors are, whatever they might tell you) so it came as no surprise when everything I wrote contained romantic elements.
Beauty and the Bastard was a delight to write. After years of experimentation, everything came together and stayed together from Chapter One to The End. I found my best method and my most natural voice – dark, foreboding, sharp, sensuous, and passionate – and I wrote it like a summer storm thundering in from the ocean.
Tell us something about each main character that is *NOT* on the page.
Rebecca is successful in her position as an internal fraud investigator, working mostly in the family business, and she is also a demon princess with a father who heads his family’s Vegas operation and an uncle who heads his family’s Wall Street operation. That much is clear in the story, as is the fact that these demon family businesses are similar to mafia operations.
I don’t go into too much detail about how Rebecca has always been kept away from the ugliness and violence, and how in her professional life she represents the respectable shop front of the operation. But knowing that she knows about and accepts this aspect of her family life helped me give her a hard edge.
Saul’s life on earth is a private torture. Physical, mental and emotional. As a fallen angel he retains the certain knowledge that heaven exists, and that he used to belong there, but he has no memory of it. He can’t even remember the sin he committed that brought about his fall. Most of his thoughts and all his actions are about serving out his open-ended sentence and getting back to heaven.
But (and this is the bit that isn’t on the page) sometimes he wishes he didn’t possess that certain knowledge. Sometimes he envies humans our faith-based beliefs, and our freedom of choice regarding what we believe and whether or not we want to believe in anything at all.
What did your research for Beauty and the Bastard teach you?
I learned a lot about the Mojave Desert, which I haven’t yet visited, and some about the geography of NYC, which I have visited. I read about alliances between mafia families and enjoyed watching The Godfather again. And I refreshed my memory about the Judeo-Christian tradition of the War in Heaven, which I studied years ago.
What is off limits sexually writing wise? What would you NEVER do in a sex scene?
Rape. Non-consensual sex is a hot topic, and people wiser and far more experienced than I have spoken about the various subtleties involved in writing “forced seduction” and “make me enjoy it” sex. I understand that harmless rape fantasies (harmless, that is, as opposed to real fears or the traumatic reliving of actual experiences) are enjoyed by many women – and perhaps by many men too. Many people love reading them, and some authors write them superbly. But not me.
Give us a glimpse into the future. What else do you have on deck?
I’m two chapters into another Angels and Demons novella, in the same world as Beauty and the Bastard but featuring new characters. I love it!
I also have an urban fantasy novel out there on submission, which, if it gets picked up, might become the first book in a series.
And waiting patiently on the back burner is a futuristic steampunk romantic sf adventure.
Let’s get a wee bit morbid. You have 10 words not counting name and dates. What is on your tombstone?
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.
Now seriously, how do I compete with an ending like that? How about with the trailer for Beauty and the Bastard?
Rebecca Royce says:
David and Inez,
Really great, interesting, interview. Great questions and I have to tell you David that your responses just made me go out and buy the book. Can’t wait to read it.
Rebecca
David Bridger says:
Thanks for inviting me, Inez. It’s a pleasure and a privilege to be here with you!
Alanna Coca says:
Love the questions Inez. Good luck with Beauty David!
Jerri Drennen says:
Great interview, David. Best of luck with the book.
David Bridger says:
Thank you, Rebecca! I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks, Alanna! (That trailer up there is Alanna’s work, everyone. She’s a miracle worker.)
Kate Pearce says:
Great interview David! My father had 6 daughters and the three eldest got married within 18 months of each other, he was torn between relief and bankruptcy, although he never really wanted any of us to leave
The book sounds great!
Rhonda says:
I’m so happy for you David. That was an awesome interview and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Best wishes to your daughters!
Many happy sales,
Rhonda
David Bridger says:
Thank you, Kate!
I know exactly how your father felt. I don’t want any of mine to leave, either. None of them plan to move more than a few miles from us, though, so it won’t be too bad.
David Bridger says:
Thank you, Rhonda!
David Bridger says:
Thank you, Jerri!
Sasha Devlin says:
Congrats on the release, David! I’m very excited for this one.
David Bridger says:
Thank you, Sasha! I hope you enjoy it!