Last week, I "sat down" with Lilah E. Noir to answer some pretty intense questions regarding my sequel in the Thorne series, Thorne: Rose's Dark Secret. And I found myself realizing that even if my stories or novels are fiction, there is always truth about myself in them. Writing is always a discovery with me, a discovery of self, a discovery of my needs, and a discovery of why I continue to write, even when success is daunting and fleeting. Today I thought I'd share a couple highlights of the interview. If you'd like to read the interview in its entirety, I invite to visit Ms. Noir's gorgeous website here: lilahenoir.wordpress.com/2016/07/14/author-spotlight-r-b-obrien/ Lilah, herself, is not only a beautiful writer, but she is a graphic artist. This cover, as well as the first Thorne cover, is an example of her talented artwork. Lilah: Ms. O’Brien is back with more exquisite pain, angst and pleasure for her two leading characters, William and Rose. Hello, R.B., and thank you for sparing some of your busy time. What was it like to go back to the dark world of Thorne for the sequel? R.B.: It was great but intense to try to go back into a character’s mind, a mind that is filled with self-loathing and a mind that is male. It is fun to try to psychoanalyze why a character acts and feels the way he/she does, and doing it as a different gender lends itself to many challenges. My desire to delve into the male psyche comes from many years of being drawn to men that seem to have a darker side. But there is also light in them, and it is that duality and intensity that makes me feel alive. Thorne is very much that man as is my first male protagonist, Michael, from the Natalie’s Edge series. Each man, while plagued with a dark past and demons, has this glorious light within them, fighting noble causes. I picture them as true anti-heroes, like the likes of Batman, the Dark Knight. Lilah: Some defined Thorne’s first installment and your leading male as “too dark” and to others it wasn’t “dark enough”. What is your position on the level of “darkness” in contemporary romance and erotica? R.B.: I enjoy darker. I like darker in the sense of emotional turmoil. Everything I write is based off of emotional tug of war, the mental psychology of sex and sexual tension. But I don’t enjoy complete darkness or anything that crosses lines for me personally. I don’t write about harsh punishments or intense physical BDSM. It’s not my thing. At. All. If it does not titillate me, and I want my erotica to not only titillate my readers but to titillate me, why would I do it? I am much more interested in psychological and mental and emotional punishments. I could go on for hours on this topic. But in a nutshell: Why write something that doesn’t personally turn me on? I like flawed characters. I like depth of character. I like to see redemption and dynamic characterization when all is said and done. And there will always be an element of consent for me. Always. And romance. Always. Love. Always. And some semblance of happy ending. Always. So those who said not dark enough? They want me to take them places that I do not want to and will not go. For those who said that the male protagonist is too dark or that Thorne (or even Michael from Natalie’s Edge) is borderline abusive, what can I say to that? They are flawed, round characters, based off real-life relationships and people. They are not made to be fantastical, perfect men or stock characters. How boring to me! And for some, including myself, these types of stories are turn-ons. Watching a strong-willed, alpha man come to terms with his past and his flaws as he discovers love is the story I love to tell but also the story I love to read. And for those who do not understand the psyche of a slight emotional masochist, there is really not much I can do about that. But for those who do understand it, who can identify with that need, that desire, that ache? They get it. That is my audience. And the too dark/not dark enough becomes just right. I got into an argument with someone about one of my stories once and how its depiction is “abuse” and not “BDSM-worthy” as a category. I can’t stand when someone tells me what should or should not turn me on sexually. If both parties understand it, consent exists, and that is all that matters. Truth be told? I was struggling to find erotic works that spoke to my personal fetishes. So guess what? I decided to write them myself. I wrote a blog post here about just how to categorize my books!http://rbobrien.weebly.com/blog-posts/just-how-the-fk-do-i-categorize-my-writing. To see my entire interview, visit the link to Lilah's site lilahenoir.wordpress.com/2016/07/14/author-spotlight-r-b-obrien. In the meantime, enjoy my books, all 99 cents for a limited time. I'd love to hear your opinion. Are my characters too dark? Not dark enough? As for me, I'll keep writing and discovering, one page at a time.
10 Comments
It’s what I like to call Shakespeare Sunday today, where I often share something Shakespearean with my friends. Today I dedicate my blog to Elie Wiesel who has just passed. As I sat on the beach yesterday, trying to breathe again and find balance in my life among the hectic nonsense of life, especially the life in the virtual spectrum with drama and nonsense and worries about book sales and loyalty and lies and truth and a myriad of other things, I sulked. Was I feeling sorry for myself? Maybe. I don’t know. But there are just days I feel fed up. Tired. Tired of the nonsense. Tired of the competition. Tired of the jealousy. Tired of misunderstandings. Tired of expectation. I had my whole Shakespeare post ready about Expectations for today—you know the quote I’m sure. "Expectation is…" And then, I see the Globe, my Sunday ritual, a dying ritual I realize, to pick up an old-fashioned newspaper, ink barely dry, staining my fingers in that beautiful hue of grey that is messy and decadent at the same time. I lick to get to the Food section and the Arts and Entertainment section, my greedy little fingers wrapped around both the awkward pages of the dying art and my coffee mug as I curl into what I deem relaxation. And there it is. Elie Wiesel, one of the greatest writers, thinkers, narrators, and most importantly, historians of our time. And my heart saddens. I mean sick with heavy sadness. I realize that there is about to be no one left who will be a primary source to this horrific tale in history. Amidst the political climate in our country and abroad right now, I feel the lump in my throat as I stifle down the sad truth that I see similarities in scapegoating and fear going on around me in global scales but also in my world, an almost microcosm of the bigger picture. Pointing fingers. Blame. Half-truths. As a teenager, I was profoundly affected by Wiesel’s narrative, Night, as I’m sure many of you were and are. When running my first 5K, it was his tale that stuck in my mind. Silly, I know. Big deal. 5K. Ha. But for me it was a huge feat. I said in my mind thinking of Wiesel’s story of unbelievable odds—40 miles, no food, freezing weather, barefoot in the snow—surely, I can run a mere 5K. It’s about determination. How bad do I want it? This is fucking nothing! I remember the music of the violin the most, that little boy playing his heart out only for Elie to awaken the next morning to death and the crushed violin, destroyed, symbolic. It is still one of the most powerful scenes I ever read that speaks so much without ever speaking it at all but instead, showing it. And yet—this quote—by Wiesel shows us that adversity can be overcome, that you can survive, that you can still go on to find some semblance of happiness, that you can, indeed, live a life that is gratifying. So yes. I realize everything is relative. But damn it. I have it pretty darn good. Life will never be perfect. Elie Wiesel survived the Holocaust. He went on to do great things. I was fortunate enough to visit one of his lectures here in Boston. We all face levels of adversity. And as Shakespeare wrote: Sweet are the uses of adversity/Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,/Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.” If someone like Wiesel can overcome and use his adversity as a “jewel in his head,” I think every single one of us can. We are “mere mortals”—it’s true, but words, Shakespeare’s, Wiesel’s—they are immortal. And because of those words, we will never forget.
|
Details
I LOVE to write and read. I particularly enjoy reading erotic romance that has tons of emotion in it. I hope you will ask me questions and share your favorite authors and novels. I welcome all feedback.
Categories
All
Archives
November 2022
|