Erastes – In The Spotlight

Today our Author in the Spotlight is Erastes who is well known as a historical writer but what you don’t know is that she writes short stories for a variety of publishers, some contemporary, some historical. Erastes has been writing since 2003 and has 4 books published, all of which have received rave reviews. Although this author has only been on the scene for a short while, she has become a fan favourite and recently Standish, her debut novel for which she is best known (reviewed here) climbed to the top of the amazon.com.uk charts for gay literature, a significant accomplishment of which she is justly proud.

In addition to writing, Erastes is also the Director of the Erotic Authors Association, an organization for writers of erotic literature and erotica that was founded in 2000.

Here’s a profile of the very talented Erastes as well as some of our conversation ranging from what she’s doing now and her upcoming projects

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Hello Erastes and Good Morning! In the short time that you have been published you have made your mark on the historical scene. How does Erastes account for this phenomenal popularity?

That’s a very nice thing to say, but I don’t know if it’s a term I’d use. *laughs* I work hard at promotion, and probably too hard – when I should be writing! Even large publishers expect an author to do a significant proportion of their own promotion these days, and as –up to now–I’ve only been published with small publishers, I realised early on that if I was going to promote I had to work at it. Especially as I live in the middle of nowhere in the UK and most of my market is across the pond.

I specialise in the historical market, and I simply try and infuse some of my enthusiasm for the genre to others – to encourage people who might not normally try it, to give it a go. I blog a lot, not just the chatty everyday nonsense on my Livejournal, but also on specialist blogs like Unusual Historicals, Lust Bites, Risky Regencies, The Macaronis… to name a few. I don’t like to be constantly saying “buy my book, buy my book!” but if you are blogging about (hopefully) interesting subjects like famous gay figures of the past, what men’s underpants were like in the 16th century and what went on in a Molly House, people may find your books through this method. There are some authors who are just as popular who seem to do no promotion at all – I wish I knew their secret!

If you were to describe Erastes, the writer, what would you say about her? What do you like best about being a writer?

Lazy and procrastinating. She has a lot of great intentions, but her path to hell will be layered ten deep with them. She sits down at 9am to “write” and the next thing you know it’s midday and all she’s done is check her mail, talk to friends and perhaps spend two hours researching “fossils in Lyme Regis” or “the marshes of Dartmoor.” Or “how do you make bullets.” I really need a house-husband, or a nice gay housekeeper to keep my nose to the grindstone.

What do I like best? Well, it’s a cliché, I’m afraid. Dorothy Parker said it right: “I hate writing. I love having written” There’s nothing nicer than fulfilling one’s word quota for the day, or finishing a chapter, or an entire book. I get a real endorphin buzz from finishing a book which lasts… perhaps three days….

Your historical characters have a lot of depth but what I love about your writing is you seem to have an amazing gift for developing wonderful secondary characters. How do you do this?

Thank you! It’s something that I’m finding people are saying about my work more and more, and it’s very kind. It’s not something that I do deliberately, it’s just that I like to create more than just the hero and… the other hero. There needs to be other characters for them to bounce off, and to show the other aspects of their personalities, because, look at Gideon, he doesn’t behave at all naturally around Joshua, and if that’s all we saw of him we’d think he was a nitwit—but he behaves differently when he’s with Mordecai, or Duncan – it makes him a more rounded person.

Speaking of great secondary characters let’s talk about Frost Fair your newest novel which was just released by Linden Bay Romance. Even though the protags Gideon and Joshua shone and Thouless made a terrific scoundrel, it was Mordecai who stole my heart. Can we look forward to Mordecai having his own romance soon? Is there any hope for redemption for Thouless?

I’m very happy that you liked Mordecai; like Fleury in Standish he was supposed to be nothing more than scenery and the means to further the plot, but Mordecai just came to life from the first word he spoke, and the book would have been a different one without the part he ends up playing! I’ve had a few people ask about Mord and a sequel thereof, and I’d like to mention him again. I can see him twenty years on solving mysteries perhaps, whilst running his own sweep’s business. But whether I’ll write that or not, I don’t know. It’s unlikely he’ll be gay, as I don’t believe in the world of OKHomo-and I don’t write hetero romance. But if I do a sequel of Frost Fair, he’ll definitely be back.

As for Finbarr “Soulless” Thouless—he made his first appearance in Hard and Fast, which is actually set six years in the future from Frost Fair – and in Hard and Fast you see what happens to Thouless, and how his reputation has changed within society during those six years, even though I wrote him backwards in time, if you see what I mean. I love a good villain, and I have a feeling he’ll be back too at some point.

Can you give your fans a short blurb of Frost Fair?

In February of 1814, Gideon Frost is a proud man barely clinging to respectability. Unable to make enough as a printer to earn money for food or heat, and hopelessly in love with Joshua Redfern, who all-too-infrequently purchases his engravings, Gideon sometimes resorts to a spot of prostitution to pay the bills.

When the Thames freezes over and London holds what will be its last frost fair on the ice, Gideon, like countless tradesmen, takes the opportunity to move his shop onto the frozen river, hoping that the fair will earn him enough to save him from looming bankruptcy–not realizing that malicious, acquisitive eyes are watching. When disaster strikes, Redfern offers him a position within his household. But when Gideon leaves his life of hardship behind him, he discovers that desire and delight can co-exist with the most terrible doubt…and that some prices are perhaps too high to pay.

In Speak Its Name, Trilogy No. III your short story Hard and Fast really “spoke” to me *g* This was a first person POV from Geoffrey’s perspective, and although physically he was the more overpowering character, being ex military, the more powerful “voice” was Adam’s. How did you manage that?

I’m happy you liked and recommend it because many people I know won’t even touch a first person POV story and I think that’s such a shame, because you miss out on so many books. It would have been very easy to make Geoffrey the “HERO” in a Mills and Boon/Harlequin manner. He’s tall, he’s powerful, he’s a trained, seasoned soldier of ten years in the Peninsula wars—but I didn’t want him to be arrogant and predatory and rapacious, I’d done that with Rafe Goshawk in Standish. So I made him exceedingly eloquent—but only in his own head! In real life he often found it difficult to express himself.

Adam was a perfect foil, because, being physically handicapped, he’d learned to defend himself with words. Poor Geoffrey didn’t stand a chance. I aimed deliberately to make it a war of wit and words between the two—although I’m still not sure which one of them won the battle! *g* What I like about writing romances is that—having done the “formula” of arrogant alpha and feisty weaker beta in Standish is that now I can play with the tropes, and it’s such fun to do that with gay fiction.

In Standish, the decadent Regency period is beautifully drawn, but again it was the characters who grabbed my attention – Ambrose the ingénue and Rafe the rake. This book has a lot more of the seamier side of life and drama than some of your other stories so I was wondering, why do you write about love between gay characters at a time when they were vilified, imprisoned and even murdered?

Partially because it happened. I think that to forget that there have been gay men since the dawn of time (not that I’m planning a gay “Clan of the Cave Bear” any time soon) and that somehow, in spite of the death and the danger, they’ve managed to find sex and love throughout the ages would be doing them a disservice. And it simply hasn’t been done before! Not in any volume, that is. Look at the enormous amount of heterosexual historical romance there is – and it was often dangerous for those lovers to love each other or we wouldn’t have the conflict in those books – then look at the paucity of gay historical romance in comparison.

There are SO many stories, both real and imagined that have yet to be told – I could write every minute for the rest of my life and never tell them all. The 18th and the 19th century in particular, too (not that I want to be typecast for writing in one century or era) were the first time that a “gay culture” began to emerge. As urbanisation increased, men found it easier to find each other—however, in general it was the lower classes who frequented the Molly Houses – interestingly.

In general, your historical stories are much more explicit (not that I’m complaining) than other M/M books in the genre. Did you decide upfront that you would fully explore the sexual relationships between your protagonists rather than “fade to black”? (I love that phrase *g*)

When I first started writing Standish no-one was publishing gay historical fiction as a genre. Ellora’s Cave was only doing heterosexual books, and the only outlets that I could see for Standish were the gay book publishers such as STARbooks and Alyson. Their (and the few others that there were then) submission calls were clear – “the book must be erotic in nature with, preferably, a sex scene in every chapter.” This explains why Standish – and Transgressions – are more erotica-filled than many other m/m romances around now, or even the stuff I’m writing more recently. What I attempted to do with these sex scenes, though, is to ensure that they weren’t gratuitous, and pushed the plot forward in some way or other.

Transgressions which will be published by Running Press (a subsidiary of Perseus Books) of New York, will make its debut on both sides of the Atlantic next year, together with False Colors by Alex Beecroft. The publishing house is obviously hoping that its marketing campaign, followed by the launch of these 2 books, will bring historical M/M romances to the forefront of the publishing industry and to the attention of a much wider audience of romance readers who will buy the books and many others to follow. Do you feel at all nervous about how this will play out? (You could become so famous that you may forever have to wear dark glasses, both outdoors AND inside your house) 🙂

*Laughs* I doubt that – I don’t think Norfolk will ever be interested. However, yes – I’m terrified for many reasons. There seems to be (from my perspective) a lot riding on these books being released – even if the publishing world in general hasn’t quite sat up and noticed it yet! They may do tremendously well – which will be such a boost for a genre which isn’t actually (yet) recognised as a genre – or they may not, which will be a blow. I hope they stir up some controversy, though – that’s always good for a bit of publicity. I think that perhaps the religious aspects in Transgressions might get me banned in a few states in the USA!

So far, the covers (which we can’t reveal yet, sadly — although they are terrific!) have the words “m/m romance” on them which is great — it will get the term more widely recognised by shoppers on line and in shops.

Can you give us a short blurb about Transgressions?

England 1642: David Caverly longs to escape his father’s smallholding to join the King’s Army, until Jonathan Graie is brought to the farm as apprentice smith. They become friends, but it is not until Tobias, a King’s Army scout, stops at the farm and seduces David, that David knows his friendship with Jonathan should be so much more. After a jealous misunderstanding David is forced to leave the farm and his heart behind. The English Civil War keeps the lovers apart while they fight their way across the country; one for the King and one for Parliament – never thinking they’ll see each other again.

You have an impressive body of work including many short stories – what can the fans look forward to next from Erastes?

I’ve just – this week – started the next novel, which I can’t say much about yet. However—if I say “think 18th century ‘Vertigo'” that might give you a bit of a clue… I do have a completed novel which I haven’t placed yet as Perseus only want pre-20th century historical and this one is 1960’s – I need to get that out there. It’s called “Junction X” and is a story of a closeted married man who falls in love for the first time – with the boy next door. The only trouble with it is that people expecting a formula Romance are going to be disappointed. It’s based on a true story, and as many gay real life stories go, it’s not got a happy ending. I’m also mulling over a sequel for Frost Fair, pushing it forward 2 years to The Year without a Summer (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer) to see how Gideon and Joshua are coping, and what Mordecai is up to.

What’s with the cat? I don’t understand our feline “friends” because I’m a dog person (you know what they say, “dogs love you more than you love yourself”) but Lucius, the “devil’s whore” 🙂 seems to run away from home frequently. Is there something you’re not telling us? Are you a bad mother?

I’m a horse and dog person myself, but working full-time made it impossible to have a dog, so I have cats instead as they don’t mind being at home all day. Lucius is a law unto himself, I fear – I got him and his brother Severus 2 years ago and for a while they were devoted to me and to each other, and then one day Lucius just vanished. First for a day, then for a week, then a month and the last two times he went off he was gone for three months at a time, almost to the day. I’m grateful that he comes back, at least, and I wonder if he has one other family, or six – and that he spends two weeks with each of them!

It would make a great children’s story though – explaining all the adventures he gets up to when he’s gone. I’d have to find a new pen name for that though!!

Tell us something fun about Erastes?

I think the most unlikely thing for the image of a gay historical author (quill in hand, pile of text books next to the desk) would be to admit that I’m an avid Gamer. But I am – I’ve had a games console of one kind or another since they were first invented –yes, I’m that old—and cut my gaming teeth on Pong. I currently own a Playstation 2 and a Gamecube (as well as playing games online and on the PC) and the best relaxation I know is picking up an Uzi 9mm and fighting my way across enemy occupied territory. It’s a great method to occupy the entire brain and take the mind away from everything else. I’m often inspired by games, too, find little things that I can bring to my stories.

Thank you Erastes. I would never have guessed that the very professional, composed Erastes is a Gamer! She’s probably online right now trying to lure unwary fools to their deaths.

I’ve never understood this obsession of normal adults that’s even worse than smoking. Oh well, we all have our vices – mine are in a secret drawer (at least I think it’s a secret) *g*

I’m really looking forward to the release of Transgressions by Running Press next year and I know that fans of the author can’t wait.

Thank you! It’s been fun!

Erastes contact information
Erastes@erastes.com
Erastes.livejournal.com
www.erastes.com

Erastes Backlist

Novels
. Transgressions: English Civil War epic from Running Press Books, April 2009
. Standish: a gay Regency published by PD Publishing

Novellas
. Chiaroscuro – Florence in 1850 – published by Aspen Mountain Press in “Night Moves“
. Hard and Fast – gay Regency published by Linden Bay Romance in “Speak Its Name“

My short stories can be found on my website here (http://erastes.com/biblio.html) – or by doing a tag search for “erastes” on amazon