HAPPY RELEASE DAY TO EDEN BRADLEY, INTERVIEW & CONTEST

New York Times & USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Eden Bradley aka Eve Berlin writes dark, edgy erotica and erotic romance for Berkley, Bantam, Harlequin/HQN, Black Lace Books and Samhain Publishing, as well as venturing into self-publishing. Her books have been translated into German, French, Romanian, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Czech and Japanese.

As someone who has been involved in BDSM practice for much of her adult life, she relates in particular to her BDSM and kink stories, infusing them with her own truth about kink practice from her life experiences, and my goodness does she give some juicy details!

Amazon.com: Ink and Iron: Obsession eBook: Eden Bradley: Books

BLURB: OBSESSION

He could have it all… but all he wants is her.

Ink & Iron, Book 1

During his soaring career as the lead singer of indie-rock band Ink & Iron, Cole Kennrick has been through it all: sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Overindulging until he lost what mattered most.

Now he’s pulled his life together and left his addictions behind, except for one: his ex-wife, Janie. If only he can convince her their love was—still is—the real thing.

In the seven years since their divorce, Janie has kept tabs on the only man she’s ever truly loved. The one she had to leave in order to save herself. Still, dark and often kinky desires they explored together linger in her dreams and fantasies.

Janie has seen up close and way-too-personal that rock stars are bad, bad medicine. But when Cole shows up at her yoga studio, clean and sober, his leather-and-motorcycles scent teasing her senses, it’s way too tempting to slip right back into the one place she swore she’d never risk again—his arms.

Warning:  One smokin’ hot tattooed rock star, five sexy-as-hell motorcycles, and a little spanking—because leather and skin just naturally go together.

1      Who are you really?  Eve Berlin or Eden Bradley?  You're obviously real, but are your names?

They’re both pen names-they say you haven’t really made it in the romance genre until you get prison email. Seriously! I started with Eden, and due to writing for multiple publishers and contract issues I had to write as Eve for Berkley for a time. But those issues are past and now the ‘Eve’ name is only on the foreign editions of my first three Berkley books: PLEASURES EDGE, DESIRES EDGE and TEMPTATIONS EDGE.

2    You've been writing seriously since 2000.  How many times were you turned down before you were published and what did you do with your first royalty check?

I was really one of the lucky ones-I had three rejections from Silhouette Desire before I sold a book the first time I ever got to pitch live to an editor at a small e-publisher. My first royalty check was quite small-I may have bought myself something yummy at Starbucks-lol! But that book started my career, and it’s been building steadily ever since.

3     What's the last 3 books you've read?

I haven’t been reading much in the last year or two, sad to say. But the last three were: The Angel by Tiffany Reisz (I cannot say enough good things about her writing!), I re-read a long-time favorite, The People: No Different Flesh by Zenna Hendersen (old sci-fi-amazing stuff!), and CJ Roberts Captive in the Dark (awesome, but not for the faint of heart!).

4     What countries have you visited and what kind of souvenirs did you bring back?

I’ve been to Jamaica, a few of the Virgin Islands—St. Martins is French/Dutch, so not sure if you’d consider that another country…? Mexico (Cancun is so beautiful!), England (London and Cambridge), Scotland (Edinburgh and St. Andrews) and France (Paris and Versailles), and to Ontario Canada in January, which I don’t recommend-lol! But my favorite keepsakes I brought home from my Europe trip. I went in November, and I found the most gorgeous Christmas ornaments all over the UK, and from Paris…a small painting of the Eiffel Tower gifted to me by a tall, dark, gorgeous French painter-one of the artists set up around the square in Montmartre. Maybe I should have stayed…

5      Since you are a "foodie" - when can we expect to see you on Chopped or Master Chef, and what inspired your love of cooking?

Oh-I’m no gourmet! I’m a good ‘plain’ cook-peasant recipes from my Eastern European family and really good French and Swiss peasant recipes from my ex MIL who was from Nice. But Master Chef? I’d probably cry in the first hour!

I think my darling grandmother inspired my love of cooking-I spent almost every weekend of my childhood in her kitchen.

How many shoes are actually in your closet and do any still have the tags on them?

If we’re counting boots and sandals and flip-flops-well over 50. And none still have the tag-that would be such a terrible shame! I’m often tempted to write in my stilettos, since they’re so beautiful and I have so many, but then my fuzzy slippers call…

6       How long does it take you to write a novel, and do you ever have Writer's Block?

I think writer’s block is the thorn in every writer’s side, but if you’re a career author you just have to sort of power through. There are a lot of tears and chocolate. Sadly, I am not kidding!

A full-length novel takes me about 5 months to write and edit-wish I could write faster! A novella (about 1/3 novel-length) I’ve done in anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months. They just roll out a lot faster for me.     

      You've stated that you walk in the BDSM world.  For those who may not understand, what is the BDSM lifestyle and do you have to visit certain locations for story ideas?

Hmm…defining BDSM is an hour-long workshop in itself, and that’s just to get started. Let me try to simplify, but please know I’ll have to leave a LOT out! If any of your readers would like to explore further, please do some reading. I’d suggest as a starter kit:

The New Bottoming Book and The New Topping Book by Dossie Easton and Janet W Hardy, S/M 101 by Jay Wiseman, Screw the Roses, Send me the Thorns by Phillip Miller and Molly Devon.

The acronym ‘BDSM’ stands for Bondage and Discipline, Domination and Submission, and Sadism and Masochism.  Those involved in BDSM may enjoy only one aspect or all of them, and kink is a different experience for every individual. BDSM can be a ‘lifestyle’, but not everyone who practices kink considers it a lifestyle-particularly if they don’t live in those roles 24/7 (I do not). The ‘BDSM lifestyle’ can vary for each person at any given time. There can be very serious play where the submissive/slave/bottom (these roles are not necessarily all the same thing) must be obedient and follow very strict rules set out by the Dominant/Master/Top (again, these are not necessarily all the same thing). There can also be very playful play where there’s cussing and laughing, tickling and playful taunting. Sometimes pain is involved, sometimes only bondage, sometimes only a blindfold, sometimes the sub/slave is given tasks, like giving their Dom/Master a foot massage or cleaning the floor on their hands and knees with a toothbrush, or keeping a journal of daily thoughts and activities-there are a million possibilities. The key is the power play or power exchange, where one person gives up their power to another. This is why we often say the sub/bottom has the true power, in that they choose to give it over to another-or not. And again, I am SO touching only the tip of the iceberg here. For me, a lot of it can be about mind-f**k as a Top or a bottom (I’m what they call a switch-I can play in either role, depending on my partner and my head space).

I don’t necessarily have to visit a certain location for story inspiration, having been involved in kink for 30 years, but I do like to. I’ve been to clubs and dungeon spaces as well as play parties in private homes all over the country. Not everyone is into ‘public’ play, but I happen to love it! But I do have a lot of history to draw on.

But very often a story is inspired by a person, a song, a place…my entire Dangerous Romance series (DANGEROUSLY BOUND is out now and DANGEROUSLY BROKEN is out in October, followed by DANGEROUSLY BAD) was inspired by New Orleans.

8    What was your inspiration for writing the book "Obsession"?

Honestly, it started when the amazing Lauren Hawkeye (and if you haven’t checked out her work, you might start with her book LINGER) invited me into a Box Set called Riding Desire (the story has since been re-edited and expanded and is being re-issued now through Samhain Publishing). Lauren had already decided on the premise and the heroes in this set all had to be bad boy bikers-luckily one of my favorite types! I immediately thought of making my hero Cole a rock star because they’re the ultimate bad boys (I’ve dated a lot of musicians and even one rock star, and I can tell you it’s absolutely true!).

It seemed natural to set the story in LA-I’ve lived there off and on much of my life, and a lot of people in the music industry are there. The rest just sort of came to me. Cole came fully formed-he was pretty damn bossy about it-told me what he looked like, that his guitarist was his brother, and that his great love was his ex-wife, Janie. Seriously, my heroes talk to me like that. Some of my heroines, too! (especially Rosie from DANGEROUSLY INKED and Mischa from TEMPTATION’S EDGE-both tattoo artists). But back to my bad boy hero, Cole… I didn’t even get to decide about his tattoos-he told me all about them, too. But I didn’t mind-tattoos are such a personal thing, so I let him have his way. Um…not that he’d let me write the story until I did everything he asked. Demanded. Did I mention how bossy he is? Bossy men are always such lovely inspiration when you’re a kinky girl…; )

9      Do strangers ever walk up to you in the shoe store and ask for sexual advice because they know you are an erotic romance author?

Not in a shoe store (so far, anyway) but at conventions and any time I speak on a panel and definitely at the kink clubs, as well as Facebook and the website that’s sort of Facebook for kinky people. It did happen at a Christmas party once! I used to be on Playboy Radio with the porn stars fairly regularly, so I’m used to it. If I have time I really don’t mind, particularly if it’s advice about BDSM. I’d really love to see people approach kink safely and joyfully, and if a few words from me or a book recommendation can help someone get there, then I’m happy to do it. I feel very strongly that those of us who have been involved in kink for a while really owe it to our kink community to help educate the new people coming in. With the release of the 50 Shades movie there will be a new surge of people exploring BDSM for the first time, which makes this a more crucial time than ever to reach out and answer questions so no one gets hurt, and to fight the misconceptions that inevitably spread.

1    Where do you see erotic romance and yourself in the next 5 years?

Again, the release of the 50 Shades books and now the film have given new life to my genre. It’s also opened up a lot of dialogue about female sexuality, and I believe this will make erotica and erotic romance more popular than ever, because readers won’t feel they have to hide what they’re reading. I think erotic romance and I will be going strong in 5 years. I’ll be writing like mad, I’m sure! I also hope I’m madly in love with a hot, tattooed, Dominant bad boy who is crazy about me, and have my dream home-a ‘compound in Santa Barbara on the California Coast, with guest houses for all of my friends to come and visit. Vacation homes in Italy and Bali, maybe…? If I have even half of that-writing and love-I’ll be a very happy girl.

Thanks so much for this fab and informative interview.  We love your work and look forward to many exciting books int he future.

CONTEST - Two Winners

Win (1) autographed print copy of DANGEROUSLY BOUND (Open to Continental US residents only)

Win (1) e-copy of BREAKING SKYE  (Open to US & Non US residents).

Simply comment here no later than February 25, 11:59pm ET for your chance to win.  Good luck!

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Skye-San-Francisco-Book-ebook/dp/B00BB2RVXK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424799233&sr=1-1&keywords=breaking+skye+eden+bradley

Visit the website www.EdenBradley.com or her group blog at www.Smutketeers.com