Great to have you as a Guest at A Tasty Read
today. Can you tell my readers a bit about your Newest Release, THE
ANNIVERSARY GIFT?
The Anniversary Gift is the story
of Kate and Ethan, a couple married for nearly ten years. Things have gone
stagnant and their marriage has lost its spice. At dinner one night, Ethan
makes an audacious proposal, with hopes it will help them regain their
passion. Kate is stunned, hurt and then
… she begins to think of the possibilities.
This spirals Kate out of her comfort zone and into an erotic journey
with her husband. Will she or won’t she
fulfill Ethan’s fantasy? You’ll have to read it to find out.
I always get great book ideas while I am in the shower, where did the idea for
THE ANNIVERSARY GIFT come from?
The shower is a fountain of ideas
for me too, but this one came to me while I was driving. I was in a loveless, passionate marriage with
no hope of it being saved. Plus, I’d just had a conversation the night before
with a friend in the same situation. I
began to daydream about the perfect marriage, how things would be, what I’d do,
how I’d feel. I pulled over to the side
of the road and started writing my ideas down in my phone. It blossomed from
there.
Did you find it hard working with a Married Couple having issues, opposed to
working with a Hero and Heroine who have just met?
I deeply feel that one of the
reasons so many of us are unsatisfied in our relationships is because we read
so many of the hero/heroine love stories.
As a teen, you’d find me with a Harlequin Romance, dreaming of my prince
charming coming to sweep me off my feet.
Then, we grow up, meet this guy, get married and live the dream for a
bit. One day, we look up from our latest
romance novel and study our husband, sitting in the recliner, picking lint from
his navel. Reality slams us in the face
and we lose hope that anything better is possible. Then, there’s the mortgage,
kids, the toilet seat that’s been left up for the millionth time. There are the things that have been said, or
unsaid that create a brick wall of resentment that a wrecking ball couldn’t
bust through.
So…to finally answer your
question...I do think it is harder.
We’ve all met someone, fallen crazy in love, had amazing sex. Fewer of us have been able to make a relationship
work long term, especially in a way that is sexually or emotionally
satisfying. Plus, I would be doing a
dis-service to my readers if I just magically spiced up a relationship without
the couple processing through the issues that drove them apart to begin
with. I need to take that into
consideration too, while keeping the story steamy and engaging.
What are some things that you can suggest to spice up a marriage that had
fallen into the Ten-Year Lull?
This may sound harsh, but here
goes… stop expecting your mate to make you happy. It goes back to the fairytale we women live
with, expecting him to create fulfillment and happiness. It just doesn’t work
that way. We must be responsible for our own happiness, be our best selves.
With that in mind, ask for what you
want, initiate sex, laugh, be fun. Take time to understand how men think and
what they need and fear. Really connect…not in the way you want him to connect
with you, but in how he needs you to connect with him, which is very, very
different.
Be curious, explore, show kindness,
and respect him. You’ll never be able to change him, but when you are your best
self, when you live with joy and honor … it is very likely he will do the
same. You’ll be like a magnet to him,
pulling him closer. It must start with
you.
What are you planning for your next release? Are you working on anything
now?
My newest book is The Birthday
Gift, the second book of the Re-Connections series and it actually went live
this week!
I’m very excited about this book,
but also very nervous as it’s a story of a broken marriage, an affair and the
tortured choice the heroine must make.
It’s absolutely a love story, it is without a doubt highly erotic, and
it is incredibly moving and, I hope, inspirational.
Who do you admire as a writer? Do you have an author who is a MUST READ
for you?
Funny enough, my favorite author
has nothing to do with romance at all. I
adore Dean Koontz because he takes suspenseful and unusual plots and makes them
beautiful. His descriptions bring his world to life, so creatively. I find my
breath stopping at times. I just adore
him.
Thank you so much for stopping by A Tasty Read to chat, and A HUGE Thank You to Rach for her fabulous Guest Interview!!
If you want to find out more about Elle Dawson, and her Two Releases, THE ANNIVERSARY GIFT and THE BIRTHDAY GIFT, you can visit her at, http://elledawson.com/
Or Check out the Books at Goodreads, http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7212299.Elle_Dawson
