Lady N's Den : #IndieSpotlight of Bella Swan @BellaSwannBooks. Author of The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty.

Name:

The Title of her Work or Group:

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty

Where she creates:

Canada

The genre that gets to claim her:

Erotica

In your own words, what is your book about? If you were not the author and trying to explain this awesome book you just read to a friend, what would you say about it?

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Bella Swann is an erotic reinterpretation of the traditional fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. There is dubious consent with submissive females and dominant males within my story as well as moderate BDSM. However, I don’t write extreme BDSM because my target audience definitely is more comfortable with moderate BDSM as part of their sexual fantasies. I was influenced when I was younger by Anne Rice’s The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, but her story begins when Beauty wakes up and involves a lot more pain for the characters than I am comfortable writing. I also wanted to write a more fantasy-based fairy tale of what Beauty’s life was like before she was put to sleep for a 100 years. Because I write erotica, I made her 21 years old so that she was over the age of consent and three days away from becoming Queen since I wanted her to be more mature than a 16-year old who is “pricked” by a spindle. Unfortunately for the powerful men of the Kingdom, Beauty is a headstrong young woman who can’t wait to take the reins of power but she does not really understand the responsibility that comes with being Queen. According to a magical Prophecy within the story, the Kingdom will only prosper if Beauty is a virgin when she becomes Queen. However, Beauty is exploring her own sexuality and is not “technically” a virgin because of her sexual exploits. She’s a spunky girl with a definite fondness for spunk. ;-) Thus, to be purified, Beauty will have to be put into a sleep for a 100 years. The Court Scholar and the Mage believe Beauty will wake up afterwards in a more submissive state of mind, ready to obey the rules of patriarchy and her Prince Charming who will become her King. Of course, in any sequel that I write, there is no guarantee that Beauty will wake up having been reborn as a sexual and political submissive. ;-)

What is your writing style? Do you follow all guides and rules? Synopsis, outline etc. or do you just sit down at the computer and type to see what happens.

I am an organized and analytical writer. I definitely try to do a little research on what I write on. For instance in this story, Beauty is fencing with her Warrior, Callum. I did look up proper fencing terms and moves in order to write that section. Of course, I then took many liberties with the facts in order to create a more erotic story. However, I do have an outline of what I want to happen in my story and definite ideas about endings and beginnings. I spend a significant amount of time thinking and planning the story out before I ever sit down at a computer to write it.

Have you ever written anything and thought; " The world has got to see this!" ?

LOL. Yes, I think all writers feel that way about all of their writing. Sigh. If only the world could see what I have written, everyone would love it. I write many different types of erotic novellas because I feel if someone picks up just one of them, he or she will realize how great all of the stories are and then buy and read their way through all of them. Sigh again. Fantasies are the life's blood of every author.

Do you have an editor and Cover Designer or do you do this yourself?

I edit my own work but I have a great cover designer – Melody Simmons at http://ebookindiecovers.com. She is really amazing and also did the eBook trailer promo for my erotica.

Who is your favorite author. Not just someone that you read allot. I wanna know whose book you read that made you suddenly know that if you didn't do this for the rest of your life then you would never be happy.

That’s a tough question because I have wanted to be a writer my entire life. However, I think George Orwell’s 1984 andAnimal Farm are two of the books I read which blew me away with what they showed about how language, propaganda, and the power of the ruling class are intertwined. I would love to be able to write something that made that kind of impact on someone else that Orwell’s books made on me.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Because I write mainly paranormal erotica, I am always be challenged to come up with creative new ways for characters to have sex. It’s fun to imagine but I don’t want to use the same phrases or descriptions in every book since that would be too predictable for my readers. Variety is the spice of life in erotica.

Do you write your characters or do they write themselves through you?

I do start off with an idea of who my characters are, but sometimes they refuse to be the people I thought they were. For instance, I had created the character of Rapunzel in The Claiming of Rapunzel in Xanadu a bit too submissive for her tastes. Then I had to go back and rewrite the beginning of the story because the submissive Rapunzel needed to be spunkier if she was going to run away from her tower and into the dangerous woods. I think by listening to my characters as they move through the story, I create a better story overall.

Do you ever write yourself into the characters?

Bella blushes and then winks. I write erotica, Nicole, so that would be a bit too telling. I will say that my heroines may feel the desire to be sexually submissive, but that does not always mean they want to be submissive in all areas of their lives. They just enjoy the pleasure that comes with giving up control and allowing themselves to be the object of someone else’s attentions whether the more dominant partner is male or female or monster. The orgasms are always intense although sometimes the pleasure is intertwined with pain and some humiliation. However, the pleasure is always the strongest element of my heroine’s “happy” ending.

Is writing your full time job or are you "Keeping your day job"? So to speak.

Writing is not my full-time job although like many writers, I dream of a time when all I have to do is write. I do have a day job that takes up a lot of my time and energy but I love it as well. I’m very lucky that I love both my day job and also get to be a writer.

If you could go back in time and meet one famous person or legend in history, who would it be?

First, I would love to meet Cleopatra because she managed to control or play off two of the most powerful men in Roman History, Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony in order to try and keep her power. However, I would also like to meet Zenobia of Palmyra because she conquered Egypt and went to war with Rome after her husband died and the Romans tried to annex her Kingdom. She was eventually defeated, taken back to Rome as a captive, but ended up marrying a Roman senator and perhaps having a happy life after all. I admire both of these women very much because they didn’t play by the rules of society but made their own.

There are millions of new books released every year. What in your mind makes yours stand out from all those millions in your genre?

Erotica is a tough genre to crack into and be successful because there are so many great erotica writers out there. However, I think my books stand out because I try to fill them with constant, non-stop hot action, so that the readers might need to take breathing breaks every chapter or they might reach their “happy ending” too early. I also strive to make my writing as hot, descriptive, and sensual as possible. I even deliberately choose covers for my erotica that are beautiful and sensual, but not sexually explicit. What’s beneath those covers is a sexually explicit, highly erotic story, but my reader never has to feel embarrassed if anyone sees the cover of the book he or she is reading. I am very proud of my erotica and I think my attention to detail in every aspect of my stories including the covers makes my books stand out from all the millions of new books released every year.

In the world of Indie, marketing is very difficult, especially if you don't have the funds to pay for it. Have you found a great free way to market your work that you think other Indies will benefit from?

I have a Facebook page and an Author page on Smashwords and Amazon but that’s about it. I recently joined Twitter where I have made connections with some reviewers and bloggers, but I haven’t done a lot of marketing for my books. I do have a YouTube trailer and I blog sometimes on Goodreads.com as well as review the books of other writers both erotica and non-erotica. I believe in helping out other Indie writers by buying and reviewing their work because I believe in karma and that the good we do will come back to us. However, the main thing I try to do is just keep writing and publishing my books so that there is a body of work that my readers can buy and read. I don’t want to be so caught up with marketing that I forget the most importatnt thing a writer should do is write.

Places to find and follow Bella's work:

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Bella.Swann.Erotica

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BellaSwannBooks

Watch the trailer: