Interview & Giveaway - Naked Montreal (Sex and the Underground City) by Laura Roberts

 

Naked Montreal: Sex and the Underground City

by Laura Roberts 

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BLURB: 

Business is pleasure for Francesca “Frankie” Parker, Montreal’s go-to guide for all things seductive in the Underground City. “Sexy Tourism for Canada’s Fetish Capital” is what her card promises, and mon ami, she delivers. So toss the travel pamphlets and enjoy your tour as Frankie leads you deep into the Sin City of the North and all your wildest fantasies. If you haven’t developed a fetish yet, don’t worry – by the time Frankie bids you adieu, you may have a hard time choosing a favorite!

 

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Excerpt: 

My date for tonight, an overstuffed businessman with slicked-back hair in a greasy little ponytail and a vaguely Bronx accent, is so chuffed to be here with a beautiful woman that he's practically salivating over my white flesh, my smooth black hair, my pouty red lips. 

Little does he realize, I'm just the appetizer. The main course is on her way, ready to beat him into submission. She goes by the name Lady Evelyn, but I've never seen any evidence of her title's origins. I keep getting texts from her that say she's on her way, which usually means she'll be fifteen minutes late. I've got to keep the Catch wriggling on the line for a few more minutes, until she shows. 

I finally receive a text from Lady Evelyn announcing her arrival, and swiftly draw our meal to a close as the Consultant inhales the last bits of mungfish left on the plate. I casually gesture for the check, and he signs off on our decadent feast with a look of pure evil in his eyes. I stand up, as if headed for the ladies' room. 

“Meet me in back in five minutes,” I whisper in his ear. 

His eyes widen, and a smirk creeps across his face. Showtime.

 

 

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Let's learn a little about author Laura Roberts!



 

What is your writing environment? 

In my mind, my writing environment is decked out like a Betsey Johnson-esque boudoir, all hot pink and black with ruffled skirts on the furniture, glittery gilded mirrors, plenty of pillows, and a disco ball lazily rotating above a chaise lounge on which I seductively slouch while eating bonbons and writing erotica. There may even be a chiseled assistant or two, taking dictation. 

The reality is a bit more mundane, though I do still try to bring a bit of spice to the humdrum workspace. I’m fortunate enough to work from home, so I get to work in an office in my apartment. I’ve dressed up my laptop with some cheeky stickers, I’ve put up some saucy posters for inspiration, and pour my morning coffee into a rooster mug (for obvious reasons). I’ve got the office necessities color coordinated: I have a red Swingline stapler and red agenda, along with several red pens, and a mysterious red box in which I keep all my story ideas. I do have lots of clutter on my desk, but they say it’s a sign of a creative mind, so I don’t sweat it. 

Like any writer, there are also tons of pens, notebooks and pads of notepaper scattered about in case I need to jot something down quickly. And I’ve got a few tchotchkes to inspire me, like my miniature Salvador Dalí figurine who reminds me to embrace weirdness, the Lego bricks I got from Douglas Coupland, and a squishy pink stress pig for when I get frustrated with my current WIP. There’s usually a cat or two perched on the end of the desk closest to the window, too. They will come and give me a headbutt on the chin for support, now and then.

Who is your perfect hero and why? 

Trick question: there is no perfect hero! But if you mean for me to choose a favorite from the devastatingly handsome yet ultimately flawed characters out there, I would have to pick the Dread Pirate Roberts, aka Westley from The Princess Bride. For one thing, we share a name, so I sometimes have fun telling people that I’m the original DPR. For another thing, who doesn’t swoon over that infamous “As you wish” line? It’s, dare I say it, inconceivable! Finally, men in black are always my favorite, whether we’re talking swashbuckling heroes, Johnny Cash, or just a smooth talking guy in a tux.

What authors have caught your interest lately and why? 

I recently joined a very serious erotica group on Goodreads, and they engage in monthly reading challenges, so they have introduced me to a boatload of great authors. As it’s almost Halloween, I’ve been delving into the more paranormal end of the erotica spectrum with Eve Langlais and Natasha Knight. I’m also eager to know what happens next in the new “Once Upon A Dom” series by Sydney St. Claire. Book one is called Cinderella & Prince Dom, and captured my interest with the secret sex club that has its members dress up as fairytale characters. I’m counting the days until book two, Red & Her Big Bad Dom, since I’m sure Little Red Riding Hood is far more naughty than she seems.

What type of book have you always wanted to write?

I’ve always loved reading mysteries since I was a kid. I suspect lots of us get hooked on Nancy Drew early in life, as I certainly did, and then graduated to more hardboiled types of detectives with grittier crimes to solve. So I definitely wanted to write a mystery at some point. Little did I know how difficult it is to put a mystery story together! It’s like trying to write the whole thing backwards. But since I am nothing if not stubborn, I’m sticking with it – one of my current WIPs is called The Case of the Cunning Linguist, and it’s a sexy murder-mystery set in Paris, with a former stripper turned PI.

 

Top 3 things on your bucket list? 

I’d love to live in Europe, own a winery, and have a threesome with Marky Mark and The Rock. My husband isn’t thrilled about that last one, but a girl can dream, can’t she?

How did you get the idea for this particular novel? 

A lot of my writing, Naked Montreal included, is based on the time I spent writing a sex column in Montreal. It featured personal essays, rather than a typical Q&A format, so I did a lot of research and spoke to a lot of interesting people in the city who are involved in the sex trade either professionally or recreationally. I met burlesque dancers, sex shop owners, indie porn producers and more – and many of them were these super intelligent, kick-ass women. As I was writing the column, I was also writing down a lot of ideas I had for stories based on things these people had told me about or ideas that naturally came from spending a lot of time thinking about sex and sex workers and the way most stories treat them. I wanted a strong female character who isn’t afraid to explore, and who doesn’t believe she will be punished for it. The Montreal setting makes perfect sense, because it’s a society that’s a lot more permissive in terms of expressing one’s sexuality and sexual experimentation (call it the French connection, if you will), and so eventually Frankie the sexy tour guide took up that particular role as the guide to all things sexy and stereotypically sinful – but with a wink and a smile.

 

What is your favorite scene in your new release? 

One of my favorite scenes takes place in a Montreal art museum. My main character, Frankie, meets her lover, Philippe, while admiring the artwork. He, on the other hand, is admiring her, and they flirt while moving through the museum, trading comments on the masterpieces on display.

What are you working on now and when can we expect it to be available?

I’m currently working on a few different books at once. Of the fictional titles, I’m hoping to have The Case of the Cunning Linguist ready for the end of November. It’s a sexy murder-mystery featuring wayward clergy and a stripper turned PI who’s got to solve the crime. Naturally, since my main genre is erotica, there will also be some steamy sex scenes! 

I’m also working on a nonfiction title called Confessions of a 3-Day Novelist, which is a how-to book that will teach you how to write a book over the course of a long weekend. It was inspired by my participation in the 3-Day Novel Contest, which takes place over Labor Day weekend every year.

What do you like to do when you are not writing? 

When I’m not writing, I’m typically researching new ideas, brainstorming for other books I’m thinking of writing, or reading. I also run the online literary magazine Black Heart (http://blackheartmagazine.com), so I’m frequently reading submissions, scheduling pieces for the blog, doing layout, and emailing staffers and contributors about their work. When I’m not doing all of that – which obviously requires plenty of coffee and chocolate to keep me going – I’ll either hit the gym, browse some local bookstores (because you can never have too many books), or otherwise try to get out of the house and away from the computer. But I’ll usually bring a notebook with me, just in case inspiration strikes!

What would you consider a perfect date? 

The perfect date is any time my husband and I get to go out for dinner together. Usually we stay in and cook dinner together, which is romantic to me too, but on special occasions I do like to get a little dressed up and try a new restaurant, and maybe a new cocktail as well. A totally perfect date would be dinner at a beachside restaurant so we could watch the sun set while drinking wine and having a great meal. Maybe that sounds a little corny, but I really enjoy the simple pleasures in life, and my husband loves the ocean, so that’s what would make both of us happy.

What is one interesting fact about you that readers don’t know? 

In high school, I was on two of the most unusual sports teams available. I made Varsity on both the bowling and badminton teams. Some might ask how these even qualify as sports, but I challenge you to roll a perfect game next time you’re out boozing on the lanes. As for badminton, our coach also coached the football team, so he took it extremely seriously. He trained us like football players, which is pretty funny because badminton is more akin to tennis, but his attitude was that if you’re going to play a sport, you ought to give it 110%. Our team definitely improved the year he took over, so I will give him credit for that. I remember him telling us that if we thought badminton was just some lazy outdoor game for bored yuppies, we ought see the way it’s played in India and Pakistan. Sure enough, many of the girls on the team were of Indian and Pakistani descent – which may explain why our school had a badminton team to begin with. In short, it’s all about stamina, quick reflexes and returning to the center of the court so you don’t get a birdie dropped right over the net while you’re in the back corner. If you want to get in shape and your tennis serve sucks (like mine does), give badminton a whirl. It’s quite the cardiovascular workout.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

Laura Roberts writes about sex, travel and ninjas. Because what's better than hot sex on a dream vacation while dodging shuriken? 

As the author of the “V for Vixen” sex column, Laura began her career writing about Montrealers’ sexcapades, which have been collected together for her book, The Vixen Files. Blending real-life observations with fictional fantasies, she’s penned parts 1 and 2 of her serial novel, Naked Montreal, along with the short story collection The Montreal Guide to Sex, saucy poetry volume 69 Sexy Haiku, and satirical novella Ninjas of the 512. She’s currently hard at work on a sexy murder mystery entitled The Case of the Cunning Linguist. 

Laura lives in an Apocalypse-proof bunker in sunny SoCal with her artist husband and their literary kitties, and blogs regularly at Buttontapper.com.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: 

Facebook: http://facebook.com/LauraRobertsWriter 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/originaloflaura 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4109040.Laura_Roberts 

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+LauraRobertsButtontapper/   

Blog: http://buttontapper.com/blog/  

 

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BUY LINKS: 

 

Amazon

B&N 

iBookstore  

Kobo 

Smashwords  

Signed by the author via Authorgraph

 

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Giveaway:

Laura will be awarding a $25 Amazon gift card + free ecopy of Naked Montreal to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.  Follow the tour HERE
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway