Home--Book Reviews--Interviews-Joey W. Hill
Posted: October 2010
"…known for writing the type of erotic romance that not only wins her fans of that genre, but readers who would “never” read BDSM romance". (Storywitch.com)
Let me tell you what I find so intriguing about the stories that Joey W Hill writes. No matter what you have heard about Joey W Hill, and the “types” of books she writes, I don’t want anyone reading this interview to misunderstand what’s at the heart of her writing, first and foremost, they are love stories. Be that as it may, they’re not your run of the mill ‘smoothie-smoothie’ kind of love story (grin), but make no mistake, they are love stories. These are not tales for the person with a weak constitution. They are gritty and graphic as she pushes the envelope with sex scenes that can be out right raw in their intensity, as she takes the reader into the very souls of her characters.
Joey W Hill challenges her readers to look beyond preconceived ideals of right and wrong and good and evil. Not just in dealing with sexual preferences, but in all things human and beyond. She has taken erotica from a reputation of smutty porn to a new level of intensity and approaches situations with an openness that is sure to make some squirm. Combining the world of erotica with other genres is nothing new, but the way Joey W Hill captures this combination is exhilarating. I certainly do not want discourage anyone thinking about picking up one of Joey Hill’s story for the first time. Actually quite the opposite; in fact I wholly encourage those of you who have not yet taken the plunge. Unless, of course, you are simply looking for a bit of slap and tickle; because, folks, Mrs. Hill doesn’t do anything simple.
Hi Joey and welcome!! I want to thank you for taking the time out of what I am sure is a very busy schedule and agreeing to this interview. Just in time for the latest book Vampire Trinity (Vampire Queen Series) due out last month. Whoo Hoo!!!
A. Barb, thanks for that amazing intro, and I’m delighted to be here at RR. Thanks for letting me visit. :> And I’m very excited about Vampire Trinity as well. This was Part 2 of Gideon’s story, which started with Vampire Mistress in May, and I loved writing about my first true threesome, where all three characters are wholly invested in the relationship. At the time, it was like emotional Twister, but I’m very happy with the end result.
Q. Your stories include many genres, BDSM, Fantasy, Paranormal, M/M, Erotica, etc. blending alot of them into one story. When I am reviewing your stories, the biggest problem I have is trying to decide what genre to put it under *grin*. This leads me to my next two questions;
A. How do you keep the character/relationship central to the story while still combining genres?
B. Are you books character or plot driven?
A. Let me start with B, because it helps to explain A. Oh, girl, you’ve read my work, so you already know the answer to B (laughter) - definitely character driven. I’m never going to be known as this amazing plotter, because I get so wrapped up in the characters – the wounds they have to heal, how they handle issues of surrender, trust and love - that I sometimes forget that there are any other matters to resolve in the story. This is why I have good critique partners, whose conversations with me sometimes go like this: “Er, Joey? Uh, the world was on the brink of annihilation and your characters were supposed to save us all. Yeah, they found forever love with one another through really intense, emotional sex scenes, but since the world’s about to end, it’s going to be a really short relationship. You might want to tie up that loose end. Just saying…”
All right, back to A – see, I didn’t even want to do the plot question before I answered the character one! (lol) Anyhow, truly, the answer to it is integration. I try to intertwine the two. For example, in my Vampire Queen series, the vampire-servant relationship is a Dominant/submissive one – my vampires are natural sexual Dominants, and regardless of the orientation of their servants, they use them both to fulfill their personal sexual cravings and as pawns in their erotic/political games with other vampires. The series opened with a 1000-year-old vampire queen and a former vampire hunter who actively seeks to be her servant, though he is an alpha who does not have a naturally submissive nature. As a result, that dynamic automatically intertwined the character and plot conflicts. Lyssa had a lot of challenging and dangerous issues to resolve with the Vampire Council, while fighting some pretty overwhelming personal and emotional matters. Jacob slowly evolves from an “inferior human”, into someone she entrusts with both her life and her heart. The situations they encounter with the Council and her other enemies furthers their relationship. That type of integration is a hallmark of all my work, because if a scene isn’t forwarding the characters’ relationship, if it’s only a “plot” moment, I will get bored, and that clues me in to the fact I’m not integrating the two elements of that particular scene well enough.
Your observation about finding it hard to classify my work gave me a grin, however, because 10 years ago, when I was having difficulty finding a home for my work, that was precisely one of the main reasons why – it was hard to know where it belonged. Fortunately readers’ enthusiastic response to epublishing/small press cross-genre offerings (which in turn led to the big publishing houses opening similar lines), has made it a far more friendly world to genre blending – to everyone’s benefit, I think. Readers now want all sorts of mixes - paranormal, romance, erotica, etc, and they’ve made those preferences loud and clear – bless them!
Q. The last time we spoke Vampire Queen’s Servant was your latest release, and the first book to go directly to print, and man you have just busted out since then. As I said in my recent review for Vampire Mistress, you have taken the normal slap and tickle and broken it to pieces, and I applaud you for that. Yet in the first book in your Daughters of Arianne series, A Mermaid’s Kiss, you seemed resistant to explore too intensely the erotic side of their relationship. Why was that?
A. Heavens, was it that long ago? Why does it seem like it was only a few months back? (laughter) This is why a writer becomes old and gray in what seems like a blink of time. Writing stories is like being in the Fae world, where the rest of the world is moving along at a rapid pace, whereas you’re just lost in your creations, never realizing five years have passed (darn it, that’s a lot of birthday and Christmas cards I missed sending – sorry, Mom!). Anyhow, where was I (writer ADD, sorry – lol). My agent felt I should pitch a more “sensual” series for the Berkley Sensation line (the vampires are Berkley Heat). I am very muse-driven, so if I didn’t have a more “sensual” story idea, I wouldn’t have run with it, but the angel hero/mermaid heroine idea had been playing in my head awhile and since their story was not a natural BDSM storyline, though still borderline erotic, I pursued it. Jonah and Anna, the characters in the first book, A Mermaid’s Kiss, had some definite D/s undercurrents (can’t completely drive it out of me – wicked grin), but it wouldn’t have worked as a hardcore storyline the way it did for the vampires. Their conflict had to do with Jonah, Prime Legion Commander for the Goddess, being soul-sick and experiencing a loss of faith in his centuries-old battle against the Dark Ones. Anna, as a gentle innocent who is cursed to die at twenty-one, yet possesses a fierce joy and faith in the good in life, was the perfect one to help him find himself again. That very conflict made their story a more sensual one, and it really wouldn’t have worked as a hardcore erotic. Now A Witch’s Beauty and Mermaid’s Ransom, the next two, dipped a little more deeply into eroticism, because it fit – Mina was a hugely prickly, angry personality that needed David’s strong hand, his natural dominance, and in Mermaid’s Ransom, Dante, who’s a half-vampire, half Dark One, was raised in a world where only power and brutality is respected, so he has to learn how to go from being a conqueror of Alexis’s soul to the protector and lover she truly needs.
In short, I’m rambling a bit, but I didn’t see it as resistance as much as being true to the storyline. Though I’m known for my hardcore BDSM work, if it doesn’t fit the characters/storyline, I won’t go that direction. I have several books – If Wishes Were Horses, Threads of Faith and…and… Okay, I have TWO books that went in a more erotic, less BDSM direction (laughter), because that’s what worked for those stories. If I’m not true to the characters, the muse is VERY quick to let me know I’ve gone the wrong direction. Think of the creative equivalent of electric shock applied to the soles of my feet (grin).
Q. In the third book in the Daughters of Arianne series, Mermaid’s Ransom, you plunged head first into the abyss with the “hero” Dante. Demanding one to look beyond the surface of the preconceive dichotomy of right and wrong and good and evil. Can you tell us what made you decide to probe such a dark arena? Also, was it difficult to write Dante’s story?
A. You’re right; the books of the Daughters of Arianne series, by virtue of their plotlines, have delved into some deep areas concerning the nature of good and evil inside each individual soul. I think every author, as we progress, subconsciously seeks challenges to our craft, and perhaps as we grow, the muse rewards – or curses (grin) – us by delivering us ever more difficult storylines. Being a muse-driven author, I do what She gives me – I’ve never turned away from a storyline She’s offered, though sometimes She and I have to differ on publisher schedules and timelines (laughter). Dante was been trapped in a brutal, horrible world all his life. The only code there was survival. It’s very significant that words like “compassion” or “kindness” are literally not in his vocabulary, such that Alexis has to explain to him what words like that mean.
I’ve read plenty of stories where the hero is “supposed” to be a bad guy, but in reality he’s just a crusty marshmallow. And that’s fine; that can be a very appealing character. But in this book, Dante had to stay true to who he was – he answers challenge at any level with quick brutality, and commits moral crimes without hesitation because his only morality is power. Giving him a heroine like Alexis, who is his exact opposite – she’s been cherished all her life by her parents’ love and the love of the angelic Dark Legion – and she’s an empath besides, was just too incredible of a challenge for this author to pass up. Beyond that, since my stories are always also character-driven, I wanted to explore how someone who’s truly done awful things could redeem himself or become a character worthy of Alexis’s love.
Writing this book was very difficult – like moving forward in a mine field, testing every step and determining if I’d made the wrong or right move. I didn’t feel I’d really connected to Dante until somewhere during the second full edit, which was a little nerve wracking. I I finally realized the way to him, as an author, was through Alexis’s viewpoint. Once that happened, I fell in love with him, every difficult corner of his soul, just like Alexis did.
Q. Your ability to draw the reader into turbulent and sometimes disturbing moments is touched also by your aptitude to bring in humor at the most needed times. Are these planned or just your own wicked sense of irony coming through?
A. Laughter – a little of both. There’s a rhythm when you write romance, even if it’s a romance that travels into some dark areas (as I’m told mine often does – grin). You have your pen on the pulse, so to speak, and sometimes when things get really intense, something clicks in your mind and you know you need something to loosen up that moment so it doesn’t get too dark for the reader. I’m not especially fond of books or movies that leave the audience with a “Life sucks and then we die” feeling. Laughter helps to infuse hope into the most challenging moments.
As to whether it’s a reflection of my own viewpoint, I have experienced that enough in my non-writing life that I’m sure that’s also why it comes out in my writing. When things have gotten difficult, whether in family/spousal relationships, or in the general state of the world, I’ve noticed that dry humor/irony helps loosen up the tightness in my chest, the sense that I’m about to explode. I have family members who also use humor at wickedly inappropriate moments, with quite appropriate results, and I think they’ve rubbed off on me in a big way. As a result, my characters often experience that as well.
Q. Has there ever been a time when a scene you were writing became too emotional, and you had to step back?
A. I feel like I’m just the conduit through which my characters tell their stories (and if I screw it up, it’s my fault, not theirs). As such, I’m a witness to their lives, and what they experience, past and present, has made me cry plenty of times. What’s more, I can go back to a book I wrote five years ago, and the same places will make me cry again. Of course, keep in mind I’m this way about my favorite movie/TV scenes, etc (grin – yes, I’m a big crybaby). As far as stepping back, I’m not sure I’ve ever had to do that. I might cry or get emotional about a scene while I’m typing, but I use that feeling, channel it into the scene and use it to carry me to its conclusion.
On another level, though my work isn’t factually autobiographical, I use the same strategy as method actors, where my writing reflects feelings and issues I struggle with personally. Therefore, keeping the keyboard going or the pen scratching is a form of therapy as well. I’m trying to find my own answers as the characters find theirs. Which means I’m typically embracing those feelings, rather than stepping away from them.
Now, that said, there is a scene in the upcoming July 2011 Vampire Instinct (Elisa and Mal’s story), that I didn’t want to write. The muse knew it had to be in there, but it was very difficult for me. It was one of those situations where I was sitting on the sidelines saying, “Please, please don’t let this happen.” But it had to, of course, just the way things occur in our lives we wish didn’t have to happen. I got through that scene, but I cried after it was over, and I never could get through an edit on it without blurry eyes. It haunted me for a while afterwards.
And now I’ve either piqued your interest enough for you to rush out and get it this summer, or made you go “Un-unh, I’m not reading THAT book!”. Chuckle. It is a good story, though (if I wrote it properly!). Don’t let me turn you away from Elisa and Mal. They do get a happy ending (or beginning, as the case may be!).
Q. Are there any guiding factors involved when you are writing a love scene?
A. Do you mean boundaries? If so, guffaw and snort (laughter). No, seriously, the characters themselves are the guiding factors. They tell me what they want and how they want it. Soft, gentle, tender, rough, passionate - the rise and fall of all those combined emotions and their physical manifestations. I never get tired of writing love scenes. I never worry about falling into the droning “Tab A into Slot B” scenes just because I’ve written so many. As I noted at the beginning, my problem is plotting – I long for the arrival of the love scene, because that’s when I can plunge deep into the characters and bring out their deepest longings and needs, which is the best part of writing erotic romance for me.
Q. You write such psychologically charged stories that are driven by some extraordinary sexual preferences mostly seen in the very complex lifestyle of BDSM. You are not afraid to admit you yourself are a sexual submissive. If you don’t mind me asking, when did you first discover that about yourself, or for that fact recognize it for what it was?
A. It was during the writing of my first erotic romance, Make Her Dreams Come True. Before that, there were early indicators: small clues even in my elementary school years, and full-blown disasters in my middle-school/high-school romantic relationships. I didn’t recognize any of that for what it was at the time, of course. While we learn the basics of sex education during our early years, we don’t learn a lot about those different manifestations of our sexuality. And that’s honestly probably not a bad thing, because of course as teens we are very susceptible to the power of suggestion.
However, when I started writing Make Her Dreams Come Truein my twenties, intending it as a “spicy” romance, it took a very unexpected turn. What was supposed to be a lot of erotic flirting and play, set in a mall over the course of one day, became a situation where a woman relinquished control to a Dominant stranger and bared some dark needs/cravings. As it unfolded in those pages, all the psychological aspects of sexual submission just unfolded inside of me, everything clicking together. It was pretty overwhelming at the time. I’m very grateful for my husband’s love and understanding, because he’s not a Dom. Needless to say, it was an emotional and bumpy revelation to spring on a then fairly young marriage (laughter).
Q. What motivated you to explore the more hardcore aspect of the D/s relationship in your Vampire Queen Series?
A. Since those first days of discovery with the more softcore Make Her Dreams Come True, I’ve become more confident in exploring a lot of different aspects of D/s. As noted earlier, when I write, the characters dictate what they need and want. The vampire-servant relationship, the vampires’ sense of superiority over humans, dictated more hardcore BDSM situations, since the vampires not only use their servants as political pawns, but test their loyalty under extreme circumstances. I couldn’t have written those scenes ten years ago, but as I’ve progressed through many stories, my comfort level with writing about more extreme D/s practices has progressed as well, such that when it suits the situation, it comes naturally to write it that way. The psychology comes mostly from me, as well as some very helpful readers who are at varying levels of the scene/orientation, but sometimes I get to do research on mechanics (and discover new and nifty toys and practices – grin).
Q. How difficult is it for you to put your characters into situations that will hurt them?
A. Well, as noted earlier, I consider myself a conduit through which they’re telling their stories. Now, whether that’s the truth, or what I tell myself so I don’t feel horrible about putting them in such situations, is a matter for debate. And not a debate with me, mind you - I won’t debate it, because if it turns out to be the latter, I don’t think I could keep doing it!
Q. When do you think the magnetism should begin between the hero and the heroine?
A. From the first moment they meet, for certain! I mean, they may not end up in each other’s arms ten seconds after that, but there should be a connection, a charge of energy that engages the reader’s interest and the writer’s as well. If I don’t feel it, I need to re-evaluate and rework that scene until I do.
Q. Let’s end this interview with a question just for the fun of it. What makes you laugh?
A. My husband. For twenty-two years, no matter what happens in my life, I can always rely on him to make me smile or laugh out loud just when I need that the most. Recently, when we had some friends get married, that was the advice we offered in our card - remember to always be best friends, and make each other laugh. When it comes down to it, I truly believe that’s the core of every enduring love story.
That brings us to the end of our interview; I really enjoyed putting this together and hope you had a good time with it also. Anyone interested learning more about Mrs. Hill should stop by her website at http://storywitch.com/.
If you’ve read her books and can’t get enough of her characters, be sure and visit the Joey W. Hill fan forum, at http://fansofjoeywhill.forumotion.com/forum.htm. The ladies who run the forum let Joey post free vignettes there featuring characters from her books, so that you can get glimpses of what happened after “The End”. There are also character interviews to find out what goes on “behind the scenes”. On top of that, the talented members of the forum offer fan fiction, awesome graphics based on the stories and characters, ongoing contests and many more wonderful things that celebrate Joey’s stories and the shared love of storytelling.
[Note: You do have to logon to see these “member-only” rooms, like the vignettes, but it’s a quick, 10-second process only requiring a valid email address and setting a password. It’s mainly to prevent spammers. Once you register, navigate away from the site, then come back, and you’ll see all the members-only areas.]
Thanks, Barbara, for letting me spend time with you and your readers. It was a delight!
As always Joey it's been a blast!!
Joey W Hill challenges her readers to look beyond preconceived ideals of right and wrong and good and evil. Not just in dealing with sexual preferences, but in all things human and beyond. She has taken erotica from a reputation of smutty porn to a new level of intensity and approaches situations with an openness that is sure to make some squirm. Combining the world of erotica with other genres is nothing new, but the way Joey W Hill captures this combination is exhilarating. I certainly do not want discourage anyone thinking about picking up one of Joey Hill’s story for the first time. Actually quite the opposite; in fact I wholly encourage those of you who have not yet taken the plunge. Unless, of course, you are simply looking for a bit of slap and tickle; because, folks, Mrs. Hill doesn’t do anything simple.
Hi Joey and welcome!! I want to thank you for taking the time out of what I am sure is a very busy schedule and agreeing to this interview. Just in time for the latest book Vampire Trinity (Vampire Queen Series) due out last month. Whoo Hoo!!!
A. Barb, thanks for that amazing intro, and I’m delighted to be here at RR. Thanks for letting me visit. :> And I’m very excited about Vampire Trinity as well. This was Part 2 of Gideon’s story, which started with Vampire Mistress in May, and I loved writing about my first true threesome, where all three characters are wholly invested in the relationship. At the time, it was like emotional Twister, but I’m very happy with the end result.
Q. Your stories include many genres, BDSM, Fantasy, Paranormal, M/M, Erotica, etc. blending alot of them into one story. When I am reviewing your stories, the biggest problem I have is trying to decide what genre to put it under *grin*. This leads me to my next two questions;
A. How do you keep the character/relationship central to the story while still combining genres?
B. Are you books character or plot driven?
A. Let me start with B, because it helps to explain A. Oh, girl, you’ve read my work, so you already know the answer to B (laughter) - definitely character driven. I’m never going to be known as this amazing plotter, because I get so wrapped up in the characters – the wounds they have to heal, how they handle issues of surrender, trust and love - that I sometimes forget that there are any other matters to resolve in the story. This is why I have good critique partners, whose conversations with me sometimes go like this: “Er, Joey? Uh, the world was on the brink of annihilation and your characters were supposed to save us all. Yeah, they found forever love with one another through really intense, emotional sex scenes, but since the world’s about to end, it’s going to be a really short relationship. You might want to tie up that loose end. Just saying…”
All right, back to A – see, I didn’t even want to do the plot question before I answered the character one! (lol) Anyhow, truly, the answer to it is integration. I try to intertwine the two. For example, in my Vampire Queen series, the vampire-servant relationship is a Dominant/submissive one – my vampires are natural sexual Dominants, and regardless of the orientation of their servants, they use them both to fulfill their personal sexual cravings and as pawns in their erotic/political games with other vampires. The series opened with a 1000-year-old vampire queen and a former vampire hunter who actively seeks to be her servant, though he is an alpha who does not have a naturally submissive nature. As a result, that dynamic automatically intertwined the character and plot conflicts. Lyssa had a lot of challenging and dangerous issues to resolve with the Vampire Council, while fighting some pretty overwhelming personal and emotional matters. Jacob slowly evolves from an “inferior human”, into someone she entrusts with both her life and her heart. The situations they encounter with the Council and her other enemies furthers their relationship. That type of integration is a hallmark of all my work, because if a scene isn’t forwarding the characters’ relationship, if it’s only a “plot” moment, I will get bored, and that clues me in to the fact I’m not integrating the two elements of that particular scene well enough.
Your observation about finding it hard to classify my work gave me a grin, however, because 10 years ago, when I was having difficulty finding a home for my work, that was precisely one of the main reasons why – it was hard to know where it belonged. Fortunately readers’ enthusiastic response to epublishing/small press cross-genre offerings (which in turn led to the big publishing houses opening similar lines), has made it a far more friendly world to genre blending – to everyone’s benefit, I think. Readers now want all sorts of mixes - paranormal, romance, erotica, etc, and they’ve made those preferences loud and clear – bless them!
Q. The last time we spoke Vampire Queen’s Servant was your latest release, and the first book to go directly to print, and man you have just busted out since then. As I said in my recent review for Vampire Mistress, you have taken the normal slap and tickle and broken it to pieces, and I applaud you for that. Yet in the first book in your Daughters of Arianne series, A Mermaid’s Kiss, you seemed resistant to explore too intensely the erotic side of their relationship. Why was that?
A. Heavens, was it that long ago? Why does it seem like it was only a few months back? (laughter) This is why a writer becomes old and gray in what seems like a blink of time. Writing stories is like being in the Fae world, where the rest of the world is moving along at a rapid pace, whereas you’re just lost in your creations, never realizing five years have passed (darn it, that’s a lot of birthday and Christmas cards I missed sending – sorry, Mom!). Anyhow, where was I (writer ADD, sorry – lol). My agent felt I should pitch a more “sensual” series for the Berkley Sensation line (the vampires are Berkley Heat). I am very muse-driven, so if I didn’t have a more “sensual” story idea, I wouldn’t have run with it, but the angel hero/mermaid heroine idea had been playing in my head awhile and since their story was not a natural BDSM storyline, though still borderline erotic, I pursued it. Jonah and Anna, the characters in the first book, A Mermaid’s Kiss, had some definite D/s undercurrents (can’t completely drive it out of me – wicked grin), but it wouldn’t have worked as a hardcore storyline the way it did for the vampires. Their conflict had to do with Jonah, Prime Legion Commander for the Goddess, being soul-sick and experiencing a loss of faith in his centuries-old battle against the Dark Ones. Anna, as a gentle innocent who is cursed to die at twenty-one, yet possesses a fierce joy and faith in the good in life, was the perfect one to help him find himself again. That very conflict made their story a more sensual one, and it really wouldn’t have worked as a hardcore erotic. Now A Witch’s Beauty and Mermaid’s Ransom, the next two, dipped a little more deeply into eroticism, because it fit – Mina was a hugely prickly, angry personality that needed David’s strong hand, his natural dominance, and in Mermaid’s Ransom, Dante, who’s a half-vampire, half Dark One, was raised in a world where only power and brutality is respected, so he has to learn how to go from being a conqueror of Alexis’s soul to the protector and lover she truly needs.
In short, I’m rambling a bit, but I didn’t see it as resistance as much as being true to the storyline. Though I’m known for my hardcore BDSM work, if it doesn’t fit the characters/storyline, I won’t go that direction. I have several books – If Wishes Were Horses, Threads of Faith and…and… Okay, I have TWO books that went in a more erotic, less BDSM direction (laughter), because that’s what worked for those stories. If I’m not true to the characters, the muse is VERY quick to let me know I’ve gone the wrong direction. Think of the creative equivalent of electric shock applied to the soles of my feet (grin).
Q. In the third book in the Daughters of Arianne series, Mermaid’s Ransom, you plunged head first into the abyss with the “hero” Dante. Demanding one to look beyond the surface of the preconceive dichotomy of right and wrong and good and evil. Can you tell us what made you decide to probe such a dark arena? Also, was it difficult to write Dante’s story?
A. You’re right; the books of the Daughters of Arianne series, by virtue of their plotlines, have delved into some deep areas concerning the nature of good and evil inside each individual soul. I think every author, as we progress, subconsciously seeks challenges to our craft, and perhaps as we grow, the muse rewards – or curses (grin) – us by delivering us ever more difficult storylines. Being a muse-driven author, I do what She gives me – I’ve never turned away from a storyline She’s offered, though sometimes She and I have to differ on publisher schedules and timelines (laughter). Dante was been trapped in a brutal, horrible world all his life. The only code there was survival. It’s very significant that words like “compassion” or “kindness” are literally not in his vocabulary, such that Alexis has to explain to him what words like that mean.
I’ve read plenty of stories where the hero is “supposed” to be a bad guy, but in reality he’s just a crusty marshmallow. And that’s fine; that can be a very appealing character. But in this book, Dante had to stay true to who he was – he answers challenge at any level with quick brutality, and commits moral crimes without hesitation because his only morality is power. Giving him a heroine like Alexis, who is his exact opposite – she’s been cherished all her life by her parents’ love and the love of the angelic Dark Legion – and she’s an empath besides, was just too incredible of a challenge for this author to pass up. Beyond that, since my stories are always also character-driven, I wanted to explore how someone who’s truly done awful things could redeem himself or become a character worthy of Alexis’s love.
Writing this book was very difficult – like moving forward in a mine field, testing every step and determining if I’d made the wrong or right move. I didn’t feel I’d really connected to Dante until somewhere during the second full edit, which was a little nerve wracking. I I finally realized the way to him, as an author, was through Alexis’s viewpoint. Once that happened, I fell in love with him, every difficult corner of his soul, just like Alexis did.
Q. Your ability to draw the reader into turbulent and sometimes disturbing moments is touched also by your aptitude to bring in humor at the most needed times. Are these planned or just your own wicked sense of irony coming through?
A. Laughter – a little of both. There’s a rhythm when you write romance, even if it’s a romance that travels into some dark areas (as I’m told mine often does – grin). You have your pen on the pulse, so to speak, and sometimes when things get really intense, something clicks in your mind and you know you need something to loosen up that moment so it doesn’t get too dark for the reader. I’m not especially fond of books or movies that leave the audience with a “Life sucks and then we die” feeling. Laughter helps to infuse hope into the most challenging moments.
As to whether it’s a reflection of my own viewpoint, I have experienced that enough in my non-writing life that I’m sure that’s also why it comes out in my writing. When things have gotten difficult, whether in family/spousal relationships, or in the general state of the world, I’ve noticed that dry humor/irony helps loosen up the tightness in my chest, the sense that I’m about to explode. I have family members who also use humor at wickedly inappropriate moments, with quite appropriate results, and I think they’ve rubbed off on me in a big way. As a result, my characters often experience that as well.
Q. Has there ever been a time when a scene you were writing became too emotional, and you had to step back?
A. I feel like I’m just the conduit through which my characters tell their stories (and if I screw it up, it’s my fault, not theirs). As such, I’m a witness to their lives, and what they experience, past and present, has made me cry plenty of times. What’s more, I can go back to a book I wrote five years ago, and the same places will make me cry again. Of course, keep in mind I’m this way about my favorite movie/TV scenes, etc (grin – yes, I’m a big crybaby). As far as stepping back, I’m not sure I’ve ever had to do that. I might cry or get emotional about a scene while I’m typing, but I use that feeling, channel it into the scene and use it to carry me to its conclusion.
On another level, though my work isn’t factually autobiographical, I use the same strategy as method actors, where my writing reflects feelings and issues I struggle with personally. Therefore, keeping the keyboard going or the pen scratching is a form of therapy as well. I’m trying to find my own answers as the characters find theirs. Which means I’m typically embracing those feelings, rather than stepping away from them.
Now, that said, there is a scene in the upcoming July 2011 Vampire Instinct (Elisa and Mal’s story), that I didn’t want to write. The muse knew it had to be in there, but it was very difficult for me. It was one of those situations where I was sitting on the sidelines saying, “Please, please don’t let this happen.” But it had to, of course, just the way things occur in our lives we wish didn’t have to happen. I got through that scene, but I cried after it was over, and I never could get through an edit on it without blurry eyes. It haunted me for a while afterwards.
And now I’ve either piqued your interest enough for you to rush out and get it this summer, or made you go “Un-unh, I’m not reading THAT book!”. Chuckle. It is a good story, though (if I wrote it properly!). Don’t let me turn you away from Elisa and Mal. They do get a happy ending (or beginning, as the case may be!).
Q. Are there any guiding factors involved when you are writing a love scene?
A. Do you mean boundaries? If so, guffaw and snort (laughter). No, seriously, the characters themselves are the guiding factors. They tell me what they want and how they want it. Soft, gentle, tender, rough, passionate - the rise and fall of all those combined emotions and their physical manifestations. I never get tired of writing love scenes. I never worry about falling into the droning “Tab A into Slot B” scenes just because I’ve written so many. As I noted at the beginning, my problem is plotting – I long for the arrival of the love scene, because that’s when I can plunge deep into the characters and bring out their deepest longings and needs, which is the best part of writing erotic romance for me.
Q. You write such psychologically charged stories that are driven by some extraordinary sexual preferences mostly seen in the very complex lifestyle of BDSM. You are not afraid to admit you yourself are a sexual submissive. If you don’t mind me asking, when did you first discover that about yourself, or for that fact recognize it for what it was?
A. It was during the writing of my first erotic romance, Make Her Dreams Come True. Before that, there were early indicators: small clues even in my elementary school years, and full-blown disasters in my middle-school/high-school romantic relationships. I didn’t recognize any of that for what it was at the time, of course. While we learn the basics of sex education during our early years, we don’t learn a lot about those different manifestations of our sexuality. And that’s honestly probably not a bad thing, because of course as teens we are very susceptible to the power of suggestion.
However, when I started writing Make Her Dreams Come Truein my twenties, intending it as a “spicy” romance, it took a very unexpected turn. What was supposed to be a lot of erotic flirting and play, set in a mall over the course of one day, became a situation where a woman relinquished control to a Dominant stranger and bared some dark needs/cravings. As it unfolded in those pages, all the psychological aspects of sexual submission just unfolded inside of me, everything clicking together. It was pretty overwhelming at the time. I’m very grateful for my husband’s love and understanding, because he’s not a Dom. Needless to say, it was an emotional and bumpy revelation to spring on a then fairly young marriage (laughter).
Q. What motivated you to explore the more hardcore aspect of the D/s relationship in your Vampire Queen Series?
A. Since those first days of discovery with the more softcore Make Her Dreams Come True, I’ve become more confident in exploring a lot of different aspects of D/s. As noted earlier, when I write, the characters dictate what they need and want. The vampire-servant relationship, the vampires’ sense of superiority over humans, dictated more hardcore BDSM situations, since the vampires not only use their servants as political pawns, but test their loyalty under extreme circumstances. I couldn’t have written those scenes ten years ago, but as I’ve progressed through many stories, my comfort level with writing about more extreme D/s practices has progressed as well, such that when it suits the situation, it comes naturally to write it that way. The psychology comes mostly from me, as well as some very helpful readers who are at varying levels of the scene/orientation, but sometimes I get to do research on mechanics (and discover new and nifty toys and practices – grin).
Q. How difficult is it for you to put your characters into situations that will hurt them?
A. Well, as noted earlier, I consider myself a conduit through which they’re telling their stories. Now, whether that’s the truth, or what I tell myself so I don’t feel horrible about putting them in such situations, is a matter for debate. And not a debate with me, mind you - I won’t debate it, because if it turns out to be the latter, I don’t think I could keep doing it!
Q. When do you think the magnetism should begin between the hero and the heroine?
A. From the first moment they meet, for certain! I mean, they may not end up in each other’s arms ten seconds after that, but there should be a connection, a charge of energy that engages the reader’s interest and the writer’s as well. If I don’t feel it, I need to re-evaluate and rework that scene until I do.
Q. Let’s end this interview with a question just for the fun of it. What makes you laugh?
A. My husband. For twenty-two years, no matter what happens in my life, I can always rely on him to make me smile or laugh out loud just when I need that the most. Recently, when we had some friends get married, that was the advice we offered in our card - remember to always be best friends, and make each other laugh. When it comes down to it, I truly believe that’s the core of every enduring love story.
That brings us to the end of our interview; I really enjoyed putting this together and hope you had a good time with it also. Anyone interested learning more about Mrs. Hill should stop by her website at http://storywitch.com/.
If you’ve read her books and can’t get enough of her characters, be sure and visit the Joey W. Hill fan forum, at http://fansofjoeywhill.forumotion.com/forum.htm. The ladies who run the forum let Joey post free vignettes there featuring characters from her books, so that you can get glimpses of what happened after “The End”. There are also character interviews to find out what goes on “behind the scenes”. On top of that, the talented members of the forum offer fan fiction, awesome graphics based on the stories and characters, ongoing contests and many more wonderful things that celebrate Joey’s stories and the shared love of storytelling.
[Note: You do have to logon to see these “member-only” rooms, like the vignettes, but it’s a quick, 10-second process only requiring a valid email address and setting a password. It’s mainly to prevent spammers. Once you register, navigate away from the site, then come back, and you’ll see all the members-only areas.]
Thanks, Barbara, for letting me spend time with you and your readers. It was a delight!
As always Joey it's been a blast!!
