Welcome Loose ID author, Amber Lin!!

Welcome, Amber! So great to have you here! I am new to you and your stories so I am looking forward to this interview and getting to know you better. Loose ID is a really popular erotic romance publisher here in the UK so I'm sure my visitors will keep you company!

Okay, on with the questions...

1)   Did you set any goals for 2012?

The beginning of 2012 was a big time for me! I had just gotten an agent AND contracted Giving It Up. So I was incredibly psyched… well, I still am *grins* At the time I was way too excited to formulate goal-thoughts. Even now I try not to be too specific. The creative process as well as the publishing path are wacky, so it’s good to be flexible!

2)   What is the best part of the writing process for you?

It’s getting into the flow, or the zone, or finding your muse, or whatever your lingo is for that moment when everything fades away. The story is revealed to you and the words are coming out right. It’s magic.

3)   The worst part?

The very opposite. Hazy motivations, wooden writing. Ugh, ugh, ugh. I’ve heard people say that publishing isn’t a business, it’s a casino. Well, writing is the same way. Sometimes your luck runs hot, sometimes cold.

4)   What is the book you wish you’d written?

Laura Kinsale’s The Shadow and the Star. So incredibly complex and beautiful and nuanced and… everything good in a book. There are so many great books I would have loved to have written, but that one… I feel like my understanding barely touches the surface.

5)   Favourite author/s & book/s?

I love Cara McKenna and Tiffany Reisz for erotica… so it comes as no surprise that when I needed an endorsement for my book, I asked them. They were so kind to oblige me:

"A ballsy departure from romantic conventions. At once gritty and tender, stark and hopeful."
—Cara McKenna, author of Willing Victim

"Giving It Up is an erotic, compelling story that takes us to the shadowy, lonely places but doesn't leave us there. Amber Lin shows us that romance isn't just for the rich and shiny. Love can find its way even into the dark corners of the most damaged hearts."
—Tiffany Reisz, author of The Siren

Like the way I slipped that in? Very subtle. *grins*

I also love Charlotte Stein, Megan Hart. Oh, I particularly enjoyed Generational Sins by Samantha Blair. Very dark and intense!

6)   Tell us about your latest release?

Giving It Up follows a woman’s journey through healing… and smoking hot sex. Here’s the blurb:

Allie prowls the club for a man who will use her hard and then ditch her. Hey, it's not rape if she wants it. Instead she finds Colin, who looks tough but treats her tenderly, despite her protests.
He tempts her, but kindness and a few mindblowing orgasms aren't enough to put her back together again. Allie has no hope for a real relationship. Two years ago her best friend betrayed her in the worst possible way – she’d be stupid to trust a man again. Besides, she has her daughter to think of, the only good thing to have come from that dark night.
But when her rapist returns, threatening her sanity and custody of her daughter, Allie turns to Colin. Under his protection and patient touch, Allie begins to heal and learns to hope. Colin’s no saint, though, and his criminal past draws danger of its own. Allie must fight to protect her child and the man she loves, hoping her newfound power will be enough to save them all.
Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual situations, graphic language, and material that some readers may find objectionable: dubious consent.

7)   Tease us with a short excerpt

We stripped at the same time, both eager. I wanted to see his body, to witness what he offered me, but it was dark in the room. Then he kissed me back onto the bed, and there was no more time to wonder. The cheap bedspread was rough and cool against my skin. His hands stroked over my breasts and then played gently with my nipples.
My body responded, turning liquid, but something was wrong.
I’d had this problem before. Not everyone wanted to play rough, but I was surprised that I’d misread him. His muscles were hard, the pads of his fingers were calloused. I didn’t know how he could touch me so softly. Everything about him screamed that he could hurt me, so why didn’t he?
I wanted him to have his nasty way with me, but every sweet caress destroyed the illusion. My fantasy was to let him do whatever he wanted with me, but not this.
“Harder,” I said. “I need it harder.”
Instead his hands gentled. The one that had been holding my breast traced the curve around and under.
I groaned in frustration. “What’s wrong?”
He reached down, still breathing heavily, and pressed a finger lightly to my cunt, then stroked upward through the moisture. I gasped, rocking my hips to follow his finger.
“You like this,” he said.
Yes, I liked it. I was undeniably aroused but too aware. I needed the emptiness of being taken. “I like it better rough.”
Colin frowned. My eyes widened at the ferocity of his expression.
In one smooth motion he flipped me onto my stomach. I lost my breath from the surprise and impact. His left hand slid under my body between my legs and cupped me. His right hand fisted in my hair, pulling my head back. His erection throbbed beside my ass in promise. I wanted to beg him to fuck me, but all I could do was gasp. He didn’t need to be told, though, and ground against me, using my hair as a handle.
That small pain on my scalp was perfection, sharp and sweet. Numbness spread through me, as did relief.
The pain dimmed. My arousal did too, but that was okay. I was only vaguely aware of him continuing to work my body from behind.
I went somewhere else in my mind. I’d stay that way all night.
At least that’s what usually happened.

8)   What is your favourite attribute of the hero and heroine?

For the heroine Allie, that would be how much she cares about her daughter and her friends. She struggles with hurt from her past and her own self-esteem, but her devotion to the people she loves always manages to shine through. For the hero, Colin, it would be his patience. I believe that everyone deserves an HEA, even Allie with her self-destructive behavior and Colin with his own troubled past, so it was great to see them matched up so well.

9)   What’s next?

Right now I’m working on Shelly’s story, which is the sequel to Giving It Up. Shelly was Allie’s best friend… and she also happens to be a prostitute. So it’s pretty edgy stuff, but I’m having a great time writing it.

10)                  Tell me where you write?

Usually I write at my desk or just on my laptop around the house. Not too interesting, although I will admit to writing in the bathroom a few times. I know, it’s weird. My son would get nightmares at night, so I’d go in there with my laptop and the lights off and type away, but I could get to him quickly if I needed to. Ironically there is a noteworthy scene in Giving It Up that occurs on a bathroom floor. I honestly can’t remember if I write it while on a bathroom floor, but that’s silly J

11)                  Where would you like your career to be in 5 years?

I would definitely like to have published all the books in this series. Right now there is only Giving It Up and its sequel planned, although I’d like it to be a trilogy of novels in total, with perhaps a novella thrown in. I have more plans than that—I’m also working on a historical romance—but that would be a fantastic place to be in 5 years.

Giving it Up

by Amber Lin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Allie prowls the club for a man who will use her hard and then ditch her. Hey, it's not rape if she wants it. Instead she finds Colin, who looks tough but treats her tenderly, despite her protests.

He tempts her, but kindness and a few mindblowing orgasms aren't enough to put her back together again. Allie has no hope for a real relationship. Two years ago her best friend betrayed her in the worst possible way – she’d be stupid to trust a man again. Besides, she has her daughter to think of, the only good thing to have come from that dark night.

But when her rapist returns, threatening her sanity and custody of her daughter, Allie turns to Colin. Under his protection and patient touch, Allie begins to heal and learns to hope. Colin’s no saint, though, and his criminal past draws danger of its own. Allie must fight to protect her child and the man she loves, hoping her newfound power will be enough to save them all.

"A ballsy departure from romantic conventions. At once gritty and tender, stark and hopeful."
—Cara McKenna, author of Willing Victim

"Giving It Up is an erotic, compelling story that takes us to the shadowy, lonely places but doesn't leave us there. Amber Lin shows us that romance isn't just for the rich and shiny. Love can find its way even into the dark corners of the most damaged hearts."
—Tiffany Reisz, author of The Siren

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPTS

There’s a certain sultry walk a woman has when she’s bare that can’t be faked. No hose and no panties. The nakedness under my skirt was as much about keeping me aroused as it was about easy access.

I’d perfected the art of fuck-me clothes. A surprising number of men asked me out, even at a grungy club on a Saturday night. Cute little college girl, they thought, out for a good time. I saved us all time by dressing my part.

Tonight’s ensemble consisted of a tight halter and short skirt with cheap, high-heeled sandals, bouncing hair, and bloodred toenails. The scornful looks of the other women didn’t escape me, but I wasn’t so different from them. I wanted to be desired, held, touched. The groping fingers might be a cheap imitation of intimacy, its patina cracked with rust and likely to turn my skin green, but they were all I deserved.

My gaze panned to the man at the bar, the one I’d been watching all night. He nursed a beer, his profile harsh against the fluid backdrop of writhing bodies. His gray T-shirt hung loose on his abs but snug around thick arms.

His expression was unreadable, but I knew what he wanted. What else was there?

He glanced over but didn’t hit on me. I didn’t know why I kept tabs on him either. I wasn’t exactly discerning. I was trolling for sex, not a life partner. There were plenty of men here, men whose blackened pasts matched my own, who’d give it to me hard.

A woman approached him. Something dark and decidedly feminine roiled up inside me.

She was hot. If he wanted to score, he probably couldn’t do better, even with me. I tried not to stare. She walked away a minute later—rejected. I felt unaccountably smug. Which was stupid, since I didn’t have him either.

Maybe no one had a chance with this guy. I was pretty enough, in a girl-next-door kind of way. Common, though, underneath my slutty trappings—brown hair and brown eyes were standard issue around here.

“Hey, beautiful.”

I glanced up to see a cute guy wearing a sharp dress shirt checking me out. Probably an investment banker or something upstanding like that. Grinning and hopeful. Had I ever been that young? No, I was probably younger. At twenty-two I felt ancient. The world had already crumbled around me and been rebuilt, brick by brick.

“Sorry, pal,” I said. “Keep moving.”

“Aww, not even one dance?”

His puppy-dog eyes cajoled a smile from me. How nice it might feel to be one of the girls with nothing to worry about except whether this guy would call tomorrow morning. But I was too broken for his easy smile. I’d only end up hurting him.

“I am sorry,” I said, wistfulness seeping into my voice. “You’ll thank me later.”

Regret panged in my chest as the crowd sucked him back in, but I’d done the right thing. Even if he were only interested in a one-night hookup, my sex was too toxic for the likes of him.

I turned back to the guy at the bar. He caught my eye, looking—if possible—surlier. Cold and mean. Perfect. I wouldn’t taint him, and he could give me what I craved.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Amber Lin loves to read angsty romance with plenty of sex, so it was no surprise that her debut book turned out to be erotic romance set against a dark urban landscape. She writes with one rule in mind: it has to get worse before it can get better. She lives with her husband, son and passel of puppy dogs in the great state of Texas.

Website: http://authoramberlin.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/authoramberlin

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5827158.Amber_Lin

Book Video link:  http://youtu.be/5NQ7NTuzFFI

   One randomly drawn winner from each blog will receive a Giving It Up Swag Pack, which includes romance trading cards, a signed cover flat, a signature soap bar for showers together handcrafted by AnaBanana Creations and a $10 Amazon gift card.  One randomly drawn commenter on the tour will win an erotic romance prize pack, including paperback copies of Bared to You by Sylvia Day, Simply Carnal by Kate Pearce, Lessons in Letting Go by Cara McKenna (print combo of Willing Victim and Curio), Comfort Object by Annabel Joseph, a collection of signed Giving It Up swag AND a $50 Amazon Gift Card (BN.com or All Romance may be substituted)

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:  http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/05/virtual-book-tour-giving-it-up-by-amber.html