A Beast’s Belle
1. What really inspired you to write your book, to force you from taking an idea or experience and conveying it into a book?
I’ve always found the Beauty and the Beast story both beautiful and troubling. It involves a lot of powerful themes, about the transformative power of love, but also some that are problematic. Given that the story is starting to come back into the limelight with the release of a new film, I thought it would be an interesting subject to explore as a book.
2. What is it about and whom
do you believe is your targeted reader?
The erotic romance audience is a new group of readers for me to interact with, and I’m excited to step my toe in the water of a complicated and still very lively genre. Because the book takes and reimagines the classic story of Beauty and the Beast, with elements of bondage, discipline, and sadomasochism, I hope that it can appeal to a wide cross-section of readers interested in erotic romance and interested in the classic story.
The erotic romance audience is a new group of readers for me to interact with, and I’m excited to step my toe in the water of a complicated and still very lively genre. Because the book takes and reimagines the classic story of Beauty and the Beast, with elements of bondage, discipline, and sadomasochism, I hope that it can appeal to a wide cross-section of readers interested in erotic romance and interested in the classic story.
3. What do you hope will be
the everlasting thoughts for readers who finish your book? What should
remain with them long after putting it down?
This is an especially difficult question, given that the book is the opening of a series; I think the major goal, for the first book, is for people to start to grasp how kinky relationships can work, be healthy, and provide valuable support for people disenchanted with the world outside the proverbial manor. If I communicate that a problematic story, like a relationship with an outwardly difficult appearance, can (in some cases) be powerful and good, then I would consider that an enormous success.
This is an especially difficult question, given that the book is the opening of a series; I think the major goal, for the first book, is for people to start to grasp how kinky relationships can work, be healthy, and provide valuable support for people disenchanted with the world outside the proverbial manor. If I communicate that a problematic story, like a relationship with an outwardly difficult appearance, can (in some cases) be powerful and good, then I would consider that an enormous success.
4. What advice or words of
wisdom do you have for fellow writers?
I’m still starting out in fiction, but I suppose that the thing that has served me best is really old advice: read everything, and try to write as widely as you can. It’s all well and good to find your niche, to find a family of stories that you want to tell, but it’s also important to push yourself to do new things, to explore new ideas and approaches to stories. Even if you fancy yourself a horror writer, taking the time to explore science fiction, mystery, or (in the case of this project, for me) erotic romance can expand your skills and mind, and can enrich your worlds.
I’m still starting out in fiction, but I suppose that the thing that has served me best is really old advice: read everything, and try to write as widely as you can. It’s all well and good to find your niche, to find a family of stories that you want to tell, but it’s also important to push yourself to do new things, to explore new ideas and approaches to stories. Even if you fancy yourself a horror writer, taking the time to explore science fiction, mystery, or (in the case of this project, for me) erotic romance can expand your skills and mind, and can enrich your worlds.
5. What trends in the book world
do you see and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?
I have a hard time reading the changing landscape; dystopian novels, medieval and gothic aesthetics, shifts back to American western images in science fiction, are all features that I see popping up a lot. Then again, those are also features that crop up throughout writing in various genres dating back at least a century, so I’m not sure if they count as trends. My hope is that younger writers think more closely about the medium; in a world where television is so good, it is really important to remember that there are things we can do in the written word that are more difficult to do on screen, getting into the depth of feeling, the interrelations of memories, and other features of our mental life in a way that other media can’t.
I have a hard time reading the changing landscape; dystopian novels, medieval and gothic aesthetics, shifts back to American western images in science fiction, are all features that I see popping up a lot. Then again, those are also features that crop up throughout writing in various genres dating back at least a century, so I’m not sure if they count as trends. My hope is that younger writers think more closely about the medium; in a world where television is so good, it is really important to remember that there are things we can do in the written word that are more difficult to do on screen, getting into the depth of feeling, the interrelations of memories, and other features of our mental life in a way that other media can’t.
6. What great challenges did
you have in writing your book?
Honestly, just grinding through it every day is hard; it is really easy for me to get some ideas for a new project and then distract myself on the new project. This is especially rough if I’m being productive on that new project and I feel like I’m in a rut with the old one. One of the great bits of wisdom in Stephen King’s “On Writing” is so simple and so hard: “read a lot and write a lot.” And that isn’t just about starting projects, but also using that energy to follow through.
Honestly, just grinding through it every day is hard; it is really easy for me to get some ideas for a new project and then distract myself on the new project. This is especially rough if I’m being productive on that new project and I feel like I’m in a rut with the old one. One of the great bits of wisdom in Stephen King’s “On Writing” is so simple and so hard: “read a lot and write a lot.” And that isn’t just about starting projects, but also using that energy to follow through.
7. If people can only buy one
book this month, why should it be yours?
I
certainly hope that no one is in a position where they can only buy one book a
month, but I hope that the audience for whom this book is written appreciates
it. The goal is to provide a more ethical framework for understanding the
power-dynamics of a kinky relationship than some of the other titles on the
market, while at the same time drawing attention to some of the beautiful and
troubling elements of an old story that has captured so many imaginations over
the years. If that’s something that folks want, then I hope that they find it
in “A Beast’s Belle.”
J. Gambardella was born and
raised in northern California, where he was fortunate to be raised around a
rich library in a single-parent home, affording him enormous time to read. As a
young adult he worked in a bookstore, where he had the opportunity to interact
with some of the greatest literary minds northern and central California had to
offer, taking their advice and applying it to his own fancies and
fantasies. He has advanced degrees in both the arts and the
sciences. He adopted a pseudonym to work in erotic romance, and looks
forward to an illustrious career sharing his perverted and idealistic
imagination with a new audience. For more info, see: https://www.facebook.com/jgambardellaauthor
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