How the Villainess Julia Santos Talked Me into Telling
Her Story
All writers have those
characters that grab hold of us and won’t let go until their story is told. For
me, all of the characters in my Now and Forever have that effect on me, but one
in particular caught me so off guard, I couldn’t ignore her.
Julia Santos started out as
just a blip in the back story for one of the heroes in For the Love of Quinn (Now and
Forever 1). She wasn’t meant to be more than that, but no one told her.
LOL! As soon as folks read about her, they wanted to know more. Sure it was
phrased as wanting to know more about Jake’s back story and how it was that he
and Quinn were soul mates, but that story couldn’t be told without revisiting
with Julia and all the baggage she brought to the table.
I’m not kidding when I say
she brought a lot of baggage. For one, she’s bisexual. That in itself isn’t a
problem for me, but it was a HUGE problem for the publisher who put out the
first two books in the series. At first, I had too much of her story in The
Island (Now and Forever 2) and had to cut it out. I decided to write a
book parallel to that one and call it The Surrender of Julia (Now and Forever 3).
I submitted that to the publisher and received a very nicely worded rejection
letter.
They didn’t think the
readership I had so far would accept the mixed sexual pairings. Julia loved sex
and had both male and female lovers. Her soul mate is in fact a woman, but she
has a lot of action with the men in her life too. I was told this wasn’t acceptable
and wouldn’t fit into that publisher’s imprints. They liked the story itself
and felt the characters were strong, but it just wasn’t for them.
So I decided to publish her
story on my own with Sassy Vixen Publishing—after the first publisher exercised
their right to first refusal for this and the rest of the series of course. ;)
You better believe I made sure of THAT before I decided to keep going with this
story and series on my own. Now Julia’s story could be told without more
setbacks.
Yeah, not quite.
The second issue some have
had with Julia is she is most definitely NOT your average heroine. She’s a
grade A bitch, hedonistic, and selfish in EVERY aspect of her life both
professional and personal. This posed a problem with one of the editors. She
felt Julia didn’t show remorse or take steps toward her redemption soon enough
in the story. She felt Julia was
unlikeable or would even be hated by some romance readers.
Well, of course she’ll be
hated! She’s not the likeable type and we find out why slowly as her story
unfolds. If I would’ve had her repent and become a Goody Two Shoes after the
first couple of chapters, I wouldn’t have told her true story. It took her
YEARS to get to the point in her life where she allowed herself to have the
HEA, why should I shorten the journey just to make her “likeable” to a few
readers early on? It’s her journey to find herself that’s the story. She needs
to be able to forgive and love herself before she can move forward with giving
her heart to someone again.
Julia is the perfect example
of someone who suffered through the unimaginable as a child and was able to
persevere into a successful adult. She went from someone used and abused to the
user and yes, abuser. That’s why she’s my favorite. She’s real, raw, and in
your face and yet the vulnerable child is still there, waiting for her chance
to be happy again.
This is why I had to tell her
story. That little girl called out to me and begged for me not to forget about
her or let Julia go without showing her it’s never too late for bad girls to
find their happily ever after.
L.A. artist phenom Julia Santos appeared to have it
all. Bisexual and hedonistic, she grasped hold of her life with both hands. But
unknown to those around her, inside she was lost. While her best friend Carmen,
a Domme, gave her a sense of security she’d never felt before, Julia fled from
giving herself over fully to her and love.
Still reeling from the effects of an abusive
childhood, Julia denied her growing feelings for Carmen and ran straight into
the arms of adoring men, dominating them with her seductive nature to get what
she wanted from them. However, the erotic power she held over them didn’t give
her the comfort she craved.
As she hurled herself further down the path of
self-destruction, her behavior caught the attention of the Goddess Fate and her
Guardian Angel Daniel. Together they intervene and transport her to the realm
between life and death called the Island. There she’s given a choice: stay and
wait for her next rebirth, or go back and fight to be with the one who had been
there for her through every lifetime.
Will she take the easy way out and leave all the pain
behind, or will she choose the long and hard road in order to have her happily
ever after with the Mistress of her dreams?
Publisher: Sassy Vixen
Publishing LLC
Heat Level: SEXTREME
Genre: Erotic Contemporary
Romance
Categories: LGBT, bisexual,
BDSM, spanking,
Fantasy, redemption, erotic, Paranormal elements
Sexual pairings: M/F and F/F
Read an excerpt
“Julia, what on earth are we
going to do with you?” Dr. Mario Carlos locked the door to the private hospital
room and dimmed the lights. “You know how the nurses love to gossip.
Eventually, one of them will put two and two together and figure out you’ve
been faking all of these so called accidents.”
“Don’t kid yourself. I’ve not
faked anything to get here. You know very well I’ve been preoccupied lately and
under a lot of stress. I wouldn’t call these things accidents but more like
I’ve been distracted.”
“What? Your boy toy-muse not able
to alleviate the stress you have?” He snorted dismissively then turned on the
charm once again. “You need professional help and I’ve got what you need right
here.” Dr. Carlos held up a small green
vial of pills and shook them in front of her face.
She raised her eyebrows and
licked her lips. “I’m not one of your other patients who come here for drugs.”
Mario shrugged. “You had to have
a lot of stitches for that gash in your arm. When the local wears off, you’ll
wish you had these bad boys.”
“Fine. If it will get you to shut
up about it, I’ll take them.” Julia snatched them out of his hand and tossed
them into the drawer with her purse. “I don’t need drugs from you and you know
it.”
“Call it what you want but sooner
or later, you will end up the hot topic around the nurses’ station. Some may
even think you’re doing this on purpose to drum up publicity for your gallery.”
Mario moved slowly across the room and stood inches from her.
His subtle musky cologne filled
her nostrils and set her skin on fire. She wanted him. Now. “Who cares what
those nosy bitches think.” She reached out and rubbed his already hard cock
through his scrubs. “I need this pounding the hell out of my pussy right
now. So stop talking and start fucking.”
Julia didn’t care what anyone else thought and right now, including Jacob. All
she could think about was her current lover’s glorious cock filling her to the
brim… the one outlet she knew would relieve her of the emotional upheaval the
call from her mother set into motion.
Ever since being wheeled through
the doors of the hospital, only the anticipation of Mario’s tongue darting in
and out of her ass and pussy mattered. Just the flick of his tongue over his
own lips made her shiver with delight and soak her thong.
The very same thong the good
doctor tore from her body seconds after lifting her up to sit on top of sink in
her bathroom. Her fingers wound through his dark wavy hair as his mouth
plundered hers, taking her breath away. She loved the power she held over this
man. Any time, any place she wanted, he always obliged. Tonight would be no
exception.
Of course he kept her waiting a
good half hour after Jacob left before he graced her with his presence.
She wasn’t amused by the delay
and couldn’t care less if some other patients required his attention. It’d been
their arrangement that whenever she showed up, he’d drop whatever and whoever
and come running.
Now finally, he sheathed his dick
with one of those ribbed condoms she demanded he wear whenever they fucked.
Julia still felt a bit miffed at
him, but the feeling of his hands on her bare ass temporarily cleared her mind
of all her complaints and the shit with her family.
Mario spread her legs wider,
lifting her from the sink as he buried his dick in her dripping cunt.
Julia moaned and sighed as he
slowly pulled out and plunged back in repeatedly. Even through it felt
fantastic to finally have him fucking her, she wanted more. She wanted to be
pounded until she was a quivering glob of jelly. Then maybe the images of her
childhood would fade from her mind’s eye again. He knew what she desired and
yet continued the slow pace, pissing her off anew. “Stop teasing me and give me
what I want. Now!” Julia pulled his mouth away from hers, but not before she
bit down on his lower lip, nearly drawing blood.
“You’ll pay for that, bitch.”
****
About the Author
As the founder of Sassy Vixen Publishing, Tammy
has a lot on her plate. Not only has she established herself as an erotic
romance author with Siren Bookstrand, but she's also published two books of
poetry and has many more projects underway. Finding time to write and keep up a
full schedule as a veterinarian in a very busy practice in the Pacific Northwest
has been a difficult task, but one she takes on happily with the help of her
husband, “Mr. Vixen.”
Through her website/blog Behind
Closed Doors and her blog Not
Enough Time in the Day you can get a glimpse into her hectic schedule.
Now she can add Best Selling Author to her resume as her vampire inspired
poetry book The Courtship of the Vampyre is one of the
top sellers on Omnilit (ARe affiliate).
The love of books of all genres helped her decide
to write under four pen names. This way she's able to tell the stories all of
her characters wish to tell whether it's the sweet and sensual or hot and
spicy. Speaking of spicy, Tammy is also part of the Four Seduced Muses along with three
of her Siren author friends. No topic is off limits with the Muses and that's
the way “The Vixen” likes it!
Readers can also connect with her and her alter
egos through Facebook and Twitter.
BUY the book: Amazon All Romance ebooks Omnilit Smashwords Barnes and Noble Kobo
Where to find Tammy : Website Blog Bookstrand Amazon Barnes and Noble Smashwords Sassy VixenPublishing Facebook Author Page Goodreads Twitter Youtube
