The very lovely Tammy Dennings Maggy is my guest author today with her new release, The Surrender of Julia (Now and Forever 3)

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.

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