Story Behind the Story - Object of His Desire

Stats - Sent in full ms 7/14/08. Received offer 8/21/08. Published 3/17/09.

Almost 6 weeks between submission and the offer…it felt like forever. I have really bad luck when it comes to timing submissions to Samhain. For this one, I sent the full a week or so before RWA Nationals (of course, my editor attended, so she was super busy before, during and after conference). And then she went on a long vacation to Australia. In fact, she read the book on the flight and emailed me with the offer when she landed.

Little known fact – The book was originally titled With Him. My editor didn’t think the old title would totally grab a reader, so after a lot of mulling, I came up with Object of His Desire.

Extremely little known fact – Though it was published 6 months after Bound By Deception, Object of His Desire was the first m/m book I wrote, and it was my first attempt at writing a novella. I never used to think I could write novellas, but now I love them.

How did I get the idea for the book – It was so long ago, I can’t remember what sparked the initial idea for the characters. I checked my notes, and I started writing the book back in December 2007. Actually Shawn Lane and I started writing erotic romance at the same time (yep, we’ve been critique partners for that long…I can officially say ‘I knew her when…’ *g*). I started with a m/m/m/f book, but the scenes with only the guys were way more fun to write, so I put that book aside (it’s still ‘aside’, likely indefinitely) and started a m/m book. I wanted to keep it short, and since I had never written anything shorter than a 100,000 word novel, I figured the only way I could do it was by limiting the timeframe. The book occurs over 8 hours. That need to adhere to a short timetable was what drove the premise of the book.

If I could edit the book now, what would I change (if anything)? Lengthen their argument at the end of the book, the one before the last smex scene. I added to it during edits, but I wish I could have gotten Henry and Arsen to really have it out.

Will there be a sequel – I had thought about doing a sequel, but decided the idea would work better as a free short story. I already have it outlined, and plan to write it and post it to my website later this summer. Likely right after I finish Bound Forever.

Misc stuff – This was the book that taught me – you never know if you don’t ask. I used to enter unpublished author writing contests (RWA chapters sponsor them) and had submitted the first chapter of a m/f book to a bunch of contests. My eventual editor at Samhain was the final round judge for one of those contests. She liked my writing and requested the full manuscript (she also placed it 1st…yeah, I had to work that in there *g*). Contests take months from start to finish, so by the time I got the request, I had already contracted the book with another pub. But when I had Henry and Arsen’s book ready to submit to publishers, I remembered that request. I thought the book might fit well at Samhain, so I got some balls and sent the editor an email. A ‘thanks so much, unfortunately have already contracted that book, but I also write m/m and have a novella I would love to send you’. To my total shock, I got a ‘yes, would be interested in taking a look at it’ response. I got to skip the slush pile and send the book directly to an editor who I already knew at least liked my writing. Yeah, I was geeked, and I still can’t believe I had the balls to even ask. But it taught me that all important lesson – you won’t know if you don’t ask.

So that's the Story Behind the Story for Object of His Desire. If you have any questions, ask away!