Welcome to my stop on the Absolutely Erotic Blog Hop, where we’re showcasing erotica and erotic romance authors from the Absolute Write forums. Each day, interviews will be posted, and when it’s all said and done, some lucky commenter will win a boot-load of goods! Click Here for the entire blog schedule and details about the contents of the prize, and how to win an armload of ebooks, a $25 Amazon gift card, and more.
Today, I’m hosting: Ravon Silvius, Author of The Exam and Noble Magic. Ravon has a number of M/M works published through Extasy Books. Stay tuned below for details on which one of the two gorgeous stories below will be up for grabs in the AE blog hop.
Ravon, it's good to have you here with us.
Hey
all! Thanks so much for interviewing me!
Q: You mostly write M/M romance with a sci fi/Fantasy kick. Why do you write M/M in
particular?
A: I prefer M/M because it’s what I relate
to more. I also prefer genre elements in my work because I enjoy the challenge
of coming up with fantastical ideas. Contemporary is all fine and dandy, but I
often find myself wanting something more otherworldly in a story. I like
getting sucked into a new world as much as I enjoy reading about characters,
and the same is reflected in my writing.
Q: In our line of work, there is always a list of hot content that some readers or publishers might find uncomfortable. Is there any topic you find too taboo to cover?
A: Other than the usual stuff that publishers
don’t want to publish (you know what I mean), not really. I tend to be fairly
open-minded.
Q: What tempted you into a writing career, and are there any times that you regret taking it up?
A: While writing is not my
career, I wish it could be. I have a surfeit of ideas and worlds that I would
love more time to write out and explore, and eight hours more a day to write sounds
like a dream. Of course, there is always the risk of getting bored or going
stir-crazy if I worked from home. ;)
Q: When you do get a chance to write, then, do you listen to music? And if you had to
include a soundtrack with one of your books, could you give us the book title and
three tracks that would be on that soundtrack?
A: I
had a lot of inspiration from the band “Infected Mushroom” for Perils of
Forgotten Pain, just from a lot of their instrumental stuff. I’m one of
those people who listen to individual songs as opposed to soundtracks, but I
definitely have come across songs and artists that reflect my work or inspire
ideas. I really like techno, and I even have a weekly little feature on my blog
called techno Tuesdays where I share my favorite songs.
Q: What’s the one question you’d most like to be asked when people find out you’re
a writer?
A: I’d love to meet someone who wants to talk about my writing and my characters. I think that’s true of many writers, though. For someone who just found out about my writing, I think the best question would be “where can I buy your books?” ;)
Q: Lol. Talking about your writing, what's the funniest scene you've ever written?
A: Hmmm...I'm not huge on comedy, just because I find it hard to write, but Nick
and Julian's interactions in Alpha were rather amusing. Both of them have
slightly more resilient personalities in the face of
hardship than other characters I've written, so they were easier to
write more humorous scenes for.
Q: What is the hardest scene you’ve had to write?
A:Definitely
in the book Remembrance-the scene where Aldric tries to leave. That entire
sequence of events, from Daniel's semi-rejection to Aldric's eventual injury,
were definitely the most intense I've written in a while.
Q: Are there any characters that you’ve written who you really dislike?
A: I
can't say I dislike any of my characters all that much. I would find it hard to
write about people I hated. There are some characters, of course, who I like
less than others. Blake in Remembrance was the epitome of hypocrisy, and even
though he wasn't a villain, Sam in the WaterLord trilogy was kind of meant to
be a person with the typical weak, jealous personality that would get on my
nerves. And Lady Victeni, in my new Enforcer's series, is the kind of
closeminded aristocrat that is easy to hate.
Q: So let's turn it around onto your favourite male lead chracter. He's sitting opposite you right now: what would be his
reaction to the everything you’ve put him through, and what would you say to him?
A: Ooh,
tough question. I tend to put my characters through hell-I think most writes
do. It drives conflict! I don’t think any of my characters would be
particularly pleased with me, but my only defense would be that it’s what
readers want to see. Their stories entertain, and hopefully, make people think,
too.
Q: If you could go back, is there anything you would change in your novels?
A: For
the most part, when a story is done, its done in my head. However, I would
have liked to have fleshed out Ruthen more in the Waterlord trilogy. He was
kind of a faceless villain throughout, and I probably could have done more with
him. And there are always untold stories, but that's more along the lines of
adding more books or spinoffs than really changing novels.
Q: We're both part of Absolute Write Water Cooler, and on there we see many authors, aspiring and pro that come through. After your time on Absolute Write, what’s the one piece of advice you’d give to an aspiring author?
A: The thing about writing is that its different for everyone. Depending on the kind of writer you are, different advice works better. Some good catch-all advice is to just write rather than talking about writing, to be humble and appreciate the importance of editing, and to find an honest editor. I need my work whipped into shape before it can be seen by the public.
Q: Staying with Absolute Write for a moment, the one thing that I see is that writers sometimes have the strangest writing rituals to get them in the mood for writing. Do you have any particluar habits that you find yourself slave to?
A: My only habit is trying to get
a certain number of words on a page per day. I don't really have a routine
other than just sitting down to write when there's time.
My cat has made a habit of coming to
sit in my lap while I write, though.
Q: So, other than your cat, lol, who knows you write erotica?
A: Only my closest friends. I can’t even
imagine telling anyone else, even my parents!
Q: That must make communication with readers and reviewers that little more special. Do you read reviews of your work? And which is your best one so far?
A: I stay aware of the general
consensus on my novels, but I try not to read reviews that often. I am
eternally grateful for anyone who takes the time to review them, though!
Q: And finally, what’s your next project and when will it be available?
A: My
most recent project was actually released on May 1st, and the sequel to that is
in the works. The first book in the series is called Noble Magic. Here’s the
blurb:
Lord Kenneth Victeni has every opportunity and every privilege. As the noble son of a powerful mage, he puts little thought into the lives of the talentless, the second class citizens who cannot use magic in a world ruled by mages.
That changes when he meets Thorn, a talentless who is studying at the inventor’s college, where those without magic develop steam-powered technology. The two men share a mutual attraction, and what’s more, Thorn just might be Kenneth’s lifemate—the man who, with just his presence, can double Kenneth’s magical power.
Kenneth’s ignorance of the lives of the talentless puts an obstacle in their budding relationship, however, and his life grows even worse when another mage at the collegium attacks and nearly kills him. Now Thorn and Kenneth must put aside their argument and find a way to put a stop to a mage who poses a threat to others—and along the way, Kenneth might even learn the sensitivity he needs to win over Thorn.
The sequel is called “The Exam.”
Here’s the blurb for that!
Thorn and Kenneth begin their lives after college, and Thorn has his work cut
out for him when he goes to meet Kenneth’s parents. The Victeni are nobility
and have no problem putting Thorn in his place—or worse, simply ignoring him.
But Thorn quickly learns that winning over Kenneth’s
parents is the least of his worries. Kenneth has been selected to become an
Enforcer, and with Thorn as his lifemate, Thorn has as well. To become
Enforcers, they have to pass a test, and their examiners are not always
straightforward about what they need to pass. Thorn is uncertain about his
chances, and even less certain about whether or not he wants to be an Enforcer
at all. He loves Kenneth and wants to stay with him, but as the test goes on he
becomes worried if being an Enforcer will really let him help his people, or if
he will just be seen as a traitor.
I'm also working on a large novel, tentatively called Stormlords, and I have a free read on my blog. Here’s the blurb for the free read:
19 year old Chris Taklo was a barely average student in high
school. He had every intention of joining his father in the lumber business
after he graduated. College, and the nearly super powered abilities that come
from it, was not for him.
But then he gets a letter in the mail from the prestigious
Creekville University. Despite never actually applying, he’s accepted as a
student.
Chris begins to attend Creekville, very quickly fitting in
with his classmates and finding his niche among new friends in Reed Hall. But
the reason he got in in the first place hangs over his head, along with the
mysterious presence of Frederic Sulzman, a senior who the other students in his
hall are leery of. There are rumors about Frederic, and about the strange
professor that Frederic does research with.
The very same professor who sent Chris’ acceptance
letter.
Check it out if you have the time!
Ravon, can I just say a huge thanks for dropping by and spending some time with us today. It's been great having you here.
And thank you to any curious readers who've visited this stop on the Absolutely Erotic Blog Hop!
Please be sure to visit Ravon Silvius tomorrow to read an interview
with Jocelyn Dex, and comment for more chances to win the grand
prize!
Ravon's
prize at the end of this blog hop on the 23rd is a PDF copy of Noble
Magic! Just leave a comment with your email address to be in with a chance to win this and many other prizes.
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Ravon Silvius lives in a tiny
apartment with two tiny cats in a tiny town in the United States. Despite the
cramped living quarters, Ravon enjoys coming up with big ideas for novels, with
some plots coming from Ravon's findings as a neuroscience researcher and others
coming purely from Ravon's imagination.
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It’s week 5 of the LHNB thread hop over on the Goodreads' M/M Group, and this week it’s: “If someone is going to run in to your MC by accident, where would your MC most likely be? And what would it look like?”
Hi there. Today I'm taking part in the Hop Against Homphobia and Transphobia. We're raising awarenes for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (May 17) by taking part in this huge HAHAT blog hop. It means that just for a few momemts, I get to rant about a few things very close to my heart, and, frustratingly, how those few things seem to come hand in hand:
I was listening to a conversation a few
weeks back, where two lads were discussing the rioting incident in Manchester.
Twenty-nine football fans were arrested for hooliganism after a Newcastle V
Sunderland match. Now, with our family, discussions over football rioting are nothing new to us. Like the two lads I
overheard talking, we can pretty much recount most negative
associations to football, with hooliganism and Racism offering the most heated
debates. With both, Fans have been banned, matches threatened with a postponing,
or worse, with the threat of being played behind closed doors if there’s so
much of a hint of trouble, and rightly so. Football seems to have come so far
in many ways. Yet there’s always that one niggling dark discussion point, that
one unmentionable element that seems to bring out a red card every time.
Gay footballers remain firmly
in the closet, forced to cover their faces with more than just their shirts, their managers and team members not helping the issue over
dressing room "gay" jibes. Brian Clough comes to mind here and his autobiographical
comments over Justin Fashanu. Fashanu signaled the first and possibly only
footballer to come out and openly claim he was gay. The fallout seemed, unsurprisingly,
inevitable. 
There's that deep groan that comes here. I know efforts have been made as high as
government to recognise how endemic homophobia is within football, with the
likes of the Stonewall report being submitted to parliament to help
address the issue. 2007 saw the FA ban homophobic chants,
with offenders being evicted for minor offences, arrested for the more serious.
But if we take a look at the numbers of those arrested for hooliganism and racism
compared to those arrested for homophobia, the ball still deflates with a
resigned sigh of defeat.
