Interview with Angela Fiddler, author of 'The Care and Feeding of Sex Demons'

Angela Fiddler wrote her first erotic novel as a birthday present to a friend who had requested kneeling and vampires.  While the vampires come and go in the story, the kneeling remains.  Angela likes smut, dark humor and stories that mix erotica with raw emotion.  She talks about writing and her characters at www.angelafiddler.com.

Her latest book is the paranormal erotica, The Care and Feeding of Sex Demons.

 

Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life!  Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process.  Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning?  Where did you come up with the idea to write your book?

Writing paranormal, there are only five to seven different creatures that can be evil sexily. Sex demons, incubi and succubi are one of them. I wrote a simple story back in 2009 called Cy Gets a Sex Demon where as a reward, my main character is literally given a sex demon for a job well done. As the sex demon made it clear that he didn’t like being forced, Cy backed away and gave him his autonomy. It wasn’t because he was involved in his own fledging relationship, it was because Cy honestly believed that keeping anyone as a sex slave was wrong, even if they feed off of sex.

I love books where the titles are the theme and the plot. The Care and Feeding of Sex Demons assumes you’ve never read the 2009 book and starts the world over again. In that world, sex Demons have one defense. If their master treats them worse than they would be in hell, they have the freedom to hurt their master and return to hell to escape it. Due to the nature of the abuse, “hurt” usually translates as overkill. It doesn’t help their PR, but every demon has to make their own choice given their own circumstances. The book begins with the sex demons of Calgary no longer being able to feed, and if a sex demon can’t feed, they’re not happy. If you own a sex demon, a demon not happy can is very dangerous.

Q: How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?

I would say if paranormal romances are all about giving your characters what they want at the end of the book, the entire book should be about the characters fighting to get what they want. This means that they have to be responsible to overcome the impossible odds standing between them and their potential successful future. Keep the characters on a constant forward motion throughout the book. There should be at least three perfectly valid reasons why the characters shouldn’t be together and at the end, that happiness should come at a cost of something valuable.

Q: Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

I publish through Loose Id. I found them eight years ago now, through a friend of a friend of a friend. I submitted my manuscript just like everyone else and got picked up within the month.

Q: Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?

I knew when I was writing Castoffs that it felt better than most of the things I had done to that point. When I submitted it, I had no idea how much the editing process can strip out what you tried to say and put in what you had wanted to say from the beginning. We have this idea that the author sits alone, types out “the end” and then sends the novel on its way and it’s complete. What you submit is just raw material for the finished book that comes out.

Q: What other books (if any) are you working on and when will they be published?

I’m working on the second book of my Tempest series. Book one, Coral were his Bones should be out in April/May. As a selkie, Finn mates for a very long life. He and Devon have grown up with their lives entwined and intended for each other, but a cruel man stole his heart away and bound him in servitude. As the years pass, Finn gets sucked deeper into his memories until he’s drowning. Ancient laws aren’t broken easily but Finn is fading away. When Finn comes to see Devon on the one night a year he’s free, they both know it’s Finn last chance. He already bears the brands for his misbehavior. If he gets caught, he knows he will be in more trouble than he’s worth.  

Q: What’s your favorite place to hang out online?

My internet history can tell you it’s Absolutewrite, Facebook and Cracked. I love Cracked, but if you want to maintain your faith in humanity, do not read the comments. There are some really ignorant people out there who insist on telling people very emphatically about their ignorance.

Q: Finally, what message (if any) are you trying to get across with your book?

In order to tell Cy’s continuing story, I couldn’t tell a boy-meets-boy format. I really wanted to reboot the series as a romance from its urban fantasy roots, but that meant staying within the established relationship from the first book. Most romances can add the thrill of the chase to the actual plot happening, but this chase had been over for five years.

I wanted to write about the lull in relationships could push the what is between Cy and Patrick into something it might not have been if the events of the plot hadn’t happened.

I wanted to show that gay relationships are just as hard as straight. Regardless of the gender or genders involved, sometimes you know exactly what your partner is thinking and sometimes despite the sum total of everything you know, you still haven’t got a clue.

  

Q: Thank you again for this interview!  Do you have any final words?

I blog about my work and writing in general at www.angelafiddler.com. You can also find me on twitter at angela_fiddler. Thanks so much for having me.