Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/AleksandrVoinov/L. A. Witt blog tour for Unhinge the Universe!

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of two eBooks off my backlist (excluding Something New Under the Sun) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 21^st, and winners will be announced on July 23^rd.  Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.

Note: Aleks and L. A. are currently gallivanting around Europe. As such, we won’t be online as much as we normally are, and may not be able to respond to comments as quickly as we’d like, but will try to post responses as often as possible.

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Captors, Prisoners, and Stockholm Syndrome

As many have probably gathered by reading the blurb, Unhinge the Universe focuses on a relationship forming between a wartime captor and his captive. To say we were venturing into a minefield when we wrote this would be an understatement. After all, when one person is being held against his will, the potential for rape and ultimately Stockholm Syndrome is very high.

Aleks and I, of course, didn’t want any of that. We approached this story very carefully, mindful first and foremost that while Hagen was a prisoner, he only engages in sexual contact of his own free will. In fact, we were surprised at how much he could be the aggressor, catching John off guard and throwing him off his game.

While Hagen is John’s prisoner, the power play between them is anything but one-sided. Hagen has information John needs. John also has information that Hagen needs, as well as a great deal of power over Hagen’s circumstances as a prisoner. What power Hagen possesses, he doesn’t relinquish. In fact, when things become sexual between him and John, Hagen finds himself with more power than he initially thought.There is a scene very early in the story that inches into the ballpark of dubious consent at first—it’s more of a mind game than anything—but it quickly backfires on John in a way he didn’t see coming.

The power balance between them shifts after that, but the relationship dynamic does as well. A connection begins forming, and both men start seeing each other as men rather than enemies. It’s difficult to elaborate much without revealing spoilers, but rest assured that as the relationship evolves, so does the power balance.

So yes, a captor and captive story certainly has the potential to creep into rape and Stockholm Syndrome, and even if those things are avoided, a story like this absolutely won’t be sunshine and roses all the way through. But in the case of Unhinge the Universe – and another POW story we’re currently writing – Aleks and I were conscientious of the power dynamic between our characters, and how that could blow up in our faces if we didn’t handle it carefully.

I believe we did, and I hope our readers will agree.

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AleksandrVoinov is an emigrant German author living near London, where he is one of the unsung heroes in the financial services sector. He published extensively in his native German, then switched to English and hasn’t looked back. His genres range from horror, science fiction, cyberpunk, and fantasy to contemporary, thriller, and historical erotic gay novels.

In his spare time, he goes weightlifting, explores historical sites, and meets other writers. He singlehandedly sustains three London bookstores with his ever-changing research projects. His current interests include special forces operations during World War II, pre-industrial warfare, European magical traditions, and how to destroy the world and plunge it into a nuclear winter without having the benefit of nuclear weapons.

Visit Aleksandr’s website at http://www.aleksandrvoinov.com, his blog at http://www.aleksandrvoinov.blogspot.com, and follow him on Twitter, where he tweets as @aleksandrvoinov.

L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer currently living in the glamorous and ultra-futuristic metropolis of Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband, two cats, and a disembodied penguin brain that communicates with her telepathically. In addition to writing smut and disturbing the locals, L.A. is said to be working with the US government to perfect a genetic modification that will allow humans to survive indefinitely on Corn Pops and beef jerky. This is all a cover, though, as her primary leisure activity is hunting down her arch nemesis, erotica author Lauren Gallagher, who is also said to be lurking somewhere in Omaha.

More info about L.A. can be found at http://www.loriawitt.com or by stalk—er, following her on Twitter (@GallagherWitt).

Unhinge the Universe is available July 15^th from Riptide Publishing.