The Beauty of Shared Worlds

 

Welcome to the Belonging ’Verse re-release blog tour with Aleksandr Voinov and Rachel Haimowitz! We’re very excited to be bringing you edited second editions of our Belonging stories, Anchored and Counterpunch (in the case of Anchored, very edited, with over ten thousand new words and a completely different beginning and ending!), which are finally under the same roof and back in print after about a year out of circulation.

 

We’ll be touring for about two weeks, Aleks discussing his slave boxer and the barrister who tries to free him, and Rachel talking about her slave news anchor and the talk show host who covets him, and both of us discussing the world of Belonging at large—which, as you’ve probably guessed, is not a particularly pretty place. But good things can and do happen in this world, and we hope you’ll stick with us to find out what!

 

Speaking of good things, don’t forget to comment on this post for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Riptide store! Each new post you comment on earns you an entry into the drawing, so be sure to check out the rest of the tour schedule too!

 

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When Aleksandr Voinov asked if he could write a story in the Belonging world, it was the first—and so far only—time anyone has ever wanted to play in a sandbox I’d created on my own. And boy was that a flattering thing. It was also, as it turned out, an incredibly useful thing—one that added tons of fuel to the creative fire and ultimately helped to create a much more interesting world than the one I’d started out with.

 

Part of that, I think, is because Aleks lives across the pond. So while I’d written Anchored from a very American perspective, he approached Counterpunch from a very British one. This led to many a long late-night discussion about the shape of the entire world—particularly important because the core premise in the Belonging ’Verse is that slavery is legal all around the world (Scandinavia excepted).

 

When we both received rights back to our Belonging books at more or less the same time and decided to republish them at Riptide, we put our heads together again to flesh out the worldbuilding. It was one of the real failings of the original version of Anchored—not enough worldbuilding, either within the main characters’ circles or within the wider world—and I desperately wanted to fix that. (I had to, in fact; my editor refused to accept the book for publication at Riptide unless I had a solid plan for fixing that issue. And no, being a part owner at Riptide isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card in that regard.)

 

This led to a fascinating examination of the roots of slavery throughout history. Aleks is a particularly excellent conversation partner in this regard because he’s a historian by training, and was able to offer all kinds of interesting perspective on slavery’s various cultural roots throughout time and place (debtors and the poor, criminals, POWs, conquest, religious and cultural domination, etc.). Even more interesting was the discussion about what modern justifications our different cultures might use. England, with its deeply entrenched class system, respect for tradition, and overall lack of religious fervor, could contentedly view slavery as the way things have always been done, the way things make the most economic sense, and the way that keeps everyone in their proper place. But America, with its deep and pervasive religious roots on the one side and its fervent belief in science on the other, would be more likely to justify slavery via those two routes: 1) Slaves are soulless, godless creatures who can only earn salvation by service and obedience (kind of like women in a lot of religious circles in our country, sadly). And if you don’t believe that? Then 2) There’s a “slave gene” that causes dampened affect, lack of empathy, a general lack of responsibility, and a strong genetic predisposition toward crime and fiscal irresponsibility. Sure, nobody’s found the gene yet, but we have tons of other so-called science to back this theory up.

 

Both justifications for the institution of slavery became hugely important in both Belonging books. In particular they informed the nations’ stances on manumission, which at the opening of each book is: there isn’t any. Legally, in the US, you can’t free slaves because morally, religiously, and scientifically you can’t unslave a slave. But in the UK it’s maybe less of an issue because their basis is primarily socioeconomic. This particular aspect of the worldbuilding becomes a topic of profound importance in Anchored—a thing that builds trust between the two main characters in a way I doubt anything else could’ve. And in Counterpunch, it actually drives more or less the entire plot. And it’s all something that never would’ve come about if Aleks hadn’t asked to write a book in my world and I hadn’t said yes.

 

So, three cheers for shared worlds, because lemme tell you, what two open-minded people can create together is always going to be so much grander than what they’re capable of doing alone.

 

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About Anchored:

 

Network news anchor Daniel Halstrom is at the top of his field, but being at the bottom of the social ladder—being a slave—makes that hard to enjoy. Especially when NewWorld Media, the company that’s owned him since childhood, decides to lease him privately on evenings and weekends to boost their flagging profits.

 

Daniel’s not stupid; he knows there’s only one reason someone would pay so much for what little free time he has. But dark memories of past sexual service leave him certain he won’t survive it again with his sanity intact.

 

He finds himself in the home of Carl Whitman, a talk show host whose words fail him when it comes to ordering Daniel into his bed. Carl can’t seem to take what he must want, and Daniel’s not willing to give it freely. His recalcitrance costs him dearly, but with patience and some hard-won understanding, affection just might flourish over fear and pain. Carl holds the power to be an anchor in Daniel’s turbulent life, but if he isn’t careful, he’ll end up the weight that sinks his slave for good.

 

Buy link :

Riptide Publishing

Amazon

 

 

About Counterpunch:

 

Fight like a man, or die like a slave.

 

Two years ago, Brooklyn Marshall was a happily married London policeman and amateur boxer with a promising future. Then he accidentally killed a rioter whose powerful father had him convicted of murder. To ease the burden on the prison system, the state sold Brooklyn into slavery. Now he’s the “Mean Machine,” competing on the slave prizefighting circuit for the entertainment of freemen, and being rented out for sexual service to his wealthier fans.

 

When barrister Nathaniel Bishop purchases Brooklyn’s services for a night, Brooklyn braces himself for yet another round of humiliation and pain. But the pair form an unexpected bond that grows into something more. Brooklyn hesitates to call it love—such feelings can’t truly exist between freemen and slaves—but when Nathaniel reveals that he wants to get Brooklyn’s conviction overturned, Brooklyn dares to hope.

 

Until an accident in the ring sends Brooklyn on the run, jeopardizing everything he’s worked so hard for. With the law on his tail and Nathaniel in his corner, he must prepare for the most important fight of his life: the fight for his freedom.

 

Buy Link :

Riptide Publishing

Amazon

 

About the Authors:

 

Rachel Haimowitz is an M/M erotic romance author and the Publisher of Riptide Publishing. She’s also a sadist with a pesky conscience, shamelessly silly, and quite proudly pervish. Fortunately, all those things make writing a lot more fun for her . . . if not so much for her characters.

 

When she’s not writing about hot guys getting it on (or just plain getting it; her characters rarely escape a story unscathed), she loves to read, hike, camp, sing, perform in community theater, and glue captions to cats. She also has a particular fondness for her very needy dog, her even needier cat, and shouting at kids to get off her lawn. You can connect with Rachel at: Website: rachelhaimowitz.com, Tumblr: rachelhaimowitz.tumblr.com, Twitter: @RachelHaimowitz, Goodreads: goodreads.com/metarachel, Email: rachel@riptidepublishing.com.

 

Aleksandr Voinov has been published for twenty years, both in print and ebook. He has ten years’ experience as a writing coach, book doctor, and writing teacher, and until recently worked as an editor in financial services.

 

After co-authoring the M/M military cult classic Special Forces, Aleksandr embarked on a quest to write gritty, edgy, sometimes literary M/M and gay fiction (much of which is romance/erotica)—the only way he can use his American Literature degree these days.

 

He’s been published with Heyne/Random House, Carina Press, Samhain Publishing, and others, and is an EPIC Awards winner and a Lambda Awards finalist. You can connect with Aleks at: Website: aleksandrvoinov.com, Blog: aleksandrvoinov.blogspot.com, Twitter:@aleksandrvoinov, Goodreads: goodreads.com/Vashtan.