A warm welcome to author Belinda McBride joining us today to talk about the re-release of An Uncommon Whore
Welcome Belinda 🙂
Things You May Not Know About An Uncommon Whore
It’s a great opportunity to re-release an established book. It’s been nearly a decade since An Uncommon Whore was first released and I’m thrilled that Dreamspinner Press took the chance and contracted it. I’m hard at work on the revisions to Book 2, but I want to revisit the origin of the story, just a little bit.
- An Uncommon Whore started as an exercise in first person POV. I’d never done it before and was just kinda dinking around, trying to figure out the technique.
- Helios was originally a girl. Remember that first person POV thing? Well, her scoundrelly hero was the POV character, but he just had nothing to say. For days I tried to make sense of the story and finally decided to get extreme. I got rid of the girl and put a prince in her place. And boy, did that boy have a lot to say! And boy…Griffin was happy!
- The name “Helios Dayspring” came as soon as the character spoke and shaped the story. Oddly, years after I wrote it, I remembered I’d once known a woman who had a son named…Helios Dayspring. LOL! I googled the family and I think he must have changed it.
- The story is rooted in Greek/Spartan culture…and Helios’ attitude was formed by a poet named Archilochus, who was hated by the Spartans because of his irreverent attitude toward war and valor. In one poem, he poked fun at the Spartan belief that a soldier must return from war carrying their shield, or being carried on their shield. Here’s a snippet of what old Archilochus had to say about that:
“Some barbarian’s using my shield, because I had to leave it behind under a bush – there was nothing wrong with it. But so what? I escaped. Never mind the shield; I can buy another one just as good.”
That didn’t go over well with the Spartans. They banned him from the city, under penalty of death. But the dry humor suited Helios, and he has a very similar attitude.
5. Griffin Hawke isn’t white. Somewhere between the writing and the cover, he turned white. But as he’s described in the book, and in my imagination, he’s Middle Eastern. Or maybe Mediterranean. I don’t know. But a lot browner than he’s been portrayed.
6. The entire series is “pantsed.” I usually work from a loose outline, but for whatever reason, this series likes to be spontaneous. That means there’s been a few stutters and mis-starts here and there, but it’s one of the few examples of when I trust my lizard brain to tell the story. That’s part of the reason An Uncommon Whore ends on an HFN…because I knew there was a lot more story to tell…and you’ll get to read more in the future! We’re working on edits for When I Fall right now!
Title: An Uncommon Whore
Blurb:
An Uncommon Whore Story
Pasha is a slave, whoring for travelers at the most treacherous bar on Warlan. The day Pasha spots the dangerous pirate in the bar, he knows he mustn’t let the stranger slip away, no matter what he must do to draw his attention.
Captain Griffin Hawke spent the better part of a decade searching for his lost king, only to find Helios Dayspring crouched between his legs, swathed in the robes and shackles of a whore. Though he is appalled by the downfall of his king, Grif falls for the sensual creature who has taken his place. After a brutal invasion stripped his people of nearly everything, they desperately need Helios to lead them. But returning him to throne means smuggling him off the planet, disabling the chip that keeps him submissive and forgetful. They will face old enemies, traitors, and greedy opportunists who’d like to strip their new planet of its wealth.
It might mean Grif losing his lover… and they’ve both lost too much already.
Second Edition
First Edition published by Loose Id LLC, January 2010.
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Belinda is an award-winning, top selling author of erotic romance, speculative fiction and LGBTQ romance. She lives in far Northern California with her family and a pack of Siberian Huskies and a few rogue Salukis
A graduate of CSU Chico, she managed to attend the notorious party school without once getting drunk, arrested or appearing in a “Girls Gone Wild” video. Her main focus of study was classical and archival history, cultural anthropology and
theatre arts.
After several years in the workforce. Belinda purchased a laptop computer and from there, never stopped writing.
Social Media
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Website: www.belindambride.com
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