The Delight of DANGEROUS PLEASURES...

I finished reading the closing chapters of the novel early yesterday morning, as I crawled into my crisp, freshly ironed golden-rod sheets after another night of reading, writing and studying. Compelled, I read it akin to one sneaking a nibble of someone else’s leftover birthday cake. Like an intoxicating lover, patiently enveloped in shadows and deliriously awaiting the cool press of flesh and a sweetheart’s kiss under sighing sheets.

As I read, Mayson's tacit longing for Renee followed me into slumber, where, somehow, she finds the words to articulate her unspoken passion to a woman she absolutely adores.

“Your secret love will never be your true love,” Luther is crooning now from my PC’s speakers. Could be Mayson realizes this, so she determines to love her friend as just that, a good girlfriend in public. Her soul mate, in her heart. For who knows what tomorrow holds?

Now me. I’m all too familiar with unspoken passion. Having lived it for so much of my life. Dare I admit it? Otra vez? Por que no? I'd be in love with someone who had no virtual idea I loved her. Somehow I'd trust the matter to chance; hell, happenstance; okay, magic! Bueno, bueno. But we all know how that eventually ends. A capacious loneliness. And you.

At some point, though, you snap out of it, and you make a conscientious determination to live in the Present Moment, not in some distant Future, where, off in your dreams, you are The One for The One. Si, Querida, when you eventually awake and smell the roses, because suddenly they DO exist right now, you come to the conclusion that you, too, are blessed. So what? You weren’t the one. That time. Or the next. But eventually…you will be The One.

It’s a good thing I don’t love that groundless way anymore. Can’t do unhealthy…for long. (Giggles)

Mayson, I don't think, wakes to smell her roses. Though she makes a grave decision to protect those precious blooms. How? She orchestrates a smooth maneuver to assure herself that Miss Lady would be safe, while her secret love sows her sensual oats. What helps to wake Mayson is the presence of a maniacal lover, who has been jilted one too many times. I will not be like Chris, my handsome great-nephew, who narrates a movie while you’re watching it, making you wonder if your career and character can survive a child-abuse charge. Tu lo sabes? Yes, I know you do. We’ve all been there, but the little Sweetheart simply cannot help himself!

Get the book! The cover, la portada, is luscious! Mind you, it doesn’t hook into the eyes of the story, yet I can recognize a great concept most anywhere. Who can go wrong with a supple corset, partially gaping, with matching thongs, in a near leather look, a shock of unbound hair and tenderly bite-able skin? Ya know? So what it wasn’t Renee, Mayson or Kendra? A provocative picture and title can sell books, before readers recognize, if new, that the writing is even more stimulating. Whatever it takes..huh?

If you care to surf to Amazon when you leave here, you might want to read the review I left earlier today. Words are forever in my mouth, as rarely am I tacit, except for those times I am writing, like now. Like all day. But I adore these times. Now...back to my original thought...hmmm, being that words are in my mouth, they can't help but drift to my fingertips, too, where I tried NOT to give Fiona's story away totally.

No, I don't think I gave it away, but I will admit I LOVED the way Zedde stretched to bring her readers something different. Instead of the delectable heroines knowing who they are and going after what they want, our FINE Mayson, with her Jamaican/Chinese roots, ponytail climb-able, wavers in a precarious balancing act, wanting to carry-on with getting hers (with Kendra) while desiring who she desires. Yet her creed is “I never do straight girls.” Until she does….

Oops! Am I rattlin’ or tellin’ the story?

It was dangerous. Mayson even wondered if Renee would spin off into crazy as a result of the book’s final revelation, yet, like the other forays Fiona Zedde takes into pleasure, the several het love scenes, the straight-girl lovin’, the psycho-heifer routine, the unrequited love---it all works out!

Hey! I’m all for The Out, Babee! A damn good workout! Put out! Get out! Try out! Lock out! Shout out! Tu lo sabes, Corazon! (risas) Te amo, Fiona!

TheGoldenGoddess

FIONA ZEDDE: My Guest Author on her 2011 DANGEROUS PLEASURES Blog Tour

Guest Author FIONA ZEDDE
stops in to discuss her latest enticing blockbuster,

DANGEROUS PLEASURES



TheGoldenGoddess: Welcome to "A Golden Life," Fiona! It is such a pleasure to have you visit on your 2011 DANGEROUS PLEASURES promotional blog tour! I am excited about the release of your new novel, as you are one of my favorite authors. Thank you in advance for gracing The Golden Life with your beauty, wit, charm and memorable voice.


How was the writing of this novel, your sixth novel, different from the other stories? Was it more challenging to tell? Did the writing come easier? Has your writing process changed?


FIONA ZEDDE: Writing Dangerous Pleasures was an interesting and different experience on a few levels. The least reason being that in the middle of writing the novel, I found out I had breast cancer and had to properly deal with that—surgery, radiation, chemo—before getting back to the book. By the time I finished the novel, it had to be pushed back an additional year because of its bumped publishing schedule.


As I was telling Spencer in an earlier blog visit, because of illness and more of life’s ups and downs, my creativity was at its lowest. But eventually the words came back to me, for which I’m very grateful.


The writing process has only changed for me in recent months because I quit corporate America to write full-time. Now, I am constantly challenged to put myself on a productive schedule. There are SO many distractions out there!


GG: How did you come to write this particular story---a romance different from the others in many ways?


FZ: I was consciously trying to do something different with this new book. That was my challenge since—six books and three novellas in—I already have a certain way of writing, scenarios I like to explore, and type of characters I typically examine.
Straight women have never interested me as characters for my novels before, but I thought with Renée’s particular friendship with Mayson (an out lesbian), there could be some interesting possibilities there. At the beginning of the novel, I had an idea of how it would all wrap up, but as I wrote, the characters surprised me and essentially wrote the ending themselves.


GG: Houses play a significant part in Toni Morrison's fiction. What would you say has surfaced as a mainstay in your fiction? Why?


FZ: Strangely enough, the exploration of mother/daughter relationships has been a preoccupation of mine. I hadn’t fully realized it until I was having a conversation with another writer about recurring themes and HE pointed this out to me. His eye caught the frequent appearance of father/daughter pairings and troubled mother/daughter interactions. None of my characters are orphaned and their mothers (whether present, dead, or estranged) play important roles in their lives.


I’m sure all this is due to some subconscious things I’m still working through. But my mothers are important to me. They’ve influenced and supported me through my maturation process and through my writing career. My father, however, has been absent from my life since I left Jamaica twenty years ago.


GG: Mayson offers Renee the advice: "One day you'll realize that it's okay not to love everyone who loves you." This is a very revealing statement, reflecting the complexity of the gorgeous woman's personality. What did you find most intriguing about Mayson as a character? How was she culled? Have you ever known her outside of the pages of your work?


FZ: Mayson is my newest darling. She is focused and centered as a person, yet she has the biggest potty mouth and isn’t afraid to use it. That’s one of the most intriguing things about her. Also, like most of us, she has the clarity and wisdom to see what everyone else in her life needs, but she’s blind to her own desires or more so, how to satisfy these desires.


She’s completely a work of fiction, based on no one. Mayson came to me one day in the shower—I get most of my ideas there—already speaking one of the lines from the book, something about life dropping shit bombs. After that, I knew she was a keeper.


GG: Your covers and titles are always as beautiful and sumptuous as your narrative voice, your presence and your love of Rumi. "Dangerous Pleasures" is a testimony to this truth.

Share a behind-the-scenes peek at how you decided on the title "Dangerous Pleasures" and the rear visual of a partially unlaced beauty of a fairer hue than the dark-chocolate sirens who have previously graced your covers?


FZ: I very rarely get any input on the covers of my books. The only one I chose was Every Dark Desire. My publisher chooses the covers based on whatever criteria the house has in mind. I haven’t had any strong objections to any of the covers so far, though. But, when a friend of mine saw the cover for Dangerous Pleasures, she asked with surprise, “Why is there a white woman on your book cover?” All I could do was shake my head.


As I was writing the book and envisioning Kendra, the title actually came to me. It was between Pleasure in the Dark, Dark Pleasures, and Dangerous Pleasures. My editor thought the final one would give the book an edge and tease the readers toward the notion that this book was REALLY different from all the rest.


GG: What does the creative horizon currently forecast for Fiona Zedde? May your devout fans expect a road down a different path?


FZ: It’s interesting that you ask that. I’m actually about to release a Young Adult novel under the name “Fiona Lewis” in April. That’s absolutely something different. I’m also currently working on a more literary novel called "Blossom in the Snow" set in New York of the 1920’s. I’m really excited about it and hope my readers will be, too.


GG: Muchas gracias, Fiona! I love the way you meet your new challenges with only the strength, fortitude, and grace that only you can! And if you are excited about the wonderfully new paths your work is taking, then we, your devout readers, share your enthusiasm. I wish you continued peace, love, health and wealth always....


Beloved readers, get your copy of Fiona's new novel this January 25th at a store near you, or you can order it from her website (www.fionazedde.com) or www.charisbooksandmore.com. or Amazon.com. If you haven't indulged yourself in the unforgettable experience of reading a Fiona Zedde short story or novel, there is no finer time like the Present!


And for those readers interested in reading more about Fiona on her blog tour, please follow me over to her next blog appearance at Spencer Hope Davis' blog, "Observations from the Road Less Traveled," on the Day of Love, February 24, 2011.


The two links to ink are http://www.spencerhopedavis.com/ and www.fionazedde.com.


BESOS