My guest author this week is Kay Berrisford, whose debut novel, Bound For The Forrest released a couple of weeks ago.
Here’s the blurb for Bound For The Forrest:
England, 1817. Ex-soldier Melmoth Brien returns to his ancestral home in the ancient Greenwood, intending to retrieve his family’s valuables and get the hell out of there. When he’s beaten to it by Scarlet, a young woodsman turned thief, Brien overpowers him and ties him up, demanding he help get the family fortune back by leading him deep into the forest. The flash of sexual fire between them is undeniable, but a force more powerful than rivalry or lust is ratcheting up the tension.
Brien’s family are Protectors of the Greenwood, a responsibility he has discarded like every other in his life. To Scarlet, whose very life-force is bound to the Greenwood, this makes Brien a traitor. He would use anything, even his body, to drive him away. After all, a traitor may stir the fouler Spirits, who will demand blood. And Scarlet knows he is marked for sacrifice...
Lured ever deeper into a realm of ritualized sex and magic, bondage and blood, the fighting gives way to rampant lovemaking, but Scarlet needs more than just sex to survive. Can Brien admit his identity as a Protector and bind his underling forever, or will the Greenwood Spirits enslave them both?
Welcome Kay, ain’t it grand that the time difference between the U.S. and the UK matters naught on the internet? Okay, pretty lame attempt at humor there. So, let’s get to know Kay a little better:
An Anne Cain cover for your debut novel – that’s some feat. And it’s gorgeous.
I’m glad you love the cover – I was so lucky. Anne Caine is amazing. I’m a real fangirl of hers now.
How did you come up with the idea for the book?
I’ve always loved myth and folklore, especially dark fairies…but, to be honest, this actually story started life as a historical, with the fantasy elements on a back shelf. It originally started with the army Captain returning to a town house in Southampton and encountering an intruder who turns out to be the mayor’s son. They were then drawn to the forest where the myths and the spirits may or may not be real. At some stage the dark fairies took over and used their little green fingers to drag the whole into to the forest itself.
How long did it take to write Bound For The Forrest?
I think it took about three months. I worked every moment I could on it, tweaking and rewriting and playing with ideas. I’m not a fast writer compared to many out there, who I greatly admire.
I don’t want to give away too much, but how did you come across Holgaerst?
Holgaerst is my word for the less evil spirits of the Greenwood (Niogaerst being the real nasties.) I wouldn’t quite say good, as there are definitely shades of grey. Even the good spirits in this Greenwood are pretty brutal when they believe they’ve been wronged! The words were derived from various Old English/Anglo Saxon words for spirits. I wanted to create a unique form of Greenwood dialect.
You created such an intriguing blend of myths – was this your intention from the first or did everything evolve?
Many of the ideas I planned, but the Green Man, who has quite an important (if kinky!) role in the book, just turned up (I blame those dark fairies and their green fingers. ) I am fascinated by Iron Age and Celtic ritual and a lot of the ideas (such as the process of sacrifice and the symbolism of the oak and the hazel) were derived from archaeological evidence from that period. Many of the other ideas were based on traditions that hold sway in the New Forest, southern England, to this day. I threw in everything that fitted the story really, especially if I could find a way to make it sexy, or gave me an excuse for a bit of BDSM.
So, now I’m curious – are you a history graduate?
Ooooooooh, you saw right through me there! Yeah, I’m a history grad. And post-grad, actually ;) I wrote a doctoral thesis on English regional identity that touched on a few of the folklore themes I use in “Bound.”
Okay, now for some fun questions. Whip or paddle? (you did say any excuse for some BDSM *wink, wink*)
For my boys in my stories? Whips all the way! I like to make ‘em squirm.
Leather or silk?
Leather looks sexier usually, but there’s also something nice and kinky about tying up a really buff man in shiny silk cords. Oh, I’m torn. But leather. Yes. Leather.
Favorite Horror Movie:
Agh, I’m old fashioned. Dracula, any version. I love that story and any which way it’s been butchered ;)
Favorite Decadent Pleasure:
Venice! The city oozes with inspiration for sexy historical fantasies, and I can’t spend enough time there (wish I could afford it!!)
Describe yourself with words beginning with the letter G:
Green. Well, I love the countryside ;)
What would people be surprised to know about you?
I once made a documentary film in Welsh, even though I can’t speak the language very well!! Oh, and that I used to be a documentary film maker (actually, I had five different professions, all before I was 25 – editorial assistant for a magazine, clothes seller, theatrical agent, press officer, film director! The last sounds much more glamorous than it was…)
If Heaven exists, what would you like God to say when you arrive?
You again!
Would you rather have a house on the ocean or in the country?
I like the sea, but it’s a bit bleak in the winter time by the coast in England. Country,definitely.
If you had to be on one reality show, what would it be?
X-Factor. My Celine Dion impression would knock ‘em dead!
If you could be any animal what would it be?
Cat. My cat, preferably. Snoozing and cuddles all day.
It’s been a blast talking with you, Kay, and I’m so looking forward to your blog and the excerpt from Bound For The Forrest tomorrow. Kay’s debut novel hit Loose-Id’s best seller list - so drop by tomorrow everyone!
Cheers,
Jianne