Interview of Katalina Leon, RBRU Member Author!

It's my pleasure to interview Katalina Leon, a fellow RBRU author and someone I've known for awhile...and a fellow blogger at "Seven Sexy Scribes"!

Latest Book: ”Owned By Rome", Ellora’s Cave Legend Line.
Buy Link: Ellora’s Cave/Jasmine Jade http://www.jasminejade.com/ps-8348-50-owned-by-rome.aspx

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4kDkIaLYG0

BIO: I love to write and paint. The butterfly is one of my acrylic paintings. For many years I was primarily a painter. I started writing several years ago when I felt the need to fill a larger canvas and tell bigger stories without actually taking up more space! lol

I bought my first Ellora's Cave book in 2005. It was Jaid Black's "The Empresses' New Clothes". I  just fell in love with it's sexy naughtiness. I immediately ran back to the bookstore to buy more Ellora's Cave books. When I decided to begin writing erotic romance, I didn't even consider submitting my work anywhere else. I knew I belonged at Ellora's Cave and fortunately they felt the same way.

My editor is Mary M and I'm so grateful to have her advice and guidance. I encourage any aspiring writer of erotic-romance to approach Ellora's Cave and become a cavewoman or caveman! lol


Q: What’s the first thing you did when you received word you’d sold a book?
A: I gasped and read the email carefully a second time to make sure I wasn’t mistaken about Ellora’s Cave offering me a contract! I immediately told my husband and my friends… They didn’t have to wait Very long to hear the news!

Q: What part of the book is the easiest for you to write? Why?
A: Believe or not I love writing the erotic scenes the best. If I’m not squirming in my chair, I revise. I love getting lost in the deep POV, emotional nitty-gritty. I get so carried away in the work if a family member or friend approaches my work area I jump up in alarm or cover the computer screen with my hands!

Q: What part of the book is the hardest for you? Why?
A: Hands down the blurb is the hardest part and it should be the easiest. I blow it every time.

Q: Do all your heroes and all heroines look the same in your mind as you “head write”?
A: No, no, never, never! All my characters exist as distinct individuals in my mind. I know and love them all differently and each has taught me something important about myself that I was grateful to learn.

Q: Who is your favorite character in you book and why?
A:  I never write about any character that I don't love. I tend to really love my  villains and bad-hats. I always want to redeem them and give them all the best lines! For months now I've been a little obsessed with Atellus my Roman magistrate from "Owned by Rome". That guy is really sticking with me. Emotionally, he gets put through the wringer and comes out the better for it. "Owned by Rome" was the first book I've written where the main POV is male for more than half the story. I loved writing the male POV and seeing the world and women through Atellus' eyes. It was a treat for me.

Q: You’re on a remote island with a handsome man, a computer, and a “mysterious” source of electricity to power your computer. What do you do?
A: The obvious answer is turn off the computer and go coconuts with a handsome man! The honest answer is I’ve been completely alone on a desert island with a handsome man and I can tell you-it’s not easy. My husband and I were great fans of the explorer Thor Heyerdahl in our teens. Before we were married we took a tramp steamer through the South Pacific with very little money and two backpacks. Sometimes we worked, sometimes we starved. We both got chased by horny old salty dogs. One day we ended up stranded on a sand atoll on the edge of the Cook islands, no food, no people, no idea how or when we were going get home. My husband got bitten by a poisonous spider, which left a crater in his arm the size of a half dollar. He was delirious with pain… It was a big adventure and not necessarily a romantic one.

Tell us where to find you
Please visit my website:  http://www.katalinaleon.com
And Blogs at http://katalinaleon111.blogspot.com
Seven Sexy Scribes (Of which you are one Marianne!) http://sevensexyscribes.blogspot.com
Ellora’s Cave Publishers/Jasmine Jade Enterprises
http://www.jasminejade.com/m-569-katalina-leon.aspx
Youtube channel:http://www.youtube.com/user/KatalinaLeon

BLURB:
On the edge of the Roman Empire, Queen Boudica’s rebellion has ended and a time of great tragedy has passed.

Atellus, a Roman magistrate living on the western frontier of Gaul discovers he’s no longer sympathetic to Rome and must now question every facet of his life.

A cunning Celtic woman with golden-red hair arrives in the slave markets defiant and angry family: a danger to anyone foolish enough to purchase her. As punishment for her willful destruction of Roman property she is to be offered as a sexual favor to guests at a lavish feast and put to death for their entertainment.

For Atellus it’s love at first sight. He rescues and takes ownership of her. Together they embark on an erotic and turbulent journey through a lonely Celtic forest. He soon discovers his beautiful slave is harboring a painful secret and must never again speak her true name. Suspicions rise that she is Celtic royalty and the last of her kind.

In the heart of the forest, two strong-willed lovers clash, fall in love and catch a glimpse of what the future can be if both can learn to trust and forgive.

EXCERPT:
Chapter One
Belgica, Western Gaul, late August, 64 AD

Atellus’ lashes flickered erratically in his sleep. She’s near and this feels like home. Tonight, as it did every night, the most beautiful sensation descended from above and washed over his sleeping body. The nocturnal visitation was purely feminine, loving and filled with desire. The sensation floated over him as if it were a spirit haunting the night, yet it felt so real it set his body afire. It called to him from the past, a painful reminder of all that was not present. He tossed fitfully on the. His body ached in his sleep, both from longing and exhaustion. He struggled to wake and pursue her. His lips parted. He tried to form words and call to her, but she moved away from him with astonishing speed. His heart raced as his eyes fluttered open to glance around the stark but practical cubiculum where he slept alone, sprawled across an empty bed. His calloused fingertips searched the woolen that covered his bare skin. She was not there. She was nowhere near. He came to the painful realization she was merely a creature of vapor and had not actually visited his bed. His mind had tricked him once again. The visitation’s warmth and softness, even her dark, perfumed ringlets had been nothing more than a compelling illusion of Morpheus, the god of dreams. His tense fingers dug deep into the blanket as his heart sank. A moment of disorientation swept through him to realize years had passed and he was in his compound in Belgica. A moment ago he had been convinced he was once again a young man living in Rome with her.

His body stirred uncomfortably on the bed. His hip hurt from riding all day and falling asleep on his side. He plopped onto his back, fully awake with his aching, hard thrusting against the lodix. The inevitable moment had arrived as it did every night. He found himself alone, hard and needing release. He longed for her but his hand wrapped around the shaft of his dolon instead. He took hold of his only intimate companion. His hand stroked its hooded head until the skin pulled tight. His palm slowly squeezed the shaft, making the blood rush. It felt good to ache so strongly for his one true amare, but she was more than a loved one. She was his pietas, his devotion. No woman compared to her. She was perfection in body, spirit and mind. She was his dove.

He took a deep breath and stroked. He could depend on waking in the darkest hours before dawn, thinking of her lush hips, soft eyes, and find himself desperately needing to do this. His fist grasped tightly as he thickened and grew warm in his hand. His testes rose and pulled tight. His fingers reached lower and gave them a harsh tug downward. He winced. The moment of pain sobered his thoughts. His adult life had been nothing but pain, so what was a little more? His desire for her was so strong he knew he could not stop it; he could only slow it. He wanted to go painfully slow and think of her. He wanted this act to last at least as long as he might spend with her, though he had never had her.

He forced himself to stroke at a leisurely pace, stopping often to tug down on his testes and grimace. He wanted to prove to himself he had some control over the passion that washed over him whenever it pleased. He had no control over his separation from her, but that would change. His hand took on its own slow, steady rhythm, broken only by the occasional brutal squeeze or the rough slap of his fingertips.

It was a warm night in early autumn, a sliver of moonlight poured through a slatted window. The harvest season had been grueling but productive. His reward was within sight. All rewards were within sight. Soon he would be with her. Revenge and his heart’s desire would be fulfilled. After years of waiting, longing, plotting and dreaming, she would finally be his.

He thought of her. His hand lazily stroked himself as he drifted into the twilight realm between waking fantasy and dreams. Dark, voluptuous Columba, regina of doves. She was the purest, gentlest most beautiful dove to ever flutter to earth and take the shape of a woman. Her eyes were liquid compassion. Her lips were rose petals, opening only to loving words. Her hair was a rippling night sky highlighted with sparkling stars. She was everything lovely about womankind and so much more. The gods had made her solely for him and life had been unjust to steal her away, but that too would change.

For all the betrayals and dishonesty committed against him, surely the god Jupiter would take his side and revenge would be granted. He was owed a lover for his bed, a companion, a wife and a mother for his future children, and he wanted them all in one woman. He had been lonely and patient for far too long. Tomorrow, he was leaving on a journey to fetch her and bring her home. Soon she would share his bed and his future. His fist sped as he thought of her smooth body surrendering beneath him. Once he possessed her, he would take her slowly and with great care. He loved her. He gritted his teeth and groaned softly as spilled into his palm. “Columba.”

Anything else you’d like to add?
Yes, "Owned by Rome" is close to my heart because it's really a tale of two conflicting cultures learning to see the strengths and beauty in each other. I researched as many letters from Roman legionnaires as I could find trying to get a feel for what it must have been like to be stationed far from Rome and yet charged with imposing Roman order on people who didn't want it. Most letters were mere snippets from buried garbage heaps but they were very telling. I feel every human story is a divine story filled with desire, learning and compromise. I really enjoyed losing myself in this metaphoric tale. If Russel Crowe, Hugh Jackman, or Clive Owen ever feel a burning desire to play the part of Atellus in the thrilling epic film version of my book... I hope they'll contact me directly or better yet fight for the part on my front lawn! lol