Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome Ric Bern to the blog today.
Ric: Thank you very much for having me.
Q1) Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Ric: Yes, I am a part time writer and full time office administrator. I enjoy nature photography, reading and sports.
Q2) Have you always wanted to be an author?
Ric: Not since childhood, no. About ten years ago I decided to start writing my own stories and things have evolved from there. As I became a better writer my works became longer and more polished.
Q3) Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?
Ric: Robert E. Howard is my favorite past writer. Bernard Cornwell is my favorite current author. They have both influenced my writing. Howard’s influence is more in the style and verbiage. Cornwell’s influence would be in the attention to historical detail.
Q4) Can you tell us what a typical writing day for you is like.
Ric: I work 8-5 on weekdays, so I write on weekends. I tend to take a lot of breaks while I am writing. I’ll write for a couple hours at a time and then go out for a while to clear my head. On a good weekend I’ll write 4000 words.
Q5) Let’s talk about your new book Crimson and Steel. Can you tell us a little about it
Ric: It’s set in ancient Rome and is a tale concerning the fates of two very different slave girls. One is a pleasure slave from the east and the other a Germanic servant from the far north. They each find a master in diverse ways. In the end their stories will become enmeshed.
Q6) How did you come up with the idea for this story?
Ric: I am a real history nut and I took the best elements of other stories I had been dealing with and put them together. Instead of writing a barbarian story and a Roman story, I worked them together. It turned out rather well.
Q7) What is up next for you?
Ric: The sequel to Crimson and Steel, Scarlet Sands. We will see the relationships deepen as well as new characters.
Q8) What is the best piece of advice you would give to a buddy author?
Ric: Keep at it. Join a writing group that meets in person. You aren’t all alone.
Q9) What is the next book on your To Read Pile that you are dying to jump into?
Ric: I am reading an excellent biography of Harald Hardrada by John Marsden and Enslaved By A Viking by Delilah Devlin.
Q10) Is there anything else you would like to add?
Ric: If you like Roman history and a bit of erotic romance, please check out Crimson and Steel!
Books-n-Kisses: Ric, again thank you so very much for making Books-n-Kisses a stop on your book tour. I have enjoyed learning more about you and your book. I look forward to reading and see what you come up with next.
Ric: Thanks so much for having me!
Excerpt:
Kell stood in darkness as Marcus lit a candle. Her eyes adjusted as he ignited more. Then he kindled a bronze oil lamp as well as a similar little torch on the other side of the room and then several more candles. She looked on his bed and saw a finely-made, high-mounted mattress dressed in red and black silk. On the wall opposite his bed was a broad, circular mirror of polished bronze with a lion’s head adorning each point of the compass. The disc was so finely buffed that she could clearly see herself with a ruddy, aural complexion. Soon the room was blazing, and everything seemed to be bathed in an amber haze.
Kell stood at the foot of the bed and before the feline-crested imager. Marcus joined her, clothed in only his scarlet tunic. He cupped her heart-shaped face with his strong hands and stroked his thumbs across her cheeks, admiring her beauty. Kell closed her eyes and pressed into him as he kissed her, pursing his lips over her lower lip and tugging. He nuzzled his nose to her, and his stubbly chin scratched across her fair skin. The Nordic girl inhaled sharply at this contact and leaned into him all the more. His torso was like the trunk of an oak, and she pressed her breasts into him, her arms snaking around his waist. The Praetor tangled his long fingers in her shining locks and pulled her head to the side to expose the elegant tendon on the side of her neck. He kissed his way down the rounded cord, nibbling as he went, his breath a dragon’s flame on her winter-kissed flesh.
Calloused, sword-hardened hands slid down Kell’s linen-clad back and gripped her pert, supple ass. Her pitifully short tunic did nothing to cover her globes as they were mauled and rolled by Marcus’s seeking fingers. His lips continued downward, and she offered him all of herself, tossing back her head and curling her tapering leg around his hip as he clutched her closer. He bit her shoulder and kissed his way up the other side, stopping at her ear where he exhaled and whispered, “I’m going to fuck you so hard, little slave girl.”
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