Interview with Author Autumn Bardot

My guest today is author Autumn Bardot. Hello! Welcome to Writing in the Modern Age! It’s such a pleasure to have you here. 

Hello from sunny California!  Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog today!

 
It's my pleasure! 

Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book? When did it come out? Where can we get it?

Legends of Lust, Erotic Myths from around the World is a decadent and sexy romp through mythology with fourteen romantic and naughty tales of love and lust. Some of the tales may be familiar from high school, like Theseus wooing Hippolyta or Calypso holding Odysseus captive on her island. Others, like the Armenian tale of Lulizar or the Scottish goddess Cailleach are less well known. The short story collection is a spicy, irreverent peak into the sensual world of our most beloved gods, heroes, fairies, and shape shifters from every corner of the world. And it’s a super fun read!

Legends of Lust debuted January 8^th and is available everywhere.

Intriguing! 

Is there anything else which prompted this book? Something that inspired you?

Myths have endured for thousands of years because their stories teach timeless truths, explain mankind’s struggles, fears, culture, and the natural world – be it the surf’s rhythm, Earth’s rumblings, or the phases of the moon. Myths comfort, guide, and inspire. They also advise and caution.

Scheming wives. Unfaithful husbands. Romantic adventures. Impossible love. Fearless lovers. Heroic quests. Name a problem, personality, or relationship and you will find a myth about it! And that’s always inspirational.

Two myths in particular tugged at my naughty side and led me down the sexy path of erotica. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a novel-length ancient poem about the adventures of a demi-god and his bestie. The first part of the tale has Gilgamesh asking the temple priestess to tame a wild man with her sexual skills. Woman tames man with sex! I simply had to elaborate! The second myth is the story of how warrior king Theseus wooed the fiercely independent Amazon queen, Hippolyta. There are two conflicting versions, one claims Theseus kidnaps her, the other where she is seduced. I took my cue from an innuendo-heavy verse in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream when Theseus says he wooed Hippolyta with his ‘sword.’

Hmm...I always find it interesting to see where the muse takes us as writers.

Let me ask a different question.

When did you know you wanted to write? Or has it always been a pastime of yours?

Mom claims I’ve been scribbling since I could hold a crayon. I made little books with illustrations in elementary school and penned funny short stories about my friends in high school. I stopped writing fiction in college. Instead of taking the business classes my parents insisted were necessary, I enrolled in literature classes. I read. A lot. Marriage and babies came next. I wrote a children’s book about our blind cat (Baba Kitty) for my son. Flash forward twenty years and lots of life changes. After earning my Masters I decided it was finally Me Time, and I felt in my heart that I had the ability, knowledge, time, and passion to give novel writing a go. 

Once I started, I couldn’t stop! It’s my Zen. Maybe even my obsession. Okay, it is my obsession…that and shoes.

Nice!

Do you have any favorite authors yourself, Autumn?

Let me check my eReader and bookshelves….

I’m a genre whore. I’ll read any genre. Janet Evanovich, J.K. Kenner, Preston & Child, Michelle Moran, Lisa See, Diana Gabaldon, Dominic Grey, Lauren Smith, Philippa Gregory, Ken Follett, James Rollins, Jean Auel, Christian Jacq, Ken Follett, Susan Howatch, Haruki Murakami, and Anne Rice to name a few! And I adore the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen, William Makepeace Thackery, Mary Shelley, Margaret Mitchell, Agatha Christie, Alexander Dumas, Leo Tolstoy, and I am certain I left out about a hundred others.

Right now, I have The Count of Monte Cristo on my bedside table.

That's quite a range!

So, do you write in a specific place? Time of day?

If it’s nice outside—in southern California that’s 90% of the time—I write outside by the pool. Sometimes in the pool if it’s over 110 degrees. I’ll write a few hours, jump in and do a few laps, work out scenes or dialogue. I write until my eyes blur. When the weather is cool—that’s anything below 70 degrees— I sit in a comfy rocker in my living room.

Hands down, morning is my best writing time. By the evening, my brain gets mushy. During the summer I start writing at 6 a.m. When I’m working, I start at 5 a.m. and write for an hour before driving to work. Once back home, I work until about 10 p.m. I write all weekend.

Rearing four children trained me to block out ambient noise so I can write pretty much everywhere. With one exception. I cannot write in a coffee shop. Weird, right? The coffee shops are packed with writers, but it’s too distracting for me. The customers, their conversations, the yummy treats….

True enough.

Are there any words you'd like to impart to fellow writers? Any advice?

1.      Write. Write. Write. If you’re a newbie. Learn the craft. There’s tons of blogs, books, and videos about plotting, conflict, character and more! Keep writing.

2.      Revise. Revise. Revise. Then revise some more.

3.      Find a local writing group that offers critique sessions. This can be tricky. I went to one where a guy thought finding comma faults on someone’s first draft was helpful. Ever the smart ass, I asked if this was an editing group or a critique group.

4.      Take advice and learn from successful published authors.

5.       If it’s in your budget, go to writing conferences. I went to three the first year I caught the writing bug. I learned different things about publishing from each one.

6.      This advice comes from my computer engineer son. If something isn’t saved in three places, it doesn’t exist. Three places. I send my documents to the cloud (wherever that is), to my email, and to a flash drive.  

7.      Write because you have a story to tell. Write because you must. The creative mind blossoms best when it is nurtured and respected.

Such helpful tips!

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit us here today at Writing in the Modern Age. It was wonderful having you!  :)

Readers, here is the blurb for Legends of Lust.

Named a Top 10 Erotica & Romance Book for Fall 2018 by Publishers Weekly

Who knew the ancient world could be so downright . . . arousing?

Like uncovering a sexy diamond in the rough, Legends of Lust reveals the fiery passions lying dormant behind your favorite mythological stories. This adults-only, debut collection of fourteen steamy, erotic short stories by Autumn Bardot is an explosion of sexy, nasty, and romantic retellings that will take your love of myths to a whole new level.

Odysseus, a mere man, becomes a god-like master of the tease in the eyes of the sex-starved and eternally lustful goddess Calypso. The tale of Amazonian queen Hippolyta and Theseus gives "love at first sight" a whole new meaning that will enthrall your senses. The encounter between Vishvamitra and Menaka takes them to explosive new levels of bodily nirvana. And Gilgamesh, the mighty god-king, sends temple prostitute Shamhat to tame a wild man, but instead he teaches her something about man's most primal instincts . . . and she is not left wanting.

Run wild in your personal Elysian fields of pleasure with this spicy, irreverent peek into the sensual world of our most beloved gods, heroes, fairies, and shape shifters from every corner of the earth.

Purchase Links:

 

Universal Reader Link: https://books2read.com/u/mdWz0E

Publisher: http://cleispress.com/book/2762/legends-of-lust-erotic-myths-from-around-the-world/

Here are some teasers from the book.

Sizzling...so what are people saying about this book?

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“This is a spellbinding collection of super erotic myths, making for very enjoyable reading. The author has the ability to weave mythology and sensuality together making her short stories red hot!” - C. Mack, Amazon

"You won't be able to put this book down!!
Autumn Bardot takes you on an engaging must read of sexy, spicy mythology in a powerful collection of short stories. The erotic passions of the ancient world follow every spellbound page and you will not want to put this book down until you are at the end. But then you will look for more!" - Amazon Customer

“Exotic and beautifully imagined. This collection of short stories takes some characters from these ancient myths and breathes life into their lustful memories. Not only do these characters reflect their status in past times and places, but the elegant language portrays the customs, objects and clothes necessary to picture them as both human beings and larger-than-life-people.

The stories are short enough to delight the imagination for a little while without constricting our busy schedule. There are plenty to choose from.
This treasure trove of 14 retellings of myths morphs into sensual tapestries of passion, exotic cultures and otherworldly creatures. I enjoyed all of them because each story is beautifully composed, the characters are artfully drawn and every couple retains their uniqueness and sensual spark.” - Babel, Amazon

Need more of a nibble? Cleis Press made an amazing promotional video for Legends of Lust.  

Want a bigger bite? Find out which mythical lover you are most like. Take the sexy, quick quiz.


Awesome...add this collection to your Goodreads bookshelf, readers!
 
The book sounds like a great read! We'll be sure to check out this erotic mythology collection!

Get it now!

Author Bio

Autumn Bardot writes erotica, historical fiction, paranormal romance, and even academic literary essays. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a Masters of Arts in a subject not writing related. Both her day job and family keep her busy so she spends every spare minute writing her next novel. She lives with her husband and rescue pooch in the Los Angeles area.

Author Links:

Blog/Website (subscribe to newsletter on the right side of the site):  http://www.autumnbardot.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/james.glass.94

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/autumnbardot
Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/Autumn-Bardot/e/B07DMC7ZB6/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17725628.Autumn_Bardot   

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/autumnbardot/

Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/autumnbardot/

BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/autumn-bardot 

 
 
Autumn's Books:

Coming Soon:

Available Now: