Interview with Kele Moon & Giveaway Finding/Beyond Eden

Today we have the wonderful and talented author Kele Moon as our guest. Last year her debut novel Beyond Eden made quite an impact in erotic romance land. The reviews and ratings on Goodreads were very positive and I personally loved this dark, deviant ménage (about Danny, Paul and Eve) very much as well. Therefore I’m honored that Kele Moon is here today to celebrate her latest release, the prequel to her debut novel: Finding Eden. In this second book in the Eden series she goes back in time, and tells how Danny and Paul’s love started before Eve entered their relationship and they all became part of the threesome that’s the core of Beyond Eden.
Find out what Kele says about the difficulty of writing a prequel and go backwards, about her love for character driven plots and about other books in the Eden series.

Also, at the end of the interview she will give away an e-copy of Finding Eden or Beyond Eden to one lucky commenter!

Welcome to Rarely Dusty Books, Kele!


I met Danny and Paul, the heroes of Finding Eden, last year October when I read Beyond Eden and they made a huge impression on me. So much so that now, almost one year later, I can still vividly remember them. What do you think is it about these guys that make them so memorable? Or, in other words, how would you introduce Paul and Danny to my readers?

I think what makes them memorable is that Danny and Paul are both deeply flawed characters. They have issues that makes them less than perfect, but they both have things about them that make them extremely redeeming. Danny’s is his ability to love Paul and Eve so deeply he would say, do and be anything for them. And Paul’s a hard person not to love. He’s a nice guy. He has a big heart and like Danny, he loves deeply, but his life has been difficult and left him somewhat scarred.

Plus, Paul and Danny are this amazing contrast to each other. . . Danny is a natural rebel, a bad boy who hates rules and has a complete disregard for what anyone thinks about him. But, there is this small thread of softness in him when it comes to relationships. Danny is a romantic. He wants the love and the beauty. Where as Paul is this all around great guy who thrives off rules. He’s nice as can be. He volunteers for good causes. A real Boy Scout type, but when it comes to sex Paul is such a deviant. He’s easily the kinkiest between the two and his tastes are SO dark. The combination between the romantic bad boy and the kinky boyscout is different and lots of fun to write. Hopefully it’s equally fun to read!

Finding Eden is the prequel to Beyond Eden. How difficult was it to write a prequel after Beyond Eden was already written/published? Did the fact that the prequel is an M/M and Beyond Eden a ménage story have any influence on that?

It was insanely difficult to write a prequel and go backwards. It would have been easier if I’d KNOWN I was going to do it and made the crumb trail a little easier. . . But, I didn’t make the decision until later. I wanted to revisit the Eden universe and a sequel is a hard sell when using the same characters because you have to mess up the HEA in order to add conflict. Between you and me and the lamp post, I do have a sequel partially written and I’m sorta madly in love with it. . . But, I had to shelf it for the time being. Rather than sulk over not being able to sell the sequel, I simply started a prequel.

It wasn’t until after I’d committed to it that I realized just how hard it was going to be to write backwards. . . The fact that it was M/M wasn’t really a big deal. I love M/M. I have several WIPs that are just M/M so it wasn’t the lack of girly parts. It was more trying to get to a happy for now ending knowing that these boys have such a long road ahead of them before Beyond Eden.

Plus, it was emotionally draining. . . I put a lot of the grittier details in this book that were glazed over in Beyond Eden. Paul’s abuse. Danny’s issues with his alcoholic father. It’s a dark book, I won’t lie about that. But, I think the love Danny and Paul have for each other sorta redeems the darkness.

Do you use pictures of models or movie stars as inspiration for (the looks of) your characters? If so, which pictures did inspire you for Paul and for Danny?

You know, I don’t. . . I don’t have one picture for each boy showing what they look like. . . In Claiming Eden (that’s not done yet) I actually show Danny from an outsider’s perspective who describes him as a walking Versace ad. Tall, dark, angular, intense. . . One of those handsome young men you see posing in black and white for jeans or men’s suit ads. That pretty much describes Danny. . . Oddly enough an image of him is easy for me to find if I start looking at dark, handsome models.

Paul is much harder. I spent some time obsessing over finding an image for him, someone masculine, but somewhat angelic. Big and buff, but approachable and unassuming. The closest I can find and I’ve LOOKED is Bradley Cooper. Him in Valentine’s Day, in a business suit and being darling. . . That’s the closest I can find to older (Post Beyond Eden) Paul. . . Younger Paul, forget about it. . . I ought to make a contest for people to find an image of him in his football days. . . Because I’d love to find one!!

I have spent an INSANE amount of time watching this final scene from Valentine’s Day thinking of Danny and Paul. . . But, watch with caution unless you want the movie Valentine’s Day spoiled. . . ‘Cause this is the ending. It was a largely MEH movie with the exception of this one scene (In my opinion, anyway):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EAjrENSoSA&feature=related 

(sadly, embedding the clip isn’t possible, so you’ll have to use the link instead for some Bradley Cooper and Eric Dane sweetness)

Younger Bradley Cooper getting his guy action on isn’t quite Paul but still nice nonetheless:

(or use this link)

Thus ends my tour of naughty Bradley Cooper scenes ::cough:: Weren’t we talking about some book I wrote or something?

*dreamy eyes* Oh… uhm…yes… Is Finding Eden as deliciously deviant as Beyond Eden? Or did you choose a different angle?

Yes, it’s absolutely as deviant as Beyond Eden. In some ways I think it’s MORE deviant.

Though the progression is different. In Beyond Eden it was them coming out of the darkness. . . It ended on a light note. . . In Finding Eden, it’s them falling into the darkness. It starts out innocent to an extent (as innocent as Danny and Paul can get, anyhow) and then gets progressively darker. No question, this book is Danny’s journey. It’s his fall into the dark world of BDSM and it’s not a simple or easy journey for him.

Beyond Eden is deeply emotional and highly character driven. Does Finding Eden have the same focus on character development or will this one be more plot-oriented? Does one or the other have your preference? And if so, why?

I’d say this one is character driven. . . I lean towards that. It’s my strength as a writer. All my books are character driven. The one difference is that Beyond Eden was condensed to the three main characters. We didn’t even SEE anyone else in that book except Eve’s parents in the beginning and Paul’s fiancée. . . In Finding Eden, there are secondary characters. We see a bit more of their world outside the relationship. . . And in Claiming Eden, the next book in the series, I expand their outside world even more. Since this is their fall into BDSM I had to show the people and places that played into that dark seduction.

How would you describe your own writing style? Which aspects of your style do you pay special attention to?

Like I said before. . .I think my writing style is character driven. It’s emotional. It can certainly be dark. In this book it’s dark, in Beyond Eden it was dark. But, oddly enough I can write light too. I wrote a quick one shot titled A Kiss for Luck that was light and sweet and everything Beyond Eden wasn’t. I’m sure it gave some people whiplash. LOL! But, I do need the balance. I work on several stories at once, some dark, some light. . . But, all of them are character driven and laced with deep emotions. I have this passion for love. I adore watching it unfold in my characters. However it happens, dark, light, deviant or sweet, I enjoy the journey. . . It’s all about the love ::grins::

On your website we can read that there’s a third book in progress, Claiming Eden. Can you already tell us something about it? Will it feature only Paul and Danny again or will Eve be in it as well? What is its place on the timeline?

Claiming Eden takes place directly after Finding Eden, so no. . . Eve’s not in it. It was supposed to be part of Finding Eden until I realized the feel of it was completely different once we moved into the next step of Danny’s life. A new character, Circe, is introduced and her voice was SO strong and her perceptions of Danny and Paul were so different from what we’ve seen before, it had to be its own story.

And I like it as two stories. . . Finding Eden is JUST Danny and Paul. It’s their love story. It shows the evolution of these two injured, broken young men finding love in friendship at a time with both of them would have literally crash and burned without it.


Thanks so much, Kele, for the insight into a writer’s mind! I’m excited that there will be more books in the Eden series: it seems that we not only have a sequel to the prequel to look forward to, but also a sequel to Beyond Eden itself.
 

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Giveaway:

Kele Moon is generously offering a copy of her ebook Finding Eden (M/M) or Beyond Eden (M/M/F) to one lucky commenter. To enter leave a comment telling us which of the two books you’d like to win.

The giveaway is international, and we will announce the winner on Saturday, August 27, so be sure to leave your comment before then and don’t forget to check back or leave a way for us to contact you in your comment or profile.

Good luck to you all!

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Linking:
Author’s website | Facebook | on Twitter | on Goodreads
Buy Finding Eden here
Buy Beyond Eden here
Read an excerpt from Finding Eden here
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