Author Interview: Autumn Bardot

 

 

JMR-Welcome to the Books Delight, Autumn. Tell our readers where you live, what you do for fun and what does the perfect day look like?

AB-  Hello readers! I live in the ‘burbs in sunny southern California with my hubby and 2 dogs—a 12-yr-old rescue maltipoo and a new chocolate lab puppy.  Between us, we have 6 children, their spouses, and 3 grandchildren.  A fun day is having the family over for swimming and lunch or going to the beach.  I never turn down a chance to skim across the water on a boat, feel the wind in my hair, and relish the salty sea air. A perfect day is hanging at the beach with my daughters, a cocktail lunch, and shopping.  Of course, getting in some reading and writing time would make the day divine perfection!

JMR-What’s your favorite historical time period? Why?

AB   Ancient and medieval history!  Hands down!  Those times were just sooooo extra! The clothes, wealth, food, jewels, power! Then there’s the opposite of all that decadence. The violence, poverty, disease, and struggles.  Those opposites make for intriguing time periods to read and write about. I find the women’s lives horrifying and fascinating in equal measure.  And because much is unknown or speculated about, it makes it that much more wonderful and enlightening to read and research.

JMR-Who is your favorite historical figure? Why? If you could ask them one question, what would it be?

AB- Wow! There’s a lot to choose from. And I certainly would need to ask more than one question. LOL.  I’d go with either the Queen of Sheba or Hatshepsut, the Egyptian Queen. The one question? What was the most important thing you learned about deal-making and power structures?

JMR- How did you come to be a writer of historical fiction AND historical erotica?

AB- Actually, I write urban fantasy and non-fiction too! I love reading many different genres, so I love writing them as well.  My urban fantasy series was my first venture into writing. Next, I decided to try my hand at historical fiction, The Emperor’s Assassin to be specific.  That book landed me an agent. One day, my agent sent me a request from a publishing company (who specializes in erotica, LGBQT, & sexuality non-fiction) for a short story collection of sexy myths. I threw my hat into the ring—or rather a few samples of R-rated scenes from my historical fiction—and got the contract!  That book was Legends of Lust, Erotic Myths From Around the World. I wrote an erotic novel next, Confessions of a Sheba Queen, and the publisher loved that one too!

JMR- As a writer, how do you let your potential reader know that the book contains erotic sex scenes? I often see book reviews where readers seem upset by sex in books.

AB- The book description for my erotica uses words like erotic, steamy, sexy, decadent and the kinds of words that would let the reader know what they’re in for. Also, they are in an erotic category. My historical fiction has steamy R-rated scenes.  Often, it’s what I don’t write—when the reader reads between the lines—that makes it seem steamier than the actual words. That tells you just how powerful a reader’s imagination is and that a skilled writer can have the reader envisioning all sorts of stuff with just a few well-chosen words.

JMR- One of my COVID writing goals was to write a sex scene (first one). What advice would you give to writers who want to include sex in their story but are unsure how to go about it.

AB- I am glad you asked!  So much can go horribly wrong and become cringe-worthy when writing a sexy scene. Since I’ve taught literary analysis for almost 20 years, I approach writing a sexy scene in a literary way.  That may sound boring, but it’s not.  Far from it! In fact, it allows the sex scenes to be more than just titillating and gratuitous but purposeful and meaningful to the plot and characters.  Sex with meaning and purpose to the story!  The reader is able to get lots of insight into the characters by how, when, why, who, what, and where they have sex.  My 7 Tips for Writing a Scene  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucnc-YJ7H58&t=610s  can be found on my YouTube channel and Write Better, Author Smarter podcast.

JMR- Autumn, tell us about your books.

AB- LOL, how long can this blog post be? For practicality’s sake, here’s a quick list.

Historical Fiction

The Impaler’s Wife

A young woman is swept into a life of intrigue, revenge, passion, and betrayal when she falls for the world’s most notorious prince - Vlad Dracula. *Available in audio.

The Emperor’s Assassin

A young herbalist’s life changes forever when Emperor Nero requires her herbal expertise and commands her to be his personal poisoner.

Dragon Lady

“Prostitution required the violation of my body. Piracy required my soul. The first enslaved me. The second set me free.”

The triumph of the notorious Zheng Yi Sao is the fierce and unflinching adventure of how a prostitute became the most powerful and successful pirate in the world. 

 

Historical Erotica

Legends of Lust, Erotic Myths from around the World

A sexy, spicy, irreverent peek into the sensual world of our most beloved gods, heroes, fairies, and shapeshifters from every corner of the earth! *Available in audio.

 

Confessions of a Sheba Queen

A temptress. A jinni. A queen. 

Be swept away in the sands of time with the erotic and exotic story of the Queen of Sheba’s journey of love, lust, and power. *Available in audio.

Urban Fantasy

Goddesses Inc

 Even goddesses get fired.

           Divinity was their destiny. Until mortality became their fate.

Mnem has everything. A glam lifestyle, beauty, family, and immortality. But she doesn’t have a platform. Or followers. Or relevance. Which is why Mnemosyne, the goddess of remembrance and mother of the nine muses, is fired.

Mnem isn’t the only one. Three other goddesses are also up the mortal creek without a divine paddle. Now they must build a life—a real one.

 

The Merkabah Series

An ancient curse. A forbidden love. A deadly secret.

An empath gets more than she bargains for when a cryptid hunter asks for her help.

A romantic urban fantasy with mystical sass!

The Merkabah Recruit

The Merkabah Deception

The Merkabah Temptation

The Merkabah Obsession

 

Non-fiction

The Magic of Symbolism, Enrich Your Writing With Hidden Meaning

 

JMR- Have you traveled anywhere fun to do research for your books?

AB- Traveling is the best!  I went to Ecuador and the rainforest for one of the Merkabah books. My trip to Greece was the inspiration for the book I’m working on now, and for the last in the Merkabah series.

JMR-What projects do you have in the pipeline?

AB- Ohhh, that pipeline is clogged with lots of stuff right now!  The first project will be to finish a historical fiction that I began a year ago before I got sidetracked with Goddesses Inc. It takes place in Greece—I got A LOT of story idea mileage from that one trip—and it was a real event in history. I don’t want to give away too much, but I will say that Women Are Amazing!

 

JMR- Tell our readers how to find you on social media and the web.

AB- The best and fastest way to find all my social media, links, FB groups, YouTube videos, podcasts, and appearances is my website.  http://www.Autumnbardot.com   Make sure to check out the Historical Fiction Fans Book Club. It’s an FB group for readers and writers. www.facebook.com/groups/833932474131458/

Here’s a few more links:

http://www.autumnbardot.com​
https://twitter.com/autumnbardot​
 https://www.facebook.com/AutumnBardotAuthor/
https://www.instagram.com/autumnbardot
https://amazon.com/author/autumnbardot​
​https://www.bookbub.com/authors/autumn-bardot
https://www.pinterest.com/autumnbardot/​
 https://www.YouTube.com/c/AutumnbardotAuthor

https://www.goodreads.com/AutumnBardot

 

JMR- What question were you hoping I’d ask but didn’t?

AB- Any contests and giveaways? Look for a giveaway at the end of June! The specifics will be posted on Instagram and my FB page.

 

Thank you so much for having me on your blog today!

JMR- Thank you, Autumn, for a great chat. Readers, I know your want to rush off and see Autumn's books so I've included an easy Amazon button to get you straight there.