Public Relations: Reviews & Interviews > Featured Author, Torquere Press, September 2006 Interview

Interview: Featured Author, Torquere Press, week of Sept 6th, 2006

This week we're featuring Jodi Payne and Chris Owen, authors of the Deviations series. The second book of the series Deviations: Domination has just been released.

Jodi Payne

Did the characters or plot come first in the Deviations novels?

The inspiration to write a Dom/sub BDSM story actually came first, which isn't really a plot so much as a setting, and then the characters came out of that. Chris and I didn't even consult about the characters much, except that Chris had an idea for the Dom and I had an idea about the sub. Chris wrote me and said 'I think the Dom is a veterinarian' and I wrote back and said 'I think the sub is a cop', and the characters evolved and blossomed from there. They really spoke to each of us. The story was seriously character-driven, to the point where we often didn't know where a scene would go, just that we wanted to write it and find out. We also thought we'd be writing one novel and then, oops, maybe two, and suddenly we had four.

Tobias and Noah wanted to tell the whole story, and that included rounding out some secondary characters that originally were meant to be plot devices, like Bradford and Phan. I think the last two books had more plot in place before we wrote them because at that point we had a good idea about where the story was headed.

You write both f/f and m/m stories. Is one easier than the other? Are there different challenges to writing one over the other?

Well, the simple answer to that is to say that women are more challenging to write. Certainly the sex is more difficult. Men are sort of tab A into slot B and women are more, well, involved. The language for men is sexier, too. Most of the words describing men are powerful and hot and most of the words describing women are exploitive or clinical. So you have to be careful and you have to be creative when you're writing women. Emotionally, though, I think they're equally intriguing and enjoyable. Sometimes I think men are more fun just because I'm a lesbian, so writing men is less like writing my own life.

In the same vein, you write both on your own and with a co-writer. What are the advantages and challenges to each?

Co-writing is a creative collaboration, so there is back and forth and there is a different joint writing style, there is brainstorming, agreement and disagreement, and there is compromise. You have to learn to drop the ego part of writing and see the piece more objectively. But you also get surprised and inspired by the other writer, and I always feel challenged to write better and I have more confidence. You bring out the best part of each other's writing. One may be good at dialogue, the other might be better with exposition, that sort of thing. Co-writing is always fun for me. Writing solo is a different kind of creative experience. It's very internal and more deliberate. I continue to try to challenge myself and work on the aspects of my writing that aren't as strong as others, but I'm writing for me because I want to, and because the characters won't leave me alone. Sometimes it's easy, and sometimes, like when the inspiration or the ideas just aren't there and there's no one to bounce something off of, it can be really frustrating. I enjoy the process, though.

What is your favorite thing about writing? How about least favorite?

I love creating characters. They live and breathe in my mind and I love to put them on paper and watch them move and talk and interact. So the dialogue is generally easy. The hardest part for me is translating the theater script in my mind into narrative and exposition. My least favorite part of writing is having to end a piece. I am horrible with endings. I will get a piece ninety percent written and then stall and procrastinate because I can't end the damn thing. I know I'm not alone in this, a lot of writers tell me the same thing.

What is your favorite genre to write? To read?

I love to read a good mystery, something with a wicked twist and a lot of intrigue like a forensic drama. Then again, I also enjoy a good sexy romance with more fucking than intellectual stimulation. I like to write contemporary fiction most; real people living real lives with realistic issues. I like to explore interpersonal relationships that way.

What are you currently working on?

Right now for my solo work, I am editing a lesbian Christmas story for release as a Single Shot in December 2006 and a novella-length cowboy story. I also have a story in the works for the Arcana line that will be released sometime in late 2007. I am currently co-writing a lesbian romance with Alexa Snow, and cooking up wonderful (evil, hot, smutty) things with Chris Owen, possibly in the form of a m/m noir-style cop novel. At the moment we're still brainstorming. We'll start writing together more seriously later this month.

Chris Owen

Did the characters or plot come first in the Deviations novels?

There wasn't even that much really, just a vague idea. I'd been reading a lot of D/s fiction, with and without bondage and discipline elements, and the exchange of power really intrigued me. The relationship between the Dom and the sub was portrayed so many ways, some very well and some not so much, and I really wanted to give writing that sort of story a try. I wanted to write my impression of how the trust would be worked out and what the essential elements of that sort of bond are. I also really wanted to work with Jodi again, so I approached her with a bare bones concept. We decided who would write the Dom and who the sub, and then went our own ways to develop our characters. I was working on Natural Disaster at the time, and needed some literal space; I went camping on my own for three days and came home with several chapters of ND and Tobias Vincent, Dom.

Jodi and I write character driven stories, so that fall we started a chat with what became the first chapter of Deviations: Submission. I knew next to nothing about Noah at the time, just that he was younger than Tobias and a cop. Everything grew out of that chat and the Deviations world more or less took over our lives for a few wonderful months.

You write both on your own and with a co-writer. What are the advantages and challenges to each?

With solo writing there's a certain joy in ownership. The story, the world, the flaws, the characters--it's all mine. There's a great freedom in that ability to take the story wherever I want it to go without running it past someone else. I can easily explore the characters or the situation or guide things to produce something specific. It's a lot easier to slack off, though, and I tend to get caught with a collection of half finished things. It's very easy as a solo writer to put something aside when it's not quite working-- either because I'm not sure why it's having a problem or because fixing it would involve a lot of rewrites that I don't have time for at that moment--and then not get back to it. Living in my own head is a fun place to be, but it sure is easy to get distracted!

Co writing, at least the way I do it (with no long outlined plot to follow) is a ton of fun. I get bored when I know how a story ends (thus I don't outline) and the primary joy in co-writing is that it's like reading a story and playing with it at the same time. I really like seeing where the other author is going, sharing reactions with my characters, and the dynamic of playing off another person. It's exciting and it's very easy to keep interested--and there is always the added drive of 'it's my turn!' to keep the words flowing. The drawbacks are primarily those of coordination and scheduling, really. It would be a good thing to have all the people I live with move right here to live on my street. That would be fun.

What is your favorite thing about writing? How about least favorite?

My favourite thing about writing is actually telling the stories in my head and making them something that I can share. I love the way words go together and how I can bring characters to life and give them voices. The best parts of stories, for me, are the conversations. That's where the characters really live for me, where they shine and show off and show what they're all about.

My least favourite thing is commas. I think the less said about commas, the better.

You write in a variety of genres -- what is your favorite genre to write? To read?

I write a lot of romance; the building of a relationship just enthralls me. I really, really loved writing An Agreement Among Gentlemen, though. The historical aspects were just plain fun to work with, from researching right on through to the final product. I would dearly love to write a mystery one day, one that has a solid and unpredictable plot--that's what I like to read. I like modern day stories with real, flawed characters, and I adore a good mystery.

What are you currently working on?

Cops! Lots of cops. Maybe I'll get to that mystery after all. There's a homicide cop who occasionally works with a guy in computer crimes, and down south there's a small town police force getting ready to welcome a new officer from the big city. I've also got a fantasy novel on the go, plans for a co write with Jodi, and two stories for a new line TP is putting out. I'm kind of busy. Just the way I like it--lots of stories started and not a deadline for ages yet. Breathing room is good.

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