|
Jina Bacarr | When you can't get a character out of your mind...
April 23, 2009
When I received my author copies for my latest Spice release, Cleopatra's Perfume, I
re-read it all over again from beginning to end, reliving the heroine's sexual
obsessions and romantic interludes with the men in her life, the angst and
horror of World War II when she becomes a spy for the British Foreign Service
and the fascinating story behind the mysterious perfume in the title (and yes,
I enjoyed the sex, too!). When I came to the end of the story, I realized I had unfinished business with
the heroine in my book, Lady Eve Marlowe. Before she married a member of the
British peerage, she was a cabaret dancer in Berlin during the wild days of the
Weimar Republic during the erotic 1920s. What were those years like in pre-
war Berlin? I wondered, intrigued. Eve came to Berlin with an all-girl
revue in 1928 looking for love and adventure. Instead she found a city bathed
in lust and sex. I love the city of Berlin with its old world sophistication and stony-faced
facades belying an underworld culture of decadence and pleasure that once
existed before a madman changed the map of Europe. My heroine, Eve, lived
through it all. I became obsessed with thinking about what adventures she'd had
as a young dancer before she met Lord Marlowe. Did she go to the spanking
clubs? Participate in the strange carnal rituals of the secret love cults? Was
she involved in Lustmord, lust murder? I had to find out so I started writing a Prequel to Cleopatra's Perfume on
my blog called "Weimar Girls Gone Wild: The Berlin Sex Diary of Lady Eve
Marlowe." Now I'm hooked on my own story. Each week I can't wait to write a
new episode. Then a funny thing happened: a tall, sexy three-hundred-year old
vampire named Count Peter von Stryker insisted on getting into the story. And
oh, what a handsome devil he is. Here is what Eve writes in her diary the first time she sees the Count: The paleness of his skin belied the fiery dynamic of his persona, his broad
shoulders, square jaw. He wore his long black hair tied back, the poetic lift
of his dark brow giving him the air of a romantic cavalier. But it was his eyes
that held me. Black pools of perpetual movement that lured me into their
swirling depths. I could not escape the fatality of his stare, a look that was
eternal. It was as if he could read my mind, knowing I was hungry and out of
work. Now I can't get him out of my mind…I have no choice but to keep writing. If you'd like to read The Berlin Sex Diary of Lady Eve Marlow, click here.
Comments
12 comments posted.
Re: Jina Bacarr | When you can't get a character out of your mind...
I like it when a character gets into your mind and won't let go. Keep up the interesting stories.
(Karin Tillotson 12:56pm April 23, 2009)
Having a character you can't get out of your head is exactly the reason that I LOVE series arcs.
(Kelli Jo Calvert 1:20pm April 23, 2009)
Thankz, Karen!! I'm totally enjoying learning more about Eve and Count von Stryker and writing future episodes about their adventures in Berln.
(Jina Bacarr 2:08pm April 23, 2009)
Kelli, your comment about series arcs is right on. Weimar Berlin was such a fascinating time, it's exciting for me to see what my characters will do next...
(Jina Bacarr 2:13pm April 23, 2009)
An interesting piece of history I wasn't
familiar with. Thanks.
(Patricia Barraclough 9:48pm April 23, 2009)
Hi Jina! I always wondered how it went for you as an author reading your own book. Do you get the joy too from reading it or more so catching what you wrote rather?
I so love getting within a story! I do get there and like a fly on the wall watching it unfold. Then I can be sitting a few days later and a scene would come to me and so feeling along with it. Especially those historical setting and fantasy! So would love to read this book. Great to meet you.
(Cathie Morton 10:18pm April 23, 2009)
Thank you, Patricia, for your comment. The Weimar Republic was a wild, raucous time--Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest city in the world with a population of 4 million.
Film and music flourished under the guidance of such luminaries as Ernst Lubitsch and Bertolt Brecht--it was also the time of cabaret stars such as Anita Berber and nightclubs that catered to every sexual taste and perversion.
Naughty, erotic, saucy--that was Weimar Berlin.
(Jina Bacarr 12:59pm April 24, 2009)
Hi, Cathie, great to meet you, too.
Re: getting into a story--I think there are three stages when I'm writing a book: 1)first is that wild, creative high we all get when we can't get the story down fast enough as it unfolds; 2) next is the gritty part--making certain all those wonderful scenes advance the story, dig deeper into the characters, their motivations, goals, conflicts, then layering in the emotions, fact-checking, research then more research--all this involves the craft of writing; and 3) lastly, that sublime time when you're finished and you haven't picked up the m/s for awhile and you start reading then find you can't put it down...that's what happened to me with Cleopatra's Perfume.
Btw, I'm also recording audio/video podcasts (using visuals with my voiceover) of Eve's Berlin Sex Diary. Check out the link in my blog and that will also take you to the podcast(s).
Thankz!
(Jina Bacarr 1:08am April 24, 2009)
I love the cover of your book. It's sexy and alluring. I am looking forward to reading the book and its prequel.
(Robin McKay 3:17pm April 24, 2009)
Hi, Robin,
Thank you for stopping by. I love the cover, too. The pearls on the cover play a role in Cleopatra's Perfume when my heroine, Eve, is in Cairo and performs her erotic dance in the Cleopatra Club.
(Jina Bacarr 12:35pm April 25, 2009)
I like the cover! Thank you writing a book set in such a controversial time, it has piqued my interest! I will pick it up.
(Mari M. 11:27pm May 4, 2009)
Hi, Maribelle,
Thank you so much for your comment! I've started a daily blog [click on the link for the "Berlin Sex Diary of Lady Eve" referenced above in my blog] for the month of May about Lady Eve in Weimar Berlin in 1928 (Cleopatra's Perfume opens in 1939). This is a younger Eve, discovering this wild, erotic playground, meeting the artistes and literati of the era while the stage is being set for war.
(Jina Bacarr 2:58pm May 9, 2009)
Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!
| 
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy