Lorelei James | More of the Mastered Series

As an erotic romance author, one of the first questions I’m asked is if I’ve
“done” every sexual scenario I’ve written about…Umm…No.

The really funny thing about that? I’m also a mystery writer but no one ever
asks me if I’ve actually killed someone. Gives the person asking the question
something to think about :)

In the Mastered series, in BOUND, UNWOUND and SCHOOLED (a novella out December 2^nd) my two main characters are Ronin Black and Amery Hardwick. In addition to being an 8^th degree black belt in jujitsu, Sensei Ronin Black is also a kinbaku rope master. What does that mean exactly? Well, he likes to use rope on women as an artistic and sexual expression of beauty.

I’ve read lots of books where the hero is very much into rope bondage, but my
starting point for the series wasn’t a male character’s need to immobilize
sexual partners as a measure of control, but the fact kinbaku and shibari were
borne out of hojojutsu—the traditional Japanese martial art of restraining a
person using cord or rope. I wanted to explore rope bondage from a different
angle. Which meant lots of research.

My favorite type of research is the hands on variety, but in this situation I
had to rely on other research methods. I started from the jujitsu side, reading
about the history of the Japanese warriors who became known for the decorative
manner in which they bound their prisoners. From there I moved to Shunga
artwork, which has been around since the mid-eighteenth century in Japan that
features men binding women in various states of undress and dishevelment. I read
about the underground “dirty” magazines in Japan starting in the 1950s that
continued the Shunga type artwork in photographic form. That led me to a variety
of movies from the 1970s through current day that showcase shibari and kinbaku
in some interesting and also disturbing situations. Lastly I unearthed foreign
copies of shibari and kinbaku performances on DVD, in art and how to books, and
online videos.

Once I reached a certain point in the research process, including taking stock
of binding materials—different colors, sizes, materials of rope—I returned to
the most important aspect for me in any story: characterization. What made Ronin
Black need to express himself through rope work? And how would the heroine Amery
react when she discovered that rope mastery isn’t just a hobby, an impulsive
thing Ronin uses to add safe kink to a sexual relationship, but is an intrinsic
part of him?

Figuring out those motivations and reactions is where the research ends and the
story begins.