This year, 2014, Changeling Press celebrates a decade of publishing. I’m B.J. McCall and today, I’m interviewing author Kate Douglas about her books and her decade of writing for Changeling.
Kate, welcome to the Changeling Blog. You’ve been writing for Changeling since the
beginning. How did you learn about Changeling?
I’ve known the company
founder, Margaret Riley, since we were both authors at Ellora’s Cave. I joined
up in 2001.There was a whole group of us in the early years—Margaret aka Shelby
Morgen, Treva Harte, MaryJanice Davidson, and Lora Leigh, to name a few. By
2003, MaryJanice and Lora Leigh were off to fame and fortune, Treva, along with
a few other authors, had started Loose Id, and Margaret decided to start
Changeling Press. M’s idea was to sell sexy stories that were short enough for
people to read on their PDAs. Remember those? The precursor to the smart phone,
though they didn’t make calls, but they were one of the first small, hand-held
devices you could actually read an ebook on. We were definitely pioneers!
Anyway, she asked me if I
would write something that would really “knock the readers’ socks off.” We
talked about it, decided shapeshifters were the coming thing, that wolves were
sexy, and I went online to research wolves, since I didn’t know a thing about
them.
I remember coming across
an article about a Tibetan wolf with the local name, “Chanku.” That single
paragraph was the basis for the entire Wolf Tales (and now Spirit Wild) world.
I called the series Wolf Tales, though I can’t recall if it was my idea or M’s
to name it that. The first story was titled “Stefan.” I think it’s around
15,000 words, but it was just different enough that it really caught readers’ attention.
I think it was the Beauty and the Beast concept, of Xandi, the heroine, having
a truly erotic sexual encounter without seeing her partner’s face, but
recognizing he wasn’t quite human.
BJ: It’s been ten years. What was the most exciting moment you can
recall?
KATE: Beyond getting an offer
from a NY publisher for my Changeling Press series, after twenty years’ of
trying to get a contract? I think it was the moment Anton Cheval entered the
story. In my mind, Stefan was going to be the hero for the series, but when I
wrote the second “chapter” to my CP serial, the one titled “Alexandria,” I
introduced Anton Cheval to the story. I don’t think I’ve ever had a character
appear fully formed in my mind and take over the way Anton did.
What’s interesting is that
the first scene where he appears, when Stefan and Xandi drive to his home to
meet with him, almost got cut.
It broke way too many
rules—a violent anal rape between two men, one caught halfway between wolf and
man, and the more dominant Anton, who shifts from man to wolf in the midst of
the act. The editor said absolutely not, no way, wasn’t gonna happen.
I knew it had to be part
of the story, so I went over my editor’s head and sent the piece to M. She
approved it, the story appeared as written, and sales jumped. I still remember
the way it felt to write that scene, as if Anton were guiding it. Stefan sort
of pulled back and turned the stage over to the alpha wolf, and from then on
there was no stopping Anton Cheval. I don’t think there’s any greater thrill
for an author than the moment the character comes to life and takes control. Or
maybe I’m just a submissive at heart...ya never know.
BJ: You’ve written many books. I’m sure you love all your stories, but which
book is your favorite Changeling story?
KATE: It’s My Valentine. Not
sexy at all, but it’s always made me feel good. It was written in a single
weekend in 2005 when M had a sudden opening for a Valentine’s Day story when an
author failed to deliver. It happens on occasion, and I told her I could have
something for her by Monday. This was late on a Friday—I thought about it
overnight but had nothing until I took a walk around the block. It was a cold,
wintry day, and by the time I got home, I had the concept for the story. Wrote
the whole 12,000 words on Saturday, spent Sunday tweaking and smoothing it out,
and had it to M on time. It’s the story of St. Valentine getting his shot at
love—and mortality—with an abused woman intent on killing herself.
BJ: Who is your sexiest Changeling hero?
KATE: If you’d asked me this
last year, I would have said it was Lester Ondáge from Finding Magic and
Chasing Dragons (both in the Dragons and Dreams collection) but that was before
I wrote A Very Good Thing and met Caj and Marc. It’s a toss-up. Marc is openly
bi and Caj has always thought he was straight. Both of them are just too hot
for words.
BJ: Your latest Changeling release was Something Even Better.
Tell me about it?
KATE: The precursor to Something
Even Better was A Very Good Thing, which was one of those “flash fiction”
challenges. The original idea was, ‘someone comes up to you in a bar and
whispers, “Help me out. Pretend you’re my lover.”’
I got the idea of a
straight guy planting a kiss on a guy he thinks is gay in order to discourage a
clingy ex-wife. That story ended with Caj and Marc dining in the same
bar/restaurant where they’d met, when a beautiful young woman walks in, sidles
up to Caj and whispers, “Help me out. Pretend you’re my lover.” And that is
where Something Even Better opens.
Both Caj and Marc are in
love, but they’re bi, not gay, and they realize something is missing. And that
something is actually some one—one Ginny Kalani, a beautiful woman with issues
about her weight. As she explains to the guys, she’s genetically designed to
survive long sea voyages, but what she sees as something bad, Caj and Marc see
is lush sensuality they both want to sample—and keep. It’s a fun, feel-good
story.
BJ: Thank you for taking the time for this interview. And on a personal note, I want to take this
opportunity to thank you for the years of friendship and mentoring you have
given me over the years.
KATE: That goes both ways, B.J.!
If you’ve got room, I have to tell our story. B.J. and I lived in neighboring
towns when we were both new to this writing gig, and we occasionally met for
lunch and a chance to visit. I think it was a Subway in Windsor where we were
going over plot ideas for our stories, arguing about the various scenes, and
definitely getting into the conversation. All I remember is that it was just
you and me in the place, and a teenaged boy behind the counter.
Now, B.J. and I both write
pretty steamy erotic romances, and we weren’t really censoring our
conversation. After an hour or so, it was time to take off, and we started
packing up our stuff to leave when the young man walked over with a plate of
cookies, obviously wanting us to stay.
He’s been eavesdropping
the entire time we were talking about whatever sex scene we were working
on—probably the most excitement he’d had on the job in months!
B.J., I wish you still
lived close—those gab sessions were great for charging the muse! Thanks so much
for the opportunity to reminisce. Writing for Changeling Press has always been
so much fun, and I still need to do another story in my series of sexy short
stuff, It’s All Good, but for readers who want a couple of fun, sexy, short
novellas, A Very Good Thing and Something Even Better are definitely
entertaining.
And, if you don’t mind,
I’d love to take this opportunity to thank Margaret and Bill Riley for the
amazing opportunity Changeling Press offered me—the chance to write beyond the
rules that had constrained all of us for so long. If not for Margaret and
Bill’s generosity in returning my rights to me when a NY publisher offered a
contract on the series, I wouldn’t have enjoyed as much success as I have.
I will always be grateful
to them and to Changeling Press. I still think it’s one of the best, most
‘author friendly’ publishers around, and I recommend it often to those writers
looking for a publishing home. It’s also got one of the most supportive groups
of authors and editors I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. A little warped at
times, but I think that’s the best part!
thank you!
Kate’s books are available
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