Erotic Romance Author Nadia Aidan Tells All about Enthralled

Lucky us, today I have an author whose books fall right in line with the October holidays and are also extremely sexy. I mean, what girl hasn’t dreamed of being an Amazon. I knew as soon as I read that Nadia Aidan liked Xena, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and La Femme Nikita (some of my favorites) that this is an author who needs to chat with us about her work.

Welcome to The Book Connection, Nadia. It’s great to have you here!

Before we get into your novel, Enthralled, let’s find out more about you. How long have you been writing? Why did you choose to become a writer? What’s the journey been like so far?

I began writing about a year ago when I was finishing my dissertation, but once I finished my dissertation I didn’t look at the novels again. It wasn’t until my mom was diagnosed with uterine cancer that I began searching for an outlet for the emotional highs and lows of taking care of her. My mom recently lost her battle to cancer, which finally gave me the courage to submit my work. My mother was (and continues to be in spirit) my biggest cheerleader and support system. She was a strong, courageous woman who wasn’t afraid of anything and she raised me to be the same. I know she would have been disappointed in me if I let insecurity and fear stop me from submitting my work. So that is really how I ended up becoming a writer and the journey has been amazing. It is undoubtedly A LOT of work, but I love each and every moment of coming up with an idea all the way to seeing a finished product. Promoting my book is also exciting because it allows me to share with others just how passionate I am about what I do and that is what makes this ride so much fun!

You hold a PhD in Political Science and Public Policy and are also an Assistant Professor. Does your educational background or your occupation inspire your writing in any way?

Absolutely not! LOL! It actually helps balance me as a person. In the sense that when I do my writing and researh for work I am focused solely on that. However, when I put aside my work for that day I get excited about working on ym novels. I see my fiction work as my reward for being so productive in my full time job. So in a way I guess it does inspire me or at the least it motivates me.

You like to watch, read, and write about strong, assertive heroines. What is it about characters like Xena, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and La Femme Nikita that you are drawn to?

I just remember loving how kick butt these women were and yet they were stil very feminine. There is so much power in being a woman and sometimes I think we as women forget that. You don't have to be a bitch to be strong and you don't have to be masculine to be strong. I love that about these characters because they are strong, assertive, tough women who maintain a distinctly feminine persona. You can be a woman and you can still kick butt and hold your own and later you can go shopping! Being feminine doesn't make you weak and I love that these characters reflect this.

Let’s move on to Enthralled. What is this novel about? Is there a particular person, event, or thing that inspired it?

Set in a fantasy world, Enthralled takes you into another realm and introduces you to characters that you only dream of! It is a perfect erotic romance because it has all of the critical elements, dominant men, feisty women and a lot of sensuality! I mean A LOT!

No single event or person inspired Enthralled but I will say this....Enthralled is a work of fantasy but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE ancient history. From the Egyptians to the Babylonians, Greeks and Romans--I LOVE IT! So don't be surprised if you recognize several planets and character names that have meaning in ancient cultures.

Tell us more about Candace. What motivates her? Why will readers care about what happens to her?

I love my heroine! She is strong and corageous, yet at the same time there is a vulnerability about her. Mainly she is motivated by a desire to be a good ruler. To do what is right. When you read Enthralled I think you will find that you can't help but cheer for Candace. She has so much to deal with and yet she remains poised through everything. She compromises but not at the expense of who she is. I love that about her and I hope the readers do too!

Ares, the heir to the Akkadian throne is just as powerful as Candace. How does this affect his relationship with her? Why will readers want to see him win Candace’s heart?

The two dominant leaders clash a lot which makes their relationship difficult at times, but what endears you to Ares is that he genuinely cares for Candace and you can tell that he wants to make her happy. You want to see him win Candace's heart because he is a good man who, like everyone, makes mistakes but he admits them. How can you NOT love a man willing to admit when he is wrong?!!!

In this novel, you have created worlds different from our own. How did you approach creating the planets of Kush and Akkadia? What challenges did you face in making up worlds that did not exist?

As I said before I love ancient history so I started with that. Actually in a lot of my fantasy work I start with a historical battle, place, leader etc. and go from there. The main challenge you face when writing a fantasy is remaining consistent in your language, tone, etc. It is easy to slip back into contemporary slang so you have to really focus and do a great deal of editing to be sure that everything remains consistent throughout the entire novel.

So now that we are all excited to get our hands on a copy of this book, where can readers purchase Enthralled?

You can purchase both print and ebook copies from my from my website http://www.nadiaaidan.com/ and print copies from http://www.amazon.com/.

It looks like 2008 is going to be a busy year for you. Can you tell us about your future projects?

I am working on a five book contemporary series titled Friends and Lovers. The first title, Sweet Revenge is currently under review with an editor and hopefully it will be released in the next few months. This is actually the first book I ever wrote so it is very dear to my heart.

Is there anything you would like to add?

I just want to say how thrilled and excited I am by the release of Enthralled. This has truly been a labor of love and I am happy to see that my dream has finally come true. I enjoyed interweaving many people and places into this erotic fantasy world and I hope others will love reading it as much as I loved writing it.

Thanks for spending time with us Nadia. We look forward to talking with you again when your next book comes out. May the future bring you continued success.


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