Welcome back for the conclusion in our chat with Eli Easton, author of Caress in the steampunk anthology Steamed Up by Dreamspinner Press.
Read Part One here.
Airship Ambassador: No spoilers now, but that ending! I have to admit, it made me cry.
Eli Easton: Well, I’m ultimately a romance writer at heart, and in romance there’s always a happy ending. There are dark parts of “Caress” but the ending is a sweet one. 😊
AA: Are there any plans for a sequel or spinoff? Please?
EE: Not at this time. But it would be fun to expand the story possibly and republish it as a stand-alone.
AA: What kind of research and balance went into creating the Caress world?
EE: I did research the Crimean war and the British army hierarchy etc at that that. But probably not as much as I should have!
AA: Well, maybe when you do the full length novel 🙂 Every author I’ve talked with has a different journey to seeing their works in print. What has your publishing experience been like?
EE: I have been lucky enough to write professionally since 1990. I wrote for computer games for a number of years, and then published some thriller novels in the early 00’s. I stopped writing books for a while and it was a love of mm romance that brought me back to it. I have always loved romance, the idea of how two people find each other and why they are right together and how they overcome obstacles to make it work. I particularly like MM because, honestly, I’m crap at writing female characters. And I like having two leads that are more on equal footing. I’m just not a fan of writing gender dynamics. Once I found mm romance and began writing in it, I loved it and I’ve been in it for the past three years.
AA: YAY for the readers! If someone likes “X”, then they’ll like Caress. What is “X”?
EE: It’s a bit gothic. So I think if you like gothic steampunk, or stories like Frankenstein, or the old Hammer horror movies, you might like it. It also has a decidedly erotic side. A bit kinky probably.
AA: For the aspiring writer, what lessons did you learn about having an editor?
EE: Just let it go. Anything anyone can offer you that will honestly make the story better, or appeal to more people, accept it. Having the opinion that you are the “artiste” and no one else can offer you anything that would improve the work is just crap. The point is to make the story as good as possible, so take your ego out of it.
AA: Some people might say that writers need to be readers, too. What do you think?
EE: I do read a whole lot. Probably 3-4 books a week. Writing of course is much slower. I try to complete 5 books a year.
AA: That’s still a lot of writing! As a reader, what has made you stop reading something before finishing it?
EE: Poor writing, plots and characters that offer nothing new or no real depth. I’m not a fan of authors who put one disaster after another on their poor character. It’s unrealistic and not fun to read. In general, I dislike heavy angst unless it is lightened with some humor or heart. I’m not a fan of the “misunderstanding” angst points where everything could be resolved if they just talked. That makes me want to smack the characters upside the head. I try to have the obsacles/crisis point in my stories be something more serious than a misunderstanding or miscommunication.
AA: What story would you like to write but haven’t, yet?
EE: I have a whole list! I don’t want anyone to get to the idea first, though, so I’d rather not gives details. Some are romances and some are thrillers. I do enjoy writing mystery/thrillers and I’ve published a few recently under Jane Jensen.
AA: coughSequelcough Looking beyond writing, what other interests fill your time?
EE: I enjoy hiking, biking, reading and film. We have a farm so I spend time with our animals (2 cows, 1 pig, 2 dogs, and a cat) or just doing stuff around the property. I do a bit of gardening.
AA: How do those interests influence your work?
EE: I often write about life on the farm. My recent mysteries with Berkeley were set in Lancaster County/Amish country, which is where I live. (Kingdom Come and Land of Milk and Honey) and a number of my romances have been set more or less on our farm including A Second Harvest and upcoming Tender Mercies, which is about a farm sanctuary.
AA: What other fandoms are you part of?
EE: I was a big fan of BBC Sherlock, but I hated S4 so that’s over now (sigh). Also I used to enjoy Supernatural, but haven’t kept up with it lately.
AA: Kind of a twist in Sherlock, certainly not something I was expecting. What is on your to-be read or watched pile right now?
EE: I’m going through some gay cinema. I recently watched Holding the Man, which made me sob like a baby. I loved it. On the lighter side, 4th Man Out and The 10 Year Plan were both great rom coms. I haven’t watched any TV for a while so I have a lot of films to catch up on.
AA: What is the best advice you’ve been given?
EE: One of my favorite quotes is, if a man knows where he is going, the universe gets out of the way. I think it’s important to have a strong vision and act on it with absolute belief and commitment.
Thanks, Eli, for joining us for this interview and for sharing all of your thoughts. We look forward to hearing about your next projects!
Keep up to date with Eli’s latest news on her website.
You can support Eli and our community by getting your copy of Steamed Up here.
Airship Ambassador 
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