Monday Author Interview with Candace Blevins

I would like to welcome the fabulous Candace Blevins to the blog today. It would appear Kealie got lost along the way or ended up with the CBs somewhere else. All I can say is, I hope she’s having fun. Now Candace, grab a smooth drink, a hot CB to use for a lap and...

I'm here, I'm here!!! :::running through the door::: Seriously, the cranky one was grumpy and wanted to be loved on... then I had to push my hubby out of the way and feed the baby, lol. I'm so sorry I'm late! :::slipping out of heels and plopping down next to Megan::: There's my CB with a drink. Thank you so much for stopping in to hang out with us, let’s get this interview started. How much of the book is realistic?

My stories are fiction, but the BDSM scenes are realistic. I’ve been in the lifestyle a very long time, and was considered an edge player even before I met my husband a little over 15 years ago. We’ve been married 14 years, and with the trust you can build up over that period of time, I’ve a lot of experience to pull from when I construct a scene.

Hmmmm... love it! At least you have a handle on the situation, and know what you're talking about!

You have to write what you know. I’m glad you know about the lifestyle. That makes reading about the scenes more believable. When did you write your first book and how old were you?


I was around fourteen when I wrote my first book – on a Commodore 64, backed up on cassette tape. I gave it the super-imaginative title of “How to Learn to Juggle”. By the time I was fourteen I was juggling four balls, along with rings and clubs and a variety of other objects. I taught my dad to juggle, and several friends, which I assumed made me quite the expert.


I’ve never been able to juggle, so maybe you can teach me.

Sure you did! We both did... we do have children and families to run, lol.

What does your family think of your writing?

My mother thinks the words “butt” and “fart” are curse words and will stand up and leave the room if someone says either. She goes apoplectic over “ass”. She has no idea I write. My goal is to be open and non-judgmental with my own children, so they won’t need to keep important parts of their lives from me.

However, in my mom’s defense, she’s led a very sheltered life and is pretty naïve – she married my dad when they were both 18, and at 65 they are still together. I can’t imagine going my whole life and only having sex with one person. What if it was the best ever? You wouldn’t appreciate it; you’d have no way of knowing it was way better than most experience. And if it was horrible? You’d never have good sex. It seems to have worked for them, though. They began dating at fifteen, broke up for most of the summer they were sixteen, and have been together ever since.

Back to the question; my husband is very supportive. He’s not a fiction reader, if he’s reading something it’s likely to be a technical programming book. This means he doesn’t read my books, but he does ask me to either read him the scenes or email them to him (my choice). He’s also a good ear when I’m thinking through the basic storyline, so he has a good idea of the basics of each book.

It's difficult when you have to hide a fundamental part of yourself... but if anyone understands it's us here at The Menagerie! Why my DH is supportive, there are just some things he won't read... ever, lol.

The boys are very supportive of me as well. It’s nice to have that to fall back on when you need it. Even better when you don’t. The boys have read mine and I’ve emailed them to DH before. Quite an eye-opener. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

I have a regular job during the day, so I write at night, once my kids are in bed. If I can start writing at 8:00, and keep at it until midnight, that’s four hours per night. I wake up at 6:30 in the morning, and six and a half hours is plenty of sleep for me these days. I also sometimes wake up early on the weekends, so I can get a few hours of writing in before the rest of the house is up. I often write in bed, with my laptop in my lap. If my husband is on his laptop, too, then the TV will be off. If he’s watching TV then I put on headphones and classical music. I can’t write to music with words, and after running various experiments, Bach seems to be my best background music.

My husband has claimed my Tuesday and Friday nights, so I’m usually otherwise occupied on those evenings. He’s pretty flexible with that, if I have something else to do on a Tuesday or Friday he’s good with switching days. It may not sound romantic to schedule playtime, but it works for us.

Must be nice. I write when I can get the time. Not often. Ask Kealie. We can’t coordinate writing time sometimes, to save our lives.

*SNORT* No kidding! It's like they KNOW when we want or need them to leave us alone, lol. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I want to show what a responsible, loving, BDSM relationship can look like. I want submissive men and women to understand they have a say – they are giving away their power, and they get to define the boundaries of what they are willing to give up. I often have reviewers comment on the negotiations in my books, and I appreciate that. Negotiations are important, especially when you’re playing at the levels my characters engage.

Safe, sane and consensual... gotta live by it or you can damage someone. I love it that you step out there like not many others do to say, "Look, it may be intense, but you need to set the rules!"

I’m glad you do. A lot of people who read BDSM don’t always know what is truly involved. I appreciate you showing what a loving relationship is. Thanks! What is your heritage?

I’m mostly Irish, with a few ancestors being from Germany. My hair is brown, but in the summer it fades to red tones instead of blond. I also have that famous Irish temper, and a love of whiskey and potatoes. Odd, isn’t it, how much our genes can affect who we are?

HA, you're in good company here! Irish-German from a large, loud, rambunctious family... My Big Fat Irish Wedding was more appropriate, lol.

I’m an Irish-German mutt. I love me some taters, but we're not much into drinking. Odd. Are you a morning person or a night person?

A night person. Before kids, I didn’t do mornings at all. I wasn’t capable of forming sentences within thirty minutes of awaking; any communication was done through grunts and glares, I’m told. My kids are morning people, so I’ve had to adapt and learn to be happy and joyful with them in the mornings. It’s a useful skill to have, but I’m still a night person at heart.

Having a BFF/writing partner who lives a three hour time change span away makes one a night person. Unfortunately, it also makes me sometimes more of a night owl than I’d like. Shrug. Gotta do what you gotta do.

Yeah, yeah... I'm not moving there! IT SNOWS THERE! Sorry, I'm still sane... :-P What were you doing at midnight last night?

Chaperoning sixty kids, fourth graders, locked into a science museum for the night. Sounds like the definition of something a masochist would enjoy, right? My husband and I both chaperoned though, and we both enjoyed it. Well, until around four this morning, when they kids were still going strong and I was fading fast.

Ummm... wow... I think you should be nominated for sainthood... or at least given an award, lol.

Wow, you have way more patience than me. I was sleeping. And good thing I was. I’d probably have hurt someone this morning. Those grunts and growls? Yeah, that was me. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?

I’m a vegetarian, so my strangest sounding food isn’t all that strange. In a restaurant in China I saw bamboo pith on the menu and tried it. (My husband’s response when I first commented on it was “I didn’t know bamboo did that.”)
It wasn’t all that strange tasting, and was surprisingly good. I learned once we were home it isn’t actually the pith of the bamboo plant, but a mushroom that grows on rotting bamboo. I’ve never seen it on a menu in the U.S, or in the Asian grocery stores we like to shop.

Huh... who knew!

I’m going to echo what your DH said. I didn’t know bamboo did that either. Although, I hate to say it. That sounds gross. I like plain ole pizza mushrooms. Do you like thunderstorms?

My answer before April of last year would have been an unqualified, “I love them.” However, after having very close calls with two tornadoes since April of last year, I now have to qualify that with, “Yes, as long as there are no tornado watches or warnings.”

One of our most memorable scenes happened in a remote vacation cabin in the mountains a few hours from home. There was storm raging while he flogged me on the screened in porch. We were in the mountains, and the sounds of the thunder reverberated back and forth between them. The energy of the storm became part of the scene. The flogging portion of the storm scene in Safeword: Matte is loosely built around that experience.


Mmmmmm.... sounds incredibly intriguing and mind-blowing! And thank you for sharing that with us!

Hey, at least you had fun and made it memorable. Thanks Candace. This has been a fun interview! Now for our readers. Do you want to know more about Safeword: Matte? Here you go!
Matte, pronounced mah-tay, is the word used in some forms of martial arts to stop a fight. It’s the Japanese word for stop or wait. Sam (short for Samantha) has made a hobby out of learning the various fighting disciplines, but she also happens to be a sexual submissive. What better safeword than matte?
Sam wants to find someone to submit to who she can’t beat in a fight. She’s tried to make it work with men from the scene who know nothing about fighting, but it doesn’t feel real to her – she needs someone who can truly control her. However, after dating from the fight scene and discovering not all guys like to spank their girlfriends, she’s decided to just back away from the whole dating thing for a while… until Fate decides to step in.
Warning: This title contains graphic language, consensual BDSM, bondage, and use of toys including crops, clamps, canes, and floggers.
Available here: http://www.excessica.com/books/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=538

What is the official word on Candace Blevins? Here you go!

Candace Blevins is a southern girl who loves to travel the world. She lives with her husband of 14 years and their two daughters.

When not working or driving kids all over the place she can be found reading, writing, meditating, or swimming.

Candace writes romance books about characters who happen to have some extreme kinks. Relationships can be difficult enough without throwing power exchange into the mix, and her books show characters who care enough about each other to fight to make the relationship work.

You can visit her on the web at candaceblevins.com and kinkyeverafter.com