Interview with Amber Green - Naughty... or Nice...

Goody, goody, or should I say naughty, naughty.  I would like to welcome Erotic Author Amber Green to the Backseat.
 

AG:  Thank you!
My husband says he likes the sound of that.
 

TK:  So your name is very colorful - does your writing match?
Hello to Mr Green too.
 

AG:  I hope so.  I love words.  My most recent work in print is a short novella More Than Memories, a story of the Living Stones.  Dick is an ass. Harry's anal. Obviously, they're made for one another. But scruples, and an unscrupulous vampire, come between them. What's a ghost with a geek-fetish to do?  This was my attempt at writing a story that would give the reader the same emotional overload combined with intellectual disjunction that one might get from watching Pulp Fiction. Unfortunately, something odd happened in the formatting.  And, since it's print, it's not easy to fix.  Other most recent is One Good Turn, first in the Turner & Turner stories.  It's not paranormal at all.  It's the story of Kendall Turner, who has only one person he can count on--Turner Scott.  But what does he do when the evidence seems to reflect Turner Scott can't be counted on?
 

TK:  You do like to play with words don't you?
 

AG:  I used to spend time reading dictionaries when I was a kid.
 

TK:  ME TOO!
 

AG:  One of my favorite possessions used to be the two-volume OED.
 

TK:  We have this great Dictionary from the 70's that my dad tried to throw it out once - buying a new one.  Mom and I kicked his butt then sat him down and made him compare the two.  Not all dictionaries are created equal.  Old one won. 
 

AG:  I hear you.  Right now I'm working on a story set in the Harlem Renaissance.  It's requiring rather a lot of research, but that's half the fun anyway.
 

TK:  So in your books- sounds like it is all about the boys?
 

AG:  Not in all of them.
The Harlem story is about a young woman who enters a threesome with a pair of guys.  My Huntsmen series with Loose Id has two m/f/m stories (Lights Out! and Backtrack)  and one m/m (Bareback).  Bareback caught rather a lot of flack because it centered on a bisexual and a man who had never faced the fact he had gay leanings.
Bareback remains my favorite story, though. It was so much fun to write--like when Joe is staring at a display of yogurts and wondering if he has to like yogurt now.  He tastes one, and decides it's still mayonnaise-flavored pudding.
I had a whole list of gay stereotypes, and managed to work every single one of them into the plot.
I love hiding Easter eggs in a story like that.
 

TK:  So does Mr. Green read your books?
 

AG:  He will read a scene at a time, though he isn't into the guy-on-guy sex.  I use his reactions to gauge the effectiveness of a scene.  If he doesn't get a joke, probably too many readers will miss it.  If he says "Great. Write more!" I know it needs more work.  If his breathing rate speeds up and he starts rattling the down key like that will make more lines appear, then slings off and says "Write MORE!" I know the scene's about ready to post for my crit group.
 

TK:  How big a role do your critique partners play in your decisions with a story?
 

AG:  I have a crit group, http://www.erauthors.org/  This gives me more pre-beta readers, each with less of a time or emotional investment than an actual crit partner might have.  They've inspired new stories (like Backtrack) but their role is mostly in telling me how to reach my goals.  (The lady who used to have her own Seeing Eye dog did talk me out of killing off a heroine's guide dog once.)  Others have helped with accents, or the mechanics of singing, or the scents and emotional feel of an area.  They enrich my writing in countless ways.

TK: So how hot are your books - if they were salsa what salsa would they be?

 
AG: Hmm... I'd have to say it varies. Most of them are quite graphic. I like a sex scene to explain where the characters are, both inside their own heads and in relation to each other. That requires a lot of work: choosing which details to mention, which to omit, and which to wallow in. I also have to watch the words a character would use. Do you want a sample? Loose Id picked part of a sex scene (part of Lorie's first sexual experience) as the excerpt for Lights Out!
I have pg-rated excerpts on my own website at http://www.shapeshiftersinlust.com/

TK: Amber Green thank you so much for taking the time to climb into the Backseat!

AG:  Thank you for asking me!