Writing Like Cinema

by Cooper Davis

I am old enough that I’ve lived quite a few lives. But not so old that I can’t write a sexy, smoldering romance—so don’t go there. One of the lives I have lived was a brief stint working in television. Another was taking acting studio classes. Another was reviewing films for a living. These things sort of crystalized into the way that I approach writing, and may be different than some of my compatriots. To me, I see my novels as films, and structure them accordingly. I don’t mean some woo-woo, “I’m so visual, it’s all happening to me when I write,” type thing. I’m really pinpointing something more schematic. I tend to think in terms of an opening act, a midway plot point, and the like.

When I began writing my new male/male historical fantasy, I wasn’t too far into the process when I realized, “This is PRETTY WOMAN…with men. In an alternative Victorian era.” I find that identifying tropes—is PRETTY WOMAN, strictly speaking, a trope?—helps me flesh out a world. It gives me something to hang all the original parts on because it provides a track. A structure, like you find in a screenplay.

So how, you may ask, is a book about men, set in this alternative type Victorian world, really anything like Edward and Vivian from PRETTY WOMAN? I’ll answer that a bit, so let’s talk about the new book, shall we? King Arend Tollemach is a monarch who never wanted to marry a woman. He found a prince when he was but eighteen years old, and even dared to betroth himself to that man without his sire’s permission. Bad, bad idea, Arend. His late father broke that engagement, forced Arend into a loveless marriage with a wife…and he endured the arrangement, which proved pure misery for him. After all, he wasn’t attracted to females to begin with. But, they did ultimately manage to sire an heir, and Cordelia died shortly thereafter.

Roll Camera with this book. Arend has, finally, decided he can slake his “male lust”…he just needs to be discreet. He’s a widowed king, the subject of gossip and speculation throughout his realm. So, there’s but one place he can go to quietly arrange to take a male lover. The ancient Temple Sapphor, that specializes in providing male concubines to nobility.

Enter Julian, a cat-eyed bed servant who is desperate to please, and so eager to be claimed. But his androgyny—his sumptuous voice and beguiling look, offset against his broad shoulders and height—have left many a nobleman unsettled. So, he’s landed on the proverbial shelf.

Until Arend arrives at the temple, and the sparks…they fly.

Julian will be hired for a very particular period of time, Arend informs him—and there will be no attachments, no emotion. He has no plans to open his long-shuttered heart. This will be a business transaction.

Much like Edward’s insistence to Vivian when he hired her in PRETTY WOMAN: “Three thousand, for six days. And Vivian, I will let you go.”

The question is…will Julian be able to overcome King Arend’s youthful heartbreak and his determination never to love again? Or will Arend return Julian to his temple when their concubinage is done?

About A King Undone

Sometimes you have to risk everything, to follow your heart…

Noble Pleasures, Book 1

In a world where gentlemen openly court and marry fellow noblemen, the threat of scandal still lurks behind every velvet drape for kings and princes. Such has been the fate for King Arend Tollemach, forced to sacrifice his heart on the altar of regal duty.

Now that his wife is dead and his royal obligations are at an end, he’s ready to take an unthinkable risk. King Arend seeks a concubine from Temple Sapphor, a secretive, gated world where he will finally shed his virginity—as least as it pertains to making love to a man.

Julian never thought he’d spend ten years on the temple shelf, passed over again and again. Just when he despairs of ever finding placement in a nobleman’s bed, Arend walks into the temple. A lonely eyed, beautiful king who could easily steal his heart.

Arend discovers he has no problem opening his bed to the exquisite concubine. The problem lies in finding the key to his long-shuttered heart.
Product Warnings: Contains a beautiful, virgin king desperate to bed another man, a concubine who fantasizes about being claimed and revered by a strong monarch, and a sea of scandal set against a sensual, palatial backdrop.

Available at: Samhain Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About Cooper Davis

Cooper Davis first discovered the allure of m/m storytelling when she watched My Beautiful Launderette with a college roommate. Later, her passion for stories about men falling in love and finding their HEA together was stoked by online slash fiction. After years as an avid fan of m/m and slash, Cooper finally decided to try her hand at penning her own stories about same-gender romance and love.

A voracious reader across all subgenres of m/m fiction, Cooper is particularly fond of courtships set against the breathless backdrop of scandal and intrigue found in period drawing rooms. She is thrilled that her first historically themed m/m romance series debuts this December with A KING UNDONE (Samhain).

Find out more about Cooper on her Website, Twitter, Facebook or contact her using this form.

Cooper has graciously offered up an eBook copy (in mobi or epub) of A King Undone AND a $10 Amazon Gift Card!! The giveaway starts now and ends December 21, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. To enter, just click the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway, except to verify your Rafflecopter entry.

Don’t forget to check out Heather C’s review of A King Undone to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!