We are joined at Fallen Angel Reviews today with erotic author Laura Tolomei. Laura, thank you for joining me today.

How did you start your writing career?

It was a long and not always painless process in spite of my love for writing. I started early in high school and got very excited when the school’s journal published my short, very shot, story Nostalgia. From there, I thought my life was set straight on the writing path so in college, I worked for the Emory U Journal, The Phoenix, a seasonal magazine. Three numbers in all, but they have some of my best writing yet, especially the article “Lesbism” that many on campus found a bit…far-fetched to say the least. But life took me in other directions when I returned to Rome and made me live rather than write about it for a long time. I might not have returned to it, if it hadn’t been for a very personal experience that tormented me until I put it down on paper, structuring a novel out of it, “Piccolo Crocevia a Cinque” (loosely translated “Little Five Points”). This set me back on track. I wrote some other stories, all in Italian, but again, life’s unpredictability had me deal with pressing health problems that stopped the writing flow again. When I got better, I realized my English was just too important to keep it locked up in a drawer so I began writing with it and haven’t stopped since.

Do you outline your novels?

Only in my head, never on paper. Usually, I hear the characters speak and follow their plot in my mind, then put it on paper, or rather store it in the computer memory LOL.

What is your favorite part of a book to write?

The sex scenes are really fun and exciting to write, but what I prefer is the dialogues in which the characters share bits of themselves and reveal how they are growing and changing to fit new situations or particular crisis.

Can you switch off when you are not writing?

This is an excellent question, Sandie, and I’m afraid the answer is no. It’s very difficult for me to switch off my characters, not even in my sleep. They continually talk to me, fill my head with their stories or suggest new twists to old plots until they become my only reality. Not a nice thing to acknowledge because they’re just imaginary, but I take comfort in the fact that reality is often so ugly, I’d rather live in my fantasy world, rather than the real one…at least until my mate yells at me for being absent, then I return back to Earth quicker than lightning LOL

Sacrificial Sex is a pretty violent story. How did you come up with the story line?

It all started with eXtasy Books’ submission call to its Anthology Sanguinary Seductions. The theme was blood so it got me thinking about the Aztecs, a culture that has fascinated me since my earliest years and about which I studied a lot. In this case, of course, I focused on their bloody sacrifices, which I reproduced—revisited and personalized— in Sacrificial Sex, trying to imagine what the sorcerers must have felt when performing such horrible deeds. When it was done, it was too long for an anthology so I submitted Hunted instead, one of my best short stories, and published Sacrificial Sex as a stand-alone work.

How many hours a day do you write?

It depends on how my day evolves. If I’m at work, the official one, then I can’t dedicate more that 4/5 hours at night to my writing. On the other hand, if I have the day off, I can devote up to 10 hours to it without feeling tired except at the very end.

If you had a chance to either go back to the past or into the future, which would you choose? Any particular year?

I’m a history lover so I’d probably go back to the past, my heritage fault, no doubt. Being Italian and born in the city that ruled the known world of its time tends to make you feel the past more alive than the present LOL, which makes it difficult to pinpoint a single year. I’d rather go for ages, like I do in many of my books that contain strong historical references, even if disguised at times. If I had to make a choice, despite all I’ve said so far, Ancient Rome is not among my favorite time periods, my recent release, Roman Seduction, notwithstanding. As I said above, I love Maya, Aztecs and Incas and traces of their culture, along with their famous pyramids, can be found in Sacrificial Sex. I also love Celtic Britain, the Druids, the Arthurian myth in all the million ways it has been told so again there are echoes of it in my first release, Trespassing All Hallows Eve, in Divinitas and in my October upcoming Blood Shadows on Passion.

Why do you think erotic fiction is so popular right now?

Because people want to escape a tragic reality—I’m talking worldwide not on a personal level—and erotic fiction is one of the best ways to get lost. Their imaginary and seductive world attract those in search of a few hours’ rests from their hectic routines and unlike real life, offer a comforting happy ending …well, except in my books. I always try to challenge my readers, even in an erotic context, to think over that same reality they’re trying to avoid, providing ideas on how to change it eventually, at least on a personal level.

What was the first story you wrote?

The first full-length story is an untitled manuscript, written with my faithful typewriter of almost 30 years ago, of which I remember NOTHING. I should re-read it and see if I can do SOMETHING with it, an old idea for a new book, perhaps. Or keep it for another life, one where I have more time to reminisce about my past rather than always look ahead to the future! LOL

You’ve had a number of novels published the last few months, with more due out over the coming months. Do you work on one novel at a time or do you have multiple manuscripts on the go at once?

I rarely work on more than one project at a time. It’s a practical impossibility for plots and characters kidnap my mind one story at a time and until it’s finished, I don’t hear or imagine anything else. Only when I’m done, am I free to concentrate on a new work. Over time, I’ve developed my own routine for dealing with multiple projects. Once I finish the first draft, I let it rest while I write another story. When the second work is done, I pick up the first story and read it over. And usually, after the first read, the story’s complete so I can move on to the next.

Which part of the writing process do you enjoy most? The writing or editing?

I’d go with the writing, but I don’t dislike reading it either. When I write, I’m more spontaneous, setting down whatever pops in my head, even if it doesn’t always make sense. But it’s only while I read it that the story takes shape and it comes to life, so to speak. In the reading, I’m an editor, not a writer, who looks at every tiny detail to see if it makes sense, if grammar is OK, if punctuation is correct and if the resulting structure of words flows like a glass of cool water going down your throat. No obstacles, no short-stop sentences, no abrupt endings, rather a stream of words running smoothly from beginning to end, that’s how I want my stories to sound like. I like to take the reader where I want him to go, but he must never be aware of it, only flow with the story. That’s why reading is often more important than the writing part, though it’s more time-consuming and at times less fun.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on the first novel I submitted to eXtasy Books, Virtus, as yet unpublished. They contracted the novel about 2 years ago, but I was very immature as a writer back then and it’s quite evident from the writing style. So I’m modernizing it, reviewing some parts, changing others, making it flow like I said above and turning it into a serial. It’s an epic saga on the planet Sendar about Prince Duncan Caldwell, his lover Christopher Templeton and Ylianor Meyer, who will discover the truth about themselves and their world when summoned by the High Council to recover a stolen mechanism. The first book of the serial, Virtus The Sex is due to be released beginning 2010, followed by The Game, The Shadow, The Pledge, The Trace, The Guardian. I’m also working on a M/M dark fantasy short story for a gay anthology eXtasy will publish later in the year.

Your latest release is Spying the Alcove. What is it about?

The story centers around two Italian University teachers, the Professor and his assistant, digging for buried memories in the ancient city of Selimos, an archeological site located in southwestern Sicily. Long-time friends, the two men work amiably together until Andrea, the assistant, finds a Roman medallion, intact despite the centuries or the crumbling ruins littering the place. Intrigued, Valerio pockets it and that same night the medallion will begin to narrate a Roman matron’s erotic adventures in the privacy of her alcove, talking to the Professor as if it were the woman herself telling of her exciting adventures.

This book has several unique features for me. First of all, it’s written in two different POVs, third—Valerrio and Andrea—and first person—Lidia, the Roman matron—to emphasize the difference between the two storis. The use of first person POV is new to me for I’d never used it in a story before. And Spying the Alcove is also the first story where I use Italian characters and talk about our culture and the Sicilian one. So all things considered, I value this book as a milestone in my career.

Last question. What advice do you have for aspiring authors looking to go into writing erotic fiction?

I think the most important piece of advice, which is true for any occasion not just writing, is to believe in oneself always and no matter what because if you don’t , no one’s going to do it for you. So hang in there despite the long waits, be patient and never lose hope.

Laura, thank you again for your time. If you would like to learn more about Laura Tolomei and her novels, visit Laura’s website.

It’s been a pleasure, Sandie.

Interviewed by: Sandie