Enthralled by Nadia Aidan

Tell us the book title and your author name.Enthralled by Nadia Aidan

What inspired the book?
My mother is who inspired me to write. She is the reason why I finally committed to pursuing my passion of writing and she is who drives me and inspires me to dedicate all I have to following this dream.

What makes this book special to you?
As my debut novel, Enthralled holds a special place in my heart because it represents the culmination of several years of dreaming, wishing and just plain old hard work.

What makes this a book that other people MUST read and WHY?
It's an escapist dream! Set in a fantasy world Enthralled takes you into another realm and introduces you to characters that you only dream of! It is a perfect erotic romance because it has all of the critical elements, dominant men, feisty women and a lot of sensuality! I mean A LOT!

What people NEED to read this book and WHY?
Anyone who just wants to indulge their senses for one night. I know one of my favorite things to do over the weekend is pour a glass of wine, curl up with a good book and just enter into another world. I wanted to give my readers this. Enthralled is a fantasy novel that was written for those who enjoy suspended reality and a high dose of eroticism.

What sparks your creativity? Any tips to help others spark their own creativity?
I have no set formula. Sometimes watching a certain film sparks it. Other times I just feel in the mood to write. However when I am having writer's block I try to read some of my favorite books OR I read new works from my favorite authors. Reading a good book ultimately inspires me and gets those creative juices flowing again.

What has been the biggest stumbling block in your writing? Can you share some tips to help others get past similar problems?
The biggest stumbling block I run across is not always writer's block because the thoughts are there but the WILL to write isn't. I try to prevent myself from getting stuck in that type of rut by setting a 10,000 words per week writing goal. As a writer you can set whatever writing goal you want but 10,000 per week works for me. The great thing about setting a weekly goal and not a daily goal (which is what I used to do) is that somedays I may not write at all whereas others I may write all day. I used to set a daily goal of 1,500 words per day but I hated it because I would force myself to write on the days I didn't want to and then later end up having to scrap all of it or revise a lot of it. The weekly goal has worked for me and it keeps me from hating to sit down at the computer.

What do you think motivates people to become authors? What motivated you to get into this unusual industry?
I am a member of several author and critique groups and there seem to be two common themes that motivate indviduals to become authors. The first is a genuine love for writing and reading works in the genre that they write in AND the second is a belief that whatever was out there before they started writing could be done better! It is funny because many of my mentors started writing because they became frustrated with a lackof this or too much of that. The same is true of me. I wanted to see more interracial and multicultural erotic romance novels so I figured if that is what I wanted then I needed to write it myself!

Tell me about the most unusual things you have done to promote any books?
Here is where I am pretty boring. I don't think anything that I have done has been unusual at all! Although, I will say that I have stepped out of my comfort zone quite a bit. I haven't been in a chat room for over fifteen years and I certainly haven't posted a blog in close to two but promoting my book has driven me to rely upon a lot of media tools that I normally don't use.

FICTION - If there is a setting, tell us how you decided on that setting and what you did to create a complete and vivid setting for your readers? Without giving too much away I will say this. Enthralled is a work of fantasy but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE ancient history. From the Egyptians to the Babylonians, Greeks and Romans--I LOVE IT! So don't be surprised if you recognize several planets and character names that have meaning in ancient cultures.

FICTION - What inspires you about the hero or heroine in your book? What makes them memorable for the reader? What motivates the hero and/or heroine? You can include information about both if you want.
I love my heroine! She is strong and corageous, yet at the same time there is a vulnerability about her. Mainly she is motivated by a desire to be a good ruler. To do what is right. Many people say that as a writer you should stay away from developing characters that are loosely based upon your own personality, which I will say in this case I did! However, I would like to think that a few of my own personality traits ended up in Candace which of course endears her to me. When you read Enthralled I think you will find that you can't help but cheer for Candace. She has so much to deal with and yet she remains poised through everything. She compromises but not at the expense of who she is. I love that about her and I hope the readers do too!

As far as Ares well who wouldn't love a sexy, dominant, man of honor! He is indeed the classic fantasy hero--strong, confident, domineering, and honorable. However beyond the standard cliche, he is passionate about his family, his friends and the woman that he loves. I find that in many erotic romance novels, there is a lack of character development around the people and relationships that have shaped the hero and heroine. I wanted to write a novel that was built around several central figures, while at the same time not detracting from Candace and Ares' story. I guess you will have to read Enthralled to see what I mean by this and why it works!

FICTION - Is there a villain or something that causes friction in your story? Tell us about what or who it is and how that contributes to the story. Any details about conflict and friction is good information to know.There is a villain but she doesn't cause the conflict--at least not between the main characters. I know! I am talking in circles! The main source of friction comes from the main characters themselves. Instead of battling a person, they must battle their culture, their ideals, their perceptions of each other. Mainly Candace and Ares must decide whether or not they truly care more about being right, about maintaining time held traditions then they do about opening their hearts to the possibility of finding love. These are two very stubborn, strong willed people. It is hard for them both to let go, to open themselves up and be vulnerable. It is easier for them to wear their past traditions as a shield so that they don't have to deal with the hard stuff.

If there's anything else you would like to share, this is the time and place.
I just want to say how thrilled and excited I am by the release of Enthralled. This has truly been a labor of love and I am happy to see that my dream has finally come true. I enjoyed interweaving many people and places into this erotic fantasy world and I hope others will love reading it as much as I loved writing it.