Guest Post: Sascha Illyvich

Welcome to the Pearls of Wisdom Author Tour! 

Today's guest is my client Sascha Illyvich. He is the author of several successful erotica titles including The Playground, Trouble for Three, and Dark Sensualities and Primal Instincts, and we are currently working on a paranormal erotic romance together. In this post Sascha shares some intimate details about his process.  His wisdom on Emotional Depth is also complementary to prior posts about writing and music and finding your muse. This post however actually focuses on the inspiration's impact. 

Sascha's Post:

When Marisa asked me to blog for The Pearls of Wisdom Tour, my first thought was "Of course, another woman wants the Bad Boy of Romance to blog on writing!"

Well, as in demand as I am, the truth is, when your agent comes calling, you answer! 

It may surprise you to learn how I write though.  I've expressed through many blogs the process part, in that I plot meticulously, set a schedule and follow it religiously until that first draft is done.

It's no secret that I write with music to draw out the emotions in my books, the way a lot of writers do.  But while no one will be shocked to find angry bands like Vildjharta or Korn on my playlist, people are often amazed when I mention the playlist for my softer romances.

A story I'm working on for Decadent Publishing involved a really romantic plot wherein the heroine KNOWS the hero loves her, but his self-hatred and stubbornness to accept what she freely gives him makes for an interesting conflict because he will sleep with her, but he'll run from her in the name of protecting the heart of the person he loves.

During the love scene, I wrote to The Gathering, particularly tracks where the female vocalist emphasizes certain emotions in her lyrics.  Lust, longing, passion.  That allowed me to balance out my hero's longing, passionate anger. 

Oddly this story differs tremendously from the book of mine Marisa is actually representing.  And therein lays the rub.  We've been over the story, editing, fine tuning, cutting, fixing, the whole nine yards and then some.  But the problem with the original story was, I wrote it on purpose in my angry male voice, making everything in the book about a very cold, bitter, relationship that needs tending to.

The realization about the characters was the need for more emotional depth.  At the time I'd been reading a lot of dark romances, JR Ward, Lora Leigh and even one of Christina Dodd's books had a darker theme to it.  As a male, I paid attention to the angst, the relatable, loveable, angst.  Glorious angst so deep and dark it made me think, "these authors know me!"

In the haze of rooting for a solution, I missed the emotional aspect and focused only on the downtime given by the heroines.  I missed the pulse speeding emotional depth that was more than just a simple break, but rather, an inroad into a more permanent peace. 

This last run through on the story is going to require me to dig into a part of myself I kept locked away for the story.  I'm going to have to change entire routines to dig into the characters, and really plot them out much deeper than just an overall world plot if we're going to sell this as a romance. 

About the Author: 

Proclaimed by the Publishing industry as the Bad Boy of Romance, I started writing thirteen years ago. My erotic romances have been listed under the Night Owl Romance and Road to Romance's Recommended read list, as well nominated for a CAPA by The Romance Studio

I host the Unnamed Romance Show on Radio Dentata and continue to write for Sizzler Editions and Total E-bound. 

I edit for Sizzler Editions Intoxication Erotic Romance line and I'm also part of the WriteSex Panel, a blog group defining erotica for writers in any genre! 

We give Sascha a special thanks for sharing his pearls of wisdom with us. Do check out his Author of Erotic Romance Blog for more information on his books, romance, POV and BDSM Workshop information, etc. 

Happy writing my friends! 

~Marisa