Nineteen year old Kyle sees visions of disasters, visions that tear his world apart. Everyone assumes that he is schizophrenic, but Rob, the cop who picks him up off the street, knows better. Rob's own experience has taught him that psychic powers are real, and potentially devastating.
Since his telepathic sister's brutal murder, Rob wants nothing to do with "gifted" individuals like Kyle. Yet he can't deny his attraction to the beautiful, tortured young man -- an attraction that appears to be mutual. When a brilliant, sadistic practitioner of the black arts lures Kyle into his clutches, Rob faces the possibility that once again he may lose the person he loves most to the forces of darkness.
A dozen years ago LISABET SARAI experienced a serendipitous fusion of her love of writing and her fascination with sex. Since then she has published two single author short story collections and six erotic novels, including the BDSM classic Raw Silk. Dozens of her shorter works have been released as ebooks and in print anthologies. She has also edited several acclaimed anthologies and is currently responsible for the altruistic erotica series COMING TOGETHER PRESENTS.
Lisabet holds more degrees than anyone needs from prestigious universities who would no doubt be embarrassed by her chosen genre. She loves to travel and currently lives in Southeast Asia with her highly tolerant husband and two cosmopolitan felines. For more information on Lisabet and her writing visit Lisabet Sarai's Fantasy Factory (http://www.lisabetsarai.com) or her blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com).
Other GLBT books from Lisabet:
Tomorrow's Gifts (Total-E-Bound) - M/M BDSM erotic romance
Crossed Hearts (Total-E-Bound) - M/M BDSM erotic romance
Fire in the Blood (Total-E-Bound) - M/M/F vampire ménage
Exposure (Phaze) - F/F and M/F erotic suspense
Ruby's Rules (Eternal Press) - multipartner erotica with F/F BDSM subplot
Velvet (Eternal Press) - F/F erotic romance
Raw Silk (Total-E-Bound) - multipartner BDSM erotic romance with F/F and M/M elements
I also have a variety of M/M and F/F stories in various anthologies.
An Interview with Lisabet Sarai
By Holly Hewson for The Romance Studio
HH: Lisabet, thank you so much for talking with us. Your featured book is Necessary Madness. It's the tale of one man cast aside for his terrible ability and another who believes him yet fears his visions too. Where did you get the idea for this engaging tale?
LS: I was working out on the elliptical trainer (lol), musing about story ideas as I often do. And I had a vision of Kyle, lying half-drunk in the gutter, homeless and ostracized by a society that views him as sick and dangerous. I spent three months in a psychiatric facility myself when I was in my teens, so I know a bit about mental illness and also how people who are "different" are sometimes categorized as crazy. I had a close friend who was bipolar; she spent some time on the street when her condition went out of control.
In any case, I immediately understood that a psychic ability, uncontrolled, might easily drive one to the edge of sanity. Then I began to ask myself what sort of person would reach out to someone like Kyle and ultimately, fall in love with him. Police Sergeant Rob Murphy is outwardly gruff and businesslike but in reality he's a softy. I didn't realize until later, while I was writing, that he had psychic talents of his own.
So the story grew out of these two characters. As I worked on the idea, I asked myself questions. The book more or less told me where it wanted to go.
HH: What do you like best about Rob and why will he appeal to romance readers?
LS: Rob is a "regular guy" and yet he's a true hero. He takes his police work seriously even though he's the victim of unspoken homophobic discrimination that has held him back from promotion. He has a moral compass. When he rescues Kyle from the street and realizes how attracted he is to the younger man, Rob tries to resist his own desire, to deny his needs, thinking that this is the "right thing to do". Meanwhile, Rob is struggling with his own demons, the unsolved murder of his telepathically-gifted sister and the need to hide his homosexuality for the sake of his career, but he doesn't share these conflicts with Kyle. He's a typical man in many ways, bottling up his feelings inside. His love of Kyle breaks him open emotionally and encourages him to take risks. I think that romance readers will recognize these "male" tendencies and rejoice (as Kyle and I both did!) when Rob realizes and declares his love for Kyle.
HH: What do you like best about Kyle and why do you think readers will relate to him?
LS: I strongly identify with Kyle, partly because of my own struggles with psychiatric problems. He's young, beautiful, gifted, yet he's been thrown on the rubbish heap of society because of his differences. His struggles with his devastating visions have made him cynical and suspicious, at least superficially. It's difficult for him to trust anyone, even a good guy like Rob. At the same time, he yearns for love, for connection with someone who will accept him as he is and not be frightened or disgusted by his "madness".
Anyone who has ever been made to feel different and unwelcome (and who hasn't been, at some time?) will be drawn to Kyle, I think. One thing I realized while I was writing is that his personality is somewhat unformed, given his relatively young age. So over the course of the book, he actually changes even more than Rob. He becomes braver, more mature, stronger and less cynical as he battles against the evil that wants to make him a victim. At the beginning of the book, Kyle has more or less given up hope. By the end, he's willing to fight, for himself, for Rob and for their future.
HH: What sort of research went into this work?
LS: This story draws heavily on my personal experience. It is set in Worcester and Petersham, Massachusetts, two places that I know very well. I had to look up specific locations to refresh my memory, but other than that I really didn't need to do much research. The psychiatric hospital where Kyle is confined after his worst vision and seizure is the same one where I was a patient. Although that was forty years ago, my recollections are still vivid.
HH: What do you think today's reader is looking for in good romantic fiction and how does this story meet that need?
LS: I'm not sure that I can comment authoritatively on the preferences of "today's reader"! To be honest, though, I think that many of the ingredients of good romantic fiction have much in common with quality writing in any genre: believable, three-dimensional characters with whom the reader can identify; non-trivial conflicts that propel the story forward; a setting that feels real and engages the senses; a resolution that does not feel contrived or forced. For erotic romance, I'd add sensual, intense sex scenes in which the physical pleasure feeds on the emotional connection, and an ending that brings the lovers together and satisfies their need for one another.
Obviously, I think that Necessary Madness provides all of this and more (lol)!
The book is paranormal, in the sense that the story revolves around various psychic talents, their uses and their costs. At the same time, the book has a realistic, even gritty feel. It's not about pretty, buff gay guys checking each other out in a bar or the gym, nor is it about supernatural creatures like angels, demons, vampires or shifters. The conflict that drives the plot is life-and-death. The climax is (I hope) dramatic and even a bit scary.
As for the sex scenes - well, let me just say that I don't pull any punches. I am very proud of the fact that several reviews of the book by gay men praised the sex as realistic and hot.
HH: What else do you have in the works for lucky readers?
LS: Actually, I'm about half way through a M/M science fiction erotic romance, set in a dystopic near future in which homosexuals are locked up in internment camps, rather like Japanese-Americans were during World War II. It's going rather slowly, partly due to other commitments and partly because I'm discovering how much more difficult it is to write science fiction than it is to write a contemporary novel. I'm also doing research and planning for sequels to both Necessary Madness and Fire in the Blood, my M/M/F vampire menage published last November. Plus a dozen other projects on the back burner...you know how it is, so many stories, so little time!
HH: Lisabet, why did you want to be a writer? Why do you still?
LS: It really wasn't a choice. I've always written. My decision to submit my first novel was almost casual, a dare to myself. Now of course, I'm hooked. I have readers to satisfy! Fortunately, I still enjoy the writing process - especially when I let go and forget about publishing, just letting the story carry me away.
HH: If you weren't a writer, you'd be a...?
LS: Well, I don't write full time. I have a "real job", which I love, as a software engineer. This turns out to be somewhat convenient in today's world of digital promotion.
HH: What's your favorite guilty pleasure?
LS: I don't think anyone should feel guilty about pleasure!
HH: What is your biggest hope for 2011?
LS: I assume that you're talking about personal hopes, not world peace... I hope to continue to grow my community of readers, and I hope I can entertain and satisfy them by giving them the hot, heart-touching stories they crave.
