Robin Schone's Blog - Posts Tagged "history"
A Man and A Woman: Erotic Romance's 1st Eunuch
"A Man and A Woman" (Fascinated) is Connor/Muhamed's story, Ramiel's manservent in The Lady's Tutor.
Publisher's Weekly wrote that Connor is "probably the first 53-year-old eunuch to be a romantic hero." I don't know about that, but I do know that he fought me every step of the way. His life was private, and he wanted to keep it that way. Furthermore, he absolutely refused to let me romanticize any aspect of being a eunuch.
Instead, he revealed himself through one painful question after another, until finally I . . . and Megan . . . began to understood: Connor was a very, very lonely man who saw himself through the eyes of the men who would judge him, rather than through the eyes of the strong man circumstances had forced him to become.
Megan, however, refuses to judge Connor, just as she refuses to be judged by him.
More than one reader wrote expressing disbelief that a eunuch possessed sexual feelings, or in the case of Connor/Muhamed, that eunuchs who had been castrated while leaving the penis intact could sexually perform.
Both history and medicine are full of real-life men who have for one reason or another been castrated. Men with heartbreaking stories. Yet sometimes, those very same men whom we are supposed to pity . . . and who have been despised and ridiculed throughout history . . . provide the ultimate affirmation of our need to love and to be loved.
Eunuchs did and do have sexual feelings (many modern men must undergo castration due to cancer). Juvenal, a Roman satirist, wrote that Roman women enjoyed men who had been castrated after they reached maturity, because such eunuchs could still sexually perform but without causing impregnation. One particular account of a man who had been competely "shaved" (both testicles and penis cut off) profoundly touched me. Chief eunuch in charge of a harem, he himself kept a concubine, and was not only able to sexually satisfy his beloved, but by the intimate messaging of his prostate gland, was able to obtain sexual release, also.
I remember when typing the final chapter to "A Man and A Woman," a familiar thunk sounded overhead. Oops! I had stayed up all night writing . . . again. The familiar "thunk" was my husband's feet hitting the floor as he got out of bed and walked across the living room to turn on the radio, an early morning ritual. Almost immediately one of the most beautiful and haunting songs I had ever heard drifted down the stairs. It perfectly captured the pain Connor experienced and the beauty he found in Megan. I wrote the last sentence to the fading strains of Sting's Desert Rose.
Click here to learn how to win a free copy of the anniversary edition of Fascinated.
Publisher's Weekly wrote that Connor is "probably the first 53-year-old eunuch to be a romantic hero." I don't know about that, but I do know that he fought me every step of the way. His life was private, and he wanted to keep it that way. Furthermore, he absolutely refused to let me romanticize any aspect of being a eunuch.
Instead, he revealed himself through one painful question after another, until finally I . . . and Megan . . . began to understood: Connor was a very, very lonely man who saw himself through the eyes of the men who would judge him, rather than through the eyes of the strong man circumstances had forced him to become.
Megan, however, refuses to judge Connor, just as she refuses to be judged by him.
"You think a woman is a whore because she has physical needs?" she flared, forgetting that he rightfully thought her a prostitute. Forgetting that she had come to him out of loneliness, not to debate women's morality. "You do not think that women are entitled to take comfort in a man's embrace?"
"I do not know." His grating honesty shattered her anger; his breath lapped at her breasts. "I do not know what either men or women are entitled to. All I know is what I want..."
More than one reader wrote expressing disbelief that a eunuch possessed sexual feelings, or in the case of Connor/Muhamed, that eunuchs who had been castrated while leaving the penis intact could sexually perform.
Both history and medicine are full of real-life men who have for one reason or another been castrated. Men with heartbreaking stories. Yet sometimes, those very same men whom we are supposed to pity . . . and who have been despised and ridiculed throughout history . . . provide the ultimate affirmation of our need to love and to be loved.
Eunuchs did and do have sexual feelings (many modern men must undergo castration due to cancer). Juvenal, a Roman satirist, wrote that Roman women enjoyed men who had been castrated after they reached maturity, because such eunuchs could still sexually perform but without causing impregnation. One particular account of a man who had been competely "shaved" (both testicles and penis cut off) profoundly touched me. Chief eunuch in charge of a harem, he himself kept a concubine, and was not only able to sexually satisfy his beloved, but by the intimate messaging of his prostate gland, was able to obtain sexual release, also.
I remember when typing the final chapter to "A Man and A Woman," a familiar thunk sounded overhead. Oops! I had stayed up all night writing . . . again. The familiar "thunk" was my husband's feet hitting the floor as he got out of bed and walked across the living room to turn on the radio, an early morning ritual. Almost immediately one of the most beautiful and haunting songs I had ever heard drifted down the stairs. It perfectly captured the pain Connor experienced and the beauty he found in Megan. I wrote the last sentence to the fading strains of Sting's Desert Rose.
Click here to learn how to win a free copy of the anniversary edition of Fascinated.
Gabriel's Woman is a Black Friday SPECIAL!
To console all of you who are missing out on the mad frenzy of Friday shopping - or to reward you for not going out and thereby giving me a better chance at the good deals LOL - I am offering a 40% discount on Gabriel's Woman this Black Friday. For ONE DAY ONLY, GW will be priced at $2.99. This special offer starts at midnight on Thursday, November 24, and ends at midnight on Friday, November 25. This offer is available only at amazon.com, amazon.uk, amazon.de and amazon.fr as GW is currently available only at amazon and its affiliates. Happy shopping!
Let your friends know about this special Black Friday offer! Grab the official banner by clicking onto this link and post it on your favorite blogs/message boards.
Let your friends know about this special Black Friday offer! Grab the official banner by clicking onto this link and post it on your favorite blogs/message boards.
A Lady's Pleasure is COMING!
Yay! A Lady's Pleasure is coming in eBOOK! I have a date: September. I have a book cover. Check it out on my FB page and let me know what you think: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbi...
I am so excited. I don't know if I can wait until September!
Robin
I am so excited. I don't know if I can wait until September!
Robin
A Lady's Pleasure is HERE!
A Lady's Pleasure is now LIVE on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/A-Ladys-Pleasur... AND B&N http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-lad....
A Lady's Pleasure first appeared in the #1 Amazon.com Bestselling Anthology, Captivated. International Bestselling "Sexpert" Susie Bright selected A Lady's Pleasure to demonstrate how to best write erotic romance.
I can't tell you what a thrill it is to offer you my sexy tale of a convalescing colonel and a lonely lady on holiday in eBook format. And as a single title! This is a dream come true. Without your continued support and lovely letters, this moment would not be happening.
Thank you!
Robin Schone
A Lady's Pleasure first appeared in the #1 Amazon.com Bestselling Anthology, Captivated. International Bestselling "Sexpert" Susie Bright selected A Lady's Pleasure to demonstrate how to best write erotic romance.
I can't tell you what a thrill it is to offer you my sexy tale of a convalescing colonel and a lonely lady on holiday in eBook format. And as a single title! This is a dream come true. Without your continued support and lovely letters, this moment would not be happening.
Thank you!
Robin Schone
Celebrate: It's Gabriel's Birthday!
November is the 1 year eBook anniversary of Gabriel's Woman. To commemorate this special occasion, I've dressed Gabriel up in a new cover. AND ... For the month of November only, Gabriel's Woman is available for only $2.99.
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Gabriels-Woman-...
B&N Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gabri...
ARe: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/produ...
Join in the celebratation! I'm giving away 90 eCopies of Gabriel's Woman PLUS a specially designed mug (click here to see the There Is No Sin In Love mug give-away http://www.zazzle.com/no_sin_in_love_...). Submit to desire: Enter Gabriel's Birthday Contest here http://writerspace.com/contests/robin....
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Gabriels-Woman-...
B&N Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gabri...
ARe: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/produ...
Join in the celebratation! I'm giving away 90 eCopies of Gabriel's Woman PLUS a specially designed mug (click here to see the There Is No Sin In Love mug give-away http://www.zazzle.com/no_sin_in_love_...). Submit to desire: Enter Gabriel's Birthday Contest here http://writerspace.com/contests/robin....
How Well Do You Know Gabriel?
Well? How well DO you know Gabriel? Take this fun quiz (is there any other kind? lol) and test your Angel knowledge! http://www.goodreads.com/quizzes/resu...Let me know how you do ... and if you would like quizzes for my other books.
The Lady's Tutor is $2.99!
The Lady's Tutor is now on sale for only $2.99 and is available at all major eBook stores. But hurry! This special offer is only good through September 28th, 2013.THE LADY'S TUTOR IS $2.99 AT THESE STORES:
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/The-Ladys-Tutor...
B&N http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ladys...
Kobo http://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/book...
Sony Reader Store https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/rob...
Listen to the seduction...
The Lady's Tutor is now available in audio. It's unabridged, so you can listen to every steamy, scintillating seduction! Please do check out the sample at Audible.com (http://www.audible.com/pd/Romance/The...) and let me know what you think of the narration.
The Lady's Tutor in audio is also available at http://www.amazon.com/The-Ladys-Tutor... and https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook....
I'm so excited. I've long wanted my books available in audio. And now The Lady's Tutor is! Hopefully more will soon be available. *keeping my fingers crossed*
The Lady's Tutor in audio is also available at http://www.amazon.com/The-Ladys-Tutor... and https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook....
I'm so excited. I've long wanted my books available in audio. And now The Lady's Tutor is! Hopefully more will soon be available. *keeping my fingers crossed*
The Lover is HERE!
I'm so excited! The Lover is now available in eBook format: http://www.amazon.com/The-Lover-Robin...
A Lady's Pleasure in Audio
A Lady's Pleasure is now available in audio! What do you think of the reader? http://www.audible.com/pd/Romance/A-L...
