Lorraine Pearl's Blog, page 10
March 6, 2013
Interview & Giveaway with Cover Model Jason Baca
EDIT: THE GIVEAWAY IS OVER, BUT ENJOY THE INTERVIEW AND LEAVE A COMMENT ANYWAY. JASON WILL CONTACT THE WINNER.
Lorraine: First off, I’d like to welcome Jason to my blog and let him know how much I appreciate him taking the time to do this interview. Thank you, Jason.
Jason: Thank you too… The pleasure is all mine.
Lorraine: We’ll start with the basics. What made you decide to become a cover model and how long have you been at it?
Jason: I decided to become a romance cover model a few years ago. I wasn’t finished with modeling but felt out of touch with all the fashion or ad modeling they’d typically use me for. When I’d come up with the idea of doing cover modeling, it really hit me positively. It gave me a reason to work out harder, to eat healthier.
Lorraine: Has modeling been what you expected it to be? If yes, how so? If no, what is different?
Jason: Yes & No… When I am doing a lot of work and getting booked for shoots, it’s like I’d always envisioned it.. Everything flows naturally. But when times are slow like how it was in the beginning for me when I’d see other guys with my same look getting more covers then me I’d get extremely frustrated sometimes even want to give up.. But then an hour later I’d pick myself back up and say “no that approach won’t work”
Lorraine: If you could go back and give the younger version of yourself any advice before you started this career, what would it be?
Jason: Great question! It would have been to tell that guy to do more of the romance novels. I didn’t pay any attention back then to what this industry was all about. Hey this is a multi-billion dollar industry for a reason. A lot of people follow this authors and best sellers. So yes, I’d have gotten into this FAR back..
Lorraine: I’ve seen that your goal is to surpass the number of covers Fabio was on. How are you coming with that goal?
Jason: Sure.. Actually things are moving along at a more rapid pace with that goal of the number of covers. There is still about a good hundred plus before I reach where he’s at though.
Lorraine: Once you’ve achieved that goal, where will you set your sights from there?
Jason: Well Lorraine, I dream big at night.. And the dreams that I dare to dream really do come true..
Lorraine: It must take a lot of work to stay in such great shape. What is your workout schedule and routine?
Jason: Yes you are correct, I do believe in taking care of my body. I perform a rigorous workout routine on a daily basis at my local health club. Currently I work out in the evenings. I basically workout as hard as I can until my arms and legs feel like they are going to fall off. I take pleasure in feeling my muscles tighten up as I exercise them to the max. It sends my mind into a whole new world. I don’t see people around me. It’s just me in my own bubble.
Lorraine: I’m sure you have to watch what you eat, as well. What type of diet do you follow?
Jason: Thanks actually yes, I do watch what I eat. I only eat foods that will make my face and body look beautiful. If it’s chocolate or something impure I will not consume it. Only foods of premium labels shall pass my lips.
Lorraine: Do you allow yourself to splurge and have a day off from the diet occasionally? If so, how often and what is your favorite food to indulge in?
Jason: Yes, I have allowed myself to eat pastas or something with carbs in it. But only occasionally. I don’t want to start a habit, you do it once and then you are on a road to getting ugly.
Lorraine: Did it take you a while to adjust to the thought of being on these covers as the representation of the heroes in the books?
Jason: Yes it did at first. The first time I’d seen the romance books I thought about what it would be like being that cover guy… Then later after doing my first cover and seeing it in a bookstore, now that REALLY knocked my socks off! I felt like not only the hero of the book but the entire bookstore!
Lorraine: I’d like to get the male perspective on what it’s like to be looked at as the object of desire based solely on appearance. Women have been dealing with this for a long time, but it seems only recently that us women have become the aggressors and are now ogling men. Do you find it demeaning like some women used to or do you take it as a compliment for all the hard work you’ve done to get and keep your body in such great shape?
Jason: Well yes, being labeled as the mountain of molten lust has its perks. I don’t mind getting positive feedback from anyone claiming to be impressed by what I have with the body. To be on these covers as someone’s ultimate object of desire is what it’s all about. I mean you don’t want to be on a cover looking like an out of shape person or someone that has no sense of style..
Lorraine: When people ask what I write and I tell them romance, I get the usual dismissal and eye rolls. What do people say when you tell them you are a cover model?
Jason: I get fascination looks.. Looks of amazement or uncertainty on how to approach me next. I like that cause I just stare back at them waiting to see what questions they’ll come up with next. There are not many of us guys out there. We aren’t your typical store employee…We’re a rare breed.
Lorraine: I have a day job to pay the bills until this writing thing takes off. Do you have a day job or is modeling it? If you do have a day job, do you hope to leave it behind one day?
Jason: If I didn’t have a day job to keep me busy, I’d be bored out of my MIND! I have to have it otherwise this sort of thing may get old for me which I don’t want it to.
Lorraine: If you weren’t modeling, what other career could you see yourself with?
Jason: I get asked this a lot. But I don’t have an answer for you. This is me. I like unordinary. So Maybe I’d do something unusual.
Lorraine: Any advice for those who may want to get into modeling?
Jason: Well for regular old modeling, just start making contacts with photographers in your area… See if you have that look first..
Lorraine: You’ve written a couple of books, as well. Can you tell us a little about them, why you decided to write them, and where we can buy them?
Jason: Yes, Journey of a Male Model & Overexposed. Both are modeling books designed to help models become models… both are available on amazon.com
Lorraine: You’ve had a taste of Hollywood and movies. Can you tell us a little about your experience, and is this something you’d like to do more of in the future?
Jason: Yes I have had a taste of Hollywood. I’m still a sag member but I’m not much the actor. I found out early on that I have a hard time acting and saying my lines at the same time… It takes a special person to be an actor. If I do anymore in the future, it will be little stuff probably… Like running around not saying anything in the movie… hahaah..
Lorraine: Were you star struck at all at first or were you able to look at the actors as normal people?
Jason: Saw them as normal people. I had no clue that they were big shots.. During hair & makeup we’d often talk a lot to one another and then again at lunch times… and on location of course. But no, never panicked over any of them.
Lorraine: While we’re on the subject, who is your favorite actor and/or actress and what is your favorite movie? Favorite TV show?
Jason: That actor Kevin Spacey is pretty darn good at what he does.. Far as actresses… There are a bunch but none pop out in my head.. Maybe the lead girl from Scream, Neve Campbell.
Lorraine: What type of music do you like to listen to? Do you have a favorite singer or band?
Jason: All kinds of music! Of course Genesis has always been a top band of mine.
Lorraine: What kinds of hobbies do you have? What do you like to do for fun?
Jason: For fun? I really love exercising. Hitting the gym hard and doing some kind of aerobic activity after. It’s really me.
Lorraine: If you could have one wish, what would it be? (It has to be personal for you, not for someone else or even for world peace or to end hunger.)
Jason: Well it wouldn’t be money, it wouldn’t be a Ferrari.. One wish would maybe be to have better leg muscles. I work them out so hard and would wish that they’d grow bigger, fuller.
Lorraine: There’s always one big debate around here, and again, I’d like to get the male perspective. Which do you like better: vampires or werewolves, and why?
Jason: Vampires! Because they are more interesting of course!
Lorraine: Is there anything else you’d like to let everyone know about yourself before you leave?
Jason: Well I had a great time doing this interview Lorraine.. Thanks again for having me.
Lorraine: It was a pleasure having you here. Thank you again for taking the time to do this interview—and for putting up with some of my unusual questions. Good luck with your career and keep those amazing photos coming.
AND NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY…
The winning commenter will receive an autographed model card from Jason. Just remember to leave your email with your comment so Jason can get in touch with you. Giveaway runs through 3/12/13.
If you would like to purchase any of Jason’s stock photos—or if you just want to check out more pics of this hunk of a man—here is the link: http://jasonaaronbaca.deviantart.com/
You can also find Jason on Pinterest. http://pinterest.com/mfrworg/jason-baca-romance-cover-model/
So what did you think of this interview? Did you enjoy learning more about the man behind the cover photos? Be sure to leave a comment to show Jason your support and to enter the giveaway.
Filed under: Giveaways, Guest Posts, Jason Aaron Baca Tagged: giveaway, guest posts, Jason Aaron Baca
March 2, 2013
I.J. Miller’s Wuthering Nights: An Erotic Retelling of Wuthering Heights
WUTHERING NIGHTS
THE GREATEST LOVE STORY EVER TOLD…JUST GOT HOTTER!
An erotic retelling of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights…
Today I’m happy to have author I.J. Miller with me. He is here to talk about why his hero is a brute. Take it away, I.J.
MY HERO’S A BRUTE!
by I.J. Miller
What a challenge! Last August my editor at Grand Central Publishing commissioned me to do an erotic retelling of Emily Bronte’s classic, Wuthering Heights. It’s five months later and the result is WUTHERING NIGHTS, available in e-book now, as a trade paperback in April. I thought the biggest test would be writing a quality book in such a short time, but the true challenge was how to manage a hero, Heathcliff, who is a true brute.
My first focus was making sure that this book was different than your typical erotic mashup and wasn’t built around a lot of verbatim text with some sex thrown in. I worked hard to stay true to the original language, themes, and characters, but added several new plot twists and turns that help make the eroticism more organic and heightens the romance. But what was I going to do about Heathcliff?
As I immersed myself in dissecting the original and preparing for the erotic version, I was completely struck by how flawed and brutal Bronte’s hero was. However, as I went even deeper I realized his awfulness is part of what makes the book so great and why so many remember it. Bronte seemed to write it before all of the classic unwritten rules of fiction were formed, before self-censorship became a common guide for writers. She bares all of him, including his selfishness and brutality. My first instinct was to clean him up and make him more palatable for a modern audience not used to such a flawed
hero. I then decided that would do the book a great injustice and I had to interpret it as true as I could.
So Heathcliff will get your heart stirring one way or the other. He was abused as a child so he does deserve some compassion. I also try to get into the deeper reasons behind his harsh actions as well as probe his inner desire for redemption. But there is no running from the fact that he is someone who likes getting his way and is not afraid to use his physical size and powerful demeanor to achieve his ends. In WUTHERING NIGHTS he is the same way in the bedroom as both a dominant and sensual lover. I simply tried to avoid making any judgments and portrayed him in the same exposed way Bronte did, with no punches pulled. He will still inspire a myriad of emotions in the reader. Some may love him. Some may hate him. Some may love to hate him. But how cool is that?
Thank you, Emily Bronte for such unfiltered inspiration.
EXCERPT FROM WUTHERING NIGHTS
Just before the light of dawn, not long after Nelly had left his bedside, the dark figure of Heathcliff moved swiftly along the moors. He carried nothing, for he owned nothing. He wore no shirt, for the one he possessed, a bloody mess, was left in the barn. He soon arrived at Black Rock Cragge, surveyed the surrounding landscape of the place he called home since arriving from Liverpool. To the north, was Thrushcross Grange. To the south, was Wuthering Heights. To the east, first light of day was about to break, but there was only a slight clearness above the horizon. The rest of the sky was a charcoal black of storm clouds.
Heathcliff stood, shirtless, at the edge of the precipice, fifty feet above the pool and sharp pointed rocks where Catherine and he had sealed their vow, arms rising up to the heavens, palms turning outward, as he welcomed the tempest.
The storm came rattling over the moors in full fury. The hard rain struck his face. There was a violent wind, as well as thunder, and a bolt of lightning revealed a twisted smile on his face.
He had listened to his beloved speak of the many ways she loved another.
He had heard his darling say that to marry him would degrade her.
He had heard his most venerated speak words that violated their sacred vow.
He had allowed a cowardly bully to have his way with him.
He had endured the pompous and shallow Linton family separating him from his treasure as if he were trash to be tossed to the pigs.
He knew now that he could have had his way with Catherine at any time: in the garret on Christmas night, during their stolen moments in the fields, if he had wanted to take her the way he had Nelly this very eve and that she would have been powerless to resist the strength in his hands, the fire in his eyes, the hunger in his mouth, the forceful strength between his legs.
Even now….If he wanted her.
But after all that had happened tonight he could not see one, single, solitary way to have Catherine in the truest of forms. He could love her as Heathcliff: falling to his knees for the chance to place his lips upon her feet, rising each day simply to rest his eyes upon her loveliness, baring his soul just to receive her simplest of touches. But she needed more, much more. She needed Edgar as well. And though the lad was as spineless as a worm, he had the fair skin and blue eyes of a gentleman, the costume and manners of a man of dignified birth, the wealth and station of someone who could fulfill Catherine with the luxury of life at the Grange and the noble status of being called his wife.
What was the point if he could not have her completely and she would not be satisfied with all that was him?
But should they all be absent of the suffering that ripped through his soul as the storm whipped through the firs on the moors?
“NAY!” shouted Heathcliff to the sky, daring God to strike him down now if he so planned.
But as bolts of lightning came and went, from sky to ground, all around the moors, there was nary a flicker at Black Rock Cragge.
“Then a curse be on them!” cried Heathcliff. “A curse for a thousand years and more. I place a curse on the Earnshaws and Lintons, for all the pettiness you inspire, the meanness of spirit you invoke, and because you would not allow two people to love in the pure righteous way that lay buried in their hearts.”
A loud, angry bolt came crashing down, but it did not strike Heathcliff and he continued to smile.
“A curse on all those Earnshaws and Lintons living and all those to be born! For as I stand here on the cragge, as long as I draw breath, and even from the hell where I will surely land, I will reap pleasure from seeing each and every one of you suffer!”
Despite the rain pounding his face, Heathcliff let out an horrific, bone-chilling, bloodcurdling scream that paled the death cry of any wounded animal, a scream that startled awake and went down the spine of each Earnshaw and Linton like a razor splitting a soul in two—although they could not be sure it was human, animal, or just the storm they had heard—disturbing deeply every last one of them, including the baby curled inside Mrs. Earnshaw.
And then he jumped.
Amazon link for Wuthering Nights
BIO FOR I.J. MILLER
I.J. Miller is the author of five, distinct, literary, erotic works of fiction: SEESAW was translated into two languages, with over 130,000 copies in print; WHIPPED appeared in both English and German; SEX AND LOVE, a collection of short stories, made its debut in the summer of 2011; CLIMBING THE STAIRS, a novella, was released just a year later. His latest novel, WUTHERING NIGHTS, is an erotic retelling of Emily Bronte’s classic, Wuthering Heights, and is published by the Grand Central Publishing imprint of Hatchette Books. It is available now as an e-book and will be in bookstores in trade paperback on April 23. Miller has a Master of Fine Arts from the American Film Institute and has taught creative writing and screenwriting at the university level.
Website: http://www.ijmiller.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Heathcliffian
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ij.miller.5
I’d like to thank I.J. for visiting with me today and sharing his hot new book. I guess we’ll never look at the classics the same way again, and I truly love that idea.
What about you? What do you think of reworking a classic like this? What about all the retellings of fairytales lately? Not just in books, but in movies too? I must admit; I loved the movie Snow White and the Huntsman–and I would have even without Chris Hemsworth, but he made it really good. 
Filed under: Guest Posts Tagged: guest posts, I.J. Miller, Wuthering Heights, Wuthering Nights
February 26, 2013
Nocturnal Bites Giveaway
I am over at Louisa Bacio’s blog today talking vampires and my series. Head over for your chance to win a copy of my latest release, the anthology, Nocturnal Bites.
UPDATE: GIVEAWAY IS OVER AND WINNERS HAVE BEEN EMAILED
TNSS: Anthology
Filed under: Giveaways, Guest Posts, Nocturnal Bites, The Nocturnal Surrender Series, TNSS Anthology, Vampires Tagged: giveaway, guest posts, my books, my series, nocturnal bites, the nocturnal surrender series, TNSS anthology, vampires
February 25, 2013
Nocturnal Bites Released
CLICK ON THE COVER FOR PURCHASE LINKS CLICK ON THE COVER FOR PURCHASE LINKS!!!This anthology contains the first three novelettes/novellas of the series. Eachof these books focuses on vampire Bastian Evanko, starting over two hundredyears ago in England with Nothing Lasts Forever and the tragic seriesof events that triggered his desire for retribution and earned him thepunishment of two hundred years in exile.
Fast forward to present day Lansford, PA: The Sin City of the East. Theremaining sto...
February 22, 2013
Nocturnal Surrender Free Through 2/26/13
CLICK ON COVER FOR YOUR COPY After two hundred years in exile, vampire Bastian Evanko hascome back to earn his brother's respect and plot revenge against the vampire whomurdered his fiancée, Elise. In Lansford, PA, The Sin City of the East, Bastianmust fight his rebellious nature and learn to control his impulsiveness so he isno longer considered a scourge on the Evanko name. When he asks for a private dance, and a bite, from stripper Darling Nikki, he gets far more than he bargains for—inclu...
February 19, 2013
Auburn Lust Released
This is a short erotic story:Twin courtesan vampires Rochelle and Laureline Montagueentertain two of their favorite vampire clients for the evening: ChristofRosenbaum and Donovan Evanko.
Rochelle and Christof have been meeting for centuries but latelythe intimacy between them has crossed the line and become personal. WillRochelle be able to keep her professional boundaries in place or will she givein to her emotions?
Laureline and Donovan’s rendezvous is much less emotional andfar rougher, but...
February 11, 2013
Midnight Confessions Released
Click on cover to buy. The third book in The Nocturnal Surrender Series, the novelette, Midnight Confessions, is now available on
Amazon
.Nicole French is fed up with only seeing her boyfriend, Bastian,at the sanguinarian club Nocturnal Surrender, where he always wears hisprosthetic fangs and vampire contacts. When she pays him a surprise visit, andhe answers the door half-naked and wet from showering, she can’t help takingadvantage of the situation. But when her sexual advances send him bolti...
January 29, 2013
Updates: Book Covers, Upcoming Releases, New Sales Venues
These two books have had their covers updated. I knew I would be updating Nocturnal Bites to add the list of stories in the anthology, but I hadn't planned on doinga new cover forMidnight Confessions.But since I decided to publish trade paperbacks of the first three novelettes/novellas, the original cover I'd done for MC was not high enough quality for printing, only for eBook. I loved that original cover, but had no choice if I wanted to have this book in print. So here you can...
January 13, 2013
Updates on The Nocturnal Surrender Series Books
The first book in the series, Nothing Lasts Forever, is no longer available to borrow through Prime. I didn't renew it there so I would be able to put it up for sale everywhere else. It is now available at the following online retailers: Amazon Smashwords Barnes & Noble Createspace All Romance You can now buy the trade pa...
January 3, 2013
Nothing Lasts Forever & Nocturnal Surrender in Print
That's right, the first two books in The Nocturnal Surrender Series areavailable in trade paperback. For now, you can buy your copies at the Createspace store, but they will soon be available on Amazon, too. Remember, these are a novelette and novella so they are slim books, but it will be so nice to have the books in your hands. Nothing Lasts Forever at Createspace Nocturnal Surrender at Createspace 
