Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Wednesday Promo- S.E. Holden


Thanks, Paty, for giving me this opportunity.

Since he was a kid, S.E. Holden wanted to be an author and explored many genres through high school and college. After greasing the gears of the corporate machine for many years, he escaped the Information Technology vortex to focus full-time on his writing dream. A romantic at heart, S.E. loves to write about committed couples struggling with and overcoming life's obstacles only to emerge stronger. The fact that they have steamy, mind-blowing sex along the way makes it even better.
S.E. lives with his wife and two children on the west coast of Florida.

How does coming from a corporate background help you write romance? Or does it?
I can't say it helped directly with the romantic aspects of my writing. Ultimately I think you need to have a romantic spirit in order to express it in words, concepts and stories. Where the corporate experience does help me is in understanding people dynamics and motivation. Being in various levels of management for many years, I had the opportunity to watch individuals cope with and react to their co-workers, stress, promotions, life changes… you name it. I infuse my characters with those reactions and emotions to ground my Thursday Night stories with a strong sense of reality.
One of the keys to a successful corporate existence is the ability to build and maintain strong relationships. The same can be said of life, really, when you think about it. Whether we're talking about a married couple, best friends, neighbors or even two people out on a first date, the same basic elements come into play – communication, patience, trust, expectations, and motives. Years of research and bazillions of books have been written on the topic of relationships and still we find ways to muck them up. The corporate management experience has given me insight into many different relationship scenarios, on multiple levels, and how people overcome or fall victim to their particular scenarios, which I then blend into my writing.

I like that you infuse romance into already married couples. What was your inspiration?
I really don't like the old clichés about married life. You know, those insidious little sayings that get thrown out whenever someone gets divorced or a group of never-been-marrieds discuss their knowledge of wedded life when one of their friends announces an engagement. The sex stops once you put on the ring. You won't be able to go out with your buds anymore. Blah blah blah. TV and movies don't help either when they throw the stereotypical old married couple on the screen and trot out the same tired old jokes.
I believe that marriage, or a committed relationship, is what you make it. So make it awesome and sexy and filled with whatever makes you happy.
What inspires me? Watching a couple beat the snot out of adversity and come out on the other side stronger and more enmeshed into each other's souls than before. It doesn't matter if they struggled through something potentially life-shattering or more mundane, the point is that they met the challenge and triumphed. That's what get's my fingers pounding the keys.
From a personal standpoint, each of the Thursday Night stories I write acts as a reminder to me to not lose sight of my own relationship and to put into practice those cool and romantic things my characters try.

What are you working on now?
I've got a couple things in the works right now. I'm working on the final edits for my next Thursday Night story, Back on Track, which will be available from Breathless in the Feb/Mar 2011 timeframe. In this story, the new bouncing boy addition to the family has thrown his parent's sex life into a tailspin that threatens to tear the parents apart if they can't find a way to soar past them.
In addition I have three other Thursday Night stories in the developmental stages that I expect to finish by the end of the year. As well as the first draft underway of my contemporary paranormal romance novel. Modern day knights. Life vs. death. Love conquers all. Balance in all things. Set in Tampa, FL.

Blurb for The Presentation
Not one for public limelight, Sheila, the new VP of Operations must face her greatest fear: the presentation to her future. Overridden with anxiety and nerves, she could only turn to one person for help—Matt, her husband of eleven years. But his innovative ways pose possible threats to her job. Can she risk endangering her career for the sake of fulfilling her forbidden fantasies?

Excerpt for The Presentation

I don’t see any movement. Are they still breathing? I know this stuff is dry, but come on…something!
A little, neon-green Christmas tree blinked at her from the last row. After the third blink, the words “Merry Xmas” turned red. Oh my God, he came. Her breath caught and she stammered.
She paused to regroup, hiding her distraction behind a pull from her water bottle. The tie was a gag gift she gave Matt last Christmas, but he hadn’t worn it yet. Until now. Seeing him brought the night before in the tub into sharp focus. "Just remember this feeling," he had said as she squirmed in the water under his torturous, yet wonderful ministrations.
She shook her head to clear the images. Once under control again, she continued, "We’ve been watching our corporate expenses very carefully over this time."
Sheila flushed, unable to ignore the blinking lights off the tie, but it wasn’t embarrassment that tinged her cheeks and prickled her skin. This heat emanated from deep inside—from somewhere only he could reach.

Links:
Email: seholden@verizon.net
Web: http://www.seholden.com (coming soon)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001173999283&v=wall
Twitter: @seholden25

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great interview and very insightful.

The books sounds very good. I will have to add it to my ever growing list. =)

Congrats on the release!

Em Petrova said...

Love this book! I downloaded it the other day and read it at once. I didn't even wait for Thursday Night.

Unknown said...

Sounds like an awesome book. I always love it when an author shows how you can work on an existing relationship and make it better. It's definitely going on my wish list for Christmas.

Monika Michalak said...

Hi! I'm a friend of Em's and I am adding you to my reading list!
As one of those couples who refuses to give up and keeps fighting and working to keep our marriage going I can't wait to read your books!

S.E. Holden said...

Thanks for the comments, everyone, and I hope you enjoy The Presentation. If you feel like it, drop me a line after you've read it and let me know what you think. I can always use the feedback.
S.E.