Thanks so much to the Divas for inviting me over today to
talk about
Infamous!
Here’s a little set-up:
Jessica Sinclair is Hollywood’s favorite
wild-child, so what’s she doing burning cookies and playing house in the
'burbs? Conservative soccer dad Morgan Riley can’t figure it out, but
he’s happy to have her home and heating things up in his bed. Then
Jessica finds herself back in the tabloids…with Morgan’s teenage daughter right
next to her.
There’s a mask on the cover of
Infamous. Somehow, I
always seem to be talking about the fab shoes, but the mask is really more
important to the story. So when
Rebecca
invited me over to play, I thought I would talk a little about the mask.
The mask on the cover is the one my party-girl heroine,
Jessica, wears at the beginning of the book, which opens at a glam Hollywood masquerade ball. But it’s also symbolic of
Jessica herself. Everyone thinks they
know Jessica. After all, her life has been relentlessly documented both in the
tabloids and in her own tell-all books. And Jessica encourages this…as long as
she’s writing the script.
One of the things I love about Jessica is that she is very
comfortable in her own skin. She has no problem stepping into almost any role. She
can absolutely pull off a Harem Girl scene complete with erotic belly-dancing. But her whole life is a role. Even when she
feels threatened in her marriage this is her go-to strategy. What does Morgan
want? What’s his fantasy? Whatever it is, she can provide it in the bedroom.
And that’s where the problems arise. All that role-playing
covers up a huge insecurity. She’s not sure she can star in the life the she
really wants. Will she be willing to ditch the mask and take a chance?
Well, I’ve brought an excerpt of Jessica in character for you to check out. It’s all just a bit of fun, after all.
###
Excerpt:
He shook his head and blinked his eyes, but the scene stayed
the same. The lights were all out, but candles flickered and danced throughout
the room. They gave off a heavy incense that turned his familiar bedroom into
something dark and forbidden. Music played softly from the speakers in the
ceiling. Not classical, or even pop, but more basic—a tribal sound with a drum
beat that echoed in his blood.
Jessica was curled like a cat in the center of the bed. When
the door opened, she unfurled herself and stood up. The pagan goddess was back.
She was dressed in veils that fluttered around her as she swayed toward him.
Her eyes were ringed with kohl. A beaded headdress covered her hair. Bracelets
at her wrists and ankles jingled softly as she walked.
She stopped just in front of him and executed an elegant
bow. “I’ve been waiting for you.” Then she was touching him, placing soft,
open-mouthed kisses along his skin as she unbuttoned his shirt, kneeling
gracefully in front of him to open his pants.
It was an ambush, he thought. But he couldn’t take his eyes
off her. When her mouth closed over him, he gripped her hair to hold her
against him as he lost himself in the beat of the drums.
###
