Interview with Aubrey Cara, Author of 'Chasing Delia'

One of my favorite things to do on this blog is feature new writers. This particular writer making her debut is extra special because she’s also a dear friend.

If you’ve never visited Aubrey Cara’s #iheartbookswithawarninglabel blog, then my friends, you are missing out. Funny, smart, and kinky to the max, Aubrey is a treasure. She discusses books and sex with a savvy, no-holds-barred approach. Now she’s releasing her first book through Baronet Press, Chasing Delia. I’ve been lucky enough to already have read it, and it is everything I expected from Aubrey: funny, quirky, and full of hot action – particularly of the spanking kind. Here’s the back cover synopsis:

With the delivery of one Dear John letter and a set of divorce papers, Delia Myers is on a her way to self discovery. First stop: Embracing she's a terrible judge of character. Especially when it comes to men.

Jake Forrester is a small town cop who is beyond charming and hunky enough to have every female in a hundred mile radius panting after him. Basically everything she is trying to avoid. Too bad he's been determined to chase after her from the second he's laid eyes on her oversized floral granny panties.

She may run, but can she hide from love?

Warning; Contains one no-good, cheating ex-husband, a heroine with a propensity to make a run for it, and a hero that has a new found love for spanking a certain sassy woman who runs from him.  

Yes, it is every bit as fun as it sounds. So of course I had to sit down with her and get the lowdown on making the leap from blogger to writer. Here’s what she had to say.

Tracy:  First of all, congratulations on getting your first book out there! I am beyond happy for you.

Aubrey: Thank you for having me, Tracy! I'm so excited to be here and talking about Chasing Delia. I was going to bring Delia, but Jake said “no” to her spending the afternoon with all the Kalquorians you keep around here—I personally love the part of visiting you. He's the possessive type. 

Tracy:  We are sad she couldn’t make it. Just look at those pouting Imdikos. I guess we’ll have to make it up to them. <wink, wink>

Interview first, though. Right off the top, I have to ask you about writing a spanking fiction novel. Is this your favorite thing to read? If so, how did it encourage you to write your own?

Aubrey: I love reading regular romance and spanking romance, but I've always felt like something was missing. With a regular romance, even erotic romance, I wasn't getting the amount of spanking I wanted to be reading.

Spanking is probably my biggest kink. And you'd think reading spanking romance would solve all my problems, but that's just not the case. Again, I'll enjoy the book and characters, but many times I'm left feeling like something is missing. I just wasn't getting the kink connect.

Tracy: Your blog is one of the best out there. It’s the only one I read on a regular basis, both for commentary on kink and your book reviews. What got you from reading and blogging to writing a book?

Aubrey: That disconnect I mentioned before was actually what got me writing. Chasing Delia is a bit of a hybrid. It's not a traditional spanking romance or regular romance. Like many authors, I felt the drive to write what I wanted to read. Ironically, that's also why I began blogging. I've always loved writing, I just hadn't written any stories in years.

Tracy: Was making the move from blogging to fiction a tough transition?

Aubrey: Am I done transitioning? Is that official? <grins> I feel like I'm still transitioning. Last spring I began writing much more than reading, and quite honestly I felt a little guilty. I had to give myself permission to stop reading.

Tracy: You do read a lot to judge from the book reviews you’ve done. What surprised you about writing one?

Aubrey: After reviewing so many books I'm surprised by my inner critic voice being much quieter. I'm personally usually a very analytical person. I have a friend that calls me Vulcan-esque. I can be a realist to a fault. Not so much when I was writing. Before when I looked at my stories I couldn't see the forest for the trees. I was emotionally blinded. While I'm still very emotionally attached to my stories I'm able to step back and look at them as a reviewer.

I also know that first and foremost I need to love my story and be happy with the final product, because it may very well get picked over in the reviews and I need to have the security in my work to know that is okay. I still hope everyone enjoys my book and it does well, but I'm not sure that I'll be reading all the reviews. I've read and written reviews for years now. I know firsthand they are very subjective.

Tracy: Okay, so let’s talk practical knowledge. Favorite spanking implement (wielding or receiving)?

Aubrey: Wielding or receiving?! <giggles> You know me so well! Receiving; hand, wooden spoon, and belt. Wielding; anything I can get my slaptastic hands on!! Not many people know I love to spank! I just don't usually get in more than a lick or two in before I'm upended and on the receiving side.

Had I been on a sports team, I probably would have been reprimanded for my overly enthusiastic “go team” butt slaps. In my story Chasing Delia, Delia actually gets the opportunity to be the spanker with humorous results!

Tracy: That was a great scene. I had a good laugh over the visuals I got while reading it.

What books have you read that inspire you, whether spanking or not? How do they inspire you?

Aubrey: Oh my gosh, that's a hard one. As a sex fiend? Well, the list is long and begins with Connie Mason. As a writer? Absolutely every book I've ever read, has inspired me in some way. Seriously. Whether a satire by Erma Bombeck, a plain old historical fiction by Eugenia Price or an uber sexy sci-fi by you, every book I read gives me something in return.

Tracy: Thanks! Those are some great names to be associated with.

 There were some terrific secondary characters in Chasing Delia. Will we be seeing them show up in other books? Do we dare to hope this will be a series?

Aubrey: Yes!! There will be a series, but they read more as stand-alones. Secondary characters Kat and Caleb will have their own story. There is an excerpt for their story, Taming Kat, in the back of Chasing Delia! You'll get to meet Caleb's wacky mom, along with Jake's parents in that story. You'll also meet Mason and Mimi, who are the hero and heroine from Book Three.

I will warn my readers that Kat and Caleb are dirty on a whole other level. Their book is 110% erotic romance with a capital E. Sex toys, anal, binding, and belt spankings happen.

Book Three will also be more heavily erotic. The same humor as book one and two, but with a few different kinks. <gives cheeky grin>

Tracy: Lots to look forward to then! Is there any other genre of writing you are thinking of trying? Is there one you would never go near with a ten-foot paddle?

Aubrey: I may try my hand at fantasy and possibly sci-fi. I recently dabbled in sci-fi with a super short story that will first be published in a Baronet Press monthly newsletter sometime in the next year!

I may one day write a male character that likes getting spanked, but is still the dominant. I'm a never say never kind of gal, but I probably won't be writing historical romance, spanking or otherwise. I'm a historical details stickler, and I have a feeling I'd drive myself insane doing period research.

Tracy: How much of you is in your characters? Tell the truth now...do you own a pair of flowered granny panties like Delia’s, and have you ever been caught wearing them?

Aubrey: Everyone knows if you wear ugly panties on a date your chances of it going well and having hot dirty sex that night, triple! My humor is definitely in my characters. My humor and my love for spanking is very present in the book.

Tracy: Let’s talk fantasy. You are being spanked by your dream man. Who is he, or if you don’t want to name names, what does he look like? Where is it happening?

Aubrey: You're going to laugh. Nameless scary Nobek guard from Shalia's Diary One. Seriously! I'm still hung up on him. I'd follow him around like a happy puppy, and climb him, and pester him until I got chastised. Then I'd do it all over again until he was hopelessly in love with me—which I'm positive would happen—and we'd live happily ever after! (don't tell my husband)

Tracy: (Doubled over laughing) You’re right...it is funny that someone who showed up so briefly would get your attention, but I love it.

Now the important question: what are you working on now?

Aubrey: I have Book Two, Kat and Caleb’s story Taming Kat coming up—it's so delicious—and I'm plucking away at Book Three, working title Mimi Mine. Mason has been carrying a torch for Mimi for years. He's finally able to do something about it. The only issue is, she works for him! Office nooky is happening.

Tracy: Awesome. And now the obligatory ‘new writer’ question: What do you know now that you wish you knew before writing your first book?

Aubrey: Everything? <chuckles> I'm actually one of those crazy people that believe that the things one learns along the journey of life happen at specific times for a reason. We learn what we're supposed to when we're supposed to. Vague enough?

Tracy: It makes perfect sense to me. As always, I’ve loved talking to you. Thanks for stopping in and giving us the inside scoop on Chasing Delia.

Aubrey: Thank you for having me!!! It was truly an honor to be here. I hope everyone loves Jake and Delia as much as I do.

Tracy: Good luck on it! Do we get to read an excerpt? Please, please, please?

Aubrey: Of course. Enjoy!

                Jake stood next to Delia Myers in the humming elevator for a twenty second lifetime in the wake of her deafening silence. He had to will himself into stepping out and walking through the lobby first, hoping she was following behind him. So far she did pretty well if he pushed a little and stepped back and let her process. He figured she probably never had anyone that actually let her make up her mind for herself. He again ruminated over the kind of abysmal life she had lived.

                They drove without talking, a county western radio station their median between an uncomfortable silence. He didn’t normally listen to country outside of a bar, but for some reason he had a hankering for the sometimes sad, often times upbeat, stories that played out in twangy rhythms and tunes of a country song.

                He gripped the wheel of his beat up pickup he drove whenever off duty and smiled a real smile for the hundredth time since meeting Delia Myers. The cotton t-shirt he had purchased for her showed a subtle amount of cleavage that was bouncing and jiggling in a way that made his mouth water and his mind travel to places far beyond the confines of his old truck. Even through the clinging hospital stench he could detect the smell of something sweet. He wondered if she naturally smelled like cinnamon and vanilla, or if that was a perfume she wore. Either way he wanted to pull her onto is lap and taste her, everywhere.

                As he pulled in to park at one of his favorite local diners, their eyes met and held, and he spotted an interest in her luminous green eyes that rivaled that of his own lustful thoughts. He wanted so much in that moment to lean over and feel her lips yield under his but held back. In hesitating the moment was gone, if it ever existed.

                That was why he was so surprised when five minutes later she sat in a booth fidgeting and looking near tears. Then ten minutes after that she was eating like a lumberjack, and five minutes after that, when he excused himself to the gentlemen’s room, Delia Myers disappeared leaving behind nothing but a quickly scribbled note written out on a paper napkin.

                Thanks for breakfast, I’ll forward you money for the clothes and my bus ticket. Sorry.

                He checked his pockets and then looked at where his wallet had laid on the table, now empty except for his ID. Smooth, Jake he thought to himself. Real smooth.

                He picked up the note, studying it again. No signature or initials, yet somehow he knew, or least he hoped, that wasn’t the last he was going to see of Delia Myers. Holding the note and his empty wallet, his father's words about spanking women came back to him for the second time that day. Lord help him, or maybe her, because if he ever spanked a woman in his lifetime, it was going to be Delia Myers’ thieving round behind under his hand.

You know you want it! You can buy Chasing Delia by Aubrey Cara right now at Amazon.