Tuesday, February 14, 2012

BDSM: Its Power Over My Characters



Power.

A word that can express so many things, and mean something different to each person. Throughout history, power has been synonymous with brutality, genocide, oppression, and sometimes mercy…but always, always, it means CHANGE, whether that be great or small, or somewhere in between.

I’m not going to bore you, the reader, with some essay on the sociological implications of BDSM. There are plenty of good books on the subject written by experts…er, sexperts…who are about a thousand times more educated and eloquent than I, so quit yawning and perk up, kids.

When I shared a private message discussion on Facebook some months ago with a few of my most devoted fans, I was initially unsure as to whether or not I should take Skriker and Rose, my two most popular characters, into the BDSM realm. Sure, readers had been taken on a few really fun adventures where the notorious half-demon bad boy and his Nephil (half-angel) love frequently paused in hunting the Big Baddies to have a good sweaty roll in the sheets. Panties were definitely wetter for their sexcapades, but to trek into the frequently controversial world of BDSM was daring, at the very least. Would Skriker and Rose be looked on the same way ever again? Would I lose part of my readership?

I realized that I needed to use the theme of BDSM sex to explore the dynamic of Skriker and Rose’s unorthodox relationship in order to make such a sordid sexual tale fit in with the other books already available in the series. I could not simply make this a porno—and, as much as I love porn, I’m a piss poor writer of “just sex”. There always has to be more…an exploration of something outside the shagging, an emotional pull that offers the reader more than a simple series of hardcore sex scenes.
(Rose & Skriker - designed by Moi)

The first thing that I decided to address in DEMON’S SLAVE was a complaint that I hear often from my female readers: how Rose, in her angelic perfection, seems to feel so greater-than-thou toward her Halfling lover. Anyone who has read the first installments of the Black Dog and Rebel Rose adventures knows that Skriker, despite his 200+ pound, buff as hell, heavily tattooed, Billy Idol-blond bad boy exterior, is a certified mush muffin when it comes to his angel girl. He worships the ground that Rose walks on, and would fall on his knees and kiss her feet if she would ask it of him. And she has been, in no uncertain terms, a flaming bitch at times, turning her nose up at him, despite his passion, his boyish worship of her beauty, her intellect, her power.

There’s that word again. Power. And that was how I determined I would make my BDSM tale “more” than just a pornographic series of hardcore sex scenes involving bondage, spanking, and nipple clamps. Rose would lay down her power—her angelic need to be in control at all times—to give her beloved the gift of domination over her proud (and infinitely supernaturally more powerful) body. This is how she would profess her love for him, for all time. This is how she would show him that he is worthy of her, body and soul.

Admittedly, since DEMON’S SLAVE was published, there have been those who have hated the rawness of the story. Some have said I went too far: that if Skriker loved Rose, he would not dominate her with the intensity that he did. That at times it bordered on abuse, DESPITE the fact that everything is consensual, that Rose is thrilled and made all the wetter when her beloved spanks her until her ass is red and bruised, or backhands her as punishment for speaking without permission. That she feels all the more bonded to him as she lies bound, rubber-coated nipple clamps pinching her pink pearls, her mouth and cunt and ass brutalized deliciously by her Halfling love, matters little to these usual BDSM readers. There is no rape, no child abuse, and no dubious consent of any kind. But some still viewed it, and will continue to view it, as “too much”. And that is fair enough. I expected there would be naysayers, and people who will never be able to pick up another book by me because of what went down in this one. Who simply didn’t “get” the dynamic between these two lovers who would give each other everything: body, soul, pleasure, pain…and in that giving, that sharing, apologies would be spoken, regret would be expressed, and a forbidden romance would be strengthened all the more by this raw and brutal gift.

Sometimes, power can mean giving in, can mean submitting…can mean the greatest sacrifice for love. And that is what makes DEMON’S SLAVE, in many ways, my most powerful story yet.
--Author & Artist Danielle D. Smith
Originally posted at Darkest Sins

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I HOPE YOU ARE ENJOYING OUR FABULOUS AND VERY SMEXY HOP!!! Please leave a comment below...and thanks for stopping by!



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12 comments:

  1. I would love to win your book. I've read some and have very much enjoyed them. Great characters...my favorite was Faust ;) Yummy. Thanks so much.
    Tanyaw1224(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Dani, I love all your books sweetie, you are a very creative and talented writer. I've already got your fantastic books but would love to have Demon Slave paper back - hint hint signed - LOL Ok, so a girl can wish right, LOL

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the great giveaway. I've never read any of your books, but will check them out.

    ainfinger@comcastDOTnet

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  4. thank you for the hop
    my fb is deriee reilly
    and twtter si desitheblonde

    desi the blonde at msn.com

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  5. I'd love to read your series. Sometimes change is good.

    author_shannon_leigh at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sounds like a great read :) Thanks for the great giveaway!
    Ashley A
    ash_app@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. See here is yet another reason why I love these hops! Your books sounds amazing. Wish I've heard about you sooner :)

    ~Ava~

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  8. sounds like something i'd love to read : ) thanks for the giveaway!
    twitter: bamayankee
    facebook: alicia marie ezell

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  9. thanks for participating in such a great hop!

    mimirose41209 at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Awesome giveaway, thank you :)
    I haven't seen these before but sounds right up my alley!
    I was able to Tweet, Like on Facebook & add you on Twitter - YAY!
    Kel xx

    lillie.rose.owen.jesse@gmail.com

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  11. I haven't read this series yet and I'm not a psychologist, but if Rose is the more powerful partner every day, I would think she would need to be really, really dominated for their BDSM scene to work.

    acm05atjuno.com

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  12. I love hops just so I can get to find more great authors and add to my list of books to read. this sounds like a great read.
    thanks
    Lynda
    lyndakayefrazier@yahoo.com

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Have a nice day!