Continuing on the blog tour...
I was recently interviewed by this exceptional lady. She has a new book out, Salting the Earth (Part of the Like It or Not Anthology from Storm Moon Press)! I just had to share her with all of you ^_^.
Drum roll please...Introducing an exceptional author,
Heidi Belleau!
Hi Heidi, First off, can you sum up your story in five words?
Oh my, a tough one right out the gate! Neurotic closet-case meets sadistic fairies.
What is the story about?
Basically, it’s about a young man named Ronan who’s in the embarrassing situation of having to move back in with his mother after his year working abroad in the States got cut short. He needs some kind of control over the events of his life, so he decides to get his nose in his sister’s business, and long story short, he goes to the fairy mound of Knockma to rescue her from King Finnbheara, a sidhe king infamous for kidnapping women. Of course, once he gets there he realizes there’s a price for saving his sister, and to pay it he’s going to give up more control than he thought possible.
What inspired you to write it?
King Finnbheara is a character in our longer novel The Druid Stone, which comes out in August of this year from Carina. In that novel, he’s this chaotic force who also has this very strong sexual side to him and is infamous for causing sexual feelings in characters against their will. So when I heard Storm Moon Press was doing a non-con anthology, I wanted to explore that aspect of his character more. And thus you have the story of Ronan’s chance encounter with Finnbheara and his court.
The title “Salting the Earth” comes from an actual Irish legend about Finnbheara and Eithne the Fair. Basically, Eithne was a stunningly beautiful mortal woman who attracted the notice of ladies-man faerie king Finnbheara, who spirited her away to dance and carouse with him. Of course, her husband didn’t like that, so he went to rescue her. Finnbheara legendarily makes his home in the mound Knockma, so Eithne’s husband figured he could just dig into the top of the mound and retrieve her. But it was only by salting the ground he’d dug that he was able to find Finnbheara’s court and bring her back.
In your opinion, what makes a good fantasy story?
The same things that make any other story good! Compelling, dynamic characters, a setting that feels authentic, and a plot that makes your heart pound.
Who is your favourite character in the story?
King Finnbheara, all the way! He’s so fun to write because he’s so very unpredictable and hard to read. Even Violetta and I are never quite sure what he’s going to do in any given situation until he’s already done it. It’s fun but terrifying to write a character like that, and we hope our readers like him too!
What can we -- the readers -- expect? Do you go in for the Happily Ever After?
Although I’m told some of the stories in the Like It Or Not anthology have HEAs, “Salting the Earth” isn’t one of them. I think giving this anything other than the strange, ambiguous ending it got would be a disservice to the story and the subject matter. So no, definitely no HEA here. I do hope you’ll still give the story a chance, though!
Pet hates in the fantasy genre? (Books, film, etc)
Tolkien-esque high elves with the art and the music and the stoicness and the aloofness and blech, I just don’t see the appeal. I much prefer the more madcap morally alien Irish version of the fae.
If Hollywood came knocking, would you let your story be made into a film? What would be your specific demands? (Director, cast, setting, etc)
I cannot for the LIFE of me imagine anyone wanting to make a movie of this. It’s pretty pornographic! I suppose if we lived in a world where movies with copious sex in them were mainstream, then I’d ask the director of “Mirror, Mirror” to take it on. It’s got a similar absurd, sumptuous, vividly colourful feel. Except, y’know, debauched and twisted.
Would you use CGI or real 3D models/actors? What would your film budget be? (Modest, astronomical?)
It would have to be astronomical, purely for the lavishness of sets and costumes. We’d have to use CGI actors because anyone other than a young David Bowie playing Finnbheara would probably be a grave offense to my co-author, Violetta Vane.
What's next in store for you?
Hawaiian Gothic, our rich, romantic ghost story, comes to Loose Id on June 12th. Unlike much of our work, this story actually is a 100% Romance with a capital R and a HEA and the rest of it. But on the way to that HEA it’s a real tearjerker, so bring tissues! We’re really proud of this story and incredibly excited to share it! We really hope it finds its audience: that is, anyone who likes fantasy based on less-mainstream mythologies, angsty love stories, friends-to-lovers plots, and Hawai’i Lovers in general.
So now we've heard about your work, can you give us a quick blurb about yourself?\
Heidi Belleau was born and raised in small town New Brunswick, Canada. She now lives in the rugged oil-patch frontier of Northern BC with her husband, an Irish ex-pat whose long work hours in the trades leave her plenty of quiet time to write. She has a degree in history from Simon Fraser University with a concentration in British and Irish studies; much of her work centered on popular culture, oral folklore, and sexuality, but she was known to perplex her professors with nonironic papers on the historical roots of modern romance novel tropes. (Ask her about Highlanders!) Her writing reflects everything she loves: diverse casts of characters, a sense of history and place, equal parts witty and filthy dialogue, the occasional mythological twist, and most of all, love—in all its weird and wonderful forms.
HeidiBelleau.com
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New Release Mailing List for Heidi and Violetta (new releases only)
Great! Now, I'm really curious, can you tell us more about Salting the Earth?
Be it forced seduction/dubious consent, non-violent intimidation, or pre-negotiated fantasy, there is something wickedly taboo about non-consensual sex, where consent is muddled. While rape is a crime of power, focusing on exerting physical control over another person, non-con is all about the gray area where verbal consent is either never given (not a 'yes', but not a 'no' either) or doesn't match the arousal and passion both parties share during the act. In Like It or Not, we push the boundaries of consent without fully breaking them.
Salting the Earth becomes Ronan's only choice when he suspects his sister has been taken by the fairies. However, this only draws the interest of ruthless King Finnbheara, who extracts a price for his cooperation that may be too high for Ronan to pay.
Buy It
Goodreads
(Part of Storm Moon Press’s Like It Or Not anthology)
Thank you for sharing with us! :-)
