Today I am so excited to welcome the awesome J.A. Rock to Joyfully Jay! J.A. has just released her new book, Calling the Show, which I reviewed here earlier today (and totally loved!). She has also brought along a copy of Calling the Show to give away to one lucky commenter. Awesome! So please join me in giving her a big welcome!
In my new novel, CALLING THE SHOW, theater students Jesse and Sim go from enemies to hula hooping partners to lovers to… dominant and submissive? They’re not sure.
I’ll try not to divulge TMI from my personal life here, but I will say that I was Jesse’s age, 22, when I first actively pursued a D/s relationship. I knew long before that I was BDSM oriented, but it took years to get up the courage to do anything about it, and I spent a lot of that time imagining what living the lifestyle would be like.
I recently had the good fortune to discover Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow’s novel Bound & Determined. There’s a wonderful scene where the submissive MC is waiting for his first taste of the riding crop. What he’s excited about is the “newness” of it—though it’s a sensation he’s been fantasizing about for some time.
“He could feel Owen reaching to the bed, and his whole body tensed up with the knowledge of what was coming.
Except for the part where he had no f***ing idea.”
Best line ever.
It’s kind of like skydiving. You can anticipate how it will feel to jump out of the plane. You can try to construct the sensation of falling based on how it felt to jump from the top stair down to the landing when you were a kid, or how it feels to go down the first hill of a roller coaster. And when you finally do take that leap, maybe it feels a lot like you imagined it would.
Except for the part where you had no f***ing idea.
To me, the most exciting moments in life come from the disparity between what we think we want and what we get. We all have the things we dream about doing, and often the reality doesn’t match up with the dream. But it’s the unexpected that opens new doors to us, in our travels and careers, in love, in the act of creating.
In CALLING THE SHOW, Jesse is chronically anxious, inexperienced both sexually and in relationships, and has an unfortunate habit of saying the wrong thing to Sim approximately every two minutes. So he’s got enough on his plate trying to launch what he assumes will be a vanilla relationship. But when he and Sim realize they’re both interested in kink, things become more complicated. They each have activities they’ve fantasized about, and they find willing participants in each other. Sometimes the reality is better than their fantasies, sometimes it’s worse, and often it’s just different. They eventually discard the labels “dominant” and “submissive,” because what they do together doesn’t necessarily fit with their preconceived notions of what those words mean.
I mentioned a while back on my blog that I initially mocked the friends who tried to teach me to hula hoop last year. I thought hula hooping was for kids, that it would be boring, and that I’d be awful at it.
Hooping is now one of my favorite activities. I’m no rock star at it, but I’m not irredeemably horrible. It’s far from boring, and for over a year now I’ve been unable to stop discretely poking my hard abs.
Jesse has a similar aversion to learning to hoop. But giving it a try leads to something even better than a six-pack—it leads to a relationship with Sim, which brings more risks, more opportunities, more feelings Jesse has no f***ing idea how to deal with.
When we try something for which we’ve already imagined an outcome, we take a chance beyond whatever physical or emotional risks that activity entails. We risk the unknown, the unfamiliar space between our jumping point and where we actually land.
CALLING THE SHOW is, at its core, a book about self-discovery and taking chances. It’s about the way life slaps us in the face (or elsewhere) when we decide we already know how something is going to turn out.
Because we all have a sense of what’s coming, right?
Except for the part where we have no f***ing idea.
Thank you so much to J.A. for stopping by today. And if you want a chance to win a copy of Calling the Show, be sure to leave a comment below. The contest will stay open until Friday, July 27th at 11:59 pm EST.
- By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay and leave your email address if it is not in your profile.
Hula hooping? Hmmm….. 🙂
Please count me in – this sounds very intriguing!
Wait until you read about the hula hoop sex… 😉
Thanks for stopping by, Chris!
Just read the review and this looks really interesting – please count me in 🙂
Thanks for being here, Sarah!
Great post! I loved your previous books and can’t wait to read this one. I have to agree with you. If you like BDSM stories, Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow have some good ones. I really enjoyed Bound & Determined, too.
Now if only I could hula hoop like I did when I was a kid. Relieve stress and have hard abs. How awesome that would be! 😀
lkbherring64(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks Lisa! I do love the Davitt-Snow combo. I never actually hooped as a kid, so my first experience was as an adult. It’s really fun, though I feel like a complete klutz sometimes. Thanks for stopping by!
I’ve been looking forward to reading this one ever since I finished By His Rules. With the references to Bound and Determined I’m sure I’ll love it.
-Jin
Hi Jin! Hope you do enjoy it. Thanks for commenting.
I am also intrigued, count me in!
Thanks for coming by, Darien!
I’ve never been able to keep a hula hoop going for more than five seconds, so I’m impressed! The book sounds really intriguing…
It took me a while to get the hang of it — but it’s so much fun. Thanks for stopping by!
Loved Wacky Wednesday by JA – and hula hoop sex – this is going on the ‘must get next’ list!
Hi Suze! Changing the way the world looks at hula hoops, one reader at a time…
Thanks for being here!
I enjoy J A Rock’s books. Please count me in.
Thanks, Laura. So glad you stopped by!
I already own this (of course!), but I just wanted to say that yes, having no fucking idea is always the best part.
<3
Hey you! Thanks for stopping by. Life is a scary-ass adventure whether we want it to be or not.
Wow! Please add me too. I’m fascinated 🙂
Hi Sue! Thanks so much for coming by.
This sounds like such a cool premise. Please throw my name in the hat.
Thanks for commenting, Courtney!
I am very much looking forward to this book. I so enjoyed By His Rules! Hula-hooping sex…oh yeah.
Yvette
yratpatrol@aol.com
Hi Yvette! I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by.
Sounds interesting. Count me in please.
Thanks for coming by, Debbie!
Nicely said…I was 40 (and married vanilla) before I realized that I might have interests outside of the usual. Now its a whole issue it didn’t need to be. I hope to one day be as comfortable with it as you seem to be. Thanks for the great post,
chellebee66 at gmail dot com
Hi Michelle,
Thanks so much for coming by. That realization can be quite a process, and it can be tough to know what to do after the realization occurs. I think the best thing to remember is that this interest is something to enjoy and be proud of. I hope everything works out for you.
Best,
J.A.
Hula Hoop Sex?? Oh Yes, You have my attention, I’m VERY Intruiged!!! 😉 I would very much appreciate a chance to be included for a chance at your very generous Giveaway for
J.A. Rock’s new released book “Calling the Show”. Take Care & Stay Naughty, PaParanormalFan (Renee’) paranormalromancefan at yahoo dot com
Hi Renee, thanks so much for participating!
Looks like a good one! Please include me.
Thanks for stopping by, Tina!
You had me at hula hooping! Count me in, please!
OceanAkers @ aol.com
Thanks for being here, Juliana!
Great post! I loved By His Rules and can’t wait to read this one 🙂
smaccall AT comcast.net
Thanks, Sarah. I hope you enjoy this one. Thanks for coming by!
As soon as I heard hula hooping, I was all in. I definitely want to read this book. Thanks for stopping by!!
tiger-chick-1(at)hotmail(dot)com
Hi Emily; thanks for participating! Glad to see some hooping fans here.
You’re right, that is a great quote! I think it’s going to be stuck in my head all night….
Count me in, please!
kit_singer@hotmail.com
Thanks for coming by, Kit!
Count me in! Thank you!
Jase
vslavetopassionv(at)aol(dot)com
Thanks for being here, Jase!
Such a great quote. And hula hooping? I’m intrigued. PLease count me in 🙂
hambelandjemima at yahoo dot co dot uk
Thanks for participating, Hambel!
I’m already crushing a bit on Jesse! So count me in 😉
He’s a sweetheart/crazypants, Leontine! Thanks for coming by.
Yes, I totally adored Jesse. I love a good geeky hero!
Hula hooping? Mmm. Interesting 🙂
Count me in, please 🙂
blaine(at)blainedarden(dot)com
Hi Blaine, thanks for stopping by!