Today I am so pleased to welcome J.A. Rock to Joyfully Jay. J.A. has come to talk to us about her latest release, Slave Hunt. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

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Why a Book Five?

Partly because Lisa Henry was ignoring me at our airbnb in LA. Partly because I knew 24/7, was gonna get pretty heavy, and I wanted to have an apology book ready. And partly because of D.

Let me start at the beginning.

It was November 2015, and Lisa Henry and I were holed up for two weeks in an apartment in LA. We would frequently lie on the bed and ignore each other for hours at a time while we stared at our computer screens. Then we’d go out and get Thai food and go back to ignoring each other. She looked like she was busy with Important Stuff, like looking at adoptable shelter dogs on Petfinder. I wanted to feel Busy & Important too, but the idea of working on 24/7 (The Subs Club #4), the project I was on deadline for, seemed very daunting. I was getting emails from a kink group about their annual slave hunt—an event where bottoms are hunted in the woods by tops and, if caught, put up on whipping posts to be played with by the hunters.

I couldn’t participate in the slave hunt because I’d spent all my money on burritos at GRL, but it occurred to me that there was a way to “participate” in a slave hunt: vicariously, through made up people. A hunt seemed like the kind of event the members of the Subs Club could be persuaded to partake in, for various reasons. If I wanted a sort of epilogue for all the series’ MCs, this seemed like a fun way to do it.

Then there was 24/7. I loved working on 24/7; it was easily my favorite book of the series. But it was intensely challenging to write, and pretty heavy compared to the previous SC books, because it dealt much more deeply and directly with the themes of grief and moving forward that run throughout the series.

So the idea of a fun epilogue became even more appealing. I started plotting in the airbnb shower. A lot of the subplots came very quickly and easily, but I think what really sold me on the project was the idea of D and Dave participating in the hunt. Obviously D, an earthy, Ron-Swanson-meets-Teddy-Roosevelt-meets-Katniss type, has been waiting his whole life for an event that combines kink and wilderness tracking. He would also assume that Dave is going to be awful at this. And Dave, who can’t stay quiet for more than a nanosecond, would probably a) be really awful at this and b) resent the assumption that he’s going to be really awful at this.

So that was my starting point.

From there, the book pretty much plotted itself. I sent a proposal email to Riptide, in which I acknowledged that probably no romance reader ever has said, “You know what would make a romance novel even better? If it was narrated by ten characters instead of one or two,” but stating that I’d really like to try the ten-narrator format. They were down with it. Then I asked if I could illustrate it, because if you’re gonna write a weird-ass romance novel, go big or go home. They said yes.

Basically, Slave Hunt was me having a whole lot of fun with characters I’ve enjoyed spending the past two years with. I hope you have fun reading it.


Blurb

Slave HuntThirty people. Two hours. Only the strong will survive.

When Riddle decides to put on a slave hunt, the Subs Club is on board. Tops hunting bottoms in the woods with paintball guns? Yes. Captives strung up on whipping posts, at the mercy of their captors? Hell yes. But on the morning of the hunt, nothing’s going according to plan. Miles and Drix are at odds over Miles’s reluctance to move in together. Dave is determined to show up D, who thinks Dave won’t last two minutes in the woods. Gould finds himself torn between obeying his master’s orders and living out a longtime fantasy. And Kamen inadvertently becomes a double agent when he aligns himself with two different parties.

By the end of the hunt, alliances will be forged and broken, loyalties will be tested, relationships will be strengthened…and someone will barrel roll. Narrated by ten different characters, Slave Hunt tells the story of two hours in the woods that will change everyone forever. Or at least, remind them that love is the greatest victory of all.

Slave Hunt is available from Riptide Publishing: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/slave-hunt


Bio

J.A. Rock has worked as a dog groomer, knife seller, haunted house zombie, standardized patient, cashier, census taker, state fair quilt hanger, and, for one less-than-magical evening, a server—and would much rather be writing about those jobs than doing them. A lover of m/m BDSM romance, J.A. lives mostly in West Virginia, and always with a beloved dog, Professor Anne.


Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Slave Hunt, one lucky winner will receive $15 in Riptide Publishing credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on October 22, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
  • All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
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  • Readers may only enter once for each contest.  Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.
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