Guest blog post by Sharita Lira

Finding the Right Voice

Greetings readers! I’d like to thank Sex Marks for having me here today. I’d like to blog about something writing related that all author face. Finding the correct voice.

Now, for those of you that don’t know me, I’m Sharita Lira but I write under 3 pennames. Rawiya, BLMorticia and Michael Mandrake. I won’t bore you with a bio since the voice I’m referring to today is Michael so I’ll just say if you want to find out more please have a look at all my links at the end of the post.

When a writer speaks of their voice, they’re not talking alto or soprano.*laughs* In my opinion, they’re speaking of the style in which they write. Every author has a different style so no 2 authors should be the same. Sure, we have similarities. One may be a lot more sensual as opposed to the other that might be a lot more erotic.

Now, imagine the author having to do this with his or herself. *raises eyebrow* The voices that speak to you in certain kinds of stories may clash between pennames. You find your sensual writer has now become you more erotic writer. Maybe your snarky one as made your more long winded and eloquent voice more of a bad ass. *shudder* 

I confess, I’m a newbie so I still struggle with this. In certain stories, Michael might pick up BL’s style of smart ass and Rawiya might sound more like Michael. Is this okay? Erm, in some instances yes but not always. The key is making it work for a particular story or character. 

In short, Michael Mandrake writes long winded, eloquent, stories about people in love. If humor comes into his tales, it’s more of a dry humor, like the second book, A Second Chance, has a character that would typically be a BL type of man. Captain in Training, Daniel DeClerc. He, along with his new partner, Farris are both smart asses, but because the story is about 2 cops who are facing the challenge of loving after losing a partner in the line of duty, it works. 

What about the latest one, Vertigo? The intimate scenes between Doctor Curry and his new lover might appear to be more like something Rawiya would write. He turns into more of a romantic since he thinks he’s found his soulmate. Make sense? Hope so.

So in closing, if you’re a writer with penames or even an author with one or your own name, have you found your correct voice? This, I’m sure, takes time to master and I haven’t done so just yet, but I know as I get better, they might not clash as much. However as you can see, sometimes that works.

I’d like to thank Sex Marks for hosting me on day 7 of my blog tour.

 Please comment and you could win a copy of the book or my last book, ironically, the vampire short, Power of Muse and be entered into the drawing for an Amazon GC worth $25 dollars.

Buylink

After losing his lover to mental disorder, Dr. Hayden Curry throws himself into work, silently wishing he could experience something extraordinary in love.  He finds his match in David, a creature Hayden revives after discovering him and hauling him back to his lab.  Upon awakening, David asks Dr. Hayden’s help in discovering more about himself.  Hayden agrees but senses secrets in David.  Will he get to the bottom of things and be able to continue the special relationship he and David have, or will the secrets that come forward tear them apart?

Before I went to my haven, I glanced outside my window. Outside, the rainfall reduced to a drizzle, coupled by slow moving clouds over the moonlight. The trees blew after only a few gusts of winds, ripped the leaves off and made quite a mess on the grass underneath.

These would be the nights I would cherish with him most. After relishing in the afterglows of new inventions and glasses of wine, there were mind blowing affections to follow. 

Such a good lover…

Once I got to my place of work, I immediately began searching for the vials I had for the latest concoction. When I did not see them, I lost my head rather quickly.

“Where on God’s green earth,” I screamed and walked from one end of my laboratory to the other. "Where are those samples I just had? Libertina!"

Immediately, the pale and slim maiden with dark hair ran to my aid. 

"Yes sir, have you lost something again, sir?"

"I have Libertina. The tubes I examined the night before. They seemed to…oh."

Within moments, my dearest uncovered the missing necessities I searched for, right underneath my novel, The Bounded Scientist.

I shrunk back and smiled wryly. "Thank you Libertina, ahem, that will be all my sweet."

"Yes sir, if there is anything you need, I'll be tending to your clothes, sir." Quickly, she curtsied and scurried off, closing the door behind her.

Ah, what a fine young maiden I have. If I were more attracted to the ladies, then I might give her go, but only gentlemen tickled my fancy these days.

I could not be that upset even in this pitiful state. Not that many people understood me when they came to know me. Throughout the years, many thought they should have thrown me in the local mental ward because of the ideas I'd had. 

Nevertheless, my determination and visions had made me one of the most recognizable names in London, apart from the fact I inherited my father's large fortune.

Still, even with all the money and notoriety, I had always felt something was missing from my life. I longed for something new to happen. Whether it was a new discovery or invention it had to be different from what I had already seen.

I looked at the experiment I had been working on for seemingly weeks in disgust. Things hadn’t been the same anyway since Lawrence departed but I was determined to move on with my life’s work despite what happened to him. I had to hold on to the hope he would return. 

After around the fifteenth trial of not receiving my desired result, I retreated to my bedroom to sleep. Unlike times before, I decided not to read before bed but instead lay there until my eyes got too heavy. 

I hoped the nightmares would not start again since after they occurred I stayed awake staring at the ceilings of my room, often needing a drink of the alcoholic variety to put me to rest. I felt myself becoming rather dependent on the beverages. Certainly, doing this sort of thing would cloud my senses and not allow me to function properly. Many men of science I knew had become like this and I refused to become one of them. 

I’ll never.

I always reassured myself that I wouldn’t continue to down this dangerous path, however, everyday, being alone with only yourself to talk with could be a detriment to one’s mental state. 

Although fully capable of doing everyday things, I’d come to accept that I was different. After all, for one, I wasn’t attracted to women. Two, I enjoyed reading more than being outside playing in games. 

In fact my mom would frequently say that she wished I’d be like “normal” boys and go play ball instead of reading. This from the same woman who didn’t know how to read until after she birthed me. With the help of my caregiver, I taught myself how to read the written word thus showed my mum in the process. Still, even afterwards, she didn’t consider it as an important skill. “I’ve always had people to do things like read for me,” she said, giving illiteracy credence. Totally absurd but true. 

If I wasn’t able to read and learn I might die. 

Such is true of me, Doctor Hayden Curry. I preferred to have my mind stimulated before anything else. This isn’t saying that I didn’t enjoy the sins of the flesh because I did, but, books were like gold to me, more important than any penny I owned. I’d inherited most of it which allowed me to live the lavish lifestyle and work on experiments instead of seeing patients to cure their ailments. I wasn’t interested in short term solutions anyway. I wanted results that could change the world and mankind forever.

BIO: Michael Mandrake is a BRIT!

A 39 year old Brummie who loves to write tales of love and romance between two men that aren't afraid to show their sexuality. At least that's what this 39 year old mom from the US thinks he is. They talk on a regular basis, Sharita and her muse.

Now for the truth, Sharita, who also writes under Rawiya and BLMorticia is a happily married mom of 2 who loves everything about British culture and hopes to visit someday.

Michael M is her most successful pseudonym. To date, he is the only muse with 3 sole author books, 2 more coming before the end of 2012. He’s contracted through XOXO publishing, Sizzler Editions, No Boundaries Press, and does shorts through STARbooks Press. Michael shares Sharita's love for writing tales where the characters are comfortable with their sexuality and the plots are more of a mainstream romance as opposed to m/m. They aren't perfect and cross into new territory, resolving their struggles through communication coupled with mind blowing sex.

At the moment, Mandrake’s books are only small steps into what’s to come. Look for longer works from Sharita and the muse, Michael very soon.

The Literary Triad - http://www.thelitriad.com/#! 

The Literary Triad on FB - https://www.facebook.com/TheLiteraryTriad
Michael Mandrake - http://tabooindeed.blogspot.com

Twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/rawiyamikembl

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSharitaLira

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