SEELIE KAY: Postcards from The Ledge: This week in The Loft: Author Luann Lewis!

Joining me today in The Loft is fellow eXtasy author Luann Lewis. Luann writes thrillers and spicy, time travel romance. A big fan of Cold War spy thrillers and film noir, the main characters in Luann's books are similar to those found in old black and white television shows. Her Twisting Time series spans from the 1960s into the 2200s and illustrates how love holds similar trials and joys through every culture and era. Now semi-retired, Luann works part-time as a paralegal. With her husband of 38 years, she shares three children and three grandchildren.

Author Luann Lewis

S: Good morning and welcome to The Loft, Luann!

How has romance changed in your lifetime?

L: Romance novels back when I was young were much more chaste, at least the ones that came my way. As I progressed into young adulthood, they got a little spicier, then later many of them veered into erotica. I like a little spice with my romance. After all, people DO have sex when they’re in love, but I enjoy romance novels for the fantasy. Sex in real life can be inconvenient and messy. That part can be written away in novels. I think it’s great that we look at the romance genre with broader minds now, but it could be damaging if young women go into a marriage or serious relationship thinking that their sex lives are going to be the way most romance novels are written.

S: I often say romance novels are probably responsible for more than a few divorces. The expectations set by fiction are often not met in real life and that leaves women disillusioned about their own love lives.

Is true romance--the wooing, courtship, passion, seduction, the little gestures of affection, etc.--dead? Why or why not?

L: I’ve been with my husband for over 40 years and married to him for over 38. The wooing, courtship, passion, seduction and little gestures of affection are still very alive between us and between many of the happily together couples we know. What is romance without that? I guess without it, it’s just porn, isn’t it?

S: What do people get wrong about publishing a book?

L: People think that once you’ve published a book, you get big royalties and lots of readers. They don’t realize that you get buried among all the other books out there. That’s discouraging after the time and effort you’ve put into actually writing it. On the other hand, for many writers, including myself, the true joy is in the writing–-escaping into this little world you created, having someone else come there with you just makes it all the better.

S: That's so true. I write because I enjoy it. I would be in big trouble if I relied on it as a source of income!

What would you like to people know about you?

L: That I am a Christian, yet do include spice in my romance novels. At first, I felt a little guilty about that, but I don’t see why Christian women shouldn’t enjoy the fantasy of two people in love having a sex life. I don’t understand why a Christian woman can’t read something that might inspire her to pour a glass of wine and turn down the lights when her significant other returns home. I have a certain set of ethics I adhere to in my books but they include sexually romantic scenes.

S: What inspires your stories?

L: My romance novels and novellas have mostly been inspired by a cold war spy from an old show called, "Danger Man." In the U.S., he was known as "Secret Agent." This same actor also played a similar spy role in a movie called, "Ice Station Zebra." He has been my muse. I found his characters fascinating. These characters never had any romances, though. The actor, Patrick McGoohan, refused to kiss any woman besides his wife even as part of his onscreen job. This left the imagination open for what could have been. I ended up taking that character and twisting him into my own.

S: I didn't recognize the name, so I had to look him up. He does look like a spy! He has those dark, mysterious eyes!

What inspired "Facing Fate?"

L: It’s my favorite in the Twisting Time series. In "Facing Fate," my male protagonist is brought into a utopian future. Back in the 1960s, he was considered a brilliant man. A British operative, quick on his feet, he was desired by the ladies and envied by the men. He was full of confidence. Now, he’s 200 years ahead. The world is not the dangerous place it was in his time, back when his fists were at the ready and his knowledge was contemporary. Plus, he’s missing his whiskey and cigarettes. There are a lot of adjustments to make in order to be with the woman he loves.

S: Is there anything special you would like people to know about "Facing Fate?"

L: Although it’s not necessary to have read the entire Twisting Time series first, the initial book lays the groundwork for the second book and you get deep insight into the personalities of the male and female protagonists along with the origin of their love story. Plus, Twisting Time is a love story of its own. One of my friends gave a copy to her elderly eye doctor, who later called her and confided that it had “aroused him.” That wasn’t the first time I heard that from a man. I was surprised that it turned out to be a romance men could enjoy as well as women.

Here's the blurb--

Finding where you belong is profound. Facing where you belong can be unfathomable.

When David Morse stepped two hundred years into the future to be with the woman he loved, Miri Ableton, he entered utopia. So why didn’t it feel like utopia? It wasn’t just the pain of going without whiskey and cigarettes. He had to get used to being a new father, adjust to being a novelty to those around him, and contend with a future mother-in-law who considered him an intruder.

When David’s nightmares begin, it quickly becomes obvious the past is trying to reach out to him. Miri’s friend, Melinda, agrees to help by stepping back through time to face David’s double—a dangerous man who had left David scarred and nearly killed him. Melinda’s fate, at this mystery man’s hands, could change the world.