1. What gave you the idea for this book? I wanted to do something different. The romance genre is full of firemen, lawyers, CEO’s, cops, and all the normal ‘sexy’ professions, but I couldn’t find anything about working in the funeral industry. I thought it was a great chance to tell a story that hasn’t been told before. The ol’ saying goes “write what you know”, and there’s nothing that I know more about than the funeral business.
2. What do you expect readers to experience with this novel?
Curiosity, some angst, maybe even a bit of disgust, ha! I do hope they enjoy learning about what happens behind the closed doors of a funeral home and that they understand why this can be such a difficult job. I know this isn’t going to be a book that everyone will enjoy, but that’s okay. If this isn’t their cup of tea, there are literally thousands of other books they can choose that aren’t about embalmers. Keeping all of those details, including the embalming scenes, was important to me because that’s part of what makes this story so unique.
I knew that I would get some polarizing opinions over it, but I felt it would have been a disservice to the profession not to explain to people what we do on a daily basis. This isn’t a job that a lot of people have a reference point for because it’s not something we see represented in the media very often. When we do, it’s often unkind, seedy, or simply flat-out inaccurate. As much as I wanted to tell Tom’s story of falling in love with Cypress, it was just as important to tell his story as an embalmer for the reader to fully understand him.
3. Was it easy to write about your profession as an embalmer?
Yes and no. I get asked all the time about what I do for a living and what’s involved, so I have some basic cookie cutter responses to use without being too graphic. I’ve explained the full embalming process so many times that I could probably do it in my sleep. In my experience, however, it’s the nasty stuff that I specifically try to avoid that people really wanna hear about. It’s led me to the troubling conclusion that most people assume this job is difficult because it’s ‘gross', not because of the potential trauma that comes with it. It doesn’t matter that you stayed up all night crying after picking up a murder victim from the medical examiner’s office or that you can’t stop thinking about seeing someone young enough to have been your own child succumb to cancer - everybody just wants to know how many times you’ve dealt with maggots because somehow that’s the worst thing they can imagine you doing.
That’s what I wanted to explore in this book, the emotional weight of the job, and it was hard. It became personal super fast, but I wanted readers to see what the job is really like. People in this business have high rates of alcohol and drug abuse, career burnout is common in just a few years, and our turnover can be staggering. This is a job that is both physically and emotionally demanding, and the average person is clueless. It’s been hidden behind this pretty curtain of perfect suits and fancy hearses, and I wanted my readers to see beyond that. It made me feel pretty vulnerable to share these insights, but I hope it helps humanize the funeral business and show readers there’s so much more going on that they probably never even thought about.
4. How much reality did you include in the novel regarding the funerary industry?
I’m going to say ninety-nine percent. Although I did flub some tiny details here and there, giving the reader an authentic experience was very important to me. Honestly, the most unbelievable thing is Tom only working as an embalmer and not having to wait on families, ha! In smaller funeral homes like the one I created for the novel, funeral directors are usually responsible for both meeting with the families and embalming. It’s not uncommon for the same person to pick up the decedent, take them back to the funeral home, embalm them that night, and then wait on the family the next day. Especially with the way cremations rates are climbing, there’s usually not enough work to justify an employee who exclusively embalms.
The position that Tom has is usually only feasible for certain situations like a large funeral home that has multiple locations, someone who works at a university preparing cadavers for medical students (which, it’s worth noting, is not quite the same process as embalming a body to be viewed), or a trade embalmer who is paid per case and typically contracts with several different funeral homes to handle all their preps. I chose to give Tom this specific position because it’s what I know the best, and it was easier to write the story with him focusing on one job.
5. The novel is based a lot on the topics of self-esteem, workaholism, and how much we know someone. Which would you say is the most important between those three?
I would personally say self-esteem. Part of why Tom works so much is because he doesn’t think he deserves to be treated any better, and I’m sure a lot of people feel that same way. We don’t see our own value which leads to working more and more as if we have to constantly prove our worth.
6. I'm surprised with the level of detail you included with the BDSM scenes. How did you get all those ideas?
I absolutely love BDSM, and the inspiration comes from my own sexual escapades, chatting with friends who are in the scene, and watching sooo many hours of adult video. I love writing things that I personally enjoy, kinks that I think are fun and sexy, and I try to take all of that and come up with scenes that feel authentic and passionate. I do my best to stay away from the “one two three” sort of sex pattern where it’s always the same stuff going on over and over again and strive to keep my smut diverse and exciting.
There were actually a few firsts for me in this book - like that docking scene! Had never written it before, and I had so much fun doing something new!
7. I think I get a reference, hehe, but what does the cover mean?
I loved the implied message of being tied up by your job. Like, literally, the model’s hands are tied up with a tie. For a representation of Tom, this was perfect because his job is what’s kept him from enjoying his life. The addition of the flower came from a joint effort between me and my cover artist (
Covers By Jo!) after looking at a mood board I’d made for the book featuring the work of photographer
Fabio Da Motta. He is a fantastic artist who creates these vivid images of models in shibari bondage with flowers and other organic elements. I highly recommend looking him up on IG - his work is simply breathtaking.
8. Think fast: Kiss, Marry, Kill. Who?
Kiss Tom, Marry Cypress, Kill Gerald!
9. What are you working on right now?
Both #2 and #3 in my
Sucker For Love Mystery series have been accepted for publication, and I’m finishing up the rough draft for #4 while waiting for edits. I’m getting ready to start a new series with the incomparable Jennifer Griffin about modern gods who like to hang around a BDSM club. I’m also trying to outline the next
Cold Hard Cash book which may end up as the jumping off point for another dark mafia romance series. And last but certainly not least, I’m trying to finish the edits on Wishes for Rohi, an Omegaverse style fantasy about a genie and a human that will hopefully be out before the end of the year.
So, yeah, staying busy and just writing, writing, writing!
Kinky regards, K!
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