The Book that Polarizes.

Oh yes, indeedy. My innocent little tome, Unmasqued, has been gleaning reviews like crazy!

What I've found the most interesting is that, with few exceptions, people either really love it...or really hate it. Since this is my first published erotic novel, I'm new to the game--I assume that's the case with most erotic novels.

It doesn't surprise me at all, though, and I'm actually glad when people post reviews like this on Amazon by Calsgirl:

"If I could give this book ZERO stars - I would!...This book merely takes our beloved characters and puts them into scenes of bondage, whips, chains and sex with no feeling. It is sad that the writer felt they had to put someone having sex onto every other page - - the story line itself (excluding the sex) was not that bad - and the writing was okay - but the calousness [sic] of the sex throughout the book just ruined it! If you like S & M/Bondage and Animal lusts - then you'll just love this book."

A review like that actually sends up a red flag to those readers who aren't going to like the erotic aspect of the book, and helps steer them away. Because, after all, erotica isn't for everyone--and messing with the classics isn't either. Personally, I'd rather have people know what they're getting when they pick up my book.

Here's another one that does a great job of letting people know what they'll find between the sheets of UNMASQUED (a one-star review from Katiebabs):

"...Mrs. Giry is a nympho involved with both of the owners of the opera house. At least the old gal has some fun in this book!

Erik, the Phantom uses a mirror and harp to introduce Christine to his way of teaching. He lurks around the opera house pouting most of the time.

Raoul and his brother Philippe force Christine to have sexual acts with them both at the same time. Big brother Philippe likes rough sex... really rough sex. (He even has a special room for playtime)

And Christine, well she walks around in a sex induced state through most of the novel. With three men following me around, I would also!"

Bookfetish.org did dueling reviews, too, and once again the polarization happens: a 4.5-star review versus a 1-star review.

But here's the thing, and YA Librarian says it perfectly in his/her review on Amazon:

"I find it odd that people's knickers are in a knot when reviewing this book. I'm not sure how this book could have fooled anyone into believing it was a nice wholesome tale about POTO when the title is: Unmasqued: An EROTIC Novel of The Phantom of The Opera. People should know that this book is going to have sex in it; a lot of sex in it and people are having sex with each other in different ways. If you are not a fan of erotica then this may not be the book for you."

Hear, hear!

So, tell me....other Spiced Tea Party gals....do you find this kind of polarizing effect on your books because they're erotica, or is it less of an issue because you're not blatantly messing with classics as I am?

And for non-erotica writers....what would make it easier for you (other than labeling a book "erotica") to help you determine whether it's your cup of tea or not?

And finally--don't forget you have until September 10 to use the $1-0ff coupon from Borders for Unmasqued or a host of other books!

Indulge me?

Well, the reviews are starting to come in...and pardon me if I'm a little bit tickled about the response to Unmasqued.

I knew I was playing with fire, messing with a classic novel and romanticizing--er, eroticizing, I mean--a well-known, beloved story. And, yeah, there are people who aren't going to care for the book...but check out this lovely review at Blogcritics.

And since I want to make it easier on you, you don't even have to click over...here's just a little snippet:

"Unmasqued, a retelling of a classic, is an erotic classic in its own right. Charged with erotic images, sensual passion, fiery longing, and steamy scenes on and off the stage this is a book to be devoured in one seating. Then opened again and read slowly just for the pure pleasure of it."

(Thank you, Ms. McNeill! You've just made my day.)

Release Day, An Award, and a Coupon--oh MY!

Well, this is it! The release day for Unmasqued: An Erotic Novel of the Phantom of the Opera. Yay! Now I can walk down the street, hiding my face, wondering who's read it, and if that's why they're looking at me like that.

Someone equated publishing an erotic novel to taking off one's clothes and running down the street--your street, not some anonymous one--naked. Pam, based on your post of last week, I'm wondering if it would also be like walking naked through one's place of work.

Not only should Unmasqued be in stores (bookstores, I mean--I highly doubt Wal-Mart and Target will carry a book that clearly states "erotic" on the front cover) everywhere, but Borders is offering a $1-off coupon for the hefty, hot trade paperback.

Not only has Pam graciously read and raved about Unmasqued (you can see her quote right on the cover of the book!), but our own dear Jane Lockwood has bestowed an award on the tome.

Last week, she emailed to tell me Unmasqued won a Missed Metro Stop award. And since only three other authors (Pam, of course, Eloisa James, and Vicki Lewis Thompson) have garnered this award, I'm feeling pretty happy about that! I'm in great company.

(Although I do have something to strive for, as Ms. James also got a Wrong Line Honorable Mention.)

My Phantom of the Opera v. Webber's

Some of the questions commenters asked a few weeks ago about Unmasqued got me to thinking about of my favorite scenes in the Webber musical/film.

My all-time favorite song is The Point of No Return, particularly because of the way it was done in the movie version with Gerard Butler as the hottest Phantom ever, practically making love to his Christine there onstage in front of everyone--including her beau. *fans self*

Alas, however, when I was writing my version of the story, and I actually read the original novel by Leroux, I learned that that onstage-switcheroo (in which the Phantom secretly takes the place of the actor playing opposite Christine in a romantic scene) never happened in the book.

And since I didn't want to annoy Mr. Webber (and his lawyers), I decided I didn't want to recreate that scene in my book, and instead stayed with what happened in the original: the Phantom appears, and he does kidnap Christine from the stage, but not as a fellow actor.

Anyway, my point is that for those of you who really loved The Point of No Return scene from the Webber movie...well, you won't get that in my book. But what happens with the harp more than makes up for it....right, Pam?

More Phantom Questions Answered...and the Winner!

I'm back! Some great questions popped up in my previous entry about my forthcoming Phantom book, and so I thought I'd post the latest that I didn't answer herewith, answer them, and then get to what you're really wanting to know: who won the bloody copy of the book!

So...here we go:

Robyn asks: I'd love to see the movie The Phantom. With your book, who did the cover art and chose the title of the book? Thanks.

My publisher's art department did the cover design. Originally, we thought there might be that signature mask on it that's so familiar to Phantom fans, but they came up with this design and I love it!

As for the title...I had always wanted to title it Christine & Erik: The True Story of the Phantom of the Opera because I felt certain that Phantom fans would know immediately who that was, and what it was about, but my editor didn't like the idea of names in the title, and so then we had to think of something else. That was about a month-long process of emails back and forth between my editor and myself.

We just could not come up with a title that we liked, that we felt worked. We wanted to make sure that people knew it was an erotic novel--so they were prepared for the very explicit sex in the book....and so the official title is actually: Unmasqued: An Erotic Novel of the Phantom of the Opera.

tetewa said... I am so looking forward to the release of this book. I took my mom to see the play for Christmas. She'd never even saw the movie and didn't know what to expect. She loved it, so my question for you is what is your favorite song from the play?

First, you should know that I have the double CD version of the original London cast, and I know every single note, breath, and word of them. Love it!

I love all the songs, really...but some of my favorites are "Music of the Night," "The Point of No Return," and I can never remember the name of it, but it's the song Christine sings when she's walking through the graveyard, thinking about her father. (Incidentally, there is no graveyard scene in my book. Just FYI.)

Caffey said... Oh I'm so excited about this release! Can't wait to read it! With Phantom being one of your favorites, is there another legend, or history related story you'd like to write like you did with Phantom?

Funny you should ask! I'm currently at work on a very erotic version of The Count of Monte Cristo, which should be released next August ('08). It's going really well, and I'm loving it. I have a few other ideas that I'd like to write about too, so we'll see if my publisher goes for it!

Caffey said... Another quick question :) If you had a reader who is new to Phantom, what sites would you recommend for them becoming familiar with it?

I think there's a site called ladyghost.com that is just chockfull of Phantom info. But the best thing to do, in my opinion, to get a feel for the reason I wanted to write this story is to rent the movie version that came out in 2004. That was the reason I wanted to write this book....because I hated the way it ended!

julietwoods said... Hey Colette! Wow, people have really asked some good questions. This book looks sooo good. I really can't wait to read it. I've always loved the story and always wished it had a different ending. Plus, the story is so dark, sexy and romantic--the perfect tortured hero romance.

A quick question: Did you write this book while you were writing the historical romances you were contracted for, or in between books?

They have asked good questions!! And you're right about the story--and why I felt like I really wanted to write it: so dark, so sexy, and romantic. And, boy, is Erik tortured! :-)

Anyway, on to your question: I actually wrote this book for myself, just for fun, during the time my agent was getting ready to submit my first book that actually sold. I had nothing to work on (because I didn't know if I was going to want/need to write a sequel), and I had no other ideas...but I knew I had been wanting to write about what really happened during The Music of the Night scene, and why Christine did leave Erik at the end of the movie...and so I just started writing it for fun.

I finished a shorter version of it, and mentioned it to my agent, figuring she wouldn't be interested in repping it and that I would submit it to an epublisher...and lo and behold, my agent took it to my editor and my editor was very excited about it and immediately bought it.

However, since I had written it mostly for myself, it was shorter on plot than the final version, and I had to write another hundred pages to flesh it out (no pun intended) and to wrap some things up. But other than that, it's the same book.

Paola said: Did you take into account other elements fron different retellings of the story (such us Susan Kay's Phantom) to write your story or draw your characters?

Actually, I've never read the Susan Kay book (although I'm familiar with it), and the only book I took into account or drew from was the original Gaston Leroux book. In fact, I took great care to make sure that, while I had the "feel" of the Webber musical/movie in my mind as I wrote (meaning the heavily erotic, passionate relationship between Christine & Erik, and the lush sense of the movie/play), all of the events, the characters, the whole story is really derived from Leroux's book. Not from any other source.

I wanted to be careful not to "borrow" anything from Webber that he hadn't already borrowed from Leroux, because of course the original book is in the public domain...but the Webber version is not. :-)

Okay, so here we are! The winner of the ARC of Unmasqued is:

Rhonda Stapleton!

Email me at colette at colettegale dot com and I'll get your info and get that baby out to you!

Congratulations and thanks to all for playing!

The Big O and other related thoughts from Hollywood...and a chance to win

Awhile ago, dearest Jane brought up the Big O and how does one describe it, over and over and over again...?

Well, I'm still working on that (I really do need to post an example, don't I?), but here's something Candice Bergen said about it that made me laugh (and think of Meg Ryan):

"I may not be a great actress, but I've become the greatest at screen orgasms. Ten seconds of heavy breathing, roll your head from side to side, simulate a slight asthma attack, and die a little."

And here's another one of my favorite quotes from a Hollywood seductress:

"Let's forget about the six feet and talk about the seven inches." (That's what Mae West said when she was told that a new male acquaintance was 6'7". Go Mae!!!)

Okay, last one. This gem is from the wild Bette Midler: "I'm as confident as Cleopatra's pussy."

Yeah. Does that mean she's going to welcome that asp or not...?

Okay, sorry. I'm punchy. It was a weekend filled with laziness, junk/comfort food, and lots o'sleep...so I'm feeling a bit out of sorts.

So.

I think it's time I livened things up a bit. How about....a chance to win a copy of my erotic Phantom of the Opera novel, Unmasqued, which our own Pam Rosenthal said was a "labyrinth of dark, extravagant eroticism." (Thanks again, Pam!) It's coming on August 7th, from NAL, and here's your chance to win....

Ask me a question in the comments section about the book or the Phantom movie/play, and you're entered to win! I'll draw a winner on Thursday morning, and answer the questions in the comments.

Web site launch!

I just wanted to announce that my Web site is now up and fully functional...including a little excerpt from my August-release Unmasqued.

You can find me at ColetteGale.com!