Roped In by Sindra van Yssel

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

• Tell us a bit about Roped In

Roped In is the first of a series of books set in Bondage Ranch, a rural retreat for the BDSM community. Laera is camping in the woods and misses a trail, gets lost, and twists her ankle. The woods she’s camping in are right next to Bondage Ranch, and she’s discovered by a sexy Dom named Bruce. Bruce isn’t your typical BDSM hero -- if you’re looking for a “bad boy” he’s really not it. He’s a very gentle, caring person, who is also very dominant. He convinces her to spend a day with him at Bondage Ranch, and she’s totally hooked by him and by his way of loving.

• What's your favorite part of writing this book? Why?

It’s hard to pick just one part. I liked writing the minor characters; Dylan and Alex Allison and Mistress Sue. There’s a funny exchange between Sue and Bruce, the hero, that was really fun because BDSM romances are often so serious. There’s a scene where Laera meets a real jerk of a dom, and he gets put in his place -- that was fun to write, too, because there’s a real visceral satisfaction in it. But Roped In was fun to write the whole way through, really; it all went very quickly and just flowed.

• What can we look forward in the future from you?
• A sequel to Roped In, Pushing Limits, was just published by Loose Id in June. I’ve written book three in the Bondage Ranch series, which was harder to write than the other two but after several rewrites I’m now really satisfied with the results and I think it’s one of the hottest things I’ve ever written. I also have a paranormal BDSM series coming out from Cobblestone. The first one, Dark Xanadu, was published in July, and the second one, Chilled to the Bone, was just contracted. There should ultimately be four books in the series if all goes well. I’m trying to do something different with the traditional vampires and werewolves in those books. For instance, the heroine of Chilled is a vampire, and even though she’s more powerful than the hero, she’s still the submissive in their relationship. My current project is a stand alone Contemporary BDSM romance, which I don’t have a title for yet -- titles are definitely not my favorite part of writing.
• If you could change one thing about your publishing career, what would it be? Why?
• I went through a long period, years really, where I was just too afraid of getting a rejection letter. I submitted my first romance years ago to a publishing house -- it was one of those situations where you send in a few chapters and if they like it they ask to see the whole thing, so they asked and I sent, and I didn’t hear back from them. While I was waiting, I didn’t write at all -- just waited. And they never did get back to me. I sent them letters after a year, and they didn’t reply to them. What I should have done is keep writing and sending things off to different publishers, but I let the whole experience throw me off. What writing I did for a while was either non-fiction, or fiction for which there is no market. If there wasn’t a market, I didn’t have to submit, or worry about whether my writing pleased anyone but me. When I finished writing Roped In I was on vacation, and I immediately started working on the next book. When I got home I did some editing, sent Roped In off to Loose Id, and then went back to working on Pushing Limits. I figured I’d get a rejection letter, so I didn’t even worry about the wait to hear back -- I just kept writing. And that’s the right way to do it -- just keep writing, keep sending things off.
• Where can we find your website?

That’s easy. www.sindravanyssel.com! And thank you. This was fun!


Sindra van Yssel

www.sindravanyssel.com

Roped In and Pushing Limits from Loose Id

Dark Xanadu from Cobblestone Press