AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: BRIDGET MIDWAY
Meet Corporate Trilogy Author Bridget Midway…
What is your most current work out?
I have just released my contemporary interracial BDSM erotic romance trilogy called the Corporate series through Phaze Books: Corporate Seduction, Corporate Desires, and Corporate Needs.
Tell us a little about the series?
In the first novel, Corporate Seduction, readers meet Maybelline Davenport, an executive assistant, and her boss Winston Biggers. When he refuses to give her a raise or help her get a promotion at work, she decides to take a side job at a secret BDSM club. And when Winston decides to get some stress relief and go to this club, he never expected to see his seemingly uptight assistant.
In Corporate Desires, the former owner of the club from the previous novel, Edna Zulma, is now trying to go “vanilla” have a normal job and normal life. Unfortunately the new job she has chosen won’t allow her to stay away from her former BDSM lifestyle. Her new boss is a former client of hers from the club who desperately wants her to resume her discipline on him, and the office manager, Burton McCutcheon, would like to explore his newfound desire to dominate. Edna will have to play both Dominant and submissive at work.
And in the third and final Corporate installment, Corporate Needs, the friend who originally talks Maybelline into working at the BDSM club, Princess Watkins, is now working for Maybelline and Winston Biggers at their BDSM bed and breakfast. She’s surprised that her friends chose to bring in a new Dom to try out as the new Dungeon Master position instead of giving her the job. Erik Hendrix doesn’t expect to fight for the Dungeon Master position when his friend, Winston, asked him to work for him. He also doesn’t expect to fall so hard for a fellow Dominant. So can two Dominants fall in love and make a relationship work?
The inspiration for the series actually came from my day job. No, I’m not a Dominatrix in disguise. In my office, there was a manager, not even my manager, who worked in the office. He liked telling people what to do whether they worked for him or not. One day he really pissed me off. So I decided to write a story where he gets his comeuppance. The initials of my hero in Corporate Seduction are the same as this manager who inspired me. I hadn’t expected to make this into a series. I had gotten such great responses from the initial book that I decided to write a second and third book. Plus, even I wanted to know what happened to Madame Z. and Princess Watkins!
When you start writing, do you already have the story plotted out or do you let the characters dictate what will happen?
It depends on the kind of story I’m writing. If I’m writing a short story or novella, I have the story plotted out in my head and I know how it’ll end. However, for my full-length novels, I have to outline them. I do character profiles of my main characters. I’ll note hair color, eye color, age, height, weight, body type. I’ll find a celebrity that reminds me of that character and keep that image in mind as I write. Then I’ll do a quick chapter-by-chapter outline of what I expect to write in that chapter. Doing that keeps me on track so I’m not going off into too many tangents.
What inspired you to write in your genre? Is this the genre you started writing in or have you morphed to this one?
I think a lot of readers now associate me with writing interracial BDSM erotic romances because my most recent releases have been centered on BDSM. I’ve always been fascinated in the actual Lifestyle, and I sat in with a local BDSM group because I wanted to see why a person would want to be a part of the Lifestyle. Now I completely get it. A BDSM relationship is so deep and emotional. You have to have complete trust.
I didn’t start writing BDSM erotic romance. I started writing contemporary interracial erotic romances. When I first started writing, one of my mentors commented that I didn’t go deep into my characterizations. I decided to try my hand at BDSM to get me to go deep into my characters’ thoughts and emotions.
Do you have a favorite character you have written?
My characters are like having children. All of my characters are my favorite. However, there have been some characters that have been absolutely fun to write. I loved writing Eagan Morton, my hero in my contemporary interracial BDSM erotic romance novel Love My Way, and Erik Hendrix, my hero in Corporate Needs. I love an alpha hero with a vulnerable side. Both heroes have that.
Do you have a character that you look back on now and don’t like?
I haven’t had one that I didn’t like. I did have one that I felt disappointed in how I portrayed him. Adam from my futuristic erotic romance novella “Adam and E-V-E” was a great hero, but I don’t think I did him justice in the initial story. I was so glad that when I did the three stories for the Original Sin series that included “Adam and E-V-E“, “C-A-I-N and A-B-E-L” and “Sodom and Gomorrah” that I got an opportunity to expand the story and round out his character.
Do you draw inspiration for your characters from real life? Any fun stories you could share?
A lot of my stories come from my dreams, TV shows, news stories, newspaper articles, things like that. Even though my friends may think differently, I rarely draw from real life when I write my stories. I may use them for inspiration for my characters’ looks, but not for storylines. For example, I wrote Love My Way because I wanted to test myself to see if a show like “The Bachelor” could work with a BDSM element.
Name one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you.
I think readers would be surprised to know that I’m really painfully shy and reserved. I think people think that if you write something as sexually-charged as erotica that you must be open. Nope. For me, just the opposite. I’m a people watcher. I’d rather sit back and listen and watch folks than put myself out there.
Do you have a guilty pleasure?
A lot of people know that I don’t own a TV. However, to compensate for that, I find a lot of TV shows and movies on-line. So my new obsession is a website called Hulu.com.
What do you need before you start writing? Anything that is just a must have or the creative juice don’t flow?
As I mentioned above, if I’m writing a novel, I have to have to have my outline notes when I write. When I do write, what I do to keep the creative juices flowing is to re-read what I wrote up to the point where I previously stopped. That helps me remember the characters’ voices and the tone of the story.
Does music influence your writing? If so, do any of your stories have a theme song?
Funny you should ask that. I “steal” a lot of my book titles from song titles. That’s What Friends Are For, Fascination Street, and Love My Way are all 80’s song titles that I have used for my own books.
Sometimes I’ll listen to certain types of songs to hear a “voice” that will match my characters’. For example, if I’m writing a strong-willed, sexy heroine, I’ll listen to some Jill Scott.
If your story was optioned for a movie, who would play your characters?
Oh God! I love this question! I know exactly who I would want to play my characters. In Corporate Seduction, I would have “Mad Men” actor Jon Hamm playing Winston Biggers, and Gabrielle Union to play Maybelline Davenport. For Corporate Desires, I would have “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” actor Christopher Meloni playing Burton McCutcheon, and actress Vivica A. Fox to play Edna Zulma. And for Corporate Needs, I would Rutina Wesley from “True Blood” to play Princess Watkins, and current James Bond actor, Daniel Craig, to play Erik Hendrix.
Where were you when you got your first contract? Who did you tell first?
I think I had gone home for lunch from my day job and checked my e-mail to see that I had gotten a contract offer from Phaze Books for “Adam and E-V-E.” I believe I told my man first. Since then he’s been asking if he can retire yet and live off of my royalties.
How old were you when you read your first romance book?
I believe I was 12 or 13 when I read my first romance book. It was a Jackie Collins book, believe it or not. I’ve always been tall, so I guess back then librarians didn’t think it was a big deal to let this pre-teen check out something so racy. She’s the author that got me into writing interracial erotica because she did it and did it really well.
What are you currently working on, and what else is in the wings?
I’m working on something a bit different. I’m toying with an interracial erotic romance story with a socialite and a chauffeur. Think of an African-American Paris Hilton and Sam Elliott. Sounds strange, but I can make it work. At least I’ll try.
What is your reaction to people who say one of the following…”Oh you write romance, I thought you were a real writer”, “Romance isn’t a real writing career” or the ever popular “Oh, one of those books”.
When I hear that, I’ll ask them what they’ve written and published recently. That usually shuts them up. I supposed it’s the same reaction soap opera actors get when people tell them “Why don’t you do some real acting?” Soap opera actors have to learn lots of lines daily, more than a movie actor. I’m sure it gets to them, too, to have their talent discounted.
Where can readers find you?
http://www.myspace.com/BridgetMidway
http://twitter.com/BridgetMidway
http://www.facebook.com/people/Bridget-Midway/100000307031133
And for the silly side – What is your favorite type of chocolate?
I’m a Hershey milk chocolate girl. Old school for sure. Give me a bar and I’m happy.
Thank you so much for interviewing me! This was completely fun!
Stay sexy,
BridgeT