Good morning, Gray here, I am back today with Ela Stein, who stopped by to talk about her new book Saved by Perseus. She brought Andromeda along to answer some questions.
A little bit about Saved by Perseus
Andromeda’s world comes crashing down when the Gods proclaim that she is to be chained to a rock and offered as a sacrifice to the sea monster that has been ravaging her lands. Terrified, she has no choice but to obey, though the tentacled creature is her worst nightmare come to life, and he has ominous plans for her. Perseus witnesses her plight and comes to her rescue, but liberating Andromeda requires more than just skill with his sword. Will his love be enough to save her not only from the monster, but from her dark past that conspires to never let her go?
Please tell us a little bit about yourself:
My name is Andromeda and my father is the King of Aethiopia. I was promised to my uncle (a bit of a skeevy perv) but then the gods sent the monster Cetus to ravage our lands. Unfortunately, sacrificing me to him was the only way to appease them. Not sure how I got to be the lucky one, but there it was. I was chained to a rock in the sea, and when Cetus appeared, the situation was worse than I anticipated. He was a really creepy tentacled monstrosity, and let’s just say he had some grand plans for me. Eating me (at least in the traditional sense) wasn’t what was on his mind. Luckily, my hero arrived just in time… although a few minutes earlier might have saved me from a lifetime of bad memories. Perseus was my knight on a white horse. Actually, on golden-winged sandals, to be more precise. That’s when things really started to turn around for me. I wish there had been an easier way to get out of my engagement to my uncle, but since being sacrificed enabled me to meet Perseus, I can honestly say it was worth it.
Are you a neat person or a messy person?
My mother raised me to be neat and orderly, and have everything as it should be. Of course, having a house-full of servants helps. Although looking back on it, my mother liked to tell me how to think and how to be. Now that I’m on my own, figuring out who I really am and what I care about will be a work in progress.
What happens when you lose your temper?
Of course, princesses are prim and proper and never lose their temper. That was never allowed. But I have to tell you, when I got pushed into a corner, I fought back and the results weren’t pretty – for the other guy.
Are you happy with the way people perceive you?
That’s been one of the more difficult things to deal with in my life. Because of my unique looks, everyone around me – even my mother – couldn’t see past the outward beauty and to the person I was inside. No one, until Perseus came along, ever bothered to find out who I was. People staring at you from the time you’re born, and your own mother boasting about your looks makes you feel like everything else about you is worth little indeed.
If you could pull your author into your world, what do you think would happen to them?
I think going from a world where one has rights and freedom and into my world – where everything is controlled and determined for you, is a hard adjustment. Lucky for me, Perseus came along, and I took the opportunity to live my own life and make my own choices, and I never regretted it.
What was the best sexual experience you’ve had?
I would have to say the first two times Perseus and I made love were the best and most memorable. They were both very different but very special… and satisfying… in their own ways.
If you were to spend a day with a reader, what would you two do together?
I would show them my world. I love my land. Not the societal part that humans ruined with their hunger for power and need for control. That part I detest. Instead, I would show the beauty of my land, from the open seas, to the green forests and rolling fields, the mountains and sunsets. The ancient temples where the oracles let you talk to the gods themselves. That’s my motherland that I love, that is above the human touch.
Excerpt from Saved by Perseus
When I was a little girl, a snake bit me on the ankle. My mother told the story of how I barely survived, how I had gone in and out of consciousness, flushed with fever, eyes glazed. When I dreamed, I called out about falling into a pit of vipers.
And now before me, my nightmare came to life. Tentacles surged out of the water, but they far more resembled teeming snakes. Unlike octopus arms, they had no suction cups, and ended in blunt tips. Glistening and sinuous, they blindly explored the harsh rock, covering its entire surface, exploring each crevice, and inevitably coming closer and closer to me.
I dug my heels into the rock behind me and curled my toes in. I turned my head and would have shut my eyes, but I couldn’t force myself to stop staring at the monstrosity. Tugging at the shackles did no good and only made the panic surge to a higher pitch until I felt like a wild animal about to become prey.
Only a foot from my toes now, the snake appendages roamed over the rock, some thick and large, like a man’s thigh, and some thin like my little finger. One, about the thickness of my arm, separated itself from the others and moved higher up the rock, coming toward me. I gasped and pulled away from it as far as the chains would allow.
It slithered audibly over the rocky surface and nudged at my toes. I did shut my eyes then, and turned my head into my arm.
It slipped over my foot and wrapped itself about my ankle. I raised my leg and tried to shake it off, but it only coiled tighter about me, digging into my flesh as though to warn me. It wrapped more and more around my lower leg and then began to slowly travel upward, twisting over and over, over my knee and then over my thigh.
A little bit about Ela Stein
Reading was my entertainment and salvation as a child, and it transferred into a passion for writing. I am still very much a reader, and love many different genres, from erotic romance, to fantasy (dark, dark fantasy!), to historical fiction, and that love is reflected in my own writing as well (I don't do contemporary very often). If you'd like to learn more about me, or chat about books and life, you can find me all over the web.
Find Ela Stein online
Buy Saved by Perseus
J.R. Gray is a sadist author who likes long walks towards gut wrenching cliff hangers. Check out Gray’s book Legally Bound which is out now.
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