Meet Isabel Raven, new to Stiff Rain Press!

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I think you can say I’m an ordinary woman with secret passions, the biggest of which is writing erotic romance. If I’m dragged away from my computer I go into survival mode, which for me means cooking enormous quantities of curry and inviting friends over for a boozy meal and great conversation. My husband and children are my lodestars, and I am owned by a plucky cat who has her own centre of gravity. Patience is something I missed out on at the ‘virtues’ queue and I’m quick-tempered, but I like to think I make up for these defects with a quirky sense of humour and a generous heart. When hurt, I try to forgive and understand rather than carry a grudge—they make your blood bitter and dull your eyes. Nothing brightens my day more than throwing my characters together and giving them what they crave—intimacy and passion.

When did you start writing?

I began writing taboo erotic romance a few years ago, for myself, because I got tired of the same conventional happy-ever-afters. During a conversation about books with a friend, she made a similar comment about being bored with romance novels and I showed her one of my taboo stories. She loved it and asked for more. Word got around and soon I was writing a story every few weeks to feed my friends’ habit! They were brutal about what worked and what didn’t, but I needed their criticism to become a better story-teller. A year later I was at a writer event for newbies and met an editor who requested a few pages of one of my stories. Imagine my surprise when she wrote back to say she loved my voice and story! I haven’t looked back since. I now write full-time, and fill my day with men and women who flick my switch to on, On, ON!

Are there pen names you wish to share, or are you in stealth?

STEALTH!

What opened you to the world of “taboo” writing and brought you to Stiff Rain Press?

I grew up in a strict religious household and was taught there’s only one way to love, something I believed less and less as I grew older. Why couldn’t consenting adults form threesomes and moresomes? Or cousins have feelings that went beyond familial love? If it’s consensual and they’re adults, then why the pitchforks? Equally, some would say men and women who have passionate affairs should be lynched and left to the elements. Not me, and I enjoy writing about these fantastic and flawed individuals and giving them the extra-marital loving they crave. But where to publish my stories and make them accessible to readers who wanted taboo romance? On a writer’s forum on day, I saw Stiff Rain Press mentioned as a taboo romance publisher and I immediately purchased several books that grabbed my attention. They were great, and I knew I wanted to join the Stiff Rain Press team of writers. Luckily, they liked my writing, and here I am, delighted to be releasing my first story, After Party Affair. 

Find Isabel Raven on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/isabelrraven