Tell us about The Blackstone Affair.

It’s a novella trilogy (Naked, All In, Eyes Wide Open) set in London on the eve of the Olympic games.  The hero is Ethan Blackstone, ex Special Forces from the British Army, and now an elite security expert in charge of VIP clients for the games.  Ethan meets American grad student and part-time nude model, Brynne Bennett, when he buys her portrait at a gallery event.  He cannot stay away from Brynne and even though the timing is the worst, he has to have her.

What genre is it?

Contemporary erotic romance.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?

Mostly women readers who enjoyed the recent explosion of erotic stories which have rather legitimized erotica as a genre many people want to read.

Complete this sentence for us: If you like ­­­­­­­­­­_________, you’ll love The Blackstone Affair.

Fifty Shades and the Crossfire series.

All In is written from Ethan’s point of view. Was it easy adopting the voice of a man and differentiating it from Brynne’s voice in Naked? 

No, it was a challenge for me and a significant risk.  Doing an entire book from the hero’s POV was a goal of mine though.    I accomplished that goal and am proud of the result.  I enjoy male POV and tend to go heavier with them in my other books which are written in third person voice.  There are some readers who did not care for the change of voice in The Blackstone Affair though, and that is okay.  POV shift will alter a story’s telling dramatically.  Ethan is an alpha male but, like all of us, has his demons and fears, so when we (the reader) are privy to his emotions we must remember that 90% of it is inner dialogue.  Ethan is not stupid enough to say/do the things he thinks about, just like in real life.  If we acted on the things we felt like doing sometimes, we’d all be in prison.   Brynne doesn’t even know what he is thinking.  In the end, I think doing Ethan’s POV exclusively was a good call.  All In debuted on The New York Times in its first day, so I’m pretty happy about Ethan’s voice.

A young female student, a domineering successful businessman, sex: are comparisons to Fifty Shades of Grey inevitable or are the similarities wholly superficial? 

People will make those comparisons and they are entitled to their opinions but need to remember that books about BDSM and D/s relationships have been being written for years.  It’s just that Fifty Shades made the genre popular and now in very great demand for more similar books.  It also recruited some brand new readers who’ve not really read any other books before, so in their minds, Fifty Shades was the first book to use such themes, and this is emphatically not true.  If people read my other two books (written and published long before Fifty Shades of Grey) they will see the D/s theme at play there too.  I’ve only ever written erotic romance with dominant heros.  I write what I love to read.

What is the balance that you seek to strike between sex and romance in your novels? Or does the sex not work at all without the romance?

Again, I write erotic romance.  I want a believable story, something that could really happen in the setting and time period, but I like to weave in very edgy, raw, and sometimes harsh elements into my stories too.  Sex will fill that bill most of the time and I strive for a satisfying mix of sexual encounters between the characters in my books without it becoming repetitive to the point people want to skim the sex in favor of story.

When is (final book in the trilogy) Eyes Wide Open coming?

I am on schedule for completing the manuscript  around the first of the year. [ED: it is now available here]

Can you give us any hints as to what happens to Brynne and Ethan in it? 

Ethan and Brynne are together at the end of All In.   There is danger, and it’s getting closer.  There will be more threats coming too, and this will force Ethan to do something he wasn’t considering before.  He told her he was ‘all in’ and he means it.  He also has problems of his own to face up to, and he will need some help doing that.  Brynne has a lot more control in the relationship than it first appears in Naked, but she is ultimately a very sensible person, and a survivor.  She will fight for what she wants too.

As we’ve said, you are no stranger to bestseller lists.  What are your marketing secrets  (other than writing really addictive books)? 

I attribute my early success with Naked to the bloggers I sent the ARC (advance reading copy) to.  They read it and put those early reviews out to their followers.  There are a LOT of people who use blogger recommendations for what book to read next.  You cannot dismiss the power these ladies have.  I LOVE THEM.  I am very active on Facebook and in a ton of writing and reader groups.  I also respond to reader emails (this is getting harder to do) and like to gift books and swag items for giveaways on blog contests.

Tell us a bit about yourself. 

I live in California with my husband and two sons.  I was a teacher and enjoyed that very much for a lot of years.  I’m now writing full time and find it a rewarding way to spend my days, but I work harder now than ever.  Writing is amazing, but it is always challenging work.  I feel truly blessed to be able to make a living doing something I really love to do, and to hear from fans who’ve been touched by something I’ve written, or gotten enjoyment from my stories.  There’s nothing quite like that feeling.

Have you got a blog where readers can keep up with your work?    

Yes.  http://www.RaineMiller.com

Where can we buy The Blackstone Affair? 

Amazon (US, UK), Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, iBooks, Kobo.

What’s next? 

I will release a historical next called Unveiling the Muse.  This full-length novel is an erotic historical romance and can be considered the 200 year prequel to The Rothvale Legacy which is in the works for 2013.  The Rothvale Legacy is the spinoff from Blackstone Affair and features Ivan and Gabrielle in the main roles.  Ethan and Brynne will still be in there too. *winks*

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Enjoyed this interview? Then check out our conversation with E R Pierce