Wahoo! Today is the day! I’m so happy to share my second novel with you!
Clicky here on the image to go to the publisher’s site.
To continue in the tradition of the first book in this series, A Perfect Dom, I wanted to share some behind the scenes facts about A Perfect Trio with you:
1. A Perfect Trio was originally born from a short story that I posted here on this blog! It was originally titled “Wine Glasses” (read it here), I posted it on September 23, 2013. Almost a year ago! I used the short story originally as the first chapter of a Perfect Trio (Mark and Terry’s parts where original chapters two and three. I condensed all three parts to make them stronger and joined them as the first chapter. I figured it was a book about a Trio, we should meet all 3 of them right away). The evolution of the short story was crucial to me falling in love with Stef. I have to admit, that as the man from Wine Glasses, Stef was very cold. That Stef would not have worked for this story or as part of his trio.
2. Speaking of Stef, his first name is a nod to another great Dom, Stefan Talbot from One to Keep, by Sophie Oak. Action wise he’s more James than Stef, but the men share a past that haunts them and holds them back. I am a huge fan of Sophie’s Nights in Bliss Series and Texas Sirens Series (Her latest installment is available here). I love how, although she writes erotic romance, she always puts her characters and her story first. I also try to do that same with my books. I could (and probably eventually will) read One to Keep a hundred times.
3. Stef’s home town and his last name are a homage to a real life person, singer songwriter that I love, Roy Gluckman. His vines would often be a welcome distraction while writing (see his complications here and here). Roy (like many names in my books) is also a family name. My Grandmother’s family originally used the last name Roi/Roy before anglicizing the name in the 1920’s to King (English translation of the original French Canadian name). My grandmother (who is pretty much my most favourite person in the world) was officially born a King, but her parents were both born Roi’s (the were cousins…long story). My Grandma still says that her real last name is Roi. And, you may recognize King as being Terry’s last name. So Stef and Terry had a connection before they ever met.
This is my favourite photo of my Grandma.
My Grandpa carried it in his wallet since they day it was taken.
4. Terry and Mark first appeared in A Perfect Dom. Learn more about their introduction here. The lead characters of that novel, Mia and Vincent, make a return in this novel. Terry is very important to Mia and vice versa. Expect to see them again in my future novels.
5. In A Perfect Dom, James said that they had had sex before. Does James have a different idea of sex (counting oral sex, aftercare, etc), or was it just an untrue off the cuff remark he made to shock naive Vincent? My jury’s still out on that, but I wouldn’t put either past James. He’s a complicated man.
6. I had an anonymous source that helped me with some of the police terminology. I had ten questions I was allowed to ask them and that was it. I also bought a couple of Canadian police textbooks and scoured the web for information on police work. There’s plenty of info out there on bigger topics, but not a lot on the more mundane parts of police work/life. I am indebted to my source. Although I’m sure that I must have gotten a few things about Canadian police work incorrect, the info I gained from my source was invaluable and (I believe) made my book stronger.
7. I use a lot of my friends names in my books. Donna and Dave are coworkers that I see almost every day, and are treasured friends. The name Yannick was that name of a man I had the pleasure of working with last year when I trained in Vaudreuil Quebec (this was right during the time when I was trying to do edits on A Perfect Dom). Yannick is also the name of a popular television actor Yannick Bisson that I love to hate. By the way, the name is roughly pronounced Yawn-nick. Some other names comes from actors, musicians or figures that I admire. Nova was named for my love of rapper Nova Rockafeller. Her song Tres Pound was the first song I listened to to celebrate my first book being accepted by Siren (I may have also pumped it when book number two was picked up). I’m contemplating giving the Warren sisters their own series. Please let me know if that’s something you would be interested in reading. One character that if definitely not names for anyone else is Charlie. I’ve loved that name forever. It is just a coincidence that my cute little nephew who was born April 27 of this year has the same name. I like Charlie a lot too. Maybe she deserves her own book too…
In my head, this is what I think Charlie looks like.
Excuse my poor paint skills – photo from Dreamscape.com
8. Stef lives in the Marilyn Monroe buildings in Mississauga. They are located roughly 20 minutes away from my home, and about 10 minutes north of Port Credit. These buildings are an architectural marvel. Beyond being super cool, I think they speak a lot about Stef’s character. He’s used to things being ridged and straight, but things are changing… The buildings are officially called the Absolute Towers, but their hour glass shape earned them a nickname inspired by screen legend, Marilyn Monroe.
Photo from suburbantourist.ca
9. I first learned about Human Trafficking from watching America’s Most Wanted. It was stories like Natasha’s story that inspired Bailey. Human Trafficking is a horror that affects everyone and in all walks of life. If you think that it could never touch your life, think again. Although I myself have not been a victim of trafficking, I do believe that I am a victim of an attempted abduction. This is a hard story for me to tell. About five years ago I was sitting in a hardware store parking lot. I had just had a fight with my husband before leaving to go to the store, and was sitting in my car trying to calm down before going inside. A grey van pulled into the spot beside me and the man inside gestured for me to roll down my window. He told me that something was physically wrong with my car and prompted me to get out to take a look (my car at the time was a cheap little sedan, just the basic model and not worth anything.). I refused to get out and take a look. The man wouldn’t leave though and kept prompting me to get out of my car. There was something very off about him and I rolled up my window and locked my doors. The man in the van only left when he saw a random man come out of the store towards us. Maybe he thought the man was my husband, coming to join me in the car. Regardless the van pulled away quickly and left the parking lot. I never ended up going into the store. The man unnerved me so much I drove straight to my apartment and had my husband meet me in the parking lot. A quick inspection showed there was nothing wrong with my car. So what was the man’s game? Did he want my car? It wasn’t worth anything so I doubt it. What would have happened to me if I had gotten out of my car? Would have tried to lure me into his van? Did he have a buddy waiting to grab me? All questions that I am glad that I cannot answer. That day has stuck in my mind, and still terrifies me.
10. I am a few chapters into my next book. Tentatively I’m calling it “A Perfect Life”. The lead character will be Lee (Mia’s brother). After being shot and nearly killed, it hit home for Lee that he had never been an active participant in his life – he always did exactly what was expected of him and lived the life that others felt he should. He’s always been the perfect son, the perfect brother, the perfect Dad, Somewhere along the line, he lost who he really was. Now with this new lease on life, Lee decides it’s far past time to life life to the fullest. He starts by signing up for Membership to Club Perfect and embarks on a journey to sample everything that the BDSM lifestyle has to offer…
I do hope that you enjoy reading A Perfect Trio as much as I enjoyed writing it.
If you have any other questions or comments, please let me know. You can tweet me @jadebelfry or be my friend on facebook
Thank you very much for your support. It really does mean the world to me!
Jade Belfry - Blog 