Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Book Tour for Power Play: Resistance by Rachel Haimowitz & Cat Grant (Guest Post & NOOK/BOOKS GIVEAWAY)


I recently had the opportunity to read and review this unforgettably intense story and am proud to bring a more in-depth look at it to all of you today.  You'll get a glimpse at the main character Jonathon through an interview and also get a sneak peek at the next book in this series.  And as if all that weren't enough to get excited about, there's also an awesome giveaway for a classic Nook pre-loaded with six books from Riptide Publishing's library of books as well as winner’s choice of one backlist book and/or author swag from Cat or Rachel to one lucky commenter from this blog at the end of the tour.  So let's get this party started......

Today we’re talking to Jonathan Watkins, a Silicon Valley genius who first came to public attention at the age of eighteen, when he invented the world’s first $100 computer. By the time he was twenty-five, his company SuperComputing was listed near the top of the Fortune 500. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board at SC and CEO of the Watkins Foundation, whose missions range from bringing computers to every classroom in the world, to saving the oceans from global warming. 

1)    You’ve had a number of submissives in the past, both male and female. What specifically attracted you to Brandon?

He was . . . almost majestic, sitting there on that barstool. *laughs* That probably sounds absurd, I know, what with him hunched and miserable over his warm beer. But truly, he just radiated strength, and determination, and power. And he was clearly in so much pain, and while I know on the surface it seems like I’d rather prefer that, the truth of it is that a good Dominant often plays therapist, and we like it—we want to help people find their true selves, reach their true potential, be happy and comfortable with themselves.

2)    You’re a sadist, but Brandon is most definitely not a masochist. Can you tell us about the challenges in dealing with this kind of incompatibility?

I do think there’s a touch of the masochist in him—he enjoys a gentle flogging, or a few good thwacks on the ass during sex, or the edge of my teeth here and there—but mostly, no, he is not. Certainly not among the ranks of the pain sluts I normally end up with. So of course then the biggest challenge is how to make it good for both of us, when I want so very badly to make him scream and he really rather wishes I wouldn’t.

In the end, I think we’ll find a nice balance that brings his deeply submissive desires very heavily into play. He may take no pleasure from the suffering itself, but he is a submissive right down to his little toenail, and when he learns to embrace that, he’ll come to take joy in suffering for me. And of course I always take extra care to reward him for that, to let him know how much it means to me, how much I value it, how proud he makes me. Aftercare is a big component of our heavier play—he needs to be soothed and coddled after he’s given so much of himself, and I’m quite happy to do that for him.

3)    You had a pretty public divorce a few years ago, where your wife hinted at some of your kinkier tastes in the bedroom. How did you deal with this information becoming public knowledge?

I must say I was mortified for quite a while. It was something of a dual betrayal, you understand—not only was the woman I still loved more than anything leaving me, something I have to admit I was too naïve to see coming at the time, but she was leaving me publicly, nastily, airing all our laundry for the world to see. And the world was very much watching, too. I’d thought I’d gotten used to being in the public eye, but that was a whole new level.

Things were pretty rough for a while there, and I wasn’t always able to shrug it off and hold my head up high. But I met Devon then, and he took me under his wing and taught me not just to love myself as I was but also to be proud of myself as I was, kinks and all. It was truly a life-changing gift he gave me.  I could never possibly express my gratitude enough.

4)    You and Brandon appear to have come to a tenuous understanding at the end of Power Play: Resistance. Where do you see your relationship going? Any hope of a happy ending?

I’d like to think so; I’d not have let him stay on if I didn’t believe we could have such a thing. I don’t know how compatible we’ll be in the end, but I see the potential in Brandon and I do believe I can help him reach it. Where it goes from there, who knows, but there is no denying the feelings I have for the man—infuriating and difficult though he may be sometimes—or how very much I’d love to see him come into himself, his submission, his inner strength, and how privileged I feel at the thought of him sharing all of that with me.

POWER PLAY: RESISTANCE by Rachel Haimowitz & Cat Grant

Give me six months, and I'll give you the world.

Brandon McKinney has scraped and sacrificed for what little in life he’s ever had. Though it’s been fifteen years since he escaped his father’s abuse, the damage remains. Trust seems as far out of reach as his dream of becoming an architect, and though he’s come to accept being gay, he can’t deny the shame and confusion he feels at other urges—the deeply-repressed desire to submit.

Jonathan Watkins is a self-made Silicon Valley billionaire whose ex-wife took half his money and even more of his faith. Comfortable as a Dominant but wary of being hurt again, he resorts to anonymous pickups and occasional six-month contracts with subs seeking only a master, not a lover.

When a sizzling back-alley encounter cues Jonathan in to Brandon’s deep-seated submissive side, he makes the man an offer: Give me six months of your life, and I’ll open your eyes to a whole new world. Brandon doesn’t care about that; all he wants is the three million dollars Jonathan’s offering so he can buy the construction company he works for. But he soon learns that six months on his knees is no easy feat, and shame and pride may keep him from all he ever wanted—and all he never dreamed he had any right to have.

You can read an excerpt and order Power Play: Resistance here.






The next release in the Power Play series, Power Play: Awakening, will be released June 11th and can be purchased here.









ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Rachel Haimowitz is an M/M erotic romance author, a freelance writer and editor, and the Managing Editor of Riptide Publishing. She's also a sadist with a pesky conscience, shamelessly silly, and quite proudly pervish. Fortunately, all those things make writing a lot more fun for her . . . if not so much for her characters.

When she's not writing about hot guys getting it on (or just plain getting it; her characters rarely escape a story unscathed), she loves to read, hike, camp, sing, perform in community theater, and glue captions to cats. She also has a particular fondness for her very needy dog, her even needier cat, and shouting at kids to get off her lawn.

You can find Rachel at her website, Tweeting as RachelHaimowitz, chatting in the Goodreads forums, and blogging at Fantasy Unbound. She loves to hear from folks, so feel free to drop her a line anytime at metarachel (at) gmail (dot) com.

EPIC Award–winning author Cat Grant lives by the sea in beautiful Monterey, California, with one persnickety feline and entirely too many books and DVDs. When she's not writing, she sings along (badly!) to whatever's on her iPod shuffle, watches lots of movies, and fantasizes about kinky sex with Michael Fassbender.

Where to find Cat:

Website: http://www.catgrant.com
Blog: http://catgrant.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cat.grant
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/CatGrant2009
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1912055.Cat_Grant

**********GIVEAWAY**********

Prize is a signed paperback from Cat or Rachel (any of their Riptide titles other than Power Play) and/or author swag at the end of the tour.  They are also giving away a classic Nook pre-loaded with six titles from the Riptide Publishing library at the end of the tour.

-To be entered, MUST leave a comment, along with your email addy.
-One commenter will be chosen randomly from all comments made throughout the tour, so the more tour stops you make a comment on the greater your chances of winning.  A list of all participating blogs can be found here.
-Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM CST on 4/18.

33 comments:

  1. Just wanted to drop in and say thank you to our lovely host for letting us play here today! :D

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    1. Thanks so much for being here today Rachel and for creating such a powerful story with Cat. I'm honored to be hosting you today and look forward to the next installment in this series!

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    2. Aw, you're a sweetheart! Thank you! :D

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  2. Hrm. Cross-referencing Devon. How interesting.... =)

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    1. Heh. Cat and I have quite a bit of the Devon/Jonathan story in our heads. I hope we get to tell it some day.

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  3. Nice to see a little more from Jonathan's point of view. Power Play: Resistance was a very intense read and made me think quite a bit - I'd say that's a sign of a good book though.
    And I really am looking forward to the next one (already pre-ordered).
    pointycat@hotmail.co.uk

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    1. That's awesome :D We knew PPR was one of those stories that people would bring their own experiences and perspectives to, and that it was likely ten people might see it ten completely different ways. We were exploring some touchy themes there, and I don't think there are any clear answers, really, so to hear it made you think quite a bit is tremendous and wonderful. Hope you enjoy PPA as well, and thank you for stopping by!

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  4. Always interested in more insights from Jonathan. Would love to read some flash backs from his time with Devon ;)

    sionedkla@gmail.com

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    1. One day Cat and I might actually tell their whole story. Some big chunks of it our in our heads, so it's mostly a matter of time and muses lining up. Hopefully soon :)

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  5. *waves* Hi everyone, just dropping in to see what was the latest on Resistance Tour. I so want to get my hands on a copy.

    loribooklover62@aol.com

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  6. Seeing Resistance's cover again, it really hits me how well it fits the story, and I'm not talking about the kneeling.
    The way Bran holds himself, the expression in Jonathan's face.
    I know I might be imagining things, but it so expresses the discomfort, the distance between them, the anguish of not getting it right... (I hope that's not too spoilerish)

    Loved the interview with Jonathan :D

    blaine(at)blainedarden(dot)com

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    1. That artist is just SO AMAZING ZOMG. Did you notice Bran's shadow is made of cage bars? :D (All my vanilla friends missed that, but I suspect the kinksters will catch it.) The tour stop at Top2Bottom Reviews is actually the artist talking about her process and showing lots of progression pictures. It's fascinating to watch her mind work.

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    2. actually... I thought it symbolised the mat he slept on, but now that you mention it... Nice :D

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  7. Thanks for the post. Enjoyed reading Jonathan's point of view. Love the pictures of him on both covers, especially his eyes. Very intense!

    lkbherring64@gmail.com

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    1. Thanks Lisa! (We loved the eyes too. Absolutely piercing.)

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  8. I love this interview by Jonathan, thank you.

    Josie.b1@hotmail.co.uk

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    1. Glad to hear it, and thank you for stopping by! :)

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  9. Thanks for letting us hang out here today, Jody! You're the best! :)

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    1. I'm so excited to have you here today Cat and love the books Riptide's been releasing, so many intense and thought provoking stories!

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  10. Hehe, I love how level-headed Jonathan is. :) Wonder how they'll find their balance. And the whole divorce thing? ..is very intriguing. >:D

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  11. The divorce left Jonathan with some issues of his own to work out :) Let's just say both boys learn a lot more about each other in book 2 :)

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  12. Oh~ I loved this post.
    It was such a pleasure to meet Jonathan.
    I'm excited to read their story! I really want this book... Really, really bad! lol..


    Judi
    arella3173_loveless(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  13. This interview made me squirm with delight. Absolutely wonderful.

    hskasato@msn.com

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    1. Heh, Jonathan would be glad to hear it >:D Thanks for stopping by!

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  14. Very nice interview and excerpt. The book sounds good.

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  15. Great interview & excerpt. I do love some goo m/m lovin', LOL. Thanks so much for the great giveaway.
    June
    manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com

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  16. Thanks for stopping by, everyone!

    And the winner is... Lisa! We'll be contacting you by email to claim your prize.

    A big thank you to Jody for hosting us! *hugs*

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    1. Thank you so much Cat, Rachel, and Jody. :)

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