BDSM, Historical Romances and everything in between... or so it seems
Today I welcome Marilize Roos to my blog. Marilize is mostly a historical romance author from Cape Town, but, as she says, she writes short stories in between for fun. Today, however, Marilize will tell us more about her books in a different genre, of which Ariel is the second book in the BDSM series, Club Angelus.
Tell us about yourself and where you are in your writing career.
I've always been writing, even as a child. At first, I'd write just for myself, writing the stories I wanted to read, with the endings I really wanted. In 2014 I decided to take my writing more seriously and wrote Darien. I submitted it to Centre for the Book and was selected for a Community Publishing Grant. Since Darien, I've written and published 9 other novels, ranging from Historical Romance to, more recently, Contemporary BDSM. All of my books are set in South Africa. To date, I've published 10 books on Amazon, and have no plans to stop anytime soon.
What is the name of your book, and what inspired it?
My latest release is called Ariel and is the second book in my BDSM series, Club Angelus. I'd been eyeing the BDSM genre for a while, and then in October last year, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try writing it.
So in November 2019, Club Angelus was born. I like to do unexpected things with established tropes, and since most BDSM stories feature a Dom-meets-submissive storyline, I wanted to explore what happens when submissives were married to each other and wanted to explore this lifestyle.
I decided on the name because I'd been meaning for a while to write a story with a protagonist named Michael. And then Michael got a younger brother Gabriel. Both names happened to be names of Archangels, so I decided to give them a little sister with another Archangel name, Ariel. Ariel opened a BDSM club, called Club Angelus. And while writing Michael, Ariel and Gabriel's characters gradually revealed themselves to me.
Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?
I write Historical Romances because I cut my teeth on romance by reading my mom's Historical Romance paperbacks. I also adored the old Wille Martin books I'd found at the flea market and carnival bookstores, set in the Cape of Good Hope, so I thought to combine those two favourite historical settings. The Cape is full of places of historical interest.
As for BDSM romances, I enjoy reading them and am fascinated by the complicated relationship dynamics. I like to ask "what if", and turn regular tropes upside-down and inside-out.
What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning this book?
Research is ongoing. I've read hundreds of books in the genre, and read up on all the practices I write about. I also have a wonderful beta reader in the lifestyle who is happy to answer any questions I may have.
How do you like to collect and organise your ideas?
If I have an idea for a new book, I start a new folder on my computer, open a new Word document, and start jotting down ideas. I may even write a first scene or a conversation. And once that is down, I put it aside for later and go on with the project I was busy with when that little flash of inspiration had struck.
While I'm writing a series, I compile a series bible, or as I call it, my crib notes. Any time I decide on something, such as hair colour, eye colour, occupations, what cars my characters drive, how they take their coffee, important dates, how old they are in relation to each other, timelines, etc. I keep them together in this document so that I don't have to search for it in the novels themselves. I also like to select my cover image before I start writing; it's easier to write my character to match an image than to find an image to match a character.
How long did it take you to write this book?
I'd written the first 50000 words of Ariel in May this year, then finished the rest of it over another month before starting rewrites, edits and revisions. Ariel released on 12 November 2020.
What's next for you as a writer?
I've started writing Gabriel, the next book in the Club Angelus series.
Marilize is an author of historical romance set in Cape Town, South Africa, but writes short stories in between for fun.
She used to comb the libraries and second-hand book sales for out-of-print copies of Afrikaans historical romance novels by authors such as Wille Martin and Ena Murray. She has always had a fascination for Cape Town history and Regency Romance and thought to introduce the rest of the world to Regency-era Cape Town. She's tried her hand at many different occupations, including working at a riding school as a riding instructor, trail guide, stable manager, saddler, and horse handler on TV shows. She's worked as a freelance typist, photographic as