The Story Behind an Erotic Sequel
A conversation between
Mitzi Szereto and Ashley Lister
Mitzi:
Can you believe Phantom: The Immortal has been ten years in
the making? I have no idea where the time went, but you’d be
surprised at how quickly ten years can pass for two very busy
authors! I guess Ashley and I both ended up being pulled in other
directions and onto other projects, but thank goodness we got there
in the end.
Ashley:
It’s been a wonderful experience. As writers we usually do things
in isolation but being able to collaborate, especially on a story as
exciting as this one, has been a lot of fun.
Mitzi:
Ashley and I really liked the idea of doing a contemporary sequel to
Gaston Leroux’s classic The Phantom of the Opera, and
back when we began our novel, virtually no one had done such a thing.
What we wanted was to take the main character and bring him into the
modern day, adding in some paranormal themes such as immortality and
reincarnation.
Ashley:
The original is very sexy in its own way. You have characters who are
overpowering, domineering and submissive. But the eroticism of that
original story was very much between the lines. We wanted to produce
something where the sexual frisson was a little more foregrounded.
Mitzi:
In our version, the Phantom has been living beneath the Paris Opera
House all this time when suddenly a beautiful young soprano, the
mirror image of his Christine Daaé, appears for an audition.
Needless to say, he must have her at all costs and he sets out to do
precisely that. How he goes about it…well, let’s just say that
our Phantom is no shrinking violet when it comes to making his
desires known. He’s had a lot of time to get all hot and bothered
in that underground lair of his and a lot of time to think of some
interesting ways to satisfy his sexual (and kinky) urges!
Ashley:
Kinky? I believe the saying is: it’s only kinky the first time.
Personally I’d say romantic with a lascivious flair. Perhaps we
should start marketing that as a new genre?
Mitzi:
Indeed! But Phantom: The Immortal is a lot of things; it’s
erotic romance, Gothic romance, paranormal romance and romantic
suspense. I think it will fit a lot of reading tastes.
Technically,
this is the first time I’ve worked with another author on a book,
though as some of you may know. I’ve since gone on to write my cozy
mystery satire series The Thelonious T. Bear Chronicles with
my celebrity bear Teddy Tedaloo. Trying to co-write a novel with
another author isn’t easy, but Ashley and I came up with a
wonderfully logical way to go about it. We decided to take on the
roles of the two main characters: the Phantom and Christine
Delacroix. I’d write a chapter as Christine, with Ashley writing
the next as the Phantom, and so on and so on, switching back and
forth until the book was finally completed. We even structured our
novel in various “Acts” and “Scenes” to give it that theater
feel. Both of these characters are so strong and have such individual
voices; having us each write our character helps to strengthen that.
Ashley:
In a way that approach was something of a double-edged sword. It was
great to be working with a colleague whom I admire and respect. But
it was also very intimidating. Once we began to exchange our
chapters, Mitzi would send a fantastic piece of writing, and that
would put the pressure on me to produce material to the highest
standard I was capable of writing. Then, when Mitzi sent her next
piece back, which was invariably better than the piece she’d sent
before, I had to up my game higher.
It
meant the pressure was on throughout the writing process, but I
believe that means the finished product is something better than I
could have ever produced on my own.
Mitzi:
Ashley is too modest! But now that I see the finished product, I
can’t even imagine having done this book any other way or having
written it with any other author. And I’m sure Ashley will agree
with me there. Or at least I hope he will!
Ashley:
I agree absolutely. Now, all I need to do, is try to convince
Mitzi that we should collaborate again!
Sexual
desire and soul-searing need fuel this contemporary erotic sequel
that relocates the original character from Gaston Leroux’s classic
novel The Phantom of the Opera to present-day Paris…
While
attending an auction of music memorabilia, young soprano Christine
Delacroix bids on some letters written by another young soprano,
Christine Daaé, who lived during the 19th century. Here she meets
the handsome Compte Rezso Esterhazy, who immediately sets out to
court her. Despite his attentions, Christine becomes obsessed with
the Daaé letters and her namesake’s mysterious “Angel of
Music”—a masked man who lived beneath the Paris Opera House.
Seemingly
immortal and frozen in time, the Phantom is condemned to life below
the opera house and in the shadows…until Christine Delacroix
auditions for a minor role in Faust. Convinced the Christine
from his past has been returned to him, he sets out for her to have
the lead female role. He visits her in her dressing room to give her
singing lessons, all the while remaining hidden from view. Insanely
jealous over Christine’s budding romance with the Compte, the
Phantom abducts her and takes her to his underground lair, where the
singing lessons continue. Only this time they are far more depraved
and sexual in nature.
Excerpt
“Just
like Christine,” he murmured. Without thinking, he placed one
gloved hand against the back of the mirror. If the glass hadn’t
been there, he knew he would have reached out to touch her and
reassure himself that she wasn’t an apparition. He snatched his
hand back to his side as though he had been scalded.
Pausing
briefly in her aria, Christine pulled the T-shirt over her head.
She
was naked beneath.
His
eyes widened. He pressed his lips tightly together, scared that the
slightest sound would alert her to his presence. Fearful she might
hear the deafening timpani that had replaced his heartbeat, he placed
a hand over his chest as she slipped out of her jeans.
And
still she sang.
The
sensory overload threatened to push him past the brink of sanity. The
world’s most glorious music; his life’s most profound love; her
truly angelic singing voice; and the magnificence of Christine’s
nudity. Swallowing, forcing his mind to go past the arousal she
inspired, he tried to work his thoughts into a semblance of
appropriate order. He needed to understand why and how she had
returned to him, and then decide what he should do to make sure they
were never again separated. He needed to approach the situation
rationally and with cool detachment. Common sense told him that he
would only be able to win her love by displaying reserve and
restraint.
He
was sickened to find himself appraising her.
In
the gaudy light of the dressing room darkened only by the glass that
separated them, her skin looked perfectly taut. His fingers flexed
and tightened within his gloves as he imagined stroking and caressing
her curves. Her bare breasts—beautifully rounded, exquisitely
plump, and tipped by crinkled areolae and mocha nipples—silently
begged for his touch. His gaze slipped to her crotch, and he didn’t
know whether he was delighted or dismayed to discover that she was
modestly wearing white panties. The flimsy cotton was darkened at the
crotch by the thatch of her pubic curls. The high waistband
accentuated her slender waist and drew his attention to the
roundedness of her hips.
He
stifled the urge to groan.
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Links
Mitzi
Szereto
(mitziszereto.com)
is
an author and anthology editor of multi-genre fiction and
non-fiction. She has her own blog of humorous essays at Errant
Ramblings: Mitzi Szereto’s Weblog (mitziszereto.com/blog),
and a web TV channel Mitzi TV (mitziszereto.com/tv),
which covers the quirky side of London, England.
Her
books include
Rotten
Peaches (The Thelonious T. Bear Chronicles)
and
Normal
for Norfolk (The Thelonious T. Bear Chronicles)—the
cozy mystery/satire series co-authored with her sidekick bear Teddy
Tedaloo;
The
Wilde Passions of Dorian Gray;
Pride
and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts;
Darker
Edge of Desire: Gothic Tales of Romance;
Love,
Lust and Zombies;
Thrones
of Desire: Erotic Tales of Swords, Mist and Fire;
Red
Velvet and Absinthe: Paranormal Erotic Romance;
Getting
Even: Revenge Stories;
and
Dying
For It: Tales of Sex and Death.
Mitzi
has pioneered erotic writing workshops in the UK and mainland Europe,
teaching from the Cheltenham Festival of Literature to the Greek
islands, as well as lecturing in creative writing at several British
universities. Her anthology Erotic
Travel Tales 2
is the first anthology of erotica to feature a Fellow of the Royal
Society of Literature.
Ashley
Lister
(ashleylister.co.uk)
is a prolific writer, having written more than two dozen full-length
novels and over a hundred short stories. His
most recent titles include the Sweet
Temptation
series from HarperCollins and the horror novel
Raven
and Skull,
due to be released mid-2016. Aside
from regularly blogging about writing, Ashley is also an occasional
performance poet and teaches creative writing. He has hosted creative
writing workshops at Eroticon, the annual conference for sex bloggers
and erotica writers, and is the editor of Coming
Together in Verse,
a charity anthology of erotic poetry. Ashley is currently studying
for a PhD in creative writing, focusing on short fiction. He lives in
Lancashire in the UK. Visit his blog at
ashleylisterauthor.blogspot.co.uk.
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