It’s time for another visiting author from the group of awesome indies involved in the Indie Author Giveaway.  Today I’m hosting the beautiful and talented Monica La Porta to tell us more about what inspired her to write The Priest.

The Story Behind the Story

Sometimes, inspiration comes from the most unexpected sources.
A few years ago, during a flight back home, I was listening to a podcast of a famous Italian stand-up comedian blathering about men. She ended her hilarious piece with a few remarks about the possibility of creating life without male’s contribution. Once I stopped laughing, the idea of a Roman Empire a` la Amazon formed in my mind. I’ve always enjoyed what-if tales and my favorite classes back in college were Sociology and Anthropology. I started wondering of what would happen from an evolutionary point of view to a society that mirrors ours; similar but reversed. An alternate Earth where women have absolute power and love between opposite genders is considered the most heinous sin. The seed of an idea was planted and I started writing Pax in the Land of Women. Almost halfway through what should have been the first installation in the Ginecean Chronicles series, two characters, Mauricio and Rosie, came to life. The elderly couple’s love story was heartbreaking and demanded to be told. It was November 2010, I took a break from Pax in the Land of Women, and decided to join Nanowrimo to write The Priest. A month later, the first draft was done. I finished writing Pax, now the second book in the series, and then started looking for the right editor to work on both novels. It proved to be a long and tortuous path. In October 2011, the person I had hired for the last proofreading pass of The Priest told me the manuscript wasn’t ready and needed to be edited. I was bummed, I had already paid two different editors to polish it, but I wasn’t going to release anything I couldn’t be proud of. Fortunately, my search ended soon after, and one year ago, in February 2012, thanks to my current editor, my little book finally left the safety of my computer for good. Six months after, Pax in the land of Women followed, and soon Prince of War should be released. The rest… is still to be written.

Links:

Monica La Porta’s blog:
The Ginecean Chronicles’ Facebook page
Goodreads Author page:
Where to find my books:
The Ginecean Chronicles:
The Priest
Pax in the Land of Women
Children’s books and YA short stories:
The Prince’s Day Out
Linda of the Night

The Priest

Mauricio is a slave. Like any man born on Ginecea, he is but a number for the
pure breed women who rule over him with cruel hands. Imprisoned inside the
Temple since birth, Mauricio has never been outside, never felt the warmth of
the sun on his skin. He lives a life devoid of hopes and desires. Then one day,
he hears Rosie sing. He risks everything for one look at her and his life is
changed, forever. An impossible friendship blossoms into affection deemed sinful
and perverted in a society where the only rightful union is between women. Love
is born where only hate has roots and leads Mauricio to uncover a truth that
could destroy Ginecea.