Urban sci-fi fantasy novel, I AM HUMAN, by Anastasia Blackwell, is scheduled to be published in early 2020. A screenplay, based on the book, is currently in negotiation.
An early release on the story has been published as a podcast. Part 1 went live on New Year's Eve 2019, and Parts I was broadcast January 7, 2020 and Part III is scheduled for release in mid-January.
The story is narrated by author/actress Anastasia Blackwell, in association with B. Renegade Productions and Wild Wind Studios.
Sugar and Spice (The Duty and Destiny Series Book 6)
Please Note: The House on Black Lake has been adapted to screenplay. Visit Home Page to view cinematic trailer.
The themes of obsessive love, BDSM, alpha males, control and submission, the use of wealth and power to allure, exploit and control, are all explored in The House on Black Lake. Ramey Sandeley is a man who it has been said that "God gave too much and so he has price to pay". He has everything that a man or woman could possible want, but he has never known a truly soulful love. When he meets Alexandra their perfect lives are blown apart and they are taken on a journey that compels them to explore the dark side of human behavior and dig deeper into their psyches. He believes the body must be contained (and sometimes beaten) for the soul to to be released. He threatens Alexandra with a whipping when she returns from a liason with a young French Artist Andre Labat and warns her that once the soul has been released from its human bondage there is no turning back.
The House on Black Lake mirrors many of the same themes as the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. Yet, the characters are at different points in their lives. Ana and Christian are fortunate to meet when they are both without responsibility and available. Ramey and Alexander fall in love at first sight. However, they are both are newlyweds when they first meet, and have children when they reunite (she has divorced and he is still married). Yet, the longing and desire for something deeper, more profound and primal are universal at any age. Their journey is both exciting and torturous, as integrity and faithfulness are at stake as well as the confinements of society.
Other books popular with women who loved "Fifty Shades of Grey follow. The list offers a wide selection that includes recommendations from readers of all ages, and levels of sophistication and education.
1. Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard
2. Innocence Tempted (Generational Sins Series)
3.An Ordinary Girl by Barbara Elsbord
4. Sleeping Beauty Series by Anne Rice
5. Sempre by J.M Darhower
6. Insufferable Proximity by Z. Stefani
7. Wicked Burn by Beth Kery
8. Sweet Restraint by Beth Kery
9. Sweet Surrender (Complete Series) by Maya Banks
10.Forever Wicked: A Wicked Lovers Novella (1001 Dark Nights) by Shaya Black
11. Naughty Bits Part II: The TrainingSession by Joey W. Hill
12. An Irresistible Bachelor by J. R. Ward
16. Bound (Forbidden Series - Book 1)
18. Surviving Passion (The Shattered World Book 1)
21. A Tall, Dark Cowboy by Mackenzie McKade
22. Rocky Mountain Heat(Six Pack Ranch Book 1) by Sarah McCarty
26 Lost Star[Interstellar Service & Discipline] by Morgan Hawkes
28. An Ordinary Girl by Barbara Elsborg
30. Liberating Lacey by Ann Calhoun
31. BDSM Positions: The Beginner's Guide toBDSM
32. Bound, Spanked andLoved: Fourteen Kinky Valentine's Day Stories
33. The Wicked West by Victoria Dahl
34. The Principal's Office by Jasmine Haynes
35. The Taker by Alma Katsu
36. Beautiful Disaster by Jaime Mcguire
37. Rock Me by Cherrie Lynn
38. Breaking Sin by Teresa Mummert
39. Love Unscripted by Tina Reber
40. Honor Student by Teresa Mummert
41. The Story of O by Pauline Reage
43. Reflected in You by Sylvia Day
44. Master of Shadowland Series by Cherise Sinclair
45. Sweet Series by Maya Banks
46. Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia
47. Existance Trilogy by Abbi Glines
48. Bared to You by Sylvia Day
49. Untouchable by Lindsay Delagair
50. From Rags by Suzanne Wright
Author Anastasia Blackwell grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is familiar with the world of Christian Grey. In a series of interviews set in Jacksonville, Oregon she discusses the controversial novel.
Passion trumps deformity or any other afflication. Beauty is an empty shell without it. The obsessive, possessive, desperate love The Phantom feels would not exist without the weight of his tremendous burden. Erik in "The Phantom of the Opera" by Gaston Leroux is the Beauty and the Beast contained in one gorgeous human being. His longing is both extruciatingly painful and glorious. He has never been kissed even by his own mother, so his longing is true physical torture. To taste his rugged kiss and be carried off into the gothic mist would be a dream come true for most women, although few would seek out such a scarred soul.
In The House on Black Lake, it is said that Hero Ramey Sandeley has been cursed with perfection and so he has a price to pay. As his ultimate price becomes more eminent a dark river of cruel conflict begins to run through his veins and to show beneath his visage. And, as heroine Alexandra Brighton notes, "if beauty is nothing without a dark river running through it, now Ramey Sandeley claims more than God gave him, he now claims the greatest gift of all."
Alexandra also shares a common trait with The Phantom. Nine months to the day after her first meeting with Ramey she gives birth to a son and suffers Bells' Palsy. Her face is fully paralyzed on one side and there is little hope for her recovery. She visits St. Joseph's Shrine where the faithful are said to be healed and makes a deal at the alter: Truth for Beauty - a vow to seek her rightful destiny in return for an unmarked face. As she steps outside the oratory she sees her reflection in the stained glass. Her face has begun to thaw, and now she has a price to pay. Her vow leads to the dismantling of her "ideal life" and eventually to her uniting with Ramey at Black Lake, where her journey to self discovery truly begins. Her young French artist lover, Andre Labat, urges her to accept "the beautiful freak" - the soul, in all its dark glory, that seeks freedom at any cost. But coming face to face with her passionate soul is a terrifying prospect for Alexandra, as the social institutions that have instructed her development as a woman do not allow such freedom. And then there is dear Seth, the Butler to Ramey's uncle Roger. Nearly seven feet tall and raised in an orphanage he has never felt the touch of a woman - until Alexandra touches his arm and awakens his lonely soul. Most of us have felt the raging battle of the ugly and the beautiful at war within us, and often it only takes a tender caress to calm the dark waters and give a measure of peace. But it is also sometimes therapeutic to stoke the water to the boiling point.
A video composite from the movie of The Phantom of the Operafeatures Gerard Butler. He is dark, dangerous, utterly sexy and glorious. Both horribly ugly and breathtakingly beautiful. Passion is what gives beauty and meaning to life. Take a look and decide for yourself:
The world has gone mad for Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey. But he is preceded by a long line of dark lovers in film and literature.
Wade Gotwals and Anastasia Blackwell in Scene HOBL trailer
ATTENTION READERS: New Romantic Fantasy, The Chamber of Curiosities is NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER. The e-book will be delivered to your Kindle on Sunday, May 14, 2017. Be the first to read, review, and start discussions on forums. The epic story, set in a carnival in an ancient land, features an obsessive, possessive romance hero and heroine, as well as supporting characters with intense love obsessions.
Nothing is more rewarding than delving into the psyche of an obsessive, possessive, romance hero. A sexy, powerful man possessed with love has undeniable allure.
Ramey Sandeley from The House on Black Lake is an obsessive, possessive male who has never heard the word "no". Ramey first appears in the novel sweaty and burnt, fresh from branding animals with his custom tools. He believes his preternatural good looks, charm, wealth, and power afford him the right to own whatever and whomever he desires. But he meets his match with Alexandra Brighton, who, after having been possessed by her previous husband, and having made a vow at a shrine to be true to her manifest destiny, will no longer allow herself to be owned or controlled by anyone.
The night Alexandra arrives at Black Lake with her young son she is world weary from a brutal divorce, and in a highly vulnerable state. Soon after she is rowed out by Ramey and his wife to stay in a deserted Victorian in an island, with no way out. That night she dreams she is tied to a four poster, waiting for a burning brand to seal her wedding vows. Their battle of wills will lead them both to the brink of self destruction, and threaten the lives of those caught in their orbit.
To be adored to the point of obsession is truly a rare and beautiful thing. Possessed film heroes can be found in - Twilight, Legends of the Fall, The Phantom of the Opera, Cruel Intentions, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Meet Joe Black, Possession, King Arthur, The Last of the Mohicans, Ladyhawke, Tristan and Isolde, The Thorn Birds, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Man Who Cried features Johnny Depp as a gypsy who rides a beautiful white horse, and Original Sin offers some of the sexiest scenes on film as Antonio Banderas outplays Angelina Jolie at her own dangerous game, with her possessive brother played to perfection by Thomas Jane (of Hung). There are also notable darkly seductive tortured souls in literature, and many of the aforementioned tales began as novels.
Following are a few novels that feature such brooding males:
The Carpathian Series by Christine Freehan
An Independant Wife by Linda Howard
Immortals After Dark Series by Cresley Cole
The Madness of Lord Ian McKenzie, by Jennifer Ashley
The Misted Cliffs,by Catherine Asaro
The Silver Devil and The Flesh and the Devil, by Teres Denys - Note: These are cult classics and can be expensive
The Wolf and the Dove, by Cathleen Woodiwess
To Love an Earl, by Elizabeth Thornton.
The Devil's Embrace Catherine Coulter's first novel. Some have called it creepy, cruel, and disgusting, but everyone has their own tastes.
The Ground She Walks Upon, by Meagan McKinney
The House of Rohan- Ruthless, Breathless,Reckless, by Ann Stuart
Shadow Heart, by Laura Kinsdale
Uncommon Vows, by Mary Joe Putney
Double Standards by Judith McNaught
Gold Ring of Betrayal, by Michelle Reed
Murder Game, Ghostwalkers series 7, by Michelle Freehan
Into the Dark Lands, by Michelle Sagora
The Dark Jewels Trilogy, by Anne Bishop
Prince of Dreams, by Lisa Kleypas
The Twilight Saga, Stehanie Meyers.
Julie Garwood, J.R. Ward , Fallen Angel and Black Dagger Brotherhood SeriesGena Showalter- are other notable authors who specialize in the genre.
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights, offers the supremely perfect, dark, brooding hero, Heathcliff, Emily Bronte's masterpiece.
Gone with the Wind. gives us Rhett Butler, who is in a class of his own.
For those who desire a darker, more erotic experience the following are well written in this genre:
The Man in the Black Leather Mask follows a female attorney's transformation from powerful woman to submissive beneath the hands of a ten years younger dominent colleague
Kidnapped for Christmas by Evangeline Anderson - Average, overweight woman's skinny sister plans her own kidnapping as a sexual lark, but man takes wrong woman and the more conservative sister finds herself a submissive to a very sexy man
Surrender To Me, by Shayla Black - a woman's secret desire is met by her boyfriend in a Las Vegas trick where he consents to menage with friend, who also happens to be Navy Seal. An obsession is sparked between the woman and her new friend and nothing is the same for the two.
Master of the Mountain by Cherise Sinclair - an less than figure perfect ad agency artist complies with boyfriend's request to visit remote swinger's cabin. During her stay she sees boyfriend with other woman and realizes her relationship is over. However, she meets a man that is emotionally scarred and afraid of commitment who takes her on a journey into the underworld of dominence and submission.
Submissive Desires by Carolyn Faulker. Very severe story of a woman's five year journey to complete submission in the hands of a fiercely powerful and possessive ex Navy Seal.
What will it take to relieve him of his torture?
Obsessive, possessive, brooding romance hero
I was recently interviewed about obsessive possessive love and the character of Ramey Sandeley. Here are my thoughts:
