Indie Author Showing Canberra’s Sexy Side

One might expect a series about a young woman’s journey of sexual discovery to bring about thoughts of midnight rendezvous and hushed trysts set in some exotic locale, but local author Jenifer Ryder has done away with all that in her debut novel ‘Spark’, setting the book in Canberra, in order to get right down to the good stuff.

Spark follows romance novel addict Eevie though the city on her journey to find her own Prince Charming beyond the pages of a book. Ryder says though, that the decision to set the series in Canberra has as much to do with convenience as anything. “I’ve spent most of my life in Canberra and I love it… I wanted to write about surroundings familiar to me, and also give readers who’ve never been to Canberra a few little insights”.

Spark – Ryder’s debut novel – was as much a journey of self-discovery for its author as it was for its protagonist. Jenifer Ryder had never written before devising the five-part series. “Becoming an author was not a life-long dream”, she says “but rather something I toyed around with for a few months… but then it snowballed and totally consumed me!”

The second book in the Spark series ‘Spike’ is to be released May 28th, mere months after the first. As if writing three more novels in the Spark series wasn’t prolific enough, Ryder is also working on four standalone releases she aims to focus more on next year.

A large part of her ability to line up so many releases so quickly is no doubt due to her decision to independently publish her works. Ryder reveals the decision to self-publish wasn’t easy, but it’s paid off for her. “There are a lot of restrictions in publishing traditionally, and I’m enjoying the freedom of telling my stories, the way I want to tell them”. Indie publishing also affords Ryder the chance to look after two school-age children and working full-time.

Being an erotic fiction novel, Spark is bound to draw comparisons to mummy-porn behemoth 50 Shades of Grey, and Ryder admits its influence on her work. “I read 50 Shades”, she says “I think not only has it helped women in their relationships to express their needs and wants, but I think it has exposed readers to the erotic romance genre.”

Though the novel does contain explicit material, Ryder says it was not necessarily her intention to write erotic fiction. “I just wanted to tell Eevie’s story, which is a story of sexual discovery”, she says. On the decision to include these scenes, Ryder injects a healthy dose of personality into the process. “I’ve read many romance novels where sex scenes fade to black or are left behind closed doors, I’m the kind of girl that wants to see what’s behind that door! What?!” she jokes, “I’m inquisitive!”

Spark is out now, Spike is released May 28^th.

Text by Jordan Hayne