Story Photos
 Larissa Ione writes steamy, sexy romances that even her mother won't read. Greg Ebersole / The Daily News
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Science fiction, romance prove a great blend for author who lived through Hurricane Katrina
Friday, July 11, 2008 11:40 PM PDT
By Cheryll A. Borgaard
Printable version
E-mail this articleInside Larissa Ione’s head lurk demons, werewolves and people with supernatural and unnatural powers. Also inside? Sex. Lots and lots of sex.
“I’ve never been told my books need more sex,” said Ione, the author and co-author of seven erotic action/adventure romance novels with five more in the works. Ione lives with her husband, Bryan Estell and son, Brennan, 11, in Williamsburg, VA. She is visiting with her parents in Longview before attending a writers’ conference in San Francisco.
Under her own name, Ione pens “demonica” novels. She also writes under the pseudonym “Sydney Croft” with Stephanie Tyler, a friend who helped her get back into writing after Ione lost the entire contents of her home in Ocean Springs, Miss., during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A rejection slip from a publisher came two days later.
“I’d already gone through rewrites and revisions,” of a contemporary romance, she said. “I thought they were going to say, ‘OK, it’s time.’ I quit writing after that. I couldn’t take any more problems.”
But Tyler, whom Ione met through a writers’ critique group, sent her the first scene of a book she’d been working on.
“She started it with an ex-Navy Seal trying to escape a hurricane and said ‘write the next scene,’ “Ione said. “I thought, ‘why are you sending me a hurricane story after I’d just been through one?’ But I decided after Katrina, I was going to write what I wanted and what I felt passionate about. And that’s when I got published.”
The rejection turned out to be a blessing, she said. “If (that first book) had sold, I would have been stuck writing another tame contemporary romance.”
Instead, she went with paranormals, futuristic creatures, demons, supernatural powers, and oh yeah — the sex.
“I found that erotic romance gives you a chance to be more real,” she said. “The genre allows more realism and grit, even outside the sex. You’re allowed to push boundaries with all aspects of the book, not just the sex.”
Ione admits the graphic sex scenes in her novels aren’t for everyone — including her mother, Sharon Simmons.
“She read the first Sydney Croft book, and I think she about died,” Ione said. “I don’t want to know when she’s reading any of my books.”
Simmons, whose taste runs more into murder mysteries and thrillers, said she’s read “one-and-a-half” of her daughter’s books. She’s partway through one of her daughter’s “Demonica” novels.
“Her humor comes through her writing. I think the writing is very good. Hers have a plot, a good story line — and a lot of sex,” Simmons said, laughing. “And I think ‘where did you get this?’ I don’t know where she gets it, and I don’t want to know.”
Ione recalled her mother’s friend telling her she laughed all the way through one of Ione’s books. “Well, that certainly wasn’t the reaction I was going for,” Ione said, “but she said that every time there was a sex scene, she imagined my mom reading it.”
Ione said her husband, Bryan Estell, also wonders “where she gets it.”
“He does say, ‘how come we never do that?’ I tell him, ‘well, we don’t have a chandelier to swing from.’ ”
Ione said she doesn’t have to research the sex parts of her books, but for other aspects, “I’m a research freak. I became an EMT just so I could write medical situations accurately.”
The medical background comes in handy for development of her demonica series.
“I love medical shows like ‘ER’ and ‘Gray’s Anatomy’ and I also love ‘Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.’ I wanted to find a way to combine the two, so I made the setting a demonic hospital. And added sex demons. It’s more fantastical, the world is darker.”
Her work as a meteorologist in the Air Force helped her in the Sydney Croft “Storm” series, where violent weather is sometimes as important a character as the hero and heroine with their superpowers.
“The Sydney Croft books are set in the contemporary world and center around a paramilitary paranormal agency with people who have powers that are kind of scientifically based.”
(Ione said she created the pseudonym Sydney Croft by combining Sydney Britow from “Alias” and Lara Croft from the “Tomb Raider” video game series and movies.)
Ione, who has a longtime penchant for science fiction has met all the actors from the “Star Trek” series, all the way from the original series to the “Next Generation.” She and her father have attended about five conventions, often in uniforms.
“My ultimate dream novel is a Star Trek novel,” she said. “I’m a big geek.”
Ione, who writes every day “sometimes until 9 at night,” is excited to continue writing in her chosen genre, which is rapidly catching on in popularity, making it easier for her to make book deals.
“I’ve gotten darker with my writing. I’ve let myself go and have really found my voice with the paranormals,” Ione said. “I think it’s important to do something very unique. There’s a lot of vampires and shape-shifters (in erotic romance) and not so much demons. Demons are very hot right now. I hit at the right time.”
Special editions
Signed copies of Larissa Ione’s ‘Demonica’ books and her Sydney Croft ‘Storm’ books will be featured beginning Monday at Borders Express in the Three Rivers Mall.
Sydney Croft books
"Riding the Storm"
"Unleashing the Storm"
"Seduced by the Storm "
Larissa Ione books
"Pleasure Unbound"
"Novellas in collections"
"Secrets Primal Heart "
"Secrets Dark Passions"
The Grateful Dad wrote on Jul 12, 2008 7:32 AM:
Ms. Z wrote on Jul 12, 2008 11:18 AM:
Good Grief wrote on Jul 12, 2008 11:34 AM:
You clearly have kids, which means you have had sex. *gasp!* How horrible to promote loving, monogamous relationships!!! But you probably think it's okay to write and read thrillers (full of murder and violence) or horror (full of, well, horror.)
And literary fiction? Full of drug abuse, religious failings, violence.
But what is the one thing every human seeks? A relationship. We all (well, most) date, get married, and have sex. But writing about it is wrong? Promoting any literary accomplishment is wrong?
It's a shame that people like you stoop to calling other humans trash for doing something that makes them happy.
You are a very sad individual. "
luckyone wrote on Jul 12, 2008 11:54 AM:
roudy russ wrote on Jul 12, 2008 12:07 PM:
Doug McCratch wrote on Jul 12, 2008 12:29 PM:
lurkertom wrote on Jul 12, 2008 12:44 PM:
TwentySomething wrote on Jul 12, 2008 12:46 PM:
In response to Good Grief: I think you missed his point. There is loving monogamous romance, then there is graphic sex. My close friends are in a loving romantic relationship, but I would NOT want to know the intimate details of that romance. That does cross the line into porn. "
Ms. Z wrote on Jul 12, 2008 12:58 PM:
Good Grief wrote on Jul 12, 2008 1:25 PM:
The article does not INCLUDE graphic sex. In fact, most of the article is not ABOUT graphic sex. It's about writing.
Calling the author trash is beyond rude and is extremely hypocritical, considering the person throwing the word around is disgusting enough to accuse someone of being trash without knowing them.
How do we know the author doesn't give the proceeds of her books to charity? That she doesn't volunteer her time at nursing homes. She became an EMT and served in the Armed Forces -- yet, she is trash for writing about relationships that don't stop at the bedroom door?
What a nice welcome to Longview for her. "
Good Grief wrote on Jul 12, 2008 2:34 PM:
TDN is not "promoting pornography," for two reasons:
A: Romance is not pornography. Pornography exists for the sole purpose of titillation - there is no story, no plot. Romance is all about the story -- many romances contain no sex at all. There are those that do not stop the romance at the bedroom door, but the story still exists outside of the bedroom. The plots are not about sex, but about the romance, the characters, and the external plot, just like any fiction novel.
B: The newspaper is doing a story on an author...not promoting the content of the books. If Stephen King were the author in question, would anyone say that the newspaper was promoting violence and gore? Not hardly. So how is it that they are promoting "pornography?"
And if Stephen King were the author in question? No one would say a thing against it, because for some reason, in this society, it's okay to do stories about violence and gore, but sex -- something we ALL do to procreate? Taboo!
So yep, keep those small-minded, judgemental attitudes and let your kids see the stories about meth-heads, murder, and gang activity, but heaven forbid they learn that people in the real world have sex responsibly or that people in the real world make something of themselves by writing books about relationships. "
nashjar wrote on Jul 12, 2008 3:20 PM:
I think that many write what interests them, and I can certainly see the influences shows such as Alias, Star Trek, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer have had on Ms. Ione's imagination. Her stories strike a chord with me, and will keep me coming back for more.
I've only recently discovered her work, but have already read several of her books, and bought more. I liked Pleasure Unbound so much that in addition to my own copy, I bought four more to give to friends I think will enjoy it.
And I should add that as someone who has also lost her home to a hurricane (Hurricane Opal), it is heartening to see another survivor persevere and find strength from adversity, succeeding in her chosen field and in life without letting the tragedy she has lived through impede her goals.
Thank you, TDN, for a wonderful and inspiring article! "
MOLE wrote on Jul 12, 2008 4:39 PM:
Louie wrote on Jul 12, 2008 6:45 PM:
I am also grateful for a break from metal thieves, child beatings, drunk drivers and meth addicts. "
honeybear_f wrote on Jul 12, 2008 10:14 PM:
I, for one, can truthfully say, it isn't easy to write a romance novel and to be published is a great achievement, in and of itself. I have never lost everthing that I own and I don't personally know what that feels like. I also think it is heartening to see a survivor persevere and find strength from adversity. I have just recently discovered this author and I am NOT ashamed to talk about her or her books to the people I know.
To call someone that one has never met "trash" just because one doesn't like their style of writing isn't fair in my book.
Parents need to censor their children's reading matter and rightly so. I am an adult and I don't need someone to tell me what I can or can't read.
Larissa is from my Birth state and I for one would be proud and honored, if I had a gracious Lady such as she for a friend.
If Washington doesn't want to claim her, this Oregonian is more than happy to.
Thank you, TDN, for a wonderful and inspiring article! " "
marinemom wrote on Jul 12, 2008 10:30 PM:
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