Getting to Know R. Paul Sardanas

To get us started can you tell us a little about what you are working on or have coming out?

My novel “The Order of the Golden Rose” came out in July—one of the first three releases for the new m/f branch of MLR, Passion in Print Press. It is the first in the Siobhan Bishop Erotic Underworld Series. I’ve just completed the second book in the series, “The Blood Jaguar”, which is scheduled for a December release.

What makes a book great in your eyes?

A great book must go deep into the emotions of the reader. In some way, when they reach the end and put it down, a great book will have touched something important in them.

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

I have a strong background in classical poetry and literature, but I also absolutely love “pulp” fiction. My writing hero when I was a young man was the Nobel Prize winning author Yukio Mishima, who in addition to brilliant work that illuminated the human psyche, also wrote (and even acted in) “B” movie detective flicks in Japan.

Name one thing readers would be surprised to know about you.

Probably the most surprising fact of my life is that when I was growing up in the 1970’s, my family was homeless. I have only an Eighth Grade formal education, and beyond that am self-taught. Given that some of my writing has appeared in University circles, and my nickname among academic readers is “Professor”…people are often shocked that I walked out of the conventional halls of learning in grade school.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I have lived in vibrant urban areas, like Boston and San Diego, and also very natural, undeveloped forest or ocean locales. I love both, as they excite my mind on the one hand, and my instincts on the other. Right now I am very happy where I live, on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Nature is very powerful here, and art, culture and literature are always thriving in interesting ways.

What authors are on your virtual or literal keeper shelf?

The above mentioned Yukio Mishima of course, as well as William Blake (who my character Richard Blake in “The Order of the Golden Rose” is named after), the poets Charles Baudelaire and T.S. Eliot—writers James Joyce and Kazuo Ishiguro. Living writers I consider my mentors (and who I am honored to consider friends and colleagues), are Bruce Boston and Don McGregor.

If someone hasn't read any of your work, what book would you recommend that they start with and why?

“The Order of the Golden Rose” is a good place to start. It embodies both sides of my writing personality, being both an intense erotic adventure, and an exploration of the history of mysticism—with a great classic lurking in the background, the dangerously sexy nineteenth century opera “Pagliacci”.

If there was a soundtrack to your latest novel, what genre/songs would be included?

It would be a wild balance of classical and modern. Opera music juxtaposed with pounding techno, with rock riffs that seque into Bach, Mozart or Vivaldi.


Which of your characters would you most likely fall for if they were real?

Siobhan Bishop, the sensual, nature-loving, intensely intelligent book expert from the “Erotic Underworld” series. I confess to occasional moments of jealousy when I write scenes of her with her lover, Professor Richard Blake.


Besides the bedroom, what's the sexiest part of your home in your opinion and why?

Any part of the home can be sexy. Passion is enhanced by the qualities of any space created together by a couple.


What are you working on now?

I will soon be working on finish edits for the second book in the “Erotic Underworld” series for PIP Press, “The Blood Jaguar”. I have also begun work on the third in the series, called “The Garden of Lilith”, and also a collaborative erotic novel with Tisha Garcia, called “Torera”, which chronicles the life of a woman bullfighter.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I felt driven to write from an early age. In my last year in formal school, I was doing the assignments for the class so fast that my teacher could barely believe it, and I started writing a novel in class at the same time (I was thirteen). My teacher, who I will always be grateful to, told me to forget the regular assignments and work exclusively on the novel. From that day on, I’ve been a writer.

What inspired you to write your first book?

That first book at age thirteen (which was a mess, I had yet to learn how to plot) was inspired by epics like the Norse Myths. My first book of poetry (one of thirteen now in print), came out of a desire to explore the complexities of mind, heart, soul and society in our modern world. My first serious adult novel was inspired by a wish to attempt to capture transcendent (and even uncontrollable) passions using the medium of words.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I have tried to use the techniques of “serious literature” in my “pulp fiction”, with the basic idea that readers are amazingly intelligent, and will appreciate the effort to craft a story that excites them at a primal level, but also stimulates their minds. So my style is a hybrid in that way. Every reader is brilliant, and should be given gifts of writing that celebrate that brilliance.

How did you come up with the title?

“The Order of the Golden Rose” came about because it is a tale centered around a mystical secret society. I used some real history as a template, modeling my fictional Order after the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which boasted literary members like William Butler Yeats.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

No overt message, it is meant to be a fun and stimulating book. But between the lines throughout the story is the message that erotic love is far more than an experience for the body—it can (and should) be a vibrant celebration of the soul as well.

How much of the book is realistic?

I have liberally mixed the real and the created in the book. A key part of the plot involves the Emerald Necklace chain of forested parks around Boston, and they are real. Though the mystical history I’ve layered onto them is my own creation. Most of the occult information I’ve put in the book is rooted in history, from the alchemists on through the mystical societies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. “Pagliacci” is a real opera of course, though I have added some pretty wild elements to its history.

Where can readers find you on the web?

My book is available on www.amazon.com as well as www.passioninprint.com, and my website is www.rpaulsardanas.com

where readers can find excerpts from my novels, as well as poetry and art.

Anything else you would like to add?

Thanks for this opportunity to talk about my writing and creative life. I love contact and feedback from readers. Write to me any time at r.paul@rpaulsardanas.com, and I will happily respond.

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Here is the blurb for “The Order of the Golden Rose” from PIP Press.

In a stunning tale set against the rich urban landscape of modern-day Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, occult book authority Siobhan Bishop uncovers a century-old secret society of sexual mystics. A rare edition detailing the dark, sensual practices within the Order of the Golden Rose has surfaced. On her quest for answers, Siobhan encounters charismatic Harvard professor Richard Blake, and passion ignites, plunging Siobhan into Richard's circle of hidden knowledge and transcendent eroticism. But does love stand a chance amidst the twisted obsessions of Richard's scorned lover, Olivia Dorian? Having tasted the sexually charged magic of the Order of the Golden Rose, Olivia will not be satisfied until she possesses all of the perilous knowledge of the erotic mystics--- no matter who is destroyed in the process.