Authors To Watch: S.P. Aruna, author of 'Girl Within Girl'

Half French, half Khmer (Cambodian), I'm a woman whose head is filled with fantasies and intriguing stories, and who wants to share them with others.

S.P. Aruna’s latest book is the erotic thriller, Girl Within Girl: An Erotic Thriller: Book 1: Unraveling.

Visit the author on Facebook.

Title: Girl Within Girl: An Erotic Thriller (Book 1: Unraveling)
Author: S.P. Aruna
Publisher: BookBaby
Pages: 170
Genre: Erotic Thriller

Katrina is never alone. She is bound to others inside her, tighter than any Siamese twins could ever be: Cherry, the freewheeling photojournalist, Anisa, the covert spy-assassin, and others as yet unknown, all sharing her body and mind as she goes about her work in a psychiatric hospital. But she is starting to unravel, and her sole hope is the handsome Dr. Sean Paisley, the only one who can make her whole again.

Girl Within Girl is a dark erotic thriller that wanders through a sensual maze of mind control and torture.

For More Information

• Girl Within Girl is available at Amazon.
• Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm half French, half Khmer (Cambodian), a woman whose head is filled with fantasies and intriguing stories, and who wants to share them with others. I live on a one acre patch of land in a nice green house in the countryside of Kampot town, not far from the sea, with my husband and three cats.

When did you begin writing?

I've always kept a diary, but when it comes to commercial writing, I started only last year, so I'm without a doubt a newbie to the whole phenomenon of creating fiction.

Describe your writing process. Do you plot or write by the seat of your pants? When and where do you write?

I reflect on my story when I'm relaxed, either with a cup of tea or anisette, depending on the time of day, which is either early morning or late evening, but never in the middle of the day. So while I don't work out the plot in detail beforehand, I don't really write by the seat of my pants. It's more of a harmonic blend of plotting and dreaming.

Can you tell us about your most recent release?

My story is about a young woman with a split personality. Girl Within Girl was the first thing that came into my head, and Book One: Unraveling, is the first of the series. The book is dark erotica, yet a thriller at the same time, and the story weaves in and out of three lives of the same woman, each one full of unknown consequences, keeping the reader on edge as to what is going to happen next. In short, there is an entertainment element above and beyond the sex scenes in glamorous situations - there is a strong plot, something not easy to find in erotica novels.

Each of us has multiple sides to our personality. On top of that, many people have fantasies of being someone else and of doing things that go outside the boundaries of our day-to-day existence. For Katrina Novak, she can accomplish these things through her alter-egos of Cherry Cummins, the freelance photojournalist who travels to exotic places and meets many famous people, and Anisa Grant, a kick-ass spy assassin who succeeds in her missions through cold calculation and ruthless execution.

How did you get the idea for the book?

The story was actually inspired by a true story as revealed in the book The Control of Candy Jones. Candy was a famous model (one of the most popular pin-up girls during World War II, second only to Betty Grable), who became a hypno-programmed spy for the CIA without her knowledge. She undertook various missions under the personality of Arlene Grant, whose exploits Candy herself could not remember without being re-hypnotized. This form of mind control, popularized by another book and the two films made from it, The Manchurian Candidate, had been carried out on many people, and you can find a host of books written by victims of mind control experimentation, whereby split personalities were induced by trauma (i.e. torture) and hypnosis so the subjects could become ideal spies who could not reveal secrets during "enhanced interrogation."

Of all your characters, which one is your favorite? Why?

Oh dear, that is a difficult question, but if I have to choose I would say Anisa. She's cool under pressure and easily overcomes her adversaries with cunning and force. And although she's a tough nut, she's lonely and yearning to be loved like the rest of us.

What was the most challenging aspect of writing your book?

It's written in the first person, so I have to get into the heads of all three women, which means the writing style, dialogue, and vocabulary have to be unique for each woman. I tried to dedicate individual chapters to only one of them, but some situations required the presence of more than one of Katrina's alter egos in the same chapter.

Which authors have inspired your writing?

I enjoy reading a wide range of works by different authors, but since I am currently writing erotica, people like Anais Nin, Emmanuelle Arsan, and Sylvia Day drive me to write a higher quality of sexy fiction.

What projects are you currently working on?

Not much of a surprise here - it's Book Two of the series, Healing. That's where we'll find out how Katrina Novak became multiple personalities. Everything is revealed through the treatment of the handsome Dr. Paisley, who is trying to make her whole again.

Since your book is an erotic novel, can you tell us about any love interests?

Actually, this element of the book was very entertaining to write, since our male hero, a young handsome psychiatrist, has his hands full dealing with the competition for his attention between all three female personalities, and he has to control the inevitable jealousy that arises. Sometimes, the personalities emerge while making love to another, creating really awkward but amusing, scenes.