Guest Post & Giveaway: Skye Warren - TRUST IN ME

Behind the Scenes of a Book Trailer

by Skye Warren

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD CIRCA TEN YEARS AGO – SUNSET

The backyard of a dilapidated house. Sparse and cheerless.

MIA, as a young girl, loiters on an old tire, wary. TYLER approaches, friendly.

[Cut to Director’s Script]

Hi there! I’m here to talk about my dark erotica release, Trust in Me, and give you a behind the scenes look at how I created the book trailer for Trust in Me. But first, you should know a little bit about what we’re creating a trailer for, so here’s the blurb:

Can love be found between a whore and a knight in tarnished armor?

Mia longs for the daily torture to end, but one last task keeps her holding on. In a betrayal of the crime lord who pulled her from the gutter, she’ll free the shipment of human cargo, and if she’s lucky, die in the process. The alternative is unfathomable, even to a woman well-versed in erotic torture. But luck abandons her yet again when she meets the security expert in charge of the shipment and finds herself face to face with her childhood crush. The man she once begged for help. The man who failed her.

Tyler Martinez is an undercover FBI agent with one chance to right the wrongs of his past. Thrust deep into the seedy world of human trafficking, he must put aside his guilt over abandoning Mia all those years ago in order to save her now.

Someone’s pulling the strings in this sadistic play on trust, but Tyler and Mia may not live long enough to see the curtain fall. Trust in Me is a story of erotic pain and incipient romance, spiraling ever faster toward betrayal or redemption.

WARNING:
This book contains explicit scenes of dubious consent, graphic violence and sex. It also depicts abuse and captivity situations. Not appropriate for anyone uncomfortable with these situations or anyone under the age of eighteen. This is a work of fiction.

So, the first thing I did was write the script for my trailer. The book opens when our heroine, Mia, is a grown woman living under the control of a crime lord. Then she meets her old childhood crush. But for the trailer, I decided to actually start with her as a child, because I thought that would be visually striking, so here’s the script:

A little girl begs for help

He can't protect her from her own father

TEN YEARS LATER

Mia survived...a whore

Tortured daily by a madman

She longs for the sweet release of death

First she must free the human cargo about to be sold into bondage

Her last chance for redemption

She never expected to see him again

He's working undercover

He wants her

He can't trust her

But to get them out alive, he'll have to do the unthinkable

The next thing I did was search for images that would match my characters and the script. I found some real gems, like this one of a little girl and a young man that I thought perfectly matched the image of a world-weary girl and a somewhat helpless young man.

Then there was this one, which I was perfect for the line about being tortured daily at the hands of a madman:

Then it came time to find our hero, Tyler Martinez. He comes in as a security specialist working on behalf of the crime lord. Basically, a shady guy. Although Mia soon learns that he’s undercover on behalf of the FBI and it’s all an act. So I’m looking for a good, sexy guy, except what is the opposite of “cleans up nice”? Messes up good? ;-)

 

I ended up selecting eight pictures to use, and then I went in search of music. This part was a little tricky for me, as I wasn’t really sure how that worked. With pictures I could use search terms and very quickly scan through hundreds of pictures. Sound isn’t like that. There don’t seem to be as many places to find it, either free or paid, and there’s not much in the way of search.

Thankfully, I was able to find Kevin MacLoad’s website because his music is used in Inez Kelley’s Sweet as Sin book trailer, which I loved. I picked out a few of my favorites and listened to them over and over and over again until I found the one with the right amount of suspense, danger and eroticism.

So, take a look at my trailer and see how it all came together:

TRUST IN ME 
by Skye Warren

EXCERPT

Carlos looked down at me from his seat with a half-smile. The guy next to him was speaking in low, urgent tones, but I had his attention.

Other whores might try coy smiles or a flash of cleavage, but if you really knew El Jefe—and, unfortunately, I did—then you knew all you had to do was drop to his feet. I knew what he wanted and how he liked it, knowledge born of years of training. As long as I behaved, he wouldn’t kill me. I craved the release of death, but I was too well trained to earn it.

I reached his leather shoes and waited. The same Italian leather shoes that had kicked me only recently, but they weren’t a danger to me now. Carlos didn’t like to get too messy when he had guests. Even though I didn’t like performing, I could be glad this new guy was around today. Then again, I’d probably have to service him next.

Carlos unzipped his pants.

The guy sucked in a quiet breath, as if we’d shocked him.

That wouldn’t stop Carlos. He wasn’t an exhibitionist. He was a sadist, and the only thing better than causing someone physical pain was causing him emotional discomfort. Every pinch was designed to humiliate, every blow to subjugate. You’re not worthy, they said, and I lapped up every blow to my shrunken ego like the masochist I’d learned to be.

Buy it now: http://skyewarren.com/books/trust-in-me/

GIVEAWAY

Skye Warren is giving away a copy of Trust in Me to a commenter from each stop in the blog tour. In addition, every comment along the way enters you in the drawing for a $20 Amazon gift certificate. What do you think – does the video match what you expected from the blurb? Were there any surprises or does the medium of video provide a different perspective?

To Enter:

Answer Skye's question(s) from her guest post and leave your email address.