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Lana Kortchik Interview

3/10/2016

The guest author for today on Interviews by Dante is Lana Kortchik. She is a writer of Historical Romance. Her latest work is Savaged Lands, a story of war and betrayal, of love and forgiveness.

Please tell us a little about yourself.
I grew up in Russia when it was still the Soviet Union and moved to Australia with my mum when I was 16. I live in Sydney with my husband and write historical fiction. My first novel, Savaged Lands, has just been published by Endeavour Press and is available on Amazon.

Tell us about your latest book.
Savaged Lands is a story of war and betrayal, of love and forgiveness. It is September 1941 and Hitler’s Army Group South has occupied Kiev. A young Soviet girl named Natasha falls in love with Mark, a Hungarian soldier of Russian descent. Trapped on opposing sides of a brutal conflict, they are forced to keep secrets from everyone they love. With everything stacked against them and nothing to hope for, the two characters are compelled to fight for their love and their very survival.

What do you have coming out in the future?
I am working on a novel about a woman who has lost her memory due to an accident. She returns home from hospital to discover dark secrets about herself, her husband and her relationships with others. It’s very different from anything I’ve written before and I am really enjoying it so far.

Is your book a stand-alone or a series?
It’s a stand-alone novel at the moment, although I might consider writing a sequel in the future. Or maybe even a prequel, as one of the characters comes from very interesting background and I would love to explore it further.

Why romance and what makes your particular brand of romance special?
I write historical romance. For me, the setting is as important as interactions between the two characters. Because of the setting characters find themselves in the situation they are in. It affects their relationship and the way they relate to each other. It is historical background that makes their romance fascinating.

Is romance the only genre that you write in or do you write in other genres? Most of my short stories are historical fiction, some of them historical romance. But I’m trying something completely different with my current work in progress, which is a suspense novel.

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Do you ever base your characters on real people in your life?
Absolutely! Everyone I meet can end up in my book. I’ve been known to borrow particular features, names, even whole personalities. I’m still waiting for someone to recognize him or herself in my book though.

What authors inspire your writing?
My favorite author of all times is Alexandre Dumas. I love the adventure, the intrigue, the camaraderie of Dumas novels. The first time I read The Three Musketeers, I was seven and completely hooked. It was the start of my love affair with historical fiction. Since then I have read everything by Dumas I could get my hands on.

How have your real life experiences influenced your writing?
I lived in Kiev as a child, and so, when it came to choosing a setting for my first novel, it had to be Ukraine. Having lived in the city, researching Kiev during the occupation and the hardships the Kievan population faced every day was a very intense experience. And I wanted to write about the war because I grew up listening to war stories. My grandparents have lived through the period and I think World War II is close to any Russian’s heart.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?
When I’m not writing, I’m thinking about writing or talking about writing with my friends. I also try to read as much as possible, as I find it helps with my writing. I constantly read authors whose style I admire and re-read my favorite books. Most of my free time I spend on the beach, enjoying the nice Sydney weather.

What is your absolute favorite book or books and why is it special to you?
The Count of Monte-Cristo has been my favorite book for the last twenty years. I think the character development in that book is astonishing. Monte-Cristo is a happy, carefree sailor who loses everything only to reinvent himself as an evil genius in possession of immense power and fortune. He is hell bent on revenge and this desire takes over his whole existence until there’s nothing left. He thinks he can play with destinies of others just like his own destiny was once played with but he is wrong. Although the prevalent theme of the Count of Monte-Cristo is revenge, ultimately the book is about forgiveness.

Have you won any awards for your writing?
One of my short stories set in Napoleonic period was the winner of Historical Novel Society Autumn Short Fiction Competition 2012. And I was the runner-up of 2013 defenestrationism.net Short Story Contest.

What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?
The hardest part is to treat writing as any other job. To sit down and write no matter what, whether you feel like it or not, whether you are inspired or not.
Which of your characters is your favorite and why? My favorite character in my novel is a Hungarian soldier in Nazi-occupied Kiev. He’s not just any soldier but a soldier of Russian descent. I like him the most because of the way he handles many challenges he faces. Having grown up in a Russian family and now fighting on Hitler’s side and seeing Hitler’s atrocities on Soviet soil firsthand must be incredibly difficult for him. When he meets and falls in love with a Soviet girl called Natasha, he wants to do everything possible to protect her but it turns out that he himself needs protection.

What is your preferred writing environment?
I love writing at home where there are no interruptions. When I write, I turn off my phone and only check my messages when I finish a chapter. I also enjoy writing outside, in a quiet place, preferably overlooking the ocean. I carry a notepad with me everywhere I go because you never know when an idea might strike.

Do you have a careful plan when plotting your stories or do you just go with the flow?
Before I started writing my book, I planned out every chapter and prepared a detailed outline. But when I was actually working on it, the characters seemed to take on a life of their own. The end result was very different from what I had planned originally.

When did you know you truly wanted to give writing a shot?
I first started writing at University. Just an occasional poem or short story here and there. I never showed my work to anyone but enjoyed it very much. After I graduated, I stopped writing until about six years ago when I went back to Uni to do my history degree. One of my lecturers mentioned that I had a nice writing style and I thought, why not give it a go and this time actually try to get something published? I’ve been writing ever since.

What is your favorite quote?
‘In every soldier’s knapsack is a marshal’s baton’ Napoleon Bonaparte

Do you have any advice for other writers and what is it?
Start small, write a few short stories and get them published. Seeing your work out there is a great confidence boost for any writer. Duotrope is a great resource that lists thousands of markets for short stories. Write from your heart and don’t worry about editing until later. Find as many beta readers as you can to get as much feedback on your manuscript as possible.

Wild Card Question.
As an author, what is the one question that you wish people would ask you, but no one ever has and what would your answer be to that question?
Can I buy a thousand copies of your book?
And my answer would be a thousand times YES!

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Marie Lavender Interview

2/20/2016

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The guest author for today on Interviews by Dante is Marie Lavender. She is a writer of multiple sub genres of romance and other genres of fiction. Her latest work is Second Chance Heart.

Please tell us a little about yourself.
Hello! Thank you for having me. I am a multi-genre author of 22 books. I live in the Midwest with my family and three cats. I have been writing stories since I was nine years old, and have been pursuing this crazy writing dream for a little over 25 years.

Tell us about your latest book.
Second Chance Heart is about a woman, Dana Nelson, who runs into her ex while on a business trip. He hurt her long ago, but they have quite a history. She doesn’t expect to still feel anything for him.

What do you have coming out in the future?
Well, I’m currently wrapping up edits on Upon Your Love, the third and final book of the Heiresses in Love Series. That is a Victorian romance. And I’m almost finished writing Blue Vision, a sci-fi romance, which will be the first book of the Code of Endhivar Series. I hope to have both of those released this year. I’m also working on organizing some of my backlist into combined romance anthologies, so one or more of those might come out sometime this year as well.

Is your book a stand-alone or a series?
Second Chance Heart is a stand-alone, though I have some series books on the market as well.

Why romance and what makes your particular brand of romance special?
I love romance! I just love writing about love, and I’ve always loved reading romance novels or watching romantic comedy movies. As for what makes my romance writing unique, I guess you could say that I’m not afraid to cross some lines. By that I don’t mean I write dark romance at all, but rather if there is a sensitive subject in a character’s life, I don’t sugarcoat the problem. This is who the character is, and I won’t dance around the tough issues. I guess I also like to put my characters through a lot before they get their happily ever after.

Is romance the only genre that you write in or do you write in other genres? If so what other genres do you write in?
Yes, I write in other genres. I have published in the genres of historical romance, contemporary romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romance/urban fantasy, fantasy, mystery/thriller, literary fiction and poetry. I am always trying something new. I even have time travel and dystopian works in progress.

After a wild storm forces her to take shelter in a small town inn, Dana Nelson thinks that all she has to worry about is a brief stay before she heads back to the city. She gets far more than she bargained for…

The last thing she expects is to run into an old flame, and even worse, the man who broke her heart twelve years ago. She’s sure that the only thing remaining between them is a strong attraction for another.

She can’t be more wrong…

The more time she spends with Vince Reynolds, the more she begins to believe she can trust him again. But, can she put her faith in the one man who captivates her, body and soul, or are some wounds too deep to heal?

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From where do you draw your inspiration?
I get my inspiration from life – from events in the world or the people around me. And sometimes the ideas seem to come virtually out of nowhere, even stumping me a little on their origins.

Do you ever base your characters on real people in your life?
I have once or twice, but I don’t do that intentionally. Most of the time, the character just comes out, surprising me in his or her own complexities.

What authors inspire your writing?
I have a lot of favorite authors! J.R. Ward, Chloe Neill, Kris Tualla and Nora Roberts, to name a few.

How have your real life experiences influenced your writing?
Oh, I think my experiences have figured a lot into my work. Whatever dark parts of my life occurred for a reason, and I use those emotions to make my characters and the stories real.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I love reading, spending romantic evenings with my fiancé, and I absolutely love shopping! Oh, and I also like to cook for fun.

What was your road to publishing like? Tell us about it.
Crazy! LOL. In 2002, while I was in college, I set out with the intention of writing my first historical romance novel. However, that took many years to write and polish. I always knew I wanted to publish Upon Your Return traditionally, so with that project I held out for it. Around 2010, I saw the self-publishing trend really take off and I decided to try it out as well. I published a literary fiction and poetry anthology, and then I released two more volumes after that. In 2011, when I deemed UYR finally ready for the market, after a lot of work with critique partners, I started sending the book out to literary agents and publishers. While I waited to hear back from them about my historical romance, I published many other books in different genres. After receiving numerous rejections (yes, aspiring writers, that is part of the process), I decided to go a different route with UYR. I started looking for publishers that didn’t require an agent. In August of 2012, I received my first book contract. And it was so exciting! Not too long after that, I started getting ideas for the sequels. Upon Your Return was published in February of 2013, and I have been with Solstice Publishing ever since, releasing several subsequent stories and novels.

How did you come up with the title of your book?
Second Chance Heart actually came from the premise of the book. I wanted to see if after a lot of heartache and history, happiness between two people was possible. I didn’t even know how the book would turn out until after I finished writing it.

Do you read romance or do you prefer other genres?
I mostly read contemporary romance, paranormal romance or historical romance, but I also venture outside of my comfort zone now and then. Right now, I’m reading a science fiction novel.

What is your absolute favorite book or books and why is it special to you?
I love J.R. Ward’s Dark Lover. Throw in a grumpy, centuries-old vampire and a spitfire of a human reporter and sparks really fly! Wrath is totally my book boyfriend. (Fans herself.) And I love paranormal romance of any kind, so how can you go wrong?

What celebrity would you choose to play the main character(s) in the movie rendition of your book?
For Dana, I would pick Deborah Ann Woll and for Vince, probably Taylor Kinney.

Have you joined any writer’s groups?
I have joined the RWClist on Yahoo, keeping up with their newsletters. And I am in several writing discussion groups. I am in the Poets & Writers directory. As for major writer’s organizations, I would love to join the Romance Writers of America, but I just haven’t had the chance yet.

Have you won any awards for your writing?
Yes, of course. Just recently, Second Chance Heart and A Little Magick placed in the TOP 10 on the 2015 P&E Readers' Poll. Three of my books were nominated in the TRR Readers' Choice Awards for Winter 2015. I was the poetry winner of the 2015 PnPAuthors Contest. I won the Versatile Blogger Award for 2015. I received Honorable Mention in the 2014 BTS Red Carpet Book Awards. In 2014, I was a Finalist and Runner-up in the MARSocial's Author of the Year Competition. I received Honorable mention in the January 2014 Reader's Choice Award. My blogs won the Liebster Blogger Award for 2013 and 2014. I am in the Top 10 Authors on Authors Database. And I won the Great One Liners Contest on the Directory of Published Authors a couple of years ago.

What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?
Sometimes research can be a real pain. It’s not always easy to find the answers to certain questions. And writing a love scene in a new way can be quite a challenge.

What is the easiest part of the writing process for you?
The best and easiest part is probably when I’m the midst of writing, tuning out the world around me, pen in hand, and the scene is flying onto the page. There I am fully immersed in the fictional world, the story building and the characters talking. It’s the greatest sense of freedom I’ll ever have.

Which of your characters is your favorite and why?
Fara Bellamont is still my favorite, not only because she’s the heroine of Upon Your Return, my first published historical romance novel, but also because she’s a woman out of her time. Born in Victorian France in a time where women are ‘handled’, she goes against social expectations every chance she gets. And I fully respect a woman who knows her own mind.

Who or what are your inspirations/influences?
I have to mention some authors here. Nora Roberts taught me not to hold back in my writing. Kris Tualla and Linda Lee Williams taught me many things, but most of all, that the best heroes are those closer to home. Also that a truly flawed hero is even better than a perfect one because he finds ways to adapt and make a life in this crazy world. J.R. Ward further taught me that vampires can be extremely sexy, in many ways. Chloe Neill taught me that a woman can really kick ass and have fangs! And finally, in the real world, I have to mention my fiancé. Without having his love, without truly ‘being in love’ (yes, there is a difference), I don’t think I could fully capture the idea of romance in my writing.

What is your preferred writing environment?
I can write anywhere, but I do my best writing sprawled across my bed, penning a scene in one of my journals.

How would you describe your writing style?
I tend to get in a character’s head a lot, so in rewrites and edits, I have to tone it down a bit. My humor is also somewhat sarcastic, so I think that comes out in my writing at times. And when describing a place, I try to write it as if I’m standing there experiencing it just as the character is. Beyond that, I think it’s hard for a writer to step back from their writing and see a ‘style’, so to speak. Though a reader may be a better judge.

Do you have a careful plan when plotting your stories or do you just go with the flow?
Both actually. When I first start a project, I am just going where the muse takes me. I write as many scenes as I can, but eventually I break down and do some plotting to keep focused. Then I write some more.

With many publishing routes available today, which felt the most reliable to you when it came to the many choices?
As I have dipped my toes in self-publishing and traditional publishing, obviously there are pros and cons to both sides. With self-publishing, you control all aspects of the experience – writing, finding an editor, looking for a cover artist, promoting your own work. With traditional publishing, they handle a lot of it for you, though you still may have to market your own books. It depends on your publisher. When I first started the self-publishing journey, I used Lulu.com to publish and distribute my books. They are a good source. For any recent self-published books, I simply used Amazon KDP, then used Smashwords to distribute to various sellers. I haven’t used CreateSpace yet, but I’m hearing great feedback about their system. In a way, I do like the hands-on experience of self-publishing. I even like designing my own covers or looking for great cover artists. And from the beginning, I have made my own book trailers. I’m not afraid to try a little DIY now and then. The important thing is that the book and everything associated with it is extremely professional. That creates a great-looking product, which, of course, looks more attractive to readers.

When did you know you truly wanted to give writing a shot?
I don’t think the muse gave me a choice! LOL. From childhood, I just knew I wanted to write for a living.

What is your favorite quote?
I have two. One is related to writing and one is romance themed:

"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you."
-Ray Bradbury

“A true man does not need to romance a different girl every night; a true man romances the same girl for the rest of her life.”
― Ana Alas

Do you have any advice for other writers and what is it?
Never give up. If this is indeed what you want, and you can’t imagine doing anything but writing as a career, then you can’t give up on your dream. The only one who loses by giving up is you. Two of the big things that got me to this point? Persistence and perseverance. Be brave enough to have both in order to follow your dreams.

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N.D. Jones Interview

2/10/2016

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The guest author for today on Interviews by Dante is N.D. Jones. She is a writer of Paranormal Romance. Her latest work is Of Fear and Faith is Book One in the Death and Destiny Trilogy.

Please tell us a little about yourself.
I live in Maryland with my husband and two children. I have a M.A. in Political Science, using my degree to go into education as a teacher. I taught high for many years, eventually becoming chair of the Social Studies Department. Currently, I am a professional development specialist with a local Maryland school system, working on increasing student achievement through teacher and administrator self-efficacy. I’m also pursuing my doctorate in education in Community College Leadership.

A desire to see more novels with positive, sexy, and three-dimensional African American characters as soul mates, friends, and lovers, inspired me to take on the challenge of penning such romantic reads. I like to read historical and paranormal romance novels, as well as comics and manga with action and heart. With a two-hour daily work commute, I’ve found audiobooks to be a great friend. I’ve “read” some of my favorite books while on the road.

Tell us about your latest book.
My most recent book is “Of Fear and Faith.” It’s a paranormal romance novel with shape-shifters and elemental witches. The book is the first novel in my Death and Destiny Trilogy. The blurb for the trilogy is: Every five hundred years, a fire witch and a water witch are born, destined to wage battle in the name of Mami Wata, goddess of water, and Oya, goddess of wind, fire, and lightning. Sanura is that fire witch, Assefa her were-cat familiar. They are unwilling pawns in the life and death chess game between the goddesses, but are unable to prevent what is to come – the Day of Serpents.

What do you have coming out in the future?
I just finished writing “Of Beasts and Bonds.” It’s the second installment in my Death and Destiny Trilogy. I’m going through the editing process now, making sure, in part, that I haven’t contradicted myself from book one to book two. Which, yes, I’ve found places where I definitely did not align the works as smoothly as I should have. As of now, my working back cover blurb for the new book is: Mami Wata and Oya are now free from their watery prison and ready to wage a battle five hundred years in the making. Special Agent Assefa Berber and Dr. Sanura Williams are the prophesized Cat and Fire Witch of Legend. To save the world from Mami Wata, a water goddess with a bloody thirst for power and an insatiable appetite for death and destruction, they must defeat her beasts and the Water Witch of Legend.
Assefa and Sanura are fully in love but possess only a partial mate bond. While Sanura has merged their auras, bonding Assefa’s cat spirit to her, she has yet to accept his claiming bite. Their incomplete mate bond and their new relationship are tested when Mami Wata sets her malevolent eyes on them, manipulating beasts, sacrificing humans, and creating heartache. Can their bond survive, or will they drown under the vicious tide of godly might?
In a world of mystery and magic, sometimes old bonds must be broken before new ones can be formed. Who knew that finding one’s soul mate would test bonds and unleash beasts?

Is your book a stand-alone or a series?
“Of Fear and Faith” is part of the Death and Destiny Trilogy.

Why romance and what makes your particular brand of romance special?
Honestly, I used to never read fiction, no less romance books of any genre. But a few years ago I heard Marvel was going to have Storm and Black Panther marry – an unprecedented move by the comic book company. As an African American woman and fan of X-Men’s Storm, I was intrigued enough to buy all the comics leading up to their marriage. Well, from there, I fell in love with comics with romantic relationships, especially those with African or African American characters. I’m such a nerdy fangirl that I even included a silly line or two about Storm and Black Panther in my upcoming book and made a secondary character a comic book fan.

When Marvel dissolved the marriage between Storm and Black Panther, I was so disappointed. Worse, there was no comparable comic I could turn to to get that particular enjoyment fix. That’s why fanfiction is so popular. I truly get why fans turn to writing fanfiction. For some, they want to have a certain level of power over their favorite characters, writing what they would like to see in the actual comic, book, movie, or television show.

So, for me, what makes my brand of romance special is that I write what I see as a dearth in the paranormal romance genre - African/African American love with a paranormal twist. I spend a lot of time developing the mythology of my stories, as well as the execution of the paranormal element. If I write a book with witches and shape-shifters, I think it’s important to actually show what it means to be a witch and shape-shifter. That’s one thing a reader of my books can look forward to. The paranormal is not a sidebar in my novels. It’s center stage and critical to the plot.

Is romance the only genre that you write in or do you write in other genres? If so what other genres do you write in?
As I mentioned, I write paranormal romance. I love the sexiness of a straight forward romance, but I also like a book to have a plot beyond the main couple meeting and eventually falling in love. Integrating paranormal aspects into my novels gives me a little more to work with. It forces me to be creative in a different way.

Before trust and love can take hold, grow solid roots, and blossom into a reality larger than self, fear must be conquered and faith embraced. Yet fear of an ancient prophecy, of burning magical power, and a broken heart, Sanura Williams, psychology professor, is unprepared when Special Agent Assefa Berber enters her life, hunting a preternatural serial killer. Assefa's intelligent, chocolate eyes and intoxicating aura signature stirs her fire spirit but frightens the woman.
In a world where all is not as it seems, Sanura and Assefa must battle the gods' first creations - vile predators who threaten the safety of humans. Each confrontation, each bloody clash, will bring Sanura and Assefa closer to fulfilling the prophecy of being the Fire Witch and Cat of Legend - the ones who will save humanity from the Water Witch of Legend. Death, godly magic, and physical attraction draw Sanura and Assefa to each other, but fear and faith will determine their destiny.

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Do you ever base your characters on real people in your life?
Some character or physical traits are based on real people in my life. More often than not though, I use the names of family of friends for many of my characters. In fact, the hero in my Death and Destiny Trilogy is named after my son. And I gave the hero a twin sister, naming the character after my daughter. I do that a lot, if the name works for the character I’ve developed.

What authors inspire your writing?
I’ve learned a lot from reading and enjoying books by Cynthia Eden, Mary Balogh, Lisa Kleypas, Nalini Singh, Jeannine Frost, and Kelley Armstrong. They are different types of writers, crafting romantic stories in intriguing and engaging ways. Whether paranormal, suspense, contemporary, or historical, each romantic tale by one of these writers is, in a way, inspirational to a new and struggling author.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?
When not writing, I like to watch movies, go to the theatre, and play video games. I also enjoy our family movie nights, which are great.

What was your road to publishing like? Tell us about it.
Difficult. It still is. Very few publishing companies accept unsolicited and unagented manuscripts. I sent query letters out to many ebook publishing companies. And I was turned down more times than is good for any writer’s self-esteem. But perseverance is the name of the game, as well as simply perfecting your craft. After every rejection, along with a bit of sulking, I would edit and try again. Edit and try again. Edit and try again. Yeah, you get the picture. It’s a cycle, some may call it a vicious cycle of writing and rejection.

How did you come up with the title of your book?
I’m big on themes. So when I’m pondering the title of a book, I start with the major theme(s) of the story. From there, it’s pretty easy for me to come up with an appropriate and telling title.

Do you read romance or do you prefer other genres?
I do read romance novels. Actually, I listen to more audiobooks. But they’re all romance. I read a lot of scholarly works, being in a doctoral program, so getting a chance to read or listen to a nice romantic suspense or paranormal romance novel is a great treat for me.

Issa, tribal chieftain and warrior, dies trying to protect his family and tribesmen from slave traders but is given a second chance at life as an angel. Having lost his home, daughters, and life by forces beyond his control, Issa, a Guardian Angel for four centuries, has yet to come to terms with this “failure.” So when a rogue demon attacks and almost kills his wife, Serwa, Issa goes on the hunt.
Serwa knows the pain of loss, the burn of fire, the heat of love. She is a Healer Angel, bound to help, to heal, to protect. And the person she wants most to heal is Issa, her husband, her soul mate, her warrior. But what is a woman to do when a husband's guilt and fury challenge the very foundation of their marriage?

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What is your absolute favorite book or books and why is it special to you?
At heart, I’m a student of Political Science and Black Studies. I have degrees in both subjects. Thus, I read and have read tons of non-fiction books on American Government and African American history. When I was a teacher, I taught American Government and African American History to African American students who knew far too little about both subjects. Carter G. Woodson’s The Mis-Education of the Negro and Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X are two of my favorite books

What celebrity would you chose to play the main character(s) in the movie rendition of your book?
Such a great question. And wouldn’t it be great if someone, maybe Spike Lee, wanted to have my book made into a movie? Okay, a girl can dream. And while I’m dreaming, Oprah Winfrey’s network would be a great place for my book turned television movie. Anyway, who would I chose for my hero, Assefa Berber? David Oyelowo or Lance Gross. For my heroine, Sanura Williams, it would be Adepero Oduye.

What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?
The hardest part of the writing process is the temptation to rush or shortchange a scene because I’m feeling tired or being lazy. Certain scenes, love and action scenes, for example, take a lot out of me. I know they must be written well, hitting all the emotions I’m going for and hope the reader will feel when they read the scene. For me, that takes so much more effort than writing any kind of dialogue heavy scene. I’m slow, when it comes to love and action scenes. But they are my favorite and, when done properly, turn out to be among my favorite in the book. Grit is necessary when I don’t feel like giving each scene my all.

How would you describe your writing style?
I’m a linear thinker, so I write the same way. I don’t skip a scene I don’t feel like writing and come back to it later. I write in the order in which each scene takes place. In fact, I think in terms of sections of chapters. Because I’m a detailed person, taking a chapter section by section, I’m able to manage my writing and my sanity. I set short writing goals for myself. If I finish a section, then I’m happy because I accomplished my goal. If I view my novel from a big picture perspective mainly, then I’m more focused on how much is left to write instead of how much I’ve already written.

Do you have a careful plan when plotting your stories or do you just go with the flow?
I can neither imagine planning an entire work in advance, nor can I envision writing without a basic outline. I always begin with a big idea or a major plot point I want to explore. The characters come soon afterward. Normally, I know how I want the story to end and several key moments I want to include. Everything else develops as I progress through. the story.

What is your favorite quote?
“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.” Octavia Butler

This is a great inspirational quote from Ms. Butler, especially for a new writer. And it is so darn true. Persistence, while necessary, is not easy, which Octavia Butler well understood. Which made her so great at her craft.

Zora James knows the pain of loss, the lick of flames, the passion of purpose. But she's never known the heat of love. Yet when she meets Alastar, the sexy Ranger with a hero complex, Zora knows her life will never be the same. Alastar Adams knows the sting of rejection. But he's never known the healing heat of love, the power of unexpected happiness. Yet when he meets Zora, the elegant law student with the soul of an angel, Alastar knows his life will never be the same. For Zora and Alastar, however, the hunt for love proves to be a creature of mists and shadows. For Alastar Adams is no mere man.
In a world where fear often trumps trust, his secret just might tear them apart. Or perhaps it will be Zora's divine fate that will doom them to hopelessness. Whoever said love at first sight means forever? Certainly not the demon assassin sent to destroy one by murdering the other. Note: This book contains adult language used as profanity.

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Michele Wesley Interview

1/20/2016

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The guest author for today on Interviews by Dante is Michele Wesley. She is a writer of Paranormal Romance. Her latest work Anger and Arrogance is book three in the Smoke and Fire Series. It is set to release on January 30th.

Please tell us a little about yourself.
Engaged, no children, and I actually enjoy writing so much that I never seem to have enough time to write. Eldest of seven and love it because my sibling actually listen to me most of the time.

My Bio:
Michele Wesley was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and grew up on Elm Hall Sugarcane Plantation just out-side the small Cajun town of Napoleonville, Louisiana. She is a graduate of Northwestern State University, LA and currently reside in Franklin, VA. Michele proudly served on active duty in the military with deployments to Iraq and Kuwait. After completing her military service, she worked as a Department of Defense Contractor for two Fortune 500 companies in Baghdad, Iraq, Kuwait, and Bagram, Afghanistan. She has had the opportunity to travel the world, visiting and touring over twenty different countries.

Tell us about your latest book.
My latest book, Anger & Arrogance, is set to release in January 30, 2016. It is the third book of my Smoke & Fire Series, Adult Paranormal Romance. The book, Anger & Arrogance, contains danger, violence, and intrigue, but it also contains drama and lots of arguing between the two main characters that is sure to keep readers laughing and interested. The Paranormal sparks of Anger and Arrogance will keep readers guessing and amazed.
Also out December 21, 2015 is my Prequel Novelette, Sparks. Sparks is a Novelette that precedes my first book Smoke & Fire.

What do you have coming out in the future?
Aside from the first two released books of the Smoke & Fire Series, I have also completed five additional books in the Series. I have completed Book #1 of my Young Adult Dystopian Trilogy called Shackles of Unrest, three Erotica Novellas, and have nearly completed a Horror novel.

Is your book a stand-alone or a series?
My Paranormal books are of a series, but I write them so that they can also be stand alone and read in any order.

Why romance and what makes your particular brand of romance special?
Paranormal romance can be sweet, spicy, erotic, and sexy. You can take it in any direction with any and every mix of character you can think of. I try to give my readers romance and sex. Not bad sex either, good nail-breaking, talk dirty, grab the sheets, and a hand full of hair kind of sex. Some of my romances will also be multicultural and interracial. A lot of traditional publishers and agents are unwilling to represent multicultural or interracial romance of any kind, but what they don’t seem to realize is that there is a big market for it. There are readers that are interested in reading about relationships that maybe similar to theirs or some readers may simply want to read about something different. I am inspired to introduce readers to the something different they may be hoping for and probably wasn’t expecting.

Is romance the only genre that you write in or do you write in other genres? If so what other genres do you write in?
I love writing romance, but I also write Young Adult, and Horror.

After a three-year nightmare relationship; Alana is convinced she will never find love and lets her father talk her into marrying a man she’s never met. She agreed to it, but it doesn’t mean she has to like it; Alana’s immediate distaste for her new husband has her determined to make his life a living hell. She maintains her combative stance while trying to ward off his arrogant appeal.

Devin admits he’s met his match as his new wife proves to be a hand-full. Their arguments become legendary battles as he struggle to open his mind to her. Time and a whole lot of healing are the remedies that will allow him to peel away scabs from Alana's past to reveal the beauty she keeps hidden.

Will the arguing couple call a truce and check their rearview before a lurking monster catches them off guard?

New Release
for January 2016

From where do you draw your inspiration?
Reading a lot of Paranormal Romance, I started to see the same characters and scenarios over and over. I wanted to change up the game and push readers to allow themselves to think outside the box that has been built around our Paranormal Romance novels. The main character and heroine in Smoke & Fire is a black female, not a typical character in Paranormal Romance novels. I have also introduced new types of paranormal power and abilities and twist and scenes that will keep the readers turning the pages.

Do you ever base your characters on real people in your life?
I don’t base my character on a specific person, but I do built characters from bits of people in my life including myself.

What authors inspire your writing?
My paranormal romance is inspired by L. A. Banks and Laurell K. Hamilton.
My young adult series were inspired by today’s real world events. This book gives us a serious reality check, touching on subjects sparked from our nation’s current state of unrest. It serves to remind us of how far we have fallen and how much further we can fall down the rabbit hole of despair and destruction of ourselves and our nation. It gives us a glimpse of what can happen to us and our nation years from now if we don't reign in the hate and embrace our compassion and goodness.

How have your real life experiences influenced your writing?
I have had the privilege of leading quite an exciting life so far. From the military to deployments in Iraq and Kuwait to working as a contractor for the Dept. of Defense with deployment in Afghanistan. I have travel all across the globe and seen and experienced life among many different cultures. I have enjoy trips and traveled to places from my bucket list: like visiting the pyramids of Egypt and walking inside the Great Pyramid to relaxing on a beach in the Maldives or Jamaica to being on Safari in Kenya.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I work a full-time day job as a government employee. Since I can’t yet afford to hire someone to do the marketing for my books or run my website and social media accounts: I do it all on my own (for now.)

What was your road to publishing like?
Tell us about it. Horrible. I didn’t know much about publishing at the time and went with a publisher that was only interested and taking as much money from me as possible versus actually trying to get a good quality book from me. I signed a two-book deal with that publishing company and unfortunately, I will follow through with what I started. I am using amazon to self-publish the rest of my paranormal books. I have learned how to format my own books and am excited to keep learning as much as I can about the industry and about improving my writing skills.

How did you come up with the title of your book?
I based the title of the characters who were mostly all fire and anger.

Face of an Angel...mind of a Death Warrior
Agent Sori Knight, codename 'Smoke,' curses like a sailor and leave bodies at every turn, but somehow manages to steal hearts and save the good guys. The headstrong agent is forced to unleash her inner-monster when an assignment leads to the most elusive and deadly criminal she has ever had to hunt.

Breathtakingly Sexy...mind kissed by Rage
Agent Mycale Phillips' attraction to Sori is instantaneous. He thinks he may be in over his head when partnered with her but soon learns that a touch of evil is necessary if you want to survive in a world of Smoke & Fire!

Will secret abilities they are determined to hide be enough to pull them from death's grip?

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Do you read romance or do you prefer other genres?
I read all types of romance: Western, Sweet, traditional, erotica…I also love to read paranormal, dystopian, drama, and science fiction.

What is your absolute favorite book or books and why is it special to you?
My all-time favorites is A Farewell to Arms by Earnest Hemingway. This book was sad, serious, interesting, but also had sprinkles of funny. This book and the books below are all books I can pick up anytime and read them over and over and over.
Some of my other Favorites:
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
The Edge of Dawn by Beverly Jenkins
God Don’t Like Ugly by Mary Monroe
Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen
The Testament by John Grisham

Have you won any awards for your writing?
No, but just seeing and knowing that people are buying my books is all the award I will ever need.

What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?
Editing and Marketing.

What is the easiest part of the writing process for you?
Writing and creating the first draft.

Which of your characters is your favorite and why?
Smoke, from my first Paranormal Romance novel Smoke & Fire; I believe she is most like me.

Who or what are your inspirations/influences?
I have always been inspired by books. My favorite books inspire me to keep writing to hopefully gain readers that will love one of my books as much as I love my favorite books.

Mesmerizing beauty…mind kissed by death
Agent Kris “Yala” Lawrence finds herself in the middle of a sadistic magic show. Standing in the Medical Examiner’s office, the last thing she expects to see is a human torso in a glass encased box that the ME claims is still alive. Come Again?! She learns the box is one of three-pieces and agrees to follow instructions left by the mad magician if it means receiving and reconnecting the rest of the victim. Usually a shooter and not an investigator, Yala uses her chameleon-like disguise abilities to track the suspect.

Smothering good looks…melt your senses deadly
Agent Kevin “Kay” Nazari request to be partnered with Yala after a chance meet leaves him yearning to see her again. Trying to keep a human alive when they are arriving in parts is as impossible as it sounds and Kevin learns the true meaning of Body Box as he help track a killer hell bent on sending them victims in parts.

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What is your preferred writing environment?
First: Plush couch, glass of wine, cheese, & fireplace. Second: Patio on a nice sunny day with a light breeze, under an umbrella. Third: Any nice blue breezy beach under an umbrella.

How would you describe your writing style?
Free writing. I free write for hours at a time without corrections. I often start at any point within the book, beginning, middle, or end.

Do you have a careful plan when plotting your stories or do you just go with the flow?
I just go with the flow.

With many publishing routes available today, which felt the most reliable to you when it came to the many choices?
Self-publishing seemed the best route to take to test the waters and cut my teeth. However, I’d like to try traditional publishing for my young adult books.

When did you know you truly wanted to give writing a shot?
When I found myself for the first time in 23 years unemployed. I had always wanted to write, but never had the time. So, when I finally had the time I took advantage of it, writing more than six complete, unedited novels, and starting several promising others.

Do you have any advice for other writers and what is it?
Don’t be afraid to give writing a shot, especially if writing is what’s in your heart. If you find yourself thinking of and writing more than you do anything else, don’t stop writing. Try to write something every day, even if it’s just a page. Make time to do what you love. Educate yourself about every aspect of the writing world. Give your writing time to grab the market, don’t force it and don’t rush it.

Wild Card Question.
As an author, what is the one question that you wish people would ask you, but no one ever has and what would your answer be to that question?
I wish people would ask me for free copies or downloads of my books more often or ask me if I mind if they shared my work. One, If I have free copies are downloads, I will be happy to give them away and if someone would like to share my work, I will take that as a compliment and encourage them to do so. My only hope is that they would be willing to provide an honest review of my books.

Much too often we find ourselves wondering how a character was born. What made them into the hero they have become? What made them such an excellent lover or such an expert at taking care of others? What made them such a nice guy or girl? How did they become such a villainous monster or mass murderer?

This novelette gives off a few sparks of the flame that ignited two explosive characters from Smoke & Fire, Book #1 of the Smoke & Fire Series. Rage and untapped emotions are what seep the fumes that make these characters jump off the pages. The Smoke & Fire series is uniquely written, allowing readers to jump into the series at any of the first six books.

Sori “Smoke” Knight and Mycale Thomas Phillips are deadly, sometimes lovable, and totally emotionally dysfunctional. Despite facing obstacles where emotions are concerned, they somehow manage to keep fighting for the good guys. They are the pokers that stroke the flames that burn through this action packed, sexually charged, emotionally unstable series infused with murder and mayhem. This novelette sneaks a peek into Sori and Mycale’s younger years.

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Released
December 21, 2015

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Lindsay Marie Miller Interview

1/10/2016

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The guest author for today on Interviews by Dante is Lindsay Marie Miller. She is a diverse writer. Her work spans multiple sub-genres, including Adult, New Adult, Young Adult, Suspense & Historical Romance. Her latest work is Jungle Eyes.

Please tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Lindsay Marie Miller, and I am the author of Emerald Green, Me & Mr. Jones and Jungle Eyes.

Tell us about your latest book.
Jungle Eyes is the name of my latest book, which was released on November 20, 2015. It is a Romantic Action/Adventure novel set on a deserted tropical island in the year 1899.

What do you have coming out in the future?
There will be 3 more books in the Emerald Green series, a sequel to Me & Mr. Jones and 2 more books in the Jungle Eyes trilogy. I’ve also been working on a New Adult Contemporary Romance, which will be my first Stand Alone novel.

Is your book a stand-alone or a series?
Jungle Eyes, Me & Mr. Jones and Emerald Green are each the first installment in their own respective series.

Why romance and what makes your particular brand of romance special?
Romance is always the one element of a novel or film that I am most interested in. For me, it’s the best part of any story I am reading or writing. I have always described the way I write romance as a “tasteful sexiness.” Just because something is sensual or passionate doesn’t mean it can’t maintain a certain level of innocence. I believe in keeping that steam or heat between the characters alive, because that intimate connection is what love and romance are all about.

Is romance the only genre that you write in or do you write in other genres? If so what other genres do you write in?
While I only write romance, it is the sub-genres within romance that I like to experiment with. Emerald Green and Me & Mr. Jones pertain to the suspense/thriller category of romance. But Jungle Eyes falls under historical and action/adventure romance categories. They also apply to different age groups: Emerald Green is Young Adult, Me & Mr. Jones is New Adult and Jungle Eyes is Adult. I’ll probably experiment with other romance genres over time, because I really enjoy different ways of telling a love story.

In the spring of 1899, Henry Rochester boards a ship on the docks of New York Harbor and sets sail across the Atlantic. Desperately seeking freedom and adventure, Henry fails to anticipate the violent ocean storm that will destroy the ship, murder his fellow comrades, and leave him stranded on a deserted island. However, Henry is not alone in paradise, as a beautiful young woman, named Elaine, acquaints him with the enchanting, yet evil nature of the jungle. As the two quarrel, reconcile, and bond, love blossoms between them like an exotic wildflower. But when the tide turns, bringing an unescapable wave of danger with it, Henry and Elaine must face the callous brutality of the uninvited.

Jungle Eyes - Released November 20, 2015 (Historical Romance/Action/Adventure)

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From where do you draw your inspiration?
A good book or movie. A special day. Time spent with family or friends. Really anything can inspire me to write. Mainly, it has to do with people. The ones I’m with and the ones I’m writing about.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?
Play the piano and guitar. Sing. I’ve been writing songs since I was a teen, so music is very near and dear to my heart. I love watching movies as well, especially those that have been adapted from novels. I’m also a TaeBo enthusiast.

How did you come up with the title of your book?
Certain titles just sound right to me. When it clicks, it clicks. I think Emerald Green probably had a lot to do with the fact that my birthstone is emerald, and Me & Mr. Jones was inspired by an old R&B song by Billy Paul. With Jungle Eyes, I have no earthly idea. It just came to me.

Do you read romance or do you prefer other genres?
Usually, I read romance or some subset of it. But I’m open to thrillers, mysteries, biographies, and a whole lot of other genres. As a writer, I think it’s important to keep an open mind.

What celebrity would you chose to play the main character(s) in the movie rendition of your book?
When I first thought of the idea for Jungle Eyes, I pictured a twenty-five-year-old Christian Bale as Henry and Katy Perry as Elaine. If Hollywood was able to pull that off, I would be very pleased.

What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?
Those days when the words just won’t come. Sometimes, it can be hard, and you really have to push yourself. But that makes you appreciate the days when the words flow like honey.

On a chilly December night in Savannah, Georgia, seventeen-year-old Addie Smith dreams of an alluring young man, too mysteriously handsome to be real. When spring semester commences the following week, at Maple Creek High, a new student, named Tom Sutton, arrives, bearing a striking resemblance to the beautiful stranger from Addie’s dream. Addie feels inextricably drawn to Tom, and his rare, unwavering resiliency, as the enchanting nature of first love takes hold. But when a cold-blooded criminal returns to Savannah, in pursuit of a long-forgotten possession, Addie must confront the darkest secrets of an elusive, hidden past that threaten to destroy her future.

Emerald Green - Released June 7, 2015 (YA Romantic Thriller

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What is the easiest part of the writing process for you?
Getting to know my characters. They are so much fun to write, and I really enjoy the time I get to spend with each of them.

What is your preferred writing environment?
I’m not really partial to any one place. Indoors. Outdoors. Rain or shine. The story in my head goes with me everywhere.

Do you have a careful plan when plotting your stories or do you just go with the flow?
Go with the flow. Initially, I can see the map of a new story, where it begins and ends. It’s those moments between the main points in the plot that I don’t even know exist until I’ve written them.

When did you know you truly wanted to give writing a shot?
When I was a junior in high school. Twilight had a profound effect on me, because it left me wanting to write a novel of my own, which resulted in my first release, Emerald Green.

What is your favorite quote?
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” -Theodore Roosevelt

Do you have any advice for other writers and what is it?
Stay hungry for new stories. Each time you write, you will only continue to get better at it. Also, enjoy the development of your characters and all of the unique things that make each of them important to you.

Wild Card Question.
As an author, what is the one question that you wish people would ask you, but no one ever has and what would your answer be to that question?
Why do you want to be a writer?
In my opinion, if you write, you are a writer. I never chose to write. It just happened naturally. I never wanted to be a writer. I am one.

Finley O'Connell is a shy, reserved college student, who has no intention of ever trusting another man. At nineteen, Finley spends her Friday nights alone, studying clinical psychology to ease her mind of the abusive childhood she has yet to overcome. Her new professor, the young, charismatic Cabel Jones, begins to take an interest in Finley, whose first instinct is to run. But when an ordinary experiment turns to bloodshed, Finley must rely on Cabel, as the two hide away in a rustic, secluded cabin in the wilderness. Plagued by deception and fear, Finley soon finds herself in the arms of the one man on campus who can never truly be hers.

Me & Mr. Jones - Released October 7, 2015 (NA Romantic Thriller)

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S. L. Bynum Interview

12/20/2015

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The guest author for today on Interviews with Dante is S. L. Bynum. She is a writer of Paranormal Romance. Her latest work is Grim Crush, book one in the Grimly Ever After series.

Please tell us a little about yourself.
I started writing when I was 12, and my first novel was supposed to be like a book in the “Goosebumps” series. It was awful. The books I have out now were written after a lot of practice. I’m 26, and besides books, I like desserts, playing games, and dancing to music (mostly when I’m alone). I live in the city of Greensboro, NC.

Tell us about your latest book.
Grim Crush is about seventeen-year-old Xia, who is a grim reaper and has three Rules of Reaping she has to follow. She’s not supposed to show herself to living humans, but one boy, a Native American named Shilah, can see her anyway. The two of them start to fall for each other, and that brings problems from Xia’s boss and father, the Angel of Death.

What do you have coming out in the future?
The sequel to Grim Crush, which is currently titled Grim Fate. And then the third and final book in the series.

Is your book a stand-alone or a series?
A series called Grimly Ever After.

Why romance and what makes your particular brand of romance special?
Usually a book or movie has to have a bit of romance for me to love it. I especially like when two characters first fall in love, when they get those butterflies and dreamy looks in their eyes. It makes me swoon. But I like romance more when it’s mixed with something else to make it even more exciting, so that’s why I chose to write a paranormal romance series.

Is romance the only genre that you write in or do you write in other genres? If so what other genres do you write in?
I definitely write in other genres, mostly fantasy and science fiction. I also write a bit of mystery and thrillers.

1. Do not interfere with someone's death.
2. Do not become emotionally involved.
3. Do not show yourself to the living.

As a grim reaper, seventeen-year-old Xia has to follow these Rules. But when she meets Shilah, a Native American boy who can see reapers, she figures the rules don't apply. To find out why he can see her, she pretends to be human, since carrying a scythe probably isn't the latest teen craze. Things become unnerving as she begins experiencing first-time affection with Shilah, but she's irreversibly drawn to him. Suddenly Xia finds herself breaking Rule Two, even while collecting dead souls behind Shilah's back. It isn't long before she is caught red-handed by the Angel of Death himself, and then not only is her relationship at risk, but also Shilah's soul. And this leaves Xia wondering: can love overcome Death?

GRIM CRUSH is a teen paranormal romance that shows how love can transcend the boundary between life and death.

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Do you ever base your characters on real people in your life?
Yes, sometimes. Mostly I try to put a bit of myself in my main characters, and if someone requests to have their name in one of my books, sometimes I do that too!

What authors inspire your writing?
J. K. Rowling, Christopher Paolini, and R. A. Salvatore

How have your real life experiences influenced your writing?
My experiences helped me learn what my characters would feel in certain situations. For example, I have gone through struggles with love, and I incorporated that in Grim Crush. I didn’t have any experience with affection from guys much in my teen years, so I know how my character, Xia, feels.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?
Watch TV shows like The Walking Dead, Supernatural, Game of Thrones, etc. I also like being outside, listening to music, playing games, and dancing sometimes.

What was your road to publishing like? Tell us about it.
It was a struggle every step of the way. I wrote a few novels and sent them out to hundreds of agents. I kept getting rejected, even though they said my writing was good. So I tried publishing Grim Crush with a small press, but eventually they released me from my contract. Finally I decided to skip the middleman and get my work straight to the readers by self-publishing. And I’m getting great feedback!

How did you come up with the title of your book?
Since the book is about a grim reaper, I wanted the word “grim” in the title. I went through several different words to go with it, and then I found one that made the book sound like the beginning of teenage love, which starts with a crush. Therefore, Grim Crush was born.

Do you read romance or do you prefer other genres?
Funny enough, I never read plain romance books. Fantasy is my favorite genre, but I LOVE books with a touch of romance in them. I read mostly YA.

Have you joined any writer’s groups?
I have online. There’s one I actively look at and participate in on Goodreads, called Support Indie Authors.

What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?
Getting stuck on a scene in my book and not knowing what should come next for my characters.

What is the easiest part of the writing process for you?
Writing action scenes! My hands just fly across the keyboard and my mind shuts out everything around me.

Which of your characters is your favorite and why?
Xia, because I identify with her struggles of being devoid of love and affection, because I was too when I was a teen.

Do you have a careful plan when plotting your stories or do you just go with the flow?
Both. I have a vague outline in the beginning, but by the time I’m finished writing the story, it surprises me how different it is from the original outline.

With many publishing routes available today, which felt the most reliable to you when it came to the many choices?
Self-publishing. I have control of everything and I can choose when to get my books out to readers, instead of waiting years in-between books in my series.

When did you know you truly wanted to give writing a shot?
When I was sixteen, although I didn’t start working hard at making a career of it till I was eighteen. I thought if J. K. Rowling could become a billionaire writing books, I should at least be able to make a decent living from it!

Do you have any advice for other writers and what is it?
Follow your heart no matter what anyone else tells you. Do what you love, even if it’s a risk.

Wild Card Question.
As an author, what is the one question that you wish people would ask you, but no one ever has and what would your answer be to that question?

Have I ever had an experience like the one in my book?
I experienced what I think was first love, but I was too shy to let the guy into my life and heart. And I never knew that feeling of affection and closeness with my first love, but if I had, it would’ve been new, scary, and very exciting. That’s how Xia feels when she first discovers affection with Shilah in Grim Crush.

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Ellie Midwood Interview

12/15/2015

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The guest author for today on Interviews with Dante is Ellie Midwood. She is a writer of Historical Romance. Her latest work is The Girl From Berlin: Standartenfuhrer’s Wife. The first book in The Girl From Berlin series.

Please tell us a little about yourself.
Ellie Midwood is a New York based author who loves writing about her city and its people. She's a health obsessed yoga enthusiast, a neat freak, an adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew and a doggie mama.
Ellie lives in Brooklyn with her Sicilian fiancé and their Chihuahua named Shark Bait.

Tell us about your latest book.
Basically it’s a historical romance and a spy thriller in one. This is a diary of Annalise Meissner, a young German Jew with long time ago falsified papers, living a carefree life in pre-war Berlin. A talented ballerina, she comes from a wealthy family and at first doesn’t want to concern herself with the changes her country starts undergoing under the new Nazi regime. However, when the oppressions against the Jewish population begin, she realizes that she can’t be a silent bystander and swears to help her people in any way possible.
She falls in love and gets married to her father's longtime friend, Standartenführer Heinrich Friedmann, who even though he works for SD – the Reich Secret Service – seems to share her views, and soon Annalise learns why. Her new husband turns out to be a counterintelligence agent working for the US government, and together they start a dangerous game against the sinister Gestapo, trying to save as many lives as they can and not to compromise themselves.
But it's not only the persecuted people Annalise wants to save; she meets the leader of the Austrian SS Gruppenführer Ernst Kaltenbrunner who everyone seems to fear, but for some reason Annalise isn't intimidated by the Chief of the Austrian Gestapo and doesn't believe the rumors about his brutality. Gruppenführer Kaltenbrunner isn't hiding the fact that he would love to get this beautiful girl as his mistress, but Annalise, despite the mutual attraction, stays faithful to her beloved husband. However, the risky game she’s playing will soon change everything…

What do you have coming out in the future?
Currently I’m working on Book 3 in the series – War Criminal’s Widow, which will be the last one in the planned series, and after that I’ll have another story coming out, which will be set in pre-war Germany.

Is your book a stand-alone or a series?
It’s a series consisting of three books: Book One – Standartenfuhrer’s Wife, in which the action concentrates mainly on the character development of Annalise, my protagonist, and how she grows and changes after facing horrors that her country plunges into. Book Two – Gruppenfuhrer’s Mistress has a very different mood, it’s very provocative and erotic, since Annalise has to play a dangerous game of getting close to the infamous Chief of the RSHA (Nazi Germany Secret Service) and she’s not sure if she can fight their mutual attraction and stay loyal to her husband. Book Three – War Criminal’s Widow tells a very dramatic story of the two lovers during the last few months of war and later of the Nuremberg process, where Annalise’s beloved is being tried. It’s probably the most emotional part, which tells a story of love, loss and hope, which one can never lose. I didn’t want to concentrate on the same kind of feelings throughout the whole series, I wanted to show how they evolved and changed under certain circumstances, and how people sacrifice themselves for the ones they love.

Why romance and what makes your particular brand of romance special?
The Girl from Berlin is not purely historical romance, it’s also a spy thriller and a historical fiction as well, because all the historical events in the book are real, just like some of the characters who are also based on real people living in that period of time. That’s what makes it unique, the credibility and the possibility of everything described in the book – even the fictional events – could really happen.

Is romance the only genre that you write in or do you write in other genres? If so what other genres do you write in?
I do write in different genres, even though historical romance would be my favorite, for example my book The Brooklyn Boys Club tells a story of a young Italian-American boy living in Bensonhurst Brooklyn and trying to escape the fate of the rest of the youth who are being pulled into the dangerous world of the underground rulers of the neighborhood – the Italian mafia. So it’s kind of a Godfather type of story, but with a very light side to it, it’s very humorous and not your typical bloody type of mafia book.

The Girl from Berlin is a beautiful love story of two brave people who weren't afraid to fight against the Nazi regime. A Jewish girl and an SS officer working for the Reich Main Security Office, they weren't meant to be together, yet they fall in love and start a dangerous game against the sinister Gestapo, the bets in which are people's lives...

Click image for explanation.

find it on amazon

From where do you draw your inspiration?
Mostly from documentaries I watch and biographies I read; it’s very helpful in building a story and makes it much easier to create realistic characters.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I love my yoga classes, exercise and meditation help me to relax and to refresh my vision, I always come back home very motivated and with new ideas that didn’t occur to me before. I also love reading a lot and enjoy finding new material on the subject I’m currently working on. To me it’s like treasure hunting, discovering new materials and documents, and I love putting those unknown to the general public facts in my books.

How did you come up with the title of your book?
I wanted it to be something simple and something authentic at the same time, that’s why the series is called The Girl from Berlin (since the story is told from the point of view of my protagonist, a Berlin girl), and subtitles are so German-sounding - Standartenfuhrer’s Wife and Gruppenfuhrer’s Mistress. I didn’t translate the military ranks in English on purpose, just like most of the notions and organizations, to make it more authentic.

What is your absolute favorite book or books and why is it special to you?
Probably right now it would be The Kommandant’s Mistress by Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, it is an extremely provocative novel which tells a story of a young Jewish girl who was chosen to give sexual favors to the Kommandant of one of the concentration camps. I love re-reading this book, there’s just something into it that makes you want to come back to it again and again.

Have you joined any writer’s groups?
As soon as I started writing I joined Goodreads and keep communicating with other authors through it, I love that platform, it gives countless opportunities both to the authors and readers to discover each other and to promote their work.

What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?
Definitely editing. It’s just my problem I think because it’s very hard to start re-writing something when your story is already finished in your eyes. But I’m very lucky to have an amazing editor, Alexandra, who’s been more than helpful and always knows how to guide me and motivate me to make some scenes stronger or better. She makes this hardest part very easy for me.

Which of your characters is your favorite and why?
Besides my protagonist, Annalise, my favorite character would definitely be her chief and lover – the Chief of the RSHA Ernst Kaltenbrunner. He’s a very complex character and changes greatly throughout the whole series and it’s fascinating to discover his true personality under all the layers of arrogance and sarcasm. He was a very controversial political figure of his time and I love the edge his eccentric attitude adds to the whole story.

Who or what are your inspirations/influences?
While writing The Girl from Berlin series my inspirations were the real people living in that period of time. I studied a lot of memoirs and biographies to create the closest to life characters. Many heroic things were done even in such a horrifying environment as Nazi Germany was, and I wanted to transfer it into my story.

What is your preferred writing environment?
I always say that I need three things to write: home, silence, night. This way I’m fully immersed into my story without anything distracting me (and you can only imagine how distractive a city like New York can be!)

Do you have a careful plan when plotting your stories or do you just go with the flow?
Normally I have the basic story in my head before I start writing a new book, but every new chapter sometimes unravels in some unexpected way; all my stories are character-driven and I love letting them lead the way and make the story.

When did you know you truly wanted to give writing a shot?
I’ve been writing my whole life, whether short stories or little essays, but you know that you really have to write something, when you have this story burning a hole in your head, which just has to be told. Then I sit down and write, because I know that later I’ll be re-reading that story many times.

What is your favorite quote?
“When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.” (Ernest Miller Hemingway)
I always try my best to follow this quote while writing my books, that’s why my characters make mistakes, they do things they’re not supposed to, they turn from good to bad and back to good again just like in real life. But they’re always very honest about their choices.

Do you have any advice for other writers and what is it?
Never give up and don’t take anything negative said about your work personally. Ten people might not like your work, but one will find it fascinating and will become your most loyal fan. And of course never keep still and work on your writing, improve yourself, do the research, attend seminars, read articles on the topic… Always keep in mind that writing is work and a lot of effort needs to be put into a really good book.

utton Text

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Isabel Curtis Interview

12/10/2015

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The guest author for today on Interviews with Dante is Isabel Curtis. She is a writer of New Adult Contemporary Romance. Her latest work is Unexpected Love, book one in the Unexpected series.

Please tell us a little about yourself.
Hello everyone! I’m Isabel Curtis, and I’m a 25 year old indie author. I started my writing career as a YA writer, but now I also write New Adult/Contemporary Romance books. I’ve spent my life mostly traveling, and reading, and during the past few years I’ve turned my passion for writing into an almost full-time job.

Tell us about your latest book.
My latest book is called “Unexpected Love” and it’s the first installment in the “Unexpected” series. It’s a contemporary romance which features Olly, a college student, and Daniel, a lawyer: they fall (unexpectedly) in love but at some point life gets in the way and… you have to read the book to learn how it ends.

What do you have coming out in the future?
I have a few YA novels I plan on publishing in late 2016, yet right now I’m more focused on the new adult genre, so I’m writing a prequel and a sequel to the “Unexpected Love” book I published in September 2015. I also have a stand alone novel I plan on publishing in a year or so.

Is your book a stand-alone or a series?
The new adult contemporary romance book “Unexpected Love” is part of a series, called “Unexpected”, and I plan on having at least other four books in the series publishing within the next few months.

Why romance and what makes your particular brand of romance special?
I started reading lots of contemporary romances a while ago and I’ve been intrigued by this genre and style ever since. I began thinking of a story line which fit perfectly in this genre and I thought I’d give it a try. I like to take on new adventures and challenges. I already have the whole “Unexpected” series sort of outlined (there will seven books in total) and a new series called “The Interpreter” which I hope to get started in 2016. Both series feature very interesting characters that I try develop in a clear and sincere way throughout the whole narration, and the readers can truly relate to some big life choices they make, and even though the good guy might sometimes, in the end, turn out to be not so good it’s pretty easy for the reader to identify himself/herself with the character… which makes it harder to hate him. My books are not just romantic stories, I try to given them a more meaningful message that can be passed on.

Is romance the only genre that you write in or do you write in other genres? If so what other genres do you write in?
No, I began my writing career as a young adult author and I have published a YA coming-of-age book called “Before Life Happened” which is part of the “Before” series. I plan on writing both genres for a very long time, since I have lots of stories ready to be written both in the YA and NA romance genre.

A SEXY CONTEMPORARY LOVE STORY

Olly Biel decided long ago that love was just not in her plans, College was her only priority and nothing (and no one) was going to change that. There was no time for a relationship. That is, until Daniel Kingston came along and unexpectedly made her question everything she knew. But Daniel has a past, and it's about to catch up. Will he break her heart in the end?

Click image for explanation.

find it on amazon

From where do you draw your inspiration?
Actually, anything can sort of trigger my imagination and lead me to create characters/stories in my head: a movie, a song, a poem, a book, an image…. As soon as the slightest plot idea is growing in my mind I let my inspiration take over and before I know it the whole book is coming to life.

How have your real life experiences influenced your writing?
Sometimes I find myself writing about “personal” experiences (in terms of dialogues or scenarios or places) I’ve actually lived or that have really taken place, but that’s a very minor part that influences my writing. In most cases it’s just pure imagination.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I translate, I run a blog, I read, I market my books, I travel, I take my dog out for a walk, I do lots of things. But no matter what I do, I’m always thinking about writing.

What was your road to publishing like? Tell us about it.
I decided to self-publish right away: I’ve never wasted my time looking for an agent or a publisher, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try that in the future. But I like the idea of self-publishing, doing your own marketing/promotion, choosing your own cover, having a closer relationship with the readers… It’s a pretty interesting world and I like it, plus it’s not that hard nowadays to self-publish (there are many platforms out there that make the process pretty smooth and easy). It’s all just a matter of marketing and promotion.

So once my first book was finished, I hired a professional proofreader and editor. In the mean time I created the book cover, I put online my author website, built a Facebook page and my twitter account along with some other social media networks to promote my books (ie. Goodreads) and within a month the book was available on most online stores. The initial promotion came from a Goodreads giveaway I started to promote the launch of my book, and the feedbacks were great!

How did you come up with the title of your book?
Strangely enough, titles come pretty easy to me. The fil rouge of the “Unexpected” series is - as you can imagine - having to face unexpected events. So in each book the protagonists find themselves experiencing surprising and unforeseen situations that lead to certain outcomes that they had not anticipated. “Unexpected Love” is all about Olly (the main character) who falls in love when she least expects it… but nothing ever goes the way we plan, after all. I’m enjoying writing this series because I get to create interesting plot twists which leave the reader always wondering what will happen next.

Do you read romance or do you prefer other genres?
I’ve started reading lots of romance at the beginning of last year, and I really enjoy it. Although I am also a big fan of coming-of-age YA novels and the dystopian genre.

What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?
Writer’s Block, for sure. Sometimes I know what I want to write, I just seem to lack the words. I know where I want to go, but I don’t know how to get there and it gets frustrating. I find myself wasting so much time just staring at the blank page, writing then deleting, writing some more and then deleting again. It can go on for days.

What is the easiest part of the writing process for you?
I guess the easy part for me, for now, has been never running out of ideas for a new story. I’ve heard about writers who at some point in their career are stuck because they don’t know what they are going to write next, or what they want to work on because they have no inspiration. Fortunately, I’m never out of inspiration and ideas so that makes it easier to start a new project right away as soon as I’m finished with one. I think it’s very important for a writer to write, write, and write. Either if it’s just a blog post or a short random chapter. As long as if you have your inspiration by your side, you’re doing well.

Do you have a careful plan when plotting your stories or do you just go with the flow?
I don’t do the chapter-by-chapter outline strategy that some writers seem to love. I’ve tried that but it just isn’t for me. I usually just sit at my computer and let the words flow on their own. I might start a dialogue between two characters not having the slightest idea of where that’s going to take me, and I like it.

When did you know you truly wanted to give writing a shot?
It all began a few years ago, when I started have serious plot ideas for a book and I felt the need to start writing some scenes down. Then at some point I realized that my “ideas” could really turn into a full-length novel, so I said “why not?”. I started writing the whole book during my free evenings, and whenever I could take a break from my freelancing job (I used to be a full time translator). I felt like I had so much to say, and I decided that I didn’t want to keep it all to myself anymore.

What is your favorite quote?
Oh, there are so many I’m having a hard time choosing just one. It depends I guess on my mood, but right now there’s a quote by Sophocles that’s popping into mind:

“I have no desire to suffer twice, in reality and then in retrospect."— Sophocles, Oedipus Rex

Do you have any advice for other writers and what is it?
First of all, I’d say: read a lot. Read books from authors who write the same genre as you, books like the one you plan on writing, and even other types of books. Just read.
Get a website, a Goodreads page, a Twitter account and a Tumblr blog.
Then, DO hire a professional proofreader/editor to help you with any typos or grammar errors you might have missed, readers hate that kind of stuff and might influence their reviews.
But in the end the best advice I feel like giving is just this one: write, and do it for yourself. If you feel that’s your vocation, don’t give up.

Wild Card Question.
As an author, what is the one question that you wish people would ask you, but no one ever has and what would your answer be to that question?

Why did you decide to publish under a pen name?
This is a pretty interesting question, I would sort of have to psychoanalyze myself and try to figure out why I don’t want people to know who is the real person behind the books I write. I’m about to give you a pretty complicated and messed up answer, so I apologize from the beginning if you won’t be able to follow my train of thought. Just know that it makes total sense to me.

Truth is, no one in my family knows about this passion of mine and when I started writing I never told anyone that this was what I really wanted to do. I guess time passed and it became harder to let them know about my “parallel life”. They just think I sit at my computer all day working… they just don’t really know what I work on. Creativity never really blossomed in my house, so I grew up believing that writing could never be regarded as a “job”.

Writing shows so much about the author: his/her most deepest thoughts, fears, ideas, personality… writers put so much meaning into their words that it makes them so raw and open, and vulnerable… and this scares me. If strangers read my thoughts, that’s okay because to them I’m just a writer, someone they do not know. When I read, I barely take into consideration the author, I care more about the characters and their story - and I guess my readers do the same with my books. But letting your friends and relatives read your mind through your writing gives them so much more insight on who you really are, and it gives them some kind of power over you that I do want them to have. I guess we could say that I don’t care what a stranger thinks about me, but I do care what those close to me think.
To my readers, I’m a writer.
To my family, I’m a person.

Plus, I like having a double life.
It makes my days so much more interesting.

Writing is my private world, and only those who do not know they are accessing it are welcome.

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Faye Hall Interview

12/5/2015

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The guest author for today on Interviews with Dante is Faye Hall. She is a writer of Historical Erotic Romance. Her latest work is Mistress of Purity.

Please tell us a little about yourself.
I’m an Australian author of Historical erotic romances set in outback towns of Northern Australia between 1850 and 1898.

Tell us about your latest book.
Mistress of Purity was released in August 2015. The plot of the story tells about when Gareth obeyed his father’s widow’s request for him to return to Sarina to collect his inheritance. Never could he have imagined he’d find her to be the same woman he’d loved so passionately a few weeks before. The secrets that Gareth unveils upon returning to his late father’s estate become a near obsession to him, revealing to him not only the truth about Prue, but also the man his father had truly been.

What do you have coming out in the future?
Passions in the Dust will be out in March 2016. It’s about a wealthy station owner who orders a mail order bride only to find her to be the lover he had left back in England. Together they are faced with cattle rustlers, scrub fires, poisoned cattle and a fiancé out for revenge.

Is your book a stand-alone or a series?
Stand alone

Why romance and what makes your particular brand of romance special?
I write romances because I love a happy ending! My own particular brand of romance is uniquely Australian, using actual historical place names and some of my own personal family history. The romance is driven by suspense and mystery, as well as scandals and the occasional mention of remedies or legends belonging to the Australian Aboriginals.

Is romance the only genre that you write in or do you write in other genres? If so what other genres do you write in?
So far I only write romance

Prue had seen something the night her father was murdered – something that would forever change her life…

…She had seen something that would continue to haunt her and follow her wherever she went.

When she had married the Earl of Malloy, Prue had hoped to be able to hide under his name and at his out of town estate.

What she had not thought was to become his son’s MISTRESS OF PURITY.

Gareth had sworn never to return to his father’s estate, not to the life he had once thought to have there.

He had hoped that the man he had grown in to was no longer hoping to find the love of a woman he knew could not possibly exist.

What Gareth had not wanted was to find his comfort in the arms of his father’s young wife…a woman he knew was hiding far more than just one secret from him.

Click image for explanation.

find it on amazon

find it on red sage

From where do you draw your inspiration?
Mostly the history of mine or my husband’s ancestors.

Do you ever base your characters on real people in your life?
Yes quite a few have been based on people I have known or am related to.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?
Usually just relaxing and spending time with my family.

What was your road to publishing like? Tell us about it.
I was first published way back in 1996 just after I graduated High School, but the company went bankrupt. I was then again offered a contract in 2008 but that company also went bust. Red Sage Publishing contracted me in 2012 and I’ve been with them ever since, having just been offered a fifth contract.

Have you joined any writer’s groups?
I am currently a member of both the Romance Writers of America and Australia.

Click image for explanation.

Forthcoming
March
2016

What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?
Writing a synopsis – it’s like pulling teeth for me.

What is the easiest part of the writing process for you?
Usually the basic plot outline.

What is your preferred writing environment?
I would say quiet but having a combined family of nine children doesn’t always allow for that.

Do you have a careful plan when plotting your stories or do you just go with the flow?
I usually have a list of ideas and a few written paragraphs involving certain dialogue but it’s all subject to change with me. Plots change constantly until I think it’s finally right.

What is your favorite quote?
“Was it hard?" I ask. “Letting go?"

“Not as hard as holding on to something that wasn't real.”
― Lisa Schroeder

Wild Card Question.
As an author, what is the one question that you wish people would ask you, but no one ever has and what would your answer be to that question?

If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?
To Kill a Mockingbird because it has never been out of print.

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Deborah Camp Interview

11/30/2015

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The guest author for today on Interviews with Dante is Deborah Camp. She is a writer of Thriller/Suspense/Paranormal Romance and she has also write Western Historical Romances. Her latest work is Through His Heart. The third novel in the Mind's Eye series.

Please tell us a little about yourself.
I’m Deborah Camp, author of more than 45 published novels, both contemporary and historical. My first book was published in 1979 by Simon & Shuster. I live in Oklahoma with my significant other and a bunch of sweet dogs.
I’m a charter member of the Romance Writers of America and I’m a member of The Authors Guild, Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc, and the Tulsa Night Writers.
When I’m not writing or reading, I’m usually volunteering with the Animal Rescue Foundation in Tulsa, rescuing pets from kill shelters and finding great new homes for them.
I’ve made my living as a writer my whole adult life, so I’m very blessed.

Tell us about your latest book.
My most current book is the third novel in my Mind’s Eye series, which features psychic detectives Trudy Tucker and Levi Wolfe. Each book is stand-alone as far as the mystery goes, but the relationship between Trudy and Levi continues to evolve throughout the series. THROUGH HIS HEART deals with the kidnapping of a child – a step-sister Levi has never met – and Trudy’s insistence in helping find the girl, even though it means dealing with Levi’s father, John Comfort. The Rev. Comfort is an evangelical TV minister who rejected Levi when he was a child, which threw Levi into a world of mental and physical torture. He hates his father and his father has no use for him, so being in the same town together is explosive for both of them.
Caught in this tangled web of deceit and hatred, Trudy and Levi try to find the girl using their psychic abilities while Levi tries not to spin out of control and into the emotionally charged chaos he’s tried so hard to avoid.

Levi and Trudy approach their work from different angles because Levi can commune with the deceased or victims of crimes and Trudy can get into the criminal’s mind and see what he sees, hear what he hears, etc. They make a formidable team.

What do you have coming out in the future?
My work-in-process is a western set in Texas, two years after the end of the Civil War. It’s a love story, dealing primarily with the aftermath of life after the war and the festering hatred, animosity, and fear most people struggled with at that time. It’s a story of redemption and how men and women deal differently with the trauma of war. Its scheduled release is in early 2016.
After that, I’ll write #4 in the Mind’s Eye series.

The Mind’s Eye series is different from most because it has something for everyone – romance, hot sex, suspense, danger, intrigue, and paranormal. I think I’m successful in weaving all those elements into each book. From the reviews I’ve received, readers are pleasantly surprised by how much they love the books and the series. Readers who generally don’t like to read paranormal books like them because they are more down to earth and they have complex and interesting main characters. Levi is smoking hot and Trudy is a strong woman who can handle all his complexities and hotness!

I focused on Levi in the first three books of the series. In the next three, I plan to focus more on Trudy and her own unique psychic talents. She’s new at the detective game and still struggling with how to use her gifts. She’s always been afraid of them and tried to deny them, but now she is attempting to embrace and control them.

Is your book a stand-alone or a series?
My book is part of a series (The Mind's Eye series), but it is stand-alone in that a murder is solved in each one. The relationship between the characters continues throughout the series.

Why romance and what makes your particular brand of romance special?
I write romances because that's what I like to read. My Mind's Eye series is a bit different because the psychic detectives work both "sides." She can see through the killer's eyes and he can commune with the deceased crime victims.

Is romance the only genre that you write in or do you write in other genres? If so what other genres do you write in?
I write romances, both contemporary and historical.

“Sending you an SOS.”
When psychic Trudy Tucker hears this plaintive cry in her mind and then connects psychically with a little girl’s kidnapper, she is drawn to a small town in Missouri where everyone is suspect – including herself and her lover, celebrated psychic detective Levi Wolfe. As she and Levi work to sort through whom and what to trust and struggle with horrors that hit too close to their hearts, an innocent life hangs in the balance.

Click image for explanation.

find it on amazon

Do you base your characters on real people?
I have done this. In the Mind’s Eye series, a character named Quintara is based on my writer mentor who ran a Writers Roundtable. She was quite a character and loved by many writers in Oklahoma. Mostly, my characters are a combination of people I’ve met or watched from a distance. Writers are observers.

What was your road to publishing like?
Although I have a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and I was a newspaper reporter for a few years, I knew that writing a mass market novel wasn’t the same thing. So, I took classes in novel writing at the local junior college and I joined local writing groups and critique groups. My first novel went through a critique group before I submitted it to a literary agent or a publisher. It was contracted by Simon & Shuster for their new romance line called Silhouette. Shortly after that, I signed with my first literary agent. I would say that my road to publishing was methodical and I approached it as a business I had to learn before I hung out shingle.

What authors inspire your writing?
I admire many authors and add new ones to the list every year. LaVyrle Spencer, Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, Janet Dailey, Mary Stewart, C.D. Reiss, E.L. James, and Abigail Barnette are a few that have influenced me as a writer and thrilled me as a reader.

What is the hardest part of writing for you?
The hardest part is after a book is written and I have to find ways to let readers know about it and get them to place reviews of it online! That never gets easier and it’s very time-consuming and expensive.

What is the easiest part?
Dreaming up the plot and creating the character profiles. That’s always fun.

What is my preferred writing environment?
I like to write at home. I carry my laptop all over the place and plop down and write.

What influences my writing?
I like to hang my plot on a lesson or moral judgment. I don’t want to pound readers over the head with it, but I expect them to “get it” by the end of the novel. In the Mind’s Eye series, the overall lesson is to not judge people prematurely or ignorantly. In the western I’m writing now the lesson is that hatred is learned and passed on. Humans are not born hating.
I’m influenced by the wonderful people around me – my friends and my lovely, gorgeous, sexy, very own hero. We’ve been together, off and on, since I was a senior in high school and he was an older, experienced, guy with a “bad boy” reputation. We’re definitely “on” now, but we have a long-distance relationship. I live in Oklahoma and he lives in Connecticut. Thanks to flying, texting, e-mails, and phone calls, we make it work. We hardly ever go longer than two weeks without seeing each other.

Do you plot or go with the flow?
I used to plot, chapter by chapter, and sometimes I still do. However, with the Mind’s Eye series, I go with the flow. I know the mystery and how it will be resolved, but I don’t know all the subplots and key scenes. So far, it’s working for me on this series.

Advice for new writers:
I taught novel writing and romance writing for more than 20 years at a local college, so I think I can speak to this with some confidence. I’m proud to say that several of my students are published romance writers now.
Do your homework! Study the books you love to read as if they were textbooks. Underline sections you love and ask yourself why you love them, why they’re successful, what the author did to pull your heartstrings or make you gasp. Concentrate on a good plot and don’t rely on coincidences and contrived outcomes. The conflict has to be real and wrenching and both of your main characters should wish they could extricate themselves, but they can’t because of realistic and believable reasons. If it’s something that they could deal with in a conversation or by answering a few questions, then it’s not a good conflict. Too often, I see flimsy plots that rely on a misunderstanding that could be cleared up if the heroine or hero simply questioned the other person instead of flying off into a rage or pouting.
Hire a copy-editor and a proofer! Don’t rely on good friends or relatives to tell you they love your book and didn’t find anything wrong with it. Invest in a professional editor and proof reader. They are worth every cent you pay them! Listen to their advice – especially the editor. You don’t have to make every change suggested, but listen and compromise when possible.
When you’re just starting out, find a good critique group, preferably one that consists of both published and unpublished writers who are writing the in the same genre as you. Check with local writing groups for one. If you can’t find one, start your own! Again, you don’t have to take everyone’s advice, but if several people in the group have the same problem with something in your book, you need to change it. Don’t love your book so much that you think every word and every scene is necessary. Rewriting is where you find the real gold.

What is your favorite quote?
Don’t wait for your ship to come in. Swim for it!

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