LA Weekly interview

I'm in an interview about gay romance in the LA Weekly! How cool is that? There are actually three bits to it. The main article, some really brief snippets from my and two friends' books and a smaller article about pen names. The Heaven Sent 2 cover is right there, bold and beautiful right across from the inside version of the lovely artwork you see above. The artwork which, by the way, is on the COVER! I'm sure there are lots of homophobes who were squirming at seeing that.

For those who don't know, the LA Weekly is a pretty big deal in the Los Angeles/Hollywood area. Just about everyone who seriously does anything in town at least knows of it if they don't pick it up (it's free) every Thursday. A lot of people who I've talked to seem more excited about the article than about the fact that I'm published. Which is kind of weird but that's the nature of the beast, I guess.

I think it was a nice bit of publicity for me, my author friends who participated and the m/m genre as a whole. I hope a lot of good comes from it.

author Interview: Viki Lyn

Author Name: Viki Lyn
Year started writing for LI: 2009
Titles: The Tiger Within
Web Page: www.vikilyn.com


What genre do you write in, and why? : M/M Romance. This is a new genre for me. My past books have been historical romances but with edgier characters that live on the outside of society. My WWII Trilogy featured a gay triangle and was a strong secondary subplot, so writing M/M wasn't a difficult transition.


How much time do you spend writing every week? : I'm really a sporadic writer! I'm disciplined when I have deadlines, but other than that, I write at all times of the day. I don't have a set schedule so maybe if I did, I'd be able to write more. I average 3 hours a day, including weekends.

What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :

A short fan fiction piece in 2000. From there, I wrote numerous fan fics before attempting original short stories. My first novel was a fantasy that I never had published. Sometimes I think about going back and rewriting the darn thing. Some of the characters are worth resurrecting, but once my stories are completed, I like to move on to something new.

How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? :

If I get turned on by reading them, then I've succeeded!

Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy?:

Well since they are M/M sex scenes, no, but I do have a gay friend who reads for accuracy. And the more I write hot sex scenes between two men, the more comfortable I become in knowing what can be done. In the beginning, I went to the local adult bookstore and bought two gay sex manuals for references. They were a big help!

Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? :

No, but then, my sex scenes are not that 'way out' (not yet, anyway!) - and my characters don't use a lot of sex toys - LOL - that will be next...

What one word best describes your toy collection? :

Oh boy, boring! The usual shapes and sizes!

Favourite candy while writing?: Ice cream (to cool down!)

Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :

From my imagination, and my interest in the occult, mythology and ancient spiritual philosophies.

What inspires you to write? :

My muse is fickle. I used to create abstract mixed media works of art before writing, so maybe some day I'll go back to my art. Writing fits my personality, because it's mutable. No two stories are alike and the possibilities are endless.


What music inspires your writing? :

I listen to my iPod which has a very eclectic mix from The Pet Shop Boys to Loreena McKennitt.


Plotter or a Panster? :

When I begin a story I'm a panster but once I get into it I mutate into a plotter.


Most challenging place you've ever written a spicy scene? :

Oh, I am boring...because none of my sex scenes seemed too challenging. I guess for my next book I'll have to change that. Maybe sex under water?

When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :

Sometimes I need to take a break from writing. When I do, I try not to beat myself up with self-guilt. To get back into a writing mode, I just sit in front of my laptop and type, even if it's junk.


The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past?

None I want to put down on paper!

Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? :

Golf course at night.

What was the most romantic meal you've eaten? :

A picnic in the middle of a rushing river as we lounged on granite boulders warmed by the sun.

What kind of books do you read for fun? :

Mysteries! I devour them.

Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :

No...and no!

Soulmates? Do you believe? :

Sure, I believe in soul mates and they can be either gender. I don't believe a soul mate has to be between a man and woman exclusively. I have two very wonderful girlfriends that are my soul mates.

Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? :

Pie, Pepsi, and most definitely coffee!

Author Interview: Michelle CAry

Author Name: Michelle Cary

Year started writing for LI: 2008

Titles: For Better For Worse, Sophie’s Secret, The Price of Submission

Web Page: www.michellecary.com

What genre do you write in, and why? :

I have two genre’s that I stick to. My first love is contemporary romantic suspense. However, LI doesn’t take contemporary romance, so my suspense and contemp stories go to a different publisher, while I sent all my erotic stuff to LI.

How much time do you spend writing every week? :

As much as I can. Though, between the demands of two children, a husband and a ‘real job’ I’m lucky if I can average two hours a day during the week. I try to get in more time on the weekends by getting up before everyone else and working on my MS.

What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :

My very first story was years ago. I was a teenager and wrote a short story with a friend about our favorite band. It was horrible, but it was fun to write and dream. I think the first line of the story was something like. ‘Once in a town, there were five guys…’ LOL

How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? :

I’m a firm believer that sensual is just as much about the emotion of the moment as it is about describing the play by play. The more the characters care about each other, the sexier the scene is when they finally come together.

If I can re-read a scene and know that even if I took all the graphic descriptions out that the scene would still be sexy, then I think I’ve done a good job.

What one word best describes your toy collection? :

Lacking! LOL Because I have small children, who do watch television in my bedroom sometimes, I’m always terrified that they’ll start snooping and come across something. I’m certainly not prepared to explain to them what a butt plug or nipple clamps are for, so I go without instead of risking it.

Favorite candy while writing? :

Anything chocolate!!!!

What inspires you to write? :

The sense of accomplishment I get at seeing my work completed.

What music inspires your writing? :

It depends on what I’m writing. Most of the time the radio is on and tuned into the local rock station, but if I’m writing something specific that I need a mood for, I’ll play anything from country music to classical.

Plotter or a Panster? :

A little of both. While I like to have a loose plot of how and where I want things to go, the actual story writing is all done by the seat of my pants and my characters have been known to change direction on me mid story.

Does your cat insist on sitting on your keyboard like mine does? :

Don’t have a cat. I used to have two, but we had to find them new homes after we discovered my son was allergic to them.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? :

Telling my 72 year old grandmother what I write and then having her say to me ‘Well you never know, I might enjoy reading something like that.’ ACK!!!!!

When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :

I clean my house or go read a book and give my muse a rest. Usually after a day or two I have a breakthrough and can return to my writing.

The Personal stuff:

What kind of books do you read for fun? :

Mostly romance, though I will get on kicks where I want to learn about other stuff (ie: witchcraft, crab fishing, the origin of music).

Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :

Not really. My life is pretty normal. I mean I have my moments of drama, but thankfully, they’ve never been as dramatic as what some of my characters experience.

I don’t really have any ‘fantasies’ of sorts. Stuff I dream up usually ends up in a story, but I don’t normally fantasize about being with another man. Boring I know.

Soulmates? Do you believe? :

Absolutely! I totally buy into that one look and you’re in love thing.

Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? :

Cake (chocolate)

Coke all the way!

Ice tea during the day – hot coffee in the mornings

Loose-Id author, Zena Wynn will be a guest author on the Scribes Unleashed Author Yahoo Group this coming Thursday, August 6 @ 7p.m.



Zena Wynn is a multipublished author whose books usually feature multicultural/interracial relationships. Her catalogue spans almost every genre from paranormal to contemporary. Zena's popular True Mates series started at Loose-Id with the first and third titles in the series True Mates and Nikolai's Wolf.

To attend the chat, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scribesunleashed/ and become a Scribes Unleashed member!

Author Interview: Mima

Author Name: Mima
Year started writing for LI: 2008
Titles: In Service
Web Page: www.mimawithin.com

What genre do you write in, and why? : scifi, fantasy, paranormal: I read to escape, and I write for the same reason. Magic, more men than I could ever handle, and amazing adventure are what pleases my imagination.

How much time do you spend writing every week? : If I want to sleep (and sometimes the book is more important) about 10 hours. I’m a children’s librarian, so my wonderful day job takes precedence.

What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) : A girl who could transport herself from castle to castle through paintings. I was 10. It was beautifully written, but there was no conflict. My editors still occasionally tell me the same thing…

How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? : Is there emotion? Do they make me hot? Are they different from every other scene in the rest of the book?

Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy? : Never.

Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? : Yes. In terms of sex, writing, and publishing. I find it very patronizing, but then I’m sure that was their intent.

What one word best describes your toy collection? : Varied. Also, just like with cat toys, sometimes it’s not the store bought ones that work best.

Favourite candy while writing? :Bottlecaps, Smarties, Spree

Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :I have no idea where some of these ideas come from. But I read and watch movies a lot. So inspiration can come from spinning someone else’s great idea into a unique twist. I don’t consider that stealing.

What inspires you to write? :The voices in my head won’t shut up. Plus, reading disappointing stories. Not the really bad ones, the ones that were almost good. “I could fix this story,” I think, and my fingers itch.

What music inspires your writing? :I must write in silence.

Plotter or a Pantser? :Pantster

Does your cat insist on sitting on your keyboard like mine does? :Rarely, my lap.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? :Telling my mother.

Most challenging place you've ever written a spicy scene? :My computer with my husband walking back and forth behind me. Freaks me out.

When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :Days of contemplation and teeth-grinding.

The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past? None.

Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? :The library (as a student not a professional, thank you.)

What was the most romantic meal you've eaten? : The half-cooked stew in the woods of the Adirondacks after my husband had proposed on a mountaintop.

What kind of books do you read for fun? :Romance or romantic elements in absolutely any genre. Some hardcore BDSM squicks me out…

Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :The emotions of my stories sometimes come directly from real-life, down to the dialogue. My written fantasies are way more outrageous than my real fantasies I explore with my husband. I think for many women the fantasies that get them hot on the page aren’t things they really crave in life. And that’s healthy.

If you were to make a bumper sticker for your car that had to relate to erotic romance, what would it say? :I already have it. “Librarians do it better between the covers.”

Soulmates? Do you believe? :No.

Sex with anyone famous? :Whaaaa? Ewww. Oh, you mean, as a fantasy? Viggo, Vin Diesel, Hugh Jackman.

Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? :Cake, neither, green tea.

Author Interview: Koko Brown

Author Name: Koko Brown
Year started writing for LI: 2008
Titles: Frozen in Time
Web Page: http://www.kokobrown.net

What genre do you write in, and why? :
Even though I’m a huge fan of historicals, I seem to mainly write paranormals, which feature an interracial/multicultural relationship. The reason for this is because the genre is really underrepresented and with paranormals you’re pretty free to do anything. And I need that since my stories tend to be really over the top!


What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :
The first story I ever wrote was an 80,000 word historical set in during the Harlem Renaissance completed over six months in ‘04. The story focuses on the interracial relationship between a beautiful cabaret singer and an Italian mobster.
I shopped this one around a bit, garnered some interest from several publishers, but alas no contract.

How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? :
I know this may sound naughty, but if the scene turns me on then I know I’ve done my job.

Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy? :
Not really, but I will admit that I did a have a muse who indulged me with his wild escapades every now and then. One of his experiments turned up in my debut novel Charmed.

Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? :
Heck no! Usually its where did you learn that!

What one word best describes your toy collection? :
Incomplete.

Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :
My most unusual plot idea came from a Chinese folk tale about an incubus. I turned the tale into an erotic kabuki play the main characters are watching. It’s used as a turning point between the hero and the heroine where she finally decides to forgive him.

What music inspires your writing? :
I know this may sound strange but it’s only one song – Ice Box – by Omarion, an R& B singer formerly of the teennie bopper group B2K. Featured on his second album 21, this song is the driving force behind every single story I’ve written.

I think the song provides so much inspiration for me because the lyrics talk about a young man's earnest plea to his lady love to forgive him for all the troubles in their relationship which are brought on by his inability to trust. His memories of a past ruinous relationship keep interfering in his present relationship. And although he tries to let the past go, he can’t but think if he opens up to her, she'll break his heart like the last woman.

Plotter or a Pantser? :
I’m a partial plotter and a hardcore pantser all rolled into one. I plot out the chapters with a brief paragraph summarizing what has to happen in that chapter before moving onto the next. But as far as how it happens is always up in the air.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? :
Haven’t had any and I doubt I will, since nothing seems to embarrass me anymore. After my mother’s death in 2003, I learned not to care about what other people think. Mortality seems to put a lot of things into perspective.

The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past?
Plenty…but I won’t kiss and tell because my past lovers are my past and they should stay there.

Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? :
The floor of a record store.

What kind of books do you read for fun? :
This is one of my biggest regrets since becoming a published author. I find it really hard to read anything to completion. I always draw myself out of an otherwise great book, due to it sparking a plot idea.

Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :
I wish. Who wouldn’t want to be seduced by a vampire, a Viking or a Victorian Earl?

Soulmates? Do you believe? :
I feel everyone is destined to have a soul mate, possibly even more than one. According to a psychic reading, I haven’t met mine, yet. Thank goodness for small blessings!

Sex with anyone famous? :
No and I like that way because I think it would probably be a let down…well maybe not if it’s Gerard Butler!

Author Interview: Michelle Hasker

Author Name: Michelle Hasker
Year started writing for LI: 2006
Titles: Midnight Rendezvous, Mountain Rendezvous, Irish Dreams, Fondest Desire, The Bodyguard, The Bodyguard: Nash, The Bodyguard: Sorin
Web Page: www.michellehasker.com


What genre do you write in, and why? : paranormal romance. I love happy endings and things that are out of the norm. I always ponder what if, and like to create stories that could happen...maybe.

How much time do you spend writing every week? : Every free minute I have :)

What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) : vampires and a Frankenstein's monster type creature.

How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? : I usually have my CP's read and crit my stories because they will be honest. Sometimes it's easy to forget that as the author I know everything about the characters while my reader's don't. Not until I tell them.

Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy? : I try them fully clothed. I refuse to use my husband like the toy he wants to be. What's the fun if I give in :)

Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? : No.

What one word best describes your toy collection? : small *giggles

Favourite candy while writing? : chocolate

Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? : Most come from dreams. I'm a freak.

What inspires you to write? : Lots of things. Music, movies, books, real life around me.

What music inspires your writing? : Depends on the story. I change playlists with each book :)

Plotter or a Panster? : A bit of both but mostly panster.

Does your cat insist on sitting on your keyboard like mine does? : My daughter is allergic. No cats *sigh

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? : When a relative asked me for advice that on a subject I wasn't even comfortable being asked LOL

Most challenging place you've ever written a spicy scene? : My dining room at dinner time.

When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? : My Cp's beat me into submission

The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past? No. I'm rather boring.

Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? : uh....*whispers The Bed.

What kind of books do you read for fun? : Paranormal romance, mysteries

Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :Real life is nothing like my stories. My fantasies? Bring on the naked vampires in kilts baby!

Soulmates? Do you believe? : yes.

You just gave me a story idea. Thanks!

Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? : Pie – sierra mist – decaf tea

Author Interview: Vonna Harper

Author Name: Vonna Harper
Year started writing for LI: 2005?
Titles: Surrender's Dance, Cougar's Captive, Fantasy's Fear, Galen's Pet
Web Page: www.vonnaharper.com


What genre do you write in, and why? :

Mostly capture/BDSM. I heard it was one of the most popular genres and has done well for me. Also taps in personal fantasies.


How much time do you spend writing every week? :

I consider it my day job so I'm at it most days


What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :

Boy does that take me back. It was a man against nature about five mountain men in the 1700s. I forgot to include conflict.


How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? :

I'm not very good at that. The rough draft is work, hard work. Revision is where I try to sense whether the sensuality speaks to me. It comes down to word flow.


What one word best describes your toy collection? :

Bullets


Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :

A picture in a children's book of a pack of wild dogs.


What inspires you to write? :

I can't not write. It's hardwired into me.


Plotter or a Pantser? :

I'd love to be a pantser but I always write myself into a corner when I try.


When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :

Think about the stuck part when I'm going to sleep. Options are usually waiting when I wake up.


The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past?

I wish.


Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? :

A hiking trail backed up to a boulder


What was the most romantic meal you've eaten? :

Italian served by an Italian family.



What kind of books do you read for fun? :

Suspense with some nonfiction thrown in.


Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :

Oh sure. I do set a lot of my stories in the wilderness and we have a mountain cabin. Yes, my writing is an outlet for my fantasies.

If you were to make a bumper sticker for your car that had to relate to erotic romance, what would it say? :

Sorry. I'm coming up blank.

Soulmates? Do you believe? :

No.


Sex with anyone famous? :

Don't I wish.


Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? :

Pie. I don't like soft drinks. Coffee.

Author Interview: Qwillia Rain

Author Name: Qwillia Rain
Year started writing for LI: 2007
Titles: Santa’s Elf
Web Page: www.freewebs.com/clubdiabloblanco


What genre do you write in, and why? :
Currently I dabble in a bit of everything. Santa’s Elf was the start of an interest in erotic romance with BDSM elements, but I’ve also written stories in the genres of Romantic Suspense, Erotica, and Paranormal/Romantic Comedy. Only Santa’s Elf has been published.
As to why? Because that’s what the characters tell me to write. LOL, I know it sounds a bit schizophrenic, but each of my characters seem to be alive in my mind and when they want their story told, they make sure I know it. I just hope the characters never stop talking.


How much time do you spend writing every week? :
It depends upon what time of the year it is. Since my day job is in education, during the school year, I only have the time before and after school to do any writing, as well as the weekends. Right now, since I’m on summer break, I can spend as much or as little time as I’d like to write. I do try to spend at least two hours a day writing and I always have multiple projects going on to keep my characters active.


What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :
It was a romance novel about a kidnapped woman who escapes her captors and finds refuge on a man’s private island. I should have known then (at the age of 12) that sex would feature highly in my stories, since I had multiple sex scenes and even a mild bondage scene with the hero and heroine. LOL

How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? :
Step one is to see if I squirm in my seat when I read it. Step two is to send it to a friend of mine, and if she tells me she and her husband were very occupied after reading the scene, then I know I’ve hit the right note.


Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy? :
No comment


Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? :
Nope, not yet. (Although, I did have someone tell me once that the “virility” of my male characters were impossible)


What one word best describes your toy collection? :
Eclectic


Favourite candy while writing? :
Depends on my mood, it could be chocolate, bubble gum, chewy sweet tarts, gummi worms, or Red Vines.


Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :
A folk art museum display of a doll house.


What inspires you to write? :
I have no idea. I’ve always had stories going through my head. When I didn’t like the ending of the books I read, I would write my own. According to my mom, I’ve been writing or re-writing stories since I started reading at 3.


What music inspires your writing? :
I don’t usually listen to music while I’m writing. When I’m having problems accessing the emotions of my characters during a scene, I’ll listen to different types of music to get the mood, and then turn it off.
Much like my toys, I have an eclectic mix of music from classical to acid or metal rock. Depending on the mood of the scene, I listen to Nickelback, Dio, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Ozbourne, Enya, Joan Osbourne, Rhianna, Dean Martin or any of the Rat Pack singers.

Plotter or a Pantser? :
Pantster, all the way. I usually get the pivotal scenes for a story. I type out the primary idea, the elements associated with it, and some of the dialogue in the scene. After I’ve gotten those, I’ll go back and fill in the bridging scenes and elements.

Does your cat insist on sitting on your keyboard like mine does? :
Nope. She’s learned that the computer, when I’m on it, is off limits. Now, when I’m asleep, that’s another thing entirely. LOL. She’s a bit skittish around humans, only because she was abused before I adopted her from the pound. Usually she sleeps on the chair directly across the table from where I sit when I work on the computer.


Most challenging place you've ever written a spicy scene? :
During the middle of testing at my school. Very hard to “get in the scene” when you have 52 second graders clicking away on the computer. LOL.


When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :
I go for a drive, read a book, listen to music, or watch a movie. I figure, I’m stuck because the characters need a little privacy before revealing more information to me. Distracting myself from what’s going on helps to release the characters from their own disquiet in imparting information.
(Man, am I sounding as psycho to you as I do to me? LOL—I just feel like the characters are as real as the people I meet on the street. I strive to impart that very “aliveness” to the readers so that my characters become just as real to them as they are to me. Does that make sense?)


The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past?
Nope, sorry, very boring past, but hey, I’m young (just turned 42) give me time!


Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? :
No comment.


What kind of books do you read for fun? :
All kinds! When I’ve glutted myself of romance novels (of all sexually explicit levels), I like to read books on brain function and neurology, crime scene investigation, forensic sciences, horror (psychological rather than gore), fantasy, or young adult novels.


Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :
I wish-lol. I guess you could say I’m living vicariously through my characters and the fantasies I’ve had my characters act out.


If you were to make a bumper sticker for your car that had to relate to erotic romance, what would it say? :
You know it’s time to get a new boyfriend when it takes longer to poach an egg than for him to perform.


Soulmates? Do you believe? :
Oh yes, I’ve just never met mine yet. I have hope I will eventually.


Sex with anyone famous? :
Only in my dreams.

Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? :
Cake (chocolate fudge). Forget Coke or Pepsi, give me Dr Pepper. Love the smell of coffee, but bleck on the taste. As for tea—I like chai tea and chai tea lattes, with or without caffeine.

Author Interview: Renae Johnson

Author Name: Renae Johnson
Year started writing for LI: 2008
Titles: “Heavenly Bodies” (featured in the anthology Going Up, Going Down, released July 22nd)
Web Page: www.renaejohnson.net


What genre do you write in, and why? :
I like to call it Full-figured Paranormal Sexy Romantic Comedy. Why? Well, for one thing, I only write plus-sized heroines (I’m very passionate about size acceptance, and big girls are sexy, too, IMO). For another, I like to use slightly paranormal elements, such as a hot guardian angel, or a selkie, faeries, witchcraft, tarot, dreams, etc. And I think “sexy romantic comedy” is pretty self-explanatory. J

How much time do you spend writing every week? :
It depends, really. I tend to be a “blitz writer,” meaning I like to take a huge chunk of time—say a free Saturday—and spend it writing. Hard and fast schedules don’t work for me, but I try to spend at least five hours a week writing.

What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :
I’ve been writing since before I started kindergarten, and I honestly can’t remember back that far. However, I do remember the first romance I wrote. It was an historical romance set in the American plains about a wagon train going to California. I was in high school, and it was bad. Really bad.

How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? :
Well, I figure if it’s turning me on that’s a good thing. ;-) No, in all seriousness, I’ll send my stories out to some writer friends who’s opinions I trust, and if they respond with a, “That was a hot!” I know I’m on the right track.


Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy? :
I was just talking to someone about this the other day… I think that when you’re writing any sort of physical action scene, it helps to “try it out” to make sure the body can make certain movements or comfortably be in certain positions. Illustrated books also help, though.


Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? :
Not yet. I’m sure I’ll get there at some point, though.

What one word best describes your toy collection? :
Colorful. *wink*

Favourite candy while writing? :
Chocolate, of course. Dark chocolate, to be more specific.

Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :
Y’know, I’m not sure. They come from all different kinds of places, i.e. conversations with friends, dreams, news stories, etc.

What inspires you to write? :
The voices in my head that won’t shut up. Seriously. I have to get them out somehow.

What music inspires your writing? :
It depends upon what I’m writing, or what kind of scene I’m writing. If I’m writing a sensual scene, I’ve found that Maroon 5 really does it for me (I swear Songs about Jane is baby-making music).

Plotter or a Pantser? :
Pantser. All the way.

Does your cat insist on sitting on your keyboard like mine does? :
If I had a cat, he/she probably would. Luckily, my plants tend to stay where they’re put.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? :
Explaining it to my mom….

Most challenging place you've ever written a spicy scene? :
At work, during lunch, while one of my male coworkers was wiggling his eyebrows at me after reading the opening line of the story. Talk about uncomfortable.

When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :
I step away for a while, fiddle around on the internet, pick up someone else’s book, listen to some music, take a drive (well, before gas prices climbed so high), talk to some friends on AIM or via email.

The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past?
Hmmm. Not really (unless you count that threesome…)

Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? :
Behind a convenience store right off the interstate.

What was the most romantic meal you've eaten? :
He had chicken, I had a cheeseburger, but he’d lit candles on the table and turned out all the other lights. Proof positive that romance is all about atmosphere and the person you’re with.

What kind of books do you read for fun? :
Romantic comedy, some chick lit, Lisa Kleypas, erotica, urban fantasy.

Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :
My non-erotic stories are probably closer to my real life, whereas my erotic stories are probably closer to my fantasies. Funny how it works out that way. J

Soulmates? Do you believe? :
Yes, but not necessarily in the romantic sense (gasp! I know, that’s probably sacrilege for an erotic romance writer, but still). Sometimes, you meet someone who is very much your soul mate, but with whom there is no physical attraction/romantic feeling whatsoever. However, there is something to be said for that kind of mental and emotional intimacy with someone, and I do believe that you can find that with someone you are attracted to (just not always).

Sex with anyone famous? :
Only in my dreams…

Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? :
Key lime pie. Dr. Pepper (hey, I’m from Texas!). Sweet tea (again, I’m from Texas!) or frappuccino.

Author Interview: Bobby Michaels

Author Name: Bobby Michaels
Year started writing for LI: 2007
Titles: Jock Dorm One, Jock Dorm Two, Second Time Around, The Veteran, Red Heart Bowl, For The Love Of The Corps

What genre do you write in, and why? :
I write contemporary male-male romance and because first of all I am a gay male. Second of all, because most of my books contain characters who are currently serving or former members of the United States Marine Corps. This is because I have many and varied experiences with the USMC including one who was my second lover. I started out writing on another website that was exclusively for gay Males but was encouraged by friends who were Loose Id authors to publish my work.

How much time do you spend writing every week? :
Because of a recent stroke, and the loss of the use of one of my hands, I have had to cut back a great deal on my writing as I am learning to use a voice recognition program.

What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :
I cant even remember the name of it. I was 15 at the time and it was about a young male who goes off to war in Vietnam and is killed leaving behind his high school sweetheart who he had married before shipping out. It became the first in a series of romance stories that I wrote for a number of romance magazines like True Confession, True Divorce, etc..


How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? :
Very simply, if they get me excited, they’re effective.

Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy? :
Don’t need to, I’ve already done them.

Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? :
No, I figure this happens to female authors.

What one word best describes your toy collection? :
Nonexistent. If it ain’t a real, it ain’t worth it.

Favourite candy while writing? : Popcorn

Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :
I am no damn idea in the world. Things just pop into my head.

What inspires you to write? : An overactive sex drive

What music inspires your writing? : Usually Andres Segovia

Plotter or a Pantser? : Definitely Pantser

Does your cat insist on sitting on your keyboard like mine does? : No cat.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? :
I haven't really had one yet.

When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :
I reread the story from the beginning.

The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past?
Far too many to recount here. And I’ve had sex with more than 10,000 men in my life.

Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? : In a church, behind the altar.

What was the most romantic meal you've eaten? :
Hot dogs in bed with my Marine lover.

What kind of books do you read for fun? :
Paranormal romance (especially were wolves), mysteries, and military history and tactics.

Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :
My real life is nothing like my stories. My stories are my fantasies.

If you were to make a bumper sticker for your car that had to relate to erotic romance, what would it say? :
I write because I’m horny

Soulmates? Do you believe? : Absolutely.

Sex with anyone famous? : Two NFL quarterbacks and a rock star.


Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? : Chocolate cake AND black bottom pie, Coke Zero, Tea AND coffee.

Author Interview: Amanda Young

Author Name: Amanda Young

Year started writing for LI: My first contract was signed in 2006

Titles: Candy Man, Eye Candy, GWM Wanted, Man Candy, Pyromancer, Secrets & Lies, Something More, and the upcoming Reckless Seduction.

Web Page: www.AmandaYoung.org

What genre do you write in, and why? : I write mostly M/M romance these days, but I also have a ménage title out and two paranormal romances. When it comes right down to it, I write whatever strikes my whimsy. It just so happens that I’m more interesting in men, than women lately. ;)

How much time do you spend writing every week? :
I work a lot. I really couldn't break it down into hours. I think my husband gets tired of seeing the laptop glued to my thighs.

What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :
The first story I wrote, when I was about fourteen or fifteen, was a very warped drama about a girl who was kidnapped and tortured by her stepbrother. What can I say? I was reading a lot of VC Andrews at the time.


How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? :
Well… If it makes me squirm, then it’s a keeper.


Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy? :
Some of them. I don’t have the right anatomy for a lot of what I write, but thankfully I’m married to someone who does.


Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? :
Actually, no. I have a very vivid dirty imagination, and what I can’t imagine can usually be found online.


What one word best describes your toy collection? :
Phallic.


Favourite candy while writing? :
None. I’d be the size of a house if I snacked all day while puttering around on the computer. I usually stick to coffee or diet soda.

Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :
A Nickelback song.

What inspires you to write? :
I’ve been inspired by movies, music, television, random things people say or do… the list goes on and on.

What music inspires your writing? :
Pretty much anything I listen to. The more emotion behind the song, the more it makes my mind spin. I’ve been listening to a lot of grunge lately, so I’ve been tempted into writing darker, more angst-ridden stories. Who knows what it’ll be next month.

Plotter or a Pantser? :
Pantser. I write an outline for each manuscript, but I very rarely stick to it. Half the fun is seeing how things will end.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? :
Oh, man, it was definitely when my mother-in-law asked to read a copy of my first book. She’s in her late sixties, and a real product of her generation. I was really worried about her reading my stuff.


When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :
Research, research, research. I love my job. ;)


The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past?
Of course I have, but I’ll never tell.

Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? :
Hmm, I think I’ll keep this one to myself too. I’d hate to see the looks I’d get otherwise. I did some wild things when I was a teenager.

What kind of books do you read for fun? :
M/M romance, what else? Actually, I also read a lot of horror novels. I always say that if a book doesn’t have blood, guts, or sex, (or one of the three) I’m not interested. That pretty much goes for movies too.

Is your real life anything like your stories? :
Not at all. My life if horrendously boring compared to my stories. I like it that way.

If you were to make a bumper sticker for your car that had to relate to erotic romance, what would it say? :
Real women do it like men. *laughing*

Soulmates? Do you believe? :
Definitely. I felt drawn to my husband from the moment I saw him. Of course, that could have because he's so cute.

Sex with anyone famous? :
Nope.

Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? :
Cake, Diet Coke, & Coffee.

Author Interview: Lynn Lorenz

Author Name: Lynn Lorenz
Year started writing for LI: 2008
Titles: The Mercenary’s Tale, Jackson’s Pride
Web Page: www.lynnlorenz.com


What genre do you write in, and why? :
Currently, I’m writing historical m/m and contemporary m/m erotic romance. Why? Gay sex is HOT! I love writing historicals, both erotic and non, and I enjoy writing contemporary. Not so much research needed.

How much time do you spend writing every week? :
On average, 20 hrs.

What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :
The Avalon Patrol. Fantasy/paranormal/detectives. A blend of my three favorite genres.

New Concepts offered for it, but then that sort of fell apart. Ahem. Now, I have a query out for it at Crescent Moon Press. Fingers crossed. It’s my first baby and I really love it.

How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? :
I use what I can the “squirm factor” – if, while I’m writing it, I’m wiggling in my chair, sort of getting aroused, then it’s good. If I read it to my husband and he wants to do me…that’s even better. If a friend reads it and she wants to do me, then I know I’ve got it right. LOL!

Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy? :
When I was younger? But, since some of my stuff is m/m, I don’t have all the equipment, but I am adventurous, so I’ve probably done most of it. And I do research – I watch bi and gay porn. So hot.

Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? :
No. Most of the time I hear, uh…do we have to know that? My bad. I have a tendency to get too graphic, but I usually know how it’s done.

What one word best describes your toy collection? :
Battery-operated.

Favourite candy while writing? :
Chocolate Hershey kisses with cherry cordial filling….OMG better than sex….

Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :
Corporate America…. In Warriors at Heart, the vampire government was straight out of corporate America, even down to forms, regulations and diversity and inclusion issues.

What inspires you to write? :
I have stories that I need to tell and my husband won’t listen to me anymore.

What music inspires your writing? :
Country music, it’s so full of angst and feelings and passion. There’s nothing like a good ‘he done me wrong’ song to get me going.

Plotter or a Panster? :
Pantser

Does your cat insist on sitting on your keyboard like mine does? :
No cats, but my dog watches me from the bed.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? :
Listening to the founder of RT expound on why certain erotica editors were even allowed to attend a conference….and then telling her why. Oops, my bad.

Most challenging place you've ever written a spicy scene? :
Usually I write them at my computer in my bedroom while my kids play Kingdom of Hearts on the Playstation. LOL. (I really do know what you mean)

When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :
After I’ve run thru all the things I do to procrastinate, I just sit down and start writing. Sometimes, it’s not the next scene, it may be the ending, or a scene or two later on, but I write it down. Then, I go back and fill in.

The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past?
According to my parents, all of them.

Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? :
Like that famous game show answer….in the butt?

What was the most romantic meal you've eaten? :
A first date dinner at Arnaud’s in New Orleans. Oh yeah, baby, he got lucky.

What kind of books do you read for fun? :
Murder mysteries, detectives, my daughter’s writings

Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :
My real life is nothing like my stories, except the parts where everything goes horribly wrong. Now, my fantasies are my stories.

If you were to make a bumper sticker for your car that had to relate to erotic romance, what would it say? :
Here? In Katy, Tx? Are you kidding? Romance writers do it with their minds?

Soulmates? Do you believe? :
Since I write about them, you’d think I would, but I believe that in each part of our lives there are people we could be happy with, but I’m not sure that our soulmates are necessarily our partner/spouses. Sometimes, your soulmate could be your best friend. It’s that one person that really gets you.

Sex with anyone famous? :
Yes, that would be great. Could I fuck Ben Afleck, too?

Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? :
Pie, always. Coke, but Barq’s in a bottle over all. Tea, but only good southern sweet tea, thank you ma’am.

Author Interview: Lyra Marlowe

Author Name: Lyra Marlowe
Year started writing for LI: 2007
Titles: Thirteen Silver Moons
Web Page: www.LyraMarlowe.com


What genre do you write in, and why? :
My first book was fantasy; my WIP is contemporary D/s. After that, I have a paranormal in mind. I’m still trying things out, and I doubt I’ll ever stop. What they all have in common, though, is people learning about love, sexuality, and each other.

How much time do you spend writing every week? :
In a good week, maybe 20 hours. In a bad week, none at all. I try not to obsess about it.

What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :
A book that won regionals in The Young Authors Conference. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what it won. I went to some other school and read it to a bunch of kids from different schools. I think it was called, “Spring is …” It was a very long time ago. But they told me I could write, and I completely believed them.

How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? :
If I really, really don’t want to stop writing until the scene it over, it usually turns out well.

Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy? :
Can I just say yes, blush, and leave it at that?

Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? :
Yes. In precisely those words, actually. And also, “Oh, man, do you know how much that would hurt?”

What one word best describes your toy collection? :
Non-existent. But I have a nice collection of books and a great imagination.

Favourite candy while writing? :
Bridge mix. I like the element of surprise.

Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :
From my DH. He comes up with great ideas, but by his own admission doesn’t have the passion to sit down and flesh them out.

What inspires you to write? :
I think it’s a compulsion more than an inspiration. I have to write. I become sullen and miserable without it. Once I’ve got a story started, the characters inspire me to come back and finish their story – I want to see how they turn out!

What music inspires your writing? :
I have a hard time listening to music while I write, especially if it has words. Too distracting. But there are musical soundtracks that get me in the write frame of mind. Les Miz for when I need my characters to be noble and brave, for example. Or Sweeney Todd when I need them to be bitter and vengeful.

Plotter or a Panster? :
Plotter, but not a detailed one. I usually decide a rough outline in my head, then pants my way between major points and smooth the whole thing out when I’m done.

Does your cat insist on sitting on your keyboard like mine does? :
No, but if it’s about to get very cold she will insist on sitting on my lap between me and the desk.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? :
Realizing that my 12-year-old was reading over my shoulder as I wrote.

Most challenging place you've ever written a spicy scene? :
At a table in a McDonald’s PlayPlace. It’s not the noise so much as the quiet fear that you’ll get caught. “But Officer, you don‘t understand, I’m an artist!”

When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :
My best trick is to skip ahead to a scene that I know in my head. This usually leads to the current scene making sense, and it takes the desperate feeling of “I can’t write!” out of the equation. Sometimes I read older stories until I find myself going, “Hey, that’s not half bad!” and get my confidence back.

The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past?
When we were dating, my BF and I once had fairly loud sex in his apartment, which was three rooms in a boarding house on a resort island. When we quieted down, we heard voices outside the open window – where the house owner was having a family reunion picnic. Judging from the applause, they’d all gotten an earful.

Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? :
On my father-in-law’s desk, after hours. (Hi, Pa!)

What was the most romantic meal you've eaten? :
On a docks ship in Toronto harbor on the first night of our honeymoon. Low lights, white tablecloth, waiter in a tux. Until we tried to order dessert and he looked at my plate and said, archly, “There is something wrong with madam’s carrots?” and took the dessert menus away until I finished them.

What kind of books do you read for fun? :
Lots of fantasy, some sci-fi, anything I can steal from my DH. I love Charles de Lint and Terry Prachett, Spider Robinson and Douglas Adams. Also Robert Parker, Del Shannon and Raymond Chandler.

Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :
Not really. My writing and fantasies are more escape from the grind of domestic life.

If you were to make a bumper sticker for your car that had to relate to erotic romance, what would it say? :
“If you can’t stand the heat, don’t read over my shoulder!”

Soulmates? Do you believe? :
Yes. My DH and I have a ridiculous number of things in common. Our mothers are both nurses and were born days apart. Our parents’ anniversaries are two days apart. And we think alike on a wide variety of subjects.

Sex with anyone famous? :
Nooooo … but I one made out with a guy who went on to be the stage manager for a very famous male ballet dancer. (Yeah, that one!) Hi, Joe!

Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? :
Cake, preferably chocolate. Or double or triple chocolate. Coke, because it has more bite. Coffee, black and dark, except after 6, when tea will do.

Author Interview: Jessica Freely

Author Name: Jessica Freely
Year started writing for LI: 2008
Titles: Virgin
Web Page: http://friskbiskit.com/


What genre do you write in, and why? :
M/M: because I love romance, and I hate heterosexual power dynamics.

How much time do you spend writing every week? :
I spend about twenty hours a week fingers to keyboard. The rest of my workday is spent on business correspondence, promotion, and teaching.

What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :
When I was about six I wrote a story about a fairy that lived underneath the ice-skating rink my dad made in our backyard. My sister still has it.

Favourite candy while writing? :
Chocolate!

What inspires you to write? :
My characters. They get inside my head and won’t let me rest until I tell their story.

Does your cat insist on sitting on your keyboard like mine does? :
Ha! No, but my Italian greyhound tries to get in my lap all the time. He’s incredibly jealous of my laptop.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? :
When my (grown) nephew joined my Yahoo group.


When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :
I sit back, relax, close my eyes and just type whatever comes into my head, as fast as I can, no stopping. I call it the Queen Victoria Method.

The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past?
I was polyamorous for three whirlwind months in the summer of ’92. It was great fun, but I didn’t get any work done.


What kind of books do you read for fun? :
M/M of course! I particularly love romantic stories with a strong hurt/comfort element. Anybody got any recs?

Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? :
Yes!

Author Interview: Jane Leopold Quinn

Author Name: Jane Leopold Quinn
Year started writing for LI: 2007
Titles: Home to Stay, Ancient Ties
Web Page: www.janeleopoldquinn.com

What genre do you write in, and why? :
m/f contemporary, time travel, suspense, Western – all erotic. I have written an m/f/m ménage though.

How much time do you spend writing every week? :
I’m one of the lucky ones who made the decision to quit the day job and write full time. So I write every day 9 am to 2 or 3 pm. Some, maybe too much of that time is spent on e-mails, some time on promotion, but it’s all writing related.

What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :
I wrote a Western. Then I wrote another Western. They were teaching experiences. Ancient Ties, my time travel to Roman Britain, was the third thing I wrote and the first published. Maybe it’s true that the first ms is Sophomore year, the second is Junior year, and the third is Senior year and Graduation.

How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories?
If they turn me on so much that I have to leave the room , then I know I’ve done my job well. Or I become so lost in the scene that I’m writing that I sometimes “wake up” and don’t realize how much time has passed.
Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy? :
Sure, between past and present relationships, they’ve been tested.

Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? :
No.

What one word best describes your toy collection? :
Sparse.

Favourite candy while writing? :
None, really. I don’t snack, but I also don’t have anything in the house except hard, fruit flavored candies.

Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :
I just wrote a short story that is an m/f/m ménage. The title came from an e-mail from someone on the LI Community loop. She asked for some ménage titles. Me, being me, thought she was actually looking for a title, so I provided the title “His, Hers & His.” She was looking for books to read. Okay, not my first embarrassment and certainly not my last. But, now I had a title for myself. The plot came from a “Dr. Phil” show where a woman met men on an internet site called sugardaddy.com. There you go.

What inspires you to write? :
An idea sparks in my mind, then I build characters around that, then the plot unfolds. It all starts with the spark. All it needs to be is a few words I hear on TV or a sight I see on the street or just a fantasy.

What music inspires your writing? :
The popular tenors, sometimes music from “my day” -- the 60s.

Plotter or a Pantser? :
Both. Sometimes I pants it for a couple of chapters, then if I feel I have something viable, I plot it out in a grid. A shorter ms may be pantsed, but a longer novel length will always be plotted.

Does your cat insist on sitting on your keyboard like mine does? :
No pets.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? :
Probably the first few times I told people that I write erotic romance. I was kind of sheepish about it. You can’t be that way. People will say, “Oh, you write dirty books.” You have to project confidence. I started to calmly respond, “No, I write love stores.” That usually proves that I’m serious about what I write and cuts off their water.

Most challenging place you've ever written a spicy scene? :
You mean your writing location or the scene’s location? If it’s the writing location, probably trying to write erotic romance at my desk at work as a legal secretary is pretty challenging. It’s a no-go. If it’s the scene’s location, that would probably be either a shower or a stopped elevator.


When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :
Except for vacations out of town, I write almost every day. Sometimes I do get stuck, but I recover in a day or two. Sometimes you just have to walk away to let your mind relax.


The Personal stuff:


Any outrageous liaisons in your past?
Oh, yeah!!

Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? :
Unusual to me, maybe not to another person -- a sailboat in the Bahamas.

What was the most romantic meal you've eaten? :
Since the last two questions don’t relate to my hubby, I’ll say in this answer, that the most romantic meal was our first date. It wasn’t the food, it was the conversation. Neither one of us wanted it to end.

What kind of books do you read for fun? :
Mostly other romance books. Sometimes mysteries.

Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :
Nooooo.

If you were to make a bumper sticker for your car that had to relate to erotic romance, what would it say? :
“It’s all really about love.”

Soulmates? Do you believe? :
Yes. And actually I believe in more than one soulmate in a lifetime.

Sex with anyone famous? :
Noooo. But ask my husband. He’s had sex with me.

Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? :
Cake and pie. Pepsi, but I wouldn’t turn down Coke. Hot coffee, iced tea.

Author Interview: Barbra Novac

Author Name: Barbra Novac
Year started writing for LI: 2008
Titles: Double Crossed
Web Page: www.barbranovac.com



What genre do you write in, and why? :

This novel is contemporary suspense and the sex style is BDSM. I will probably stay with these for a while, though I will try ménage instead of BDSM next. I like to write about modern women. I’m a feminist, and I like to think and challenge my way through contemporary issues for women.


How much time do you spend writing every week? :

I write at least an hour every day. (Writers write. If I’m not writing, I’m not a writer)


What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :

A woman who purchased socks in a bazaar and got home and found that they didn’t match. She decided to keep them anyway, fantasizing that a woman just like her purchased the other mis-matched pair, and that they both wear them together having never met.


How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? :

My partner reads them, but I have some on line editor friends that read for me and give me honest feedback.


Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy? :
Yes.

Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? :
Yes.

What one word best describes your toy collection? : Extensive.

Favourite candy while writing? :
(sob) I’m off sweets. I eat almonds to quell the cravings.

Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :
From other writers and their stories. From ‘strange but true’ new articles.

What inspires you to write? :
Women. Who they are, what they are, what they think and what’s behind what they think. They are the last great undiscovered frontier.

What music inspires your writing? :
Whatever I think my heroine would listen to, or music to suit the mood I’m looking for.

Plotter or a Panster? :
A little from column A and a little from column B. I really need a plot and the better its worked out the better I feel, but I always seem to change it when I’m in the thick of the work.

Does your cat insist on sitting on your keyboard like mine does? :
I don’t have a cat, but that’s a cute idea. Maybe I should get one.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? : My partner wanting to know if this stuff happened to me for real before we met or not.


Most challenging place you've ever written a spicy scene? :
A train.

When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :
I am one of those discipline freaks who want to just work through it. Even if the writing is shocking, and needs to be thrown out, I will write rather than not. If I am straggling around and can’t find my feet, I tend to search for a short story comp or something short term to work toward to get me back into the grove again. My partner is a writer and we find that technique works for both of us.


The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past?
Yes.

Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? :
In a small cage.

What was the most romantic meal you've eaten? :
Takeaway pizza, naked, on my boyfriends bed in the early days, when we couldn’t stop sex long enough to get food for ourselves, and had to have it delivered.

What kind of books do you read for fun? :
Romance, erotica, mystery fiction. I really like erotica and old/historical erotica.

Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :
My life USED to be like my stories, but I have settled down now. My fantasies are like my stories – yes!

Soulmates? Do you believe? : yes

Sex with anyone famous? :
Yes. I dated a man with his own TV show in New Zealand for a while.
One of my ex lovers was heavily pursued by Nicole Kidman (before she was married to her current husband of course) while we were lovers. We weren’t exclusive, and he could go with her, but he wasn’t very attracted to her. I took that as an affirmation! Oh, and Keanu Reeves hit on me in a bar once, but I was with someone and got myself out of there REAL FAST! I’m not a cheater. I seem to meet a lot of famous people. It just happens to me.

Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? :
Both cake and pie when I can have sugar.
Neither coke nor pepsi
Both tea and coffee depending on my mood.

Author Interview: Marie A. Roy

Author Name: Marie A. Roy
Year started writing for LI: 2007
Titles: Canterville: Book One – The Dead Speak
Web Page: www.freewebs.com/mariearoy


What genre do you write in, and why? :

Erotic fiction, erotic romance fiction, contemporary romance, mysteries and forensic thrillers.

I like putting on many hats! I write the contemporaries, mysteries and forensic thrillers under my name Marie A. Roy . I also write erotic fiction under the names of Collette Thomas and Zara Dominique. I feel I acquire a slightly different persona when I write under various names. Each one has its own website. http://www.freewebs.com/mariearoy for Marie A. Roy; http://www.freewebs.com/collettethomas for Collette Thomas and http://www.freewebs.com/zaradominique for Zara Dominique.


How much time do you spend writing every week? :

I am able to stay home at this stage in my life after working in corporate for many years. Consequently, I spend every day 24/7 and even night writing. I have several projects in the works now and devote time to all of them each and every day.


What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :

Actually the first story I wrote I’m sure was in elementary school. My parents had this shiny black Royal typewriter. One summer we actually lugged that thing along with the beach towels, beach blankets and other paraphernalia families bring with them when the rent a cottage by the shore. In the evenings after a day on the beach I would type out my stories that usually involved dogs and horses.

How do you judge the effectiveness of the sensual scenes in your stories? :

If you’re not squirming in your seat, and thinking about that significant other in your life, or simply feeling certain feelings, then the scene needs to be worked on, tweaked some more until it does. And then it has to flow while producing those sparks that tell you it’s working!

Do you ever try out the sexual positions you write to make sure of accuracy? :

Let’s say I fantasize about them and from that point I can pretty much tell if it’s working!


Ever been told, Um...sweetie, that's not how it works? :

Not yet!


What one word best describes your toy collection? :

I have a large box in the back of my closet. Let’s say one word to describe it ….or two….”very interesting!”


Favourite candy while writing? :

Right now beside my computer I have a box of Dark Chocolate Hershey’s Truffles. I bought this for myself. What made me choose this box? This line on the back:

“To best enjoy these exquisite morsels, bite down gently and allow the center to liquefy in your mouth. Use your tongue to swirl the melting chocolate across all surfaces of your mouth, noticing the early flavors, smoothness, mouthfeel, finish and lingering notes”

I thought I was reading the back blurb of an erotic romance novel. .


Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :

Let’s say while sitting across from a funeral director while my sister and I dealt with getting funeral arrangements completed for both of my parents--not a good time for us. Yet, weeks later I decided to develop a character whose profession involved assisting families with their deceased loved ones. This produced an endless array of possibilities for this characters who I feel is three dimensional in that both good and evil resides in him. He’s one who has gotten in touch with that dark side of himself that many may deny exists. And then the entire plot has revolved around that premise, in fact an entire town where both good and evil reside, and the underlying battle that continues. This of course starts with Book One – The Dead Speak of my CANTERVILLE Series. Book One is like driving into a town, meeting the inhabitants, and then discovering things aren’t quite what they appear.


What inspires you to write? :

Ideas are always coming to me no matter where I am. There are so many stories out there waiting to be told. My most recent one evolved into a sequel where my characters are now involved in the adult movie making business…and two of the characters (both males) are starting to realize there is a strong attraction to each other.

What music inspires your writing? :

Everything from anything of Celine Dion’s, or Josh Groben’s songs to the PussyCat Dolls’ Don’t Cha, to Charles Barkley’s Crazy, or Gwen Stefani’s Sweet Escape, to Frank Sinatra’s Summer Wind and Lisa Minelli’s New York, New York, and a bit of classical thrown in-- Beethoven’s Sonatas, which in my former life I used to play on the piano.

Plotter or a Panster? :

I will plot out the story for a time, then I become a panster in that I let it flow from my brain, and then I revert back to being a plotter so that in the end the story comes together naturally and seamlessly.

Does your cat insist on sitting on your keyboard like mine does? :

In memory of Sammie who joined Misty, Tabitha and Spunky at the Rainbow Bridge this past October 19, 2007, I would have to say I miss him terribly. He would sit here by my side. Periodically, I would pick him up, and he would look at me, and gently touch my cheek with his paw. He and I battled his diabetes for one year before it took its toll. I had him for fifteen years, and he was my best friend. I have his ashes on my shelf along with his photo.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an erotic romance author? :

Forgetting to remove my signature line when emailing to certain people I don’t particularly want to know about my “other” life. For instance two very nice people who are quite involved in the church, retired from teaching, etc. To my horror I sent them an email and realized the signature line read: Hot Sex with a Stranger: A Case of Mistaken Identity and Appetite for Lust.

Most challenging place you've ever written a spicy scene? :

Just recently …and it was inside a stalled elevator….


When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :

I leave my office and go work out! I find while on a treadmill or an elliptical bike thought flow increases in that I’m getting the blood and oxygen to my brain, not to mention a shot of endorphins. I truly believe that helps! Suddenly, all sorts of scenarios start to rise and I can’t wait to get back to the computer to rework the scene that had me fleeing from it in the first place.

The Personal stuff:

Any outrageous liaisons in your past?

Someday I will tell all…but when I do it will be under the name of Anonymous! And yes there have been a few!


Where's the most unusual place you ever managed to have sex? :

I think for now I’ll keep that to myself.


What was the most romantic meal you've eaten? :

Pizza! It was my first date with my late husband. He was so good looking, and he had just started teaching. It was back in the late 60’s and all the girls thought he looked like Dustin Hoffman in the Graduate. Since that first date we never went out with anyone else, married and stayed together until his passing in 2002 for 33 years. Next month we would have celebrated out 39th wedding anniversary.

What kind of books do you read for fun? :

I enjoy reading erotic romance, contemporaries and of course forensic thrillers. Also, being the health nut that I am I enjoy books on healthy living, physical fitness, and healthy cooking. I’m always trying new recipes that will add to my overall health which in turns keeps those brain cells alive and well. Creating erotic fantasies can take a lot of energy!

Is your real life anything like your stories? What about your fantasies? :

Don’t I wish! I have fantasies galore and my characters get to live them out!

If you were to make a bumper sticker for your car that had to relate to erotic romance, what would it say? :

Love and Sex makes the world go around and around and around!”

Soulmates? Do you believe? :

Yes! I am fortunate that I had a soul mate for all those years. I’m not sure at this point I’ll find it again. I’m kind of like Kendra Bettencourt, the M.E. in my Canterville Series who dates but is not ready to get “emotionally” involved with anyone.

Sex with anyone famous? :

A girl can only wish and fantasize!!!!

Cake or Pie? Coke or Pepsi? Tea or Coffee? :

Blueberry pie! I don’t drink soda so have no preference for either. I love tea especially Chamomile and Blueberry!

Author Interview: Amber Green

Author Name: Amber Green
Year started writing for LI: 2007
Titles: The Huntsmen 1: Lights Out!, The Huntsmen 2: Bareback
Web Page: www.ShapeshiftersInLust.com

What genre do you write in, and why? How did you come up with your paranormal characters? How do you decide what their powers and history are?

The shadowy edges of reality fascinate me. I like thinking about the differences one change in standard reality would make, and the difference each of those differences would make. I also like to think that keeping my rules very close to standard reality will intensify the effect of the nonstandard reality.

The basic departure for this reality is the existence of huntsmen, who fit pretty much within the standard definition of human except in that they have the potential to become nonhuman. The nonhuman form, in contemporary English called a hyde, is the the hairy man of the wilderness that appears in almost every culture. In Britain, he was a woodiwoe; in most of the US he's Bigfoot. When Europeans explored the world east and south of India and first heard stories about orangutans, they wrote them down as quaint legends of a primitive culture's hairy man--and were shocked when confronted with living specimens.
One huntsman or another might have the ability to see a bit further into the infrared spectrum, or an ability to see auras, or an ability to see in low-light conditions, but having too much of any of these abilities would mean sacrificing "normal" vision because the human-sized eyeball has room for only so many rods, cones, etc. and the human brain has only so much room for the area devoted to processing visual information. The huntsmen have better noses than the average human, but about half of them can't smell any better than a human with a very good nose. None of them smells as well as a dog because that would require gross changes in the nasal structure and the proportion of the brain that is devoted to analyzing scent.

A huntsman's strength and agility are within human norms, but are always developed to the degree that humans reserve for athletes because each huntsman is a warrior, born and reared with the duty to protect humans from hydes and--if only to keep in practice--other things that go bump in the night. Joe, who is quite human, is as strong, as fast, and as silent in his movement as any huntsman. A huntsman's metabolism is faster than a human's, but not fast enough to heal broken bones in less than a couple of weeks.

A huntsman's great weakness is his need to inhale and exhale emotionally, to feed on energy as you'd feel on oxygen and to purge himself of foulness, as you'd purge your lungs of smoke, before it builds up enough to block his ability to absorb more wholesome energies. If he suffocates, whether that happens over a period of hours or years, he loses his humanity and becomes a hyde.

When a huntsman crosses the line to become a hyde, he becomes increasingly animalistic, gaining the dog-like olfactory powers for example but sacrificing human characteristics in exactly the same proportion. His brain goes to mud and muscle and sensory perception. He is stronger, but less agile. He can see in the dark, but bright light blinds him. He gets a double-sized dick, but develops such a rank stench he can't get any willing takers for it.

In a reality that included demons, aliens, fae, telepathy, human flight, pyrokinesis, precognition and body jumping, say, what would be special about huntsmen? But in a prosaic, human-centric world, they stand out.

What was the first story you ever wrote about? (not nec. first published story) :
The Time Traveller’s Daughter, about Hello Central, a girl who was not anchored in any one timeline or reality, and would skip from reality to reality with a disconcerting lack of notice. I started it around age 11, re-wrote it repeatedly, and finally abandoned it during my senior year in high school.

Where did your most unusual plot idea come from? :
Dreams. Nightmares.

What music inspires your writing? :
I like to have a pair of theme songs, preferably conflicting, for each major character. When one isn’t working, I can play the other. Instrumental versions work better when I can get them, but where are you going to find an instrumental of the John Kay version of Bold Marauder? I also like to listen to music in languages I don’t know, such as Russian and Gaelic. After a few listenings I start “translating” in my head, but don't get the distraction of the singer's imagery. My son bought me an album of Final Fantasy songs done in a Gaelic style but keeping the Japanese lyrics. To protect me from being influenced by the titles, he copied them onto an unlabelled CD. I don't know who did this music or why, but I want more of it.

Does your cat insist on sitting on your keyboard like mine does? :
Jackson chins my screen for attention. Her nemesis QP waits until I’m cuddled up with the laptop, then oozes in between my lap and the lap-board. The other cats ignore me when I'm typing.

When you get stuck, how do you find your way back to the writing? :
By reading.

The Personal stuff:

TWELVE WAYS TO TELL I'M A GEEK

I like playing online games in Dutch, a language with which I am only passingly familiar. Thinking of "shops" as "winkels" and trying out different ways to pronounce "Dreigende Gelei Klodders" never fails to make me grin.

Computers outnumber people in my house.

All but one of them is lying around in pieces at the moment.

I know pi to a dozen places. Almost. Or I used to. Really. I wrote a fan letter after hearing "White and Nerdy." And the answer is Picard.

As an 18-year-old English major, I bopped into my faculty advisor’s office and asked whether I should take general chemistry 1101 or "honors general chemistry for majors" as my mandatory science class. He said, "If it were me, there wouldn’t be any question at all." I said "Thanks!" and bopped out. Took a few weeks to realize he’d meant something along the lines of, "Are you flipping crazy?"

My first rejection letter was from The Dragon. They said I was taking too technical an approach to [the ecology of] a fantasy universe. A year later, they began running a series of articles exactly like what I had proposed. My fingerprints on the world of DnD. Yup. :)

I have been known to use "grok" and "Talleyrand" in the same sentence.

I used the term "cognitive dissonance" in an erotic romance.

I have never studied the Klingon language, but I could give a five-minute off-the-cuff speech comparing Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy as recited in the Klingon language to the Bill of Rights as recited in NewSpeak.

I can spell "soliloquy" and "ecdysiastic."

I read reference books for fun. I can, without getting up from this chair, reach two translations of Sun Tzu, five issues of Osprey, a handful of books on the Napoleonic Wars, a book on Spanish for Law Enforcement Personnel, three dictionaries, and two 19th century manuals on household management. A collection of medieval reference works holds down the other end of the table.

I play tank battles for fun. I can lose Kursk as easily playing the Germans as I can playing the Russians.