11 Comments · Adult reading, Authors Promoting Authors, Blog Spotlights, Guest Author day, Publishing news, Uncategorized, books, excerpts, romance

Tell us about your latest book. What inspired it? Is this a series and if so, how many books are you planning? If not, do you plan to have any spin-offs from secondary characters in the future?

Calen is a three book series. I grew up on fairy tales of princesses, prince charming, castles and happily ever after, and I really miss them, so I wrote My Soul To Keep. The original story was one single book written about two brothers who found the child, Arion, after his parents were killed. Arion is then adopted by the brothers’ family and becomes the third brother of the story. Because the original story was so long, my publisher thought it best to break it up into three separate books and that seemed to work best.

Summertime fun is here……..what is your favorite way to celebrate summer and plan on going on vacation?

I never go on vacation in the summer time because there is just too much traffic and people everywhere, plus the gas prices are so high! I wait until the fall and I usually go to northern Calif. to see my grandchildren and children. The weather is cooler, yet still sunny, all the kids are back in school and everyone is home and the gas prices have dropped.

If you could ask readers in your genre one question, what would it be and why?

Given the popularity of the paranormal, how do you continue to come up with new, fresh ideas to write about?

This is the most difficult thing about writing for me. I love the paranormal, love vamps and ghosts and weres of all kinds, but there are so many books written on the subject out there, I have a hard time thinking of fresh ideas.

Also, the names of vamps seem to run the gambit of “the names the same”—how do you keep from sounding like every other author?

What do you think is most important in the relationship between the main characters?

Personally, I like the conflict between them. I also like the female lead to be able to not only hold her own with intellect, humor, wit, charm and looks, I like her to be physically able to compete with the male lead. Not that I want her to be able to over power him or be bulked up, but to be able to handle a sword or knife or gun with equal efficiency. Long gone are the days when women swooned and had to be rescued by a man, and it’s nice to read about a little rescuing by the women.

How long does it take for you to create, write and submit to your editor a finished book?

That varies greatly depending on the story. Sometimes I can whip out a story in a matter of hours, others can take weeks or months, and I have some I’ve been working on for years. Once a story is contracted with a publisher and I receive first edits, I’m pretty quick to get those done, usually a day or two.

Of course, I’d like to be able to whip up a story, submit it, get contracted, edited and published in a month or two, but in this business, that’s just not realistic. Sometimes a manuscript can be in the hands of a publisher for several weeks to several months before an author even hears if they are getting a contract. From there it can be several months to a year before the work is actually published. This business takes patience—something I am learning to have more of in my old age!

If one of your books was made into a movie, who do you think would capture your characters perfectly?

That would depend on the book, but I’ve always imagined my book Blood Line making a great movie. It’s a werewolf story, and I would have Colin Farrell play the lead, Josh; Rachel McAdams would be a great choice for Josh’s wife, Jessie; and Mark Harmon would be perfect for the role of Garan; and I think Catherine Zeta-Jones would be the perfect Ganda.

You may have guessed that I’ve given this a lot of thought!

Anything in the pipeline for 2009? Can we get a sneak look into upcoming projects?

Well, I’ve got a few irons in the fire right now. Fire Light is soon to be released from Noble Romance Publishing. This novella is a lot of fun and just a good reason to have a romp in the sack! The sequel to Blood Line is coming out too, it’s called Ancient Blood and picks up where Blood Line left off with Ganda going to Ireland. The second and third installments of Calen-My Soul To Keep are finished. The second book is called Caleb, which picks up right where Calen left off, and the third book is called Arion and concludes the series.

I also have a few out that I’m waiting to hear about. Cross The Line, an epic saga of the relationship between the daughter of a former slave owner and a former slave, is set just after the Civil War during the Indian Wars. Also, Written In Stone, my contribution to vampire tales, but this one has a little twist to it, and Closure, a romance set against the backdrop of a serial killer in Albuquerque, NM. This one also has a twist, and by far, it was the one I had the most fun writing!

For fun: If you could meet any character you want, who would it be & what would you do?

Easy answer for this one-Alex Cross from the James Patterson books. I love Alex and his partner John. I was in total crises for two days when John got married!

Any phobias we should know about?

Spiders of all shapes and sizes, living or dead or plastic. Pillows over my face during sex. Sure, I can go with being blindfolded, strangled, tied up, or handcuffed, but no pillows. Other than that, I’m good. Oh, and the Grand Canyon.

Are you a morning person or do you really hate those infernal cheery people who wake up happy? *grins*

Hate them, hate them, hate them! Just give me caffeine and be very, very quiet and you might survive mornings with Rie!
Sneak Peek of Calen: MY Soul to Keep:

BUY at: http://www.nobleromance.com/BrowseListing.aspx?author=8

Damon was at home in the new century, having made the trip several times since becoming one with the demon, in order to prepare the way for Ariella. The situation had changed, but that didn’t deter him in the least; one had to be able to adapt.
The treasure in the cave had remained undiscovered through the centuries and he had quite a fortune. Antique and art dealers were eager to purchase the old jewels and rare, gold coins. The modern currency they’d given him had allowed him to make his way in the new world.
First, he’d spent a few days observing the customs. Then he’d bought some clothing suitable for the time. Dressed in black Levi’s, a black T-shirt, and a long, black leather duster, and heavy black leather boots, he prowled the streets, absorbed his surroundings.
Damon grinned broadly as he caught a glimpse of his own reflection in a store window. Black on black, right down to his sunglasses. “Mmm, what a fine looking man I am,” he said aloud, and adjusted the collar on his duster.
This city, this century was made just for him. He could take all the women he wanted and when he finished with them he could dump their lifeless bodies and no one even seemed to care. There were hundreds, nay, thousands of women and men, girls and boys, walking the streets at night . . . selling drugs, selling themselves, selling their souls. Everything for the taking and Damon didn’t just take, he devoured. He took advantage of their weaknesses and used them as fuel for the darkness growing within him.
He rented an apartment in an old, rundown building, and it was there he’d left Arianna in a trance-like state, lying on his bed. She was so young and soft and beautiful. She made him hard whenever he looked at her, and he wanted her naked beneath him, but not yet. He had to wait, it was important for him to wait, and that was why he took the ones on the street. He picked ones that resembled her and when he was inside of them he closed his eyes and imagined himself inside the witch. Not as exciting as the real thing, but he made do. The time would come when he’d have her—when he’d kill the male witches and then have her to do with as he pleased.
The male witches . . . they’d followed him through the portal. Fallen right in line with his plan. Ariella was dead, and soon Damon would kill the males, kill Arianna, and then go back and kill the boy. Their deaths would increase his strength. Then he’d reign supreme. He would be the most powerful god to ever walk on the face of the earth and they would all bow down before him.
He laughed as he walked down the street and saw the girl walking toward him. She was so young, so innocent-looking with her long blonde hair and blue eyes, and she looked up at him as he walked closer to her. He grinned, his sunglasses hiding his lifeless eyes, and gave her a quick nod. She smiled back and stopped in front of him. She gave him a price and he handed her twice that. She was more than eager to get him off the streets and give him whatever he wanted. He smiled as he followed her to the dingy motel room. He required only one thing. Her life.

Comments

• Pages

  • About
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Babes in Toyland II
    • Fairy Kisses & Magical Dreams
    • Fiery Magic
    • Red Hot Magic
  • Coming Soon
  • Contact
  • Contest
  • Devon Falls Series
  • LINKS
  • Reviews
  • Reviews 2
  • Welcome to my world

• About Me

  Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.

• Search

• Blogroll

  • Development Blog
  • Documentation
  • Plugins
  • Suggest Ideas
  • Support Forum
  • Themes
  • WordPress Planet

• Subscribe

  • Posts RSS
  • Comments RSS

• Meta

  • Log in
  • Valid XHTML
  • XFN
  • WordPress

2009 . WordPress . Send email message