Did you choose your genre or did it choose you? It sort of
chose me! I always wrote slightly spicy contemporary romance, but because of
great authors like Jennifer Jakes and Jo Davis, I tried my hand at erotic
writing and turns out, I’m pretty good at it!
Did you enjoy language arts in school? Did you have a
teacher that particularly encouraged you to write? I’ve always loved reading
and writing, but no one in particular encouraged me to keep going with it. I
just got to a point in my life where I wanted to write in a professional
capacity and figured that if I didn’t try, I wouldn’t know if I could succeed.
It’s five o’clock somewhere…Let’s have a drink! What
cocktail best describes you and why? A nice glass of wine! Something fruity but
not too sweet or dry. A little sweet and sassy – kind of like me!
On my desk I have a rhino that my husband gave me to remind
me I’m rhino-tough, as you have to be in the business. Is there anything you
have that you use to remind you of that? I remember not to take things
personally. People will like your work or they won’t, but you have to believe
in yourself. As a competitive gymnast, I learned that politics abound in life.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t, but you can’t give up.
I have two muses, Arwen and Bronwyn, they have very distinct
personalities. Can you share a bit about your muse? Mine work in mysterious
ways, but I haven’t given them names. They usually tell me things in dreams,
and I write the story they want me to tell.
It seems we all endured English and/or World literature
coming up in high school…What was the worst book you were ever forced to read
and what about it turned you off? Tess of the D’Ubervilles. I think it was the
English teacher I didn’t like so much, lol
You have a million dollars that you must donate to one
charitable organization. Which one would you choose and why? Canadian Centre
for Abuse Awareness – they help organizations assist those in abusive
situations to get out and better their lives.
Due to the world we live in, most editors will tell a
romance writer they have the moral obligation to protect their characters from
scary life altering things, thereby being obligated to the reader. What are
your thoughts on this? Do you protect your characters and how? I do not protect
my characters. What would be the fun in that? Men fall asleep right after sex,
weird noises happen at inopportune times, people get sick when we least expect
it – I want my characters to handle situations with humor and grace that real
life people should.
I’ve been asked, as has my husband, if we do “all that stuff
in my stories.” Do you get asked this and if so how do you handle it? Oh
dear…yes I get asked this all the time. I just tell people it’s an imagination
and they should get over it, LOL If I had time to do all the things my
characters do, I wouldn’t have time to write about it.
I had an editor early on that showed me the way…have you had
anyone in particular that gave you a gentle **ahem** nudge in the right direction?
Eloisa James answered an email, told me about Romance Writers of America and
encouraged me to keep writing because readers of romance need more books for
the biggest selling genre in the world. Other authors I’ve met since then have
given me the support and encouragement to perfect my craft and help me market
it. How did they do that and how did you react?
Wine or beer? both, although not at the same time
Satin or cotton? cotton
Fries or tots? fries
Cake or pie? cake – preferably chocolate
Steak or burgers? steak *drool*
Candle light or pitch dark? moonlight
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