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An Interview With Paranormal Romance Author, Shauna Aura Knight, Featuring Her Sexy Paranormal Urban Fantasy; The White Dress, The Autumn Leaves

What is the name of your latest book? 

The White Dress, the Autumn Leaves


And how did you come up with the title? 

My working title for a long time was “The White Dress,” since that’s a crucial image from Meredith’s precognitive dream. However, I was worried that that title would imply that it’s just about a wedding. The autumn leaves is another important symbol in the story, and adding that to the title rounded it out.


What is this book about? 

It’s a story about love, and grief, and subtle magic. Jack and Meredith meet and fall in love at a week-long Pagan festival and that part of the story is very sweet, very romantic—and very spicy. But the story has a tragic element; Meredith has had prophetic dreams, and she dreams her own death. A grief-stricken Jack finds his own way to the magic that crosses the veils between worlds at a Samhain ritual. 


And what genre is this book in? 

The White Dress, the Autumn Leaves is primarily an urban fantasy, though it blurs genre lines a bit. It’s romantic, but it’s not a romance—the story is too tragic for that, and a romance novel, by definition, has a clear-cut happy ending. That being said, the book follows Jack and Meredith falling in love, and at times it’s as spicy as an erotic romance. It’s a very sexy, sweet story yet also has its darker elements and deals with grief and loss.


Who is/are the main characters? 

Meredith is attending her very first Pagan festival, and Jack is a member of a band called Morrigan’s Edge. He and his band mates are performing at the festival. Meredith has led a fairly sheltered life; she survived a childhood illness and eventually she had to disown herself from her overprotective parents just to go to college. Jack looks like your typical bad boy in a band but he’s genuinely a kind and respectful guy. Meredith is painfully shy but Jack helps her to come out of her shell. 


And why did you choose them? 

I actually I had Meredith’s dream in my early twenties and it haunted me for months. A lot of my stories come from haunting, intense dreams that I’ve had. That’s actually how I came to write my nonfiction book, Dreamwork.

I wrote the first (very short) version of this story as a homework assignment for a creative writing class at that time and then put it aside. I decided to turn it into a full novella and almost nothing exists of that first version of the story, other than Meredith’s dream and how it plays out. 

When I had the dream, it played through three times; the first time I was the girl, experiencing it first person. The second time, I was her lover, trying to save her. The third time I watched it from above/afar in the third person. So when I awoke, I had experienced that tragic, horrific moment three separate ways. When I have dreams like that, I almost always end up working them out in fiction somehow; the deeper it gets me, the more I want to explore it.


What is the coolest or best part about your book?  (Any Favorite scenes, the world-building etc…)

Meredith’s dream—and how it plays out—is definitely the most haunting aspect of the story for me. When I think about that dream it’s still a punch in the gut. And the scene where Jack is at the Samhain ritual dealing with her death still raises the hairs on the back of my neck; I barely felt like I was writing that scene. It just came through me.

On a lighter side, probably my favorite little moment in the book is when Jack and Meredith are at the festival together. He’s cooking steaks on a grill and he keeps getting distracted by flirting with her and burning the steaks. I wrote that scene after I’d written everything else; I had thought the story was done. I don’t even know how I came up with it, but when I re-read the scene it still makes me laugh. It’s definitely the moment where the characters came alive for me; they really wrote the scene for me, I was just typing.


Do you have a favorite character in the book?  If so, why? 

I have a hard time choosing between Jack and Meredith. I definitely identify more with Meredith—at her age, I was really shy like she is. But, Jack is probably more my favorite character. I always have a soft spot for characters that endure the really difficult things. Jack is very much a tragic figure in this story. He’s sweet, he’s romantic…and I really feel for him.


Is this book part of a series? If so, what can we expect in future books? 

This book isn’t precisely part of a series, though Jack has a cameo appearance in another novella of mine, A Winter Knight’s Vigil. It’s possible Jack may make appearances in some future books, as I have a number of stories that are paranormal romances and urban fantasies that take place in the same general world. My story Werewolves in the Kitchen takes place at a Pagan retreat center just outside of Chicago called SpiralStone, and I’m finishing up several novels that also take place at SpiralStone. Jack lives in Chicago, so who knows…he might show up there sometime. 


If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

I really wrestled with how to handle the tragic element of this story. I’m a new author, and my first two books are both paranormal romances, so I didn’t want my romance readers to pick this book up and think it had a happy ending and get really disappointed. If I had a dozen books out in several genres, I might not have been so heavy-handed about Meredith’s prophetic vision of her own death. As it is, I felt I had to make it clear in the blurb, as well as the first pages of the book, that the story was tragic. If I had more urban fantasies out, I might have let that part be more of a shock to the reader. 

On the other hand, I also think there’s something to be said for the sense of impending doom. In one of my favorite novels, Moreta by Anne McCaffrey, fans of the Dragonrider series already know the ending before they’ve picked up the book—Moreta and her golden dragon die while saving Pern.


Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it? 

Sometimes you just have to write the story that needs to be told and not worry about the neat boxes of fitting it into a genre. If I’d made this a romance novel that would have betrayed the story. If I’d taken out some of the focus on their romantic relationship, that also wouldn’t have told the story I wanted to tell. While there are always challenges to publishing and promoting a book that blurs genre lines, sometimes it’s really worth doing to tell the story that needs to come out.


Do you have a publisher?  And if so, why did you choose them?  

I have a few publishers that I’m working with. Most of my fiction and nonfiction is published through Jupiter Gardens Press. I’ve enjoyed working with JGP and what initially drew me to them was the nonfiction they were looking for. 

Specifically, the nonfiction I write tends to deal with leadership and personal and spiritual transformation work. I also teach Pagans how to facilitate more effective, professional rituals and ceremonies. Most modern Pagan and Earth-centered traditions don’t have access to seminaries and so are self taught. JGP was looking for nonfiction dealing specifically with how to facilitate rituals and ceremonies without without burning sage or incense to accommodate participants with allergies. That is very much in alignment with my values as a facilitator, and that became my book Spiritual Scents.

Actually, I really enjoy writing actual Pagan rituals in my fiction. In A Winter Knight’s Vigil and The White Dress, the Autumn Leaves, there are rituals that are similar to the types of rituals I actually facilitate for the Pagan community. A lot of paranormal romance and urban fantasy focuses on the big flashy rituals with the pentacles and the blood, but I try to write what actually happens at rituals. Or at least, the type that I host for my community.


If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor? 

Though I’ve never met her and she’s now passed on, I’d say Anne McCaffrey. I’ve always loved her work, and she blazed a trail for women writing in the fantasy and science fiction genre. Her Pern series is definitely one of my biggest inspirations as an author, and the story Moreta still makes me cry. 

Janny Wurts has inspired me both in the scope of the type of fantasy I hope to publish, but also Janny gets to do her own covers. Most authors don’t. So that inspires me a lot given I’m a graphic designer and artist and I like having the option to do my own covers.


What books are you reading now? 

Right now I’m reading some nonfiction, but when I can take a little break I’m going to devour some works by some of my favorite paranormal romance authors. Maybe some works by Emma Holly, Angela Knight, and Jory Strong.


What are the current writing projects that you are working on? 

I have a paranormal romance about a vampire coming out soon called A Fading Amaranth. Nathaniel’s been a vampire long enough that he’s just going through the motions of life; he’s starting to wonder if he can keep going. When he meets Alexandra and rediscovers some of his passion, his muse. Alexandra hasn’t been able to be with anyone for years because of her psychic abilities, but she can’t hear Nathaniel’s thoughts. They start to fall for each other, but, there are complications…aren’t there always? 

There’s a Faerie monster in the city, and one of the city’s magical guardians is hunting Nathaniel down since she assumes he’s a predator like most vampires. Nathaniel and Alexandra have to decide what they’re willing to give up, and what they are willing to risk, to be with one another.

I’m also working on a couple of books that take place at the same retreat center as Werewolves in the Kitchen, and I’m just about finished with a story about a sexy wereleopard and a woman with oracular truth-speaking magic who is under a Faerie curse. So lots of good stuff cooked up!


Do you write full time?  If not, do you hope to do so one day? 

The answer to that is, sort of. I’m writing fiction and nonfiction, painting, and also traveling and teaching full time, though I’m not making a reasonable living at it (yet). Right now I’m living rent free while I help my mom to get her house fixed up so she can sell it. I have reduced my expenses and I live pretty austerely so that I have the time to launch my career as a writer. It’s definitely a goal of mine to make an actual living as an author, though at the moment I make more money selling my artwork and doing graphic design work. But—I’m also a new author, and it’s a process, so I’m pretty optimistic.  


Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

My parents both worked in a bookstore when I was a kid, so I grew up reading and reading and reading. In third grade I wrote a weird little science fiction story, and I think that’s where I really decided I wanted to be a writer. Before that I’d sort of written and illustrated these fantasy stories about unicorns but they didn’t have any kind of a solid plot. By the time I was twelve I had started writing my first science fiction novel. Of course, it wasn’t very good, but I learned a lot about writing and after that I spent almost all of my free time writing.


Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Yes; usually it’s that moment where I don’t know what’s happening in the story. I might be struck by creative lightning and write an amazing scene, and I know what’s going to happen sometime after that—I might have even written it—but I don’t know what happens in between, and I’ll get stuck on that. Or I know the whole middle of the story but not how they got there. What I usually do is put the story to the side for a while and work on something else. Sometimes I just can’t force it. Other times, I just power through. Sometimes I just have to switch over and work on some paintings or nonfiction writing for a while to get clear before I can return to the fiction.


Do you have any advice for other writers seeking to get published for the first time?

Keep writing. Your writing will get better. Start to learn about the publishing industry, take workshops, attend writer and editor panels and talks, but keep writing. The first stuff you write might suck, but keep at it and learn everything you can. Also, don’t self publish your first book. Or your second book. Or your third. Learn the industry first, and take advantage of the edits you get from your publisher. I learned so much from the editing process! 



Shauna Aura Knight is the author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Her newest work is the urban fantasy the White Dress, the Autumn Leaves. Her work is inspired by myth, magic, and the darkness we each must face.

Thanks Shauna for Dropping By!

You can find out more about her work at: 

http://www.ShaunaAuraKnight.com/books

Daryl Devore Stops By With Her M/F Erotic Contemporary Paranormal Fantasy-- Capri's Fate. Plus There's A Free Read

Visiting today is erotic romance author -  Daryl Devoré.   Can you tell the readers a little about yourself? 

Let's  see. 

I love to travel. I want to see the world. Literally - I’d go into space in a heartbeat. I’ve touched a piece of the moon, which sounds cool but anybody can do it - just have to visit NASA in Florida. 

I create great dinner parties. My friends love it when I call up and say, “I’m bored.” Because that means there’s something scrumptious for dinner and something decadent and chocolate for dessert. Jim, a friend’s husband, has been known to beg for my Trinity Parfait - 3 ingredients - whipped cream, chocolate and sugar. (Nobody is allowed to be on a diet in my house.)


So what actually kicked off your start as an erotic romance novelist? How long have you been writing? 

One thing lead to another and a story that was a romance got "heated up" and crossed the line into erotic and ta da I'm an erotic romance author. How long have I been writing? Seems like forever, but to the point of being published – five years I think.


How do you come up with your material for your novels?

It could be a thought that pops into my head. Or I could overhear someone say something and that triggers a thought which grows into a scene which blossoms into a book which - at some point, I actually have to type onto my laptop. 


What is your favorite genre to write? 

Erotic romance is the only genre I've tried. There are so many sub genres that I can play with – erotic contemporary, erotic paranormal, erotic fantasy, erotic medieval etc


When you begin a story do you start with character or plot? 

Well since I'm a complete pantster I'd have to say characters, but even that's not right. Sometimes I start with simply a moment in a story. An idea hits me for a scene and then I build on that. Once I had the final line in a book and had to work a story toward it. Someone mentioned dragons and I have a WIP on that. Confusing – yea, well that's me.



Tell us about your latest. What inspired it? 

Capri's Fate was an idea. I didn't actually know I was ready to write another book. I sat down, turned on laptop and spit out chapters 1, 2 and 3. Then I had to figure out where to go with the rest of the story.  See – no plotting. I think I like the creativity of writing myself into corners and then having to figure out how to get out.


And for my final question, what are five things that make Daryl Devoré a happy woman?

Chocolate, my husband, chocolate, my daughter, chocolate - and little furry kittens. 

Capri's Fate

Erotic contemporary fantasy

Blurb

What's a woman to do when a voice follows her home and makes mad, passionate love to her? 

Corporate business woman, Capricious Gray, is dragged to a sex toy convention by her best friend. Once a shocking, mysterious disembodied voice helps her with her purchases, it follows her home. Passion ensues, leaving Capri torn between lust for her fantasy lover and the desperate need for reality in her life.

Thall, son of one of the Fates, harbors the irrepressible need to be with the woman he's desired from afar for years. In order to make her his, once and for all, he must help Capri get past her fears, including the fear of what he represents - a fantasy.

Can fantasy become a reality for these two lovers?

****
Excerpt- 

My erotic adventure began the minute he whispered, "Do you happen to own a pair of red, fuzzy handcuffs?"

Well okay, it didn't exactly start there. If I'm going to be perfectly honest, I think it started with Kat's text: "Meet me at - insert name of five-star restaurant here." 

Kat is always getting me to take her out for expensive dinners. I don't mind, I'm a high paid executive, in a very large corporation, while she's a receptionist in a small dental office. Besides, I like good food and her company. 

Kat and I have been BFFs since third grade. We were in each other's wedding parties, and cried on each other's shoulders at our subsequent divorces. Now, we're each other's go to person whenever the mood strikes. Obviously, the mood struck and it involved my credit card. I texted back a reply –"Xavier's. 6 pm."

~ * * ~

Kat waited outside the restaurant when my cab pulled up to the curb. "Timing or what? I just got here."

After the requisite cheek kiss we stepped up to the Maitre D'. He smiled his, I- must-be-friendly-because-they're-guests, smile and escorted us to our table. We ordered drinks and chatted. We talked about the weather, her new dress, my job—you know, just old—no, scratch old, put longtime—girlfriend stuff.

After a diet conscious meal, followed by a calorie-loaded dessert, we waited outside for a taxi. 

"Do you trust me?" With a goofy grin on her face, Kat's dark chocolate mellowed-from-too-much-wine, eyes gazed at me.

Having seen that innocent demeanor before; it meant nothing but trouble. I was a bit wary. Okay, a lot wary! The last time she'd gawked at me like that and asked the same brainless question, we ended up at a frat house beer slosh during Homecoming and I wasn't in college anymore.

A cab pulled up and stopped. She grabbed my arm and dragged me into it. "Convention Center."

I slid next to her and shut the car door. "What's at the convention center?" 

"That's the trust me bit." She raised her hands and flicked two fingers up and down at the words "trust me".

You have to love air-quotes.

I checked my Blackberry for messages then glanced at her. "Is this going to get me arrested? Again?"

She shook her head.

"Is it going to get me hit on—again—by horny, beer-soaked, college drunks?"

Kat giggled.


"Is that a yes or a no?"

****

What people are saying about Capri's Fate.

5 Stars - Found myself laughing out loud several times, which is a breath of fresh air for erotic novels.

5 Stars - Truly very creative lovemaking. I had to stop to fan myself and sigh a lot of times. My toes really curled.

****

Buy Links

Smashwords–  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/309990

Amazon-   http://www.amazon.com/Capris-Fate-ebook/dp/B00CJ1I6Y0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1366992997&sr=1-1&keywords=new+dawning+bookfair

Kobo-   http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Capris-Fate/book-7uOs7lH6QU66B8y_ji9JWw/page1.html

ARe-   https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-capri039sfate-1172391-140.html


Bonus Hot Excerpt-  

I rippled my fingers across my nipple, which traitorously responded. So did my lower parts. They tingled. The bustier was much tighter than I would have hooked it. My breasts were forced into a way-out-there position. My body liked the restraint. I tickled myself again. My nipple grew firm. Playing with both, I squeezed and pulled until they stood erect and pinky-proud.

"They're beautiful. Continue," the voice urged.

To the flesh on my breast, my fingers were like ice cubes. My areolas contracted. My nipples stiffened. My next touch changed to sandpaper—rough and scratchy. Tingles shivered through my body. Hot, cold, rough, soft—each new sensation was a surprise.

Sweat trickled down my neck. Pressure built deep inside. My hand turned palm up, and the vibrating nipple clamp fell into it.

It took me a moment to figure out what to do. No, Thall didn't send the instructions along, and I hadn't had a chance to read them yet. My bad.

Unclasping it, I encased my nipple then hit the tiny switch. A squeal escaped me as a tiny electric pulse shot through my aroused dusky tip. The other clamp floated in front of me. I secured it onto my left nipple and held my breath.

Snap. Snap.

A surge of lust rushed through my body then centered in my crotch.

Snap.

Snap. Snap.

The electric pulses were titillating—pun intended—and random, and I found myself waiting for the next. They didn't fire together. Nor did they go off in even patterns. I lay back wallowing in the random sensations they delighted in me. I wanted this to last for hours. A small thought nudge me. How long do tiny cell batteries last?

The arousal gel poured itself over my upper thighs as strong fingertips raked the insides, forcing my legs apart. 

Arousing was so the wrong term for the lubricant. Fire would be a more apt description. I've been cooler after a tough hour of hot yoga class.

Sweat rolled in streams from me, yet all I did was rest on silk pillows having my nipples erotically zapped. I pulled my knees up and let them fall. I was fully exposed, and horny as hell. I wanted to be fucked. Needed to be fucked.

The bottle of warming gel flipped pouring liquid heat down my crotch. My glass penis hung, head down, aimed between my legs.

"Do you want it?"

I groaned.

"Do you want it inside you—mercilessly driving you to a screaming orgasm?”

Do the Fates understand the term – duh!

A hand separated my vulva and began long glides up the insides of my labia. I sighed and sunk to the edge of bliss.

Snap.

Snap. Snap. 

Damn! Forgot about the nipple clamps.

The long fondles turned to tiny flicks tickling my labia and inner thighs.

I squirmed and wiggled. Fire danced over my body. "Touch me!"

"Where?" His voice brushed past me ear.

"My clit."

Every sensation stopped. I think my heart did too. I didn't breathe. 

Time-stopping, scorching strokes on the smallest part of my body. My fingers dug into the pillows as I experienced the most mind-fucking sensation ever and released an intense scream of joy.

"Ohhhh!" 

"Again?" His voice was soft and tinted with humor.


"Yes!" It was more of a snarl than a polite response.

****


Bio


Daryl Devore lives in an in old farmhouse in Ontario, Canada, with her husband, two cats, a large salt water aquarium full of fish and some ghosts. Her daughter is grown and has flown the nest. Daryl loves to take long walks up her quiet country road, or snow shoe across the back acres and in the summer, kayak along the St. Lawrence River. She has touched a moon rock, a mammoth and a meteorite. She's been deep in the ocean in a submarine, flew high over Niagara Falls in a helicopter and used the ladies room in a royal palace. Life's an adventure and Daryl's having fun living it.



Where to find me


Blog - http://myeroticnotions.blogspot.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/daryl.devore 

Facebook Author Page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Daryl-Devore/280168402052520

Twitter - http://twitter.com/daryldevore

Google+ - Daryl Devore

Wattpad - http://www.wattpad.com/user/DarylDevore

GoodReads Author Page - http://www.goodreads.com/DarylDevore

Amazon Author Page - http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004TJ1354

Interview with Author Ann Holly-- 'Strings Attached' is Her Newest Release!

Scribal Love Welcomes Anne Holly!

Anne Holly is a Contemporary Romance Author.  Her New Book 'Strings Attached' is Available from Wild Horse Press.


Tell us about Strings Attached, your first full length release?

My first full length release comes out in 2011 from Wild Horse Press, and is tentatively scheduled for May 2011. The novel is a contemporary romance set in Manitoba, Canada, and in Australia. It revolves around the themes of loss and healing, and the risk in having a marriage end badly and deciding to try again. And, of course, about irresistible attraction, and the power of love to force us out of our protective shells. Josie, an optimist, must bring the damaged Theo back to life, and the results are often funny and often poignant. 

What inspired you to write it?

It started when I read an article on postpartum psychosis one summer, which is a theme in the book. I wanted to look at the long term impact of the problem. That summer, I was also thinking about applying to grad school in Australia, so that, along with Canada (my homeland), became the settings that fascinated me at the time I wrote the first draft. Also, my love of animals, which plays a big part in the story and the lives of the characters.

What did you learn from writing Strings Attached?

That loving your characters yourself is a great first step to making a good romance. Also, that you need both funny and poignant to make a love story work, and that even though everyone assumes romances will have a happy ending, they still need to maintain a tension of uncertainty in the characters. It also taught me the value of test audiences, or “beta readers.”

And, finally, I learned that it is perfectly fine to follow your own ideals and moral compass when writing a romance, even though it’s considered “pop fiction.” For example, I am very concerned about animal cruelty and the protection of the rights of children and the environment – I felt comfortable making those concerns in the book, as well, without making it preachy. I just wrote from my own heart, obeying my own ethics, and it still made for an enjoyable novel.

What does being published mean to you?

Being published is a dream come true. I’ve published some academic stuff, and some poetry as a kid, but publishing a full length novel… This has been a life goal since I was a child. It means a lot. I got the shakes when I got the acceptance! It means someone likes my work enough to take the chance on me, so it makes me want to write more. I am not dependant on external validation to enjoy writing, but it does mean a lot for my continued enthusiasm. I can’t wait to see reader responses!

How important is the support and friendship of other writers?

Vital! Especially when you are new, there’s so much to learn it can be overwhelming. Other authors can help you navigate all that, with their advice or even just their example. Further, there’s a camaraderie there that you can’t always find with people who, even if they love you, can’t really understand what you are going through if they don’t write. It’s a community, and I love working with other writers – especially my fellow Wild Horse Press authors.

What new projects are you working on these days?

Right now, I am just finished a paranormal erotic story, so I hope that will come out soon, and a Christmas short story or novella that’s more similar to what I am used to – contemporary sensual. I wanted to broaden my name recognition, so I thought some short pieces would be a good idea. I am also planning on doing NaNoWriMo in November 2010 to do another full length contemporary, about single parents in the university environment, a place I understand very well.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Write. No matter what is going on, just write. Make a daily or weekly word goal, and meet it. Don’t just wait for the mood to strike. Treat it like a job, in a way, and meet your quota. It’s too easy to procrastinate and never finish a project if you waffle.

Tell us a little factoid about yourself that we don't know.

My pupils are about 3 millimeters too big, which I guess I inherited from my mother’s side of the family. This makes my eyes incredibly sensitive to light, but it gives me great night vision. That’s an exclusive for you! J

Current Location: Ontario, Canada

Upcoming release: Strings Attached, Wild Horse Press, May 2010

Website: http://www.anneholly.webs.com/

Blog: http://anneholly.blogspot.com/

Publisher: http://www.the-wild-horse-press.com/

Book Teaser Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCZSTLoSvxY

Twitter: http://twitter.com/anneholly2010

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anne-Holly/140519945969686

(Excerpts, photos and more bio info, etc, can be found on Facebook, blog and website.)

British Paranormal Romance Author- Kristal Mckerrington

Scribal Love Welcomes International Author Kristal McKerrington!  

Kristal McKerrington is an author of the first book to be done in the Hip Hop genre in Canada.  Her newest work The Highlander With The Ink is available from XOXO Publishing. 


Hello, its a wonderful to be here and to have the chance to meet your readers today.


So where do you hail?  


I come from Glasgow Scotland. 


What inspired you to write this book?


The stories and legends of the original town I came from. 


Do you have a specific writing style?  


I don't, I write every genre and I love the idea of writing in every single one of them.


What is the name of your latest book?  And how did you come up with the title?


'The Highlander With The Ink' is apart of the Tattoo Anthology that is coming out at XOXO Publishing. I came up with the title when I knew that I was writing about Highland people and they had tattoo's.


What is 'The Highlander With The Ink' about?


Its about the Norse Gods looking for their soulmates in our modern times and how they are adjusting and how their tattoo's are so important. 


What books have most influenced your life most?


Rachel Caine's Morganville Series, Catherine Cookson and Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series is the latest ones to really influence them. 


If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?


Either Sherrilyn Kenyon, Rachel Caine and Drea. 


What books are you reading now?  


Sherrilyn Kenyon's No Mercy,  A Nordic Research book and The Highlander Series by Karen Marie Moning.

Hip Hop Fiction

What are your current projects?


I have a 22 book series am working on, a wrestling contemporary romance series and working on some single projects. 


Do you find that international audiences are different than your home or native country's audience?  


Yes, they get more excited and more addicted to what am doing. 




Do you see writing as a career?


Yes, I can safely say that I do now see it as my career.






If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?


Nope


Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?


Yes, I didn't have a ways of means of making my Aunt a pressie so I wrote her a story and I wanted to do it to save my ideals careers.


What's a pressie?


It's the Scottish word for present.


Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?


Long dialogues and my grammar. 


Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?


Yes, I did I learned that sometimes action pieces are harder to write then love scenes. 


Do you have any advice for other writers?


No matter what keep your head held up high and read plenty from the Company you want to sign with.  Start small and get bigger as you go. 

Thank you Kristal for dropping by!  


You are welcome!  


You can find Kristal on the web at:  


Blogspot for my latest updates:- http://kristalmckerringtons.blogspot.com
Author Site:- www.kristalmckerrington.webs.com
Twitter:- www.twitter.com/@K_Mkerrington
Facebook Fan Site:- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kristal-McKerringtons-Offical-Fan-Page

Marian Allen, Author of 'Eels Reverence'

Scribal Love Welcomes Marian Allen.  


She is an author of fantasies, mysteries, comedies and recipes.  Her newest work EEL'S REVERENCE is available from Echelon Press. 

What inspired you to write this book?


I read Matthew Arnold's poem "The Forsaken Merman" and was taken by his image of a merman on land.  I started thinking, "How would that work? How would he have to built in order to move on land? How would he breathe? How far inland could he go? Into the desert?"  A couple of scenes came to me, one of him alone and one of him with a human friend.  But the scenes never went anywhere.  Then a scene came to me of some sort of cleric surrounded by hostile wolves, and I started playing with that.  Suddenly, as often happens with me, those scenes snapped together and, from nowhere, a totally different character started telling a story from her point of view that would include those other scenes, or variations of them.  I suppose the base inspiration was an impulse to explore people out of their comfort zones--what they suffer and what they contribute because of that displacement.


Do you have a specific writing style?  


Try to tell each story in the "voice" that tells it best, whether the work is in first person or third person.  The work, itself, has a voice, in addition to the main character's voice.  I try to make my own voice as transparent as possible.  If I do have a general tone, it would be what my husband calls "smart-ass".  I like wise cracks and snappy lines.  I think I watched too many '40's movies when I was growing up.


What is the name of your latest book?  And how did you come up with the title?


The title is EEL'S REVERENCE.  The area of the fictional world where this takes place is called The Eel, and one of the things it's about is various kinds of reverence--for a faith, for life, for people we admire, and how we choose to express that reverence.  The book was previously e-published by another publisher under their title of EEL'S REVENGE, which I didn't like.  I'm very happy to have the "real" title back.


What is EEL'S REVERENCE about?


The plotline is: An elderly woman, a priest of Micah (a religion that preaches inclusivity, compassion and peace) leaves her parish in a huff because her parishioners prefer to go to a "reaver" priest.  Reaver priests pay lip service to Micah, but are in it for the money.  Some people prefer that.  Aunt Libby wanders into The Eel and is ordered out by a coalition of reaver priests who have hired armed guards and are running, essentially, a protection racket, with people who don't pay their tithes targeted for violence.  Against her will, she becomes a pawn in a power play between various factions, but her greatest challenge is her supporters, who are willing to instigate a bloody revolt.  What it's about is, as I said, the meaning and expression of reverence and faith.  There are also some wise cracks and snappy lines.


What books have most influenced your life most?


The King James version of the Bible, because I grew up with that poetic and powerful prose. Andrew Lang's Rainbow Fairy Books.  Walter R. Brooks' Freddy the Pig books, because his characters are so quirky but so real, even if they are animals, and they make mistakes and they have flaws that are part of the plot.


If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?


Ursula K. LeGuin, because her imagination goes off every which way.  She can make ANYTHING work.


What books are you reading now?  


Laura Bickle's SPARKS, John Shelby Spong's RESURRECTION: MYTH OR REALITY? and Dick Francis' 10 LB. PENALTY.


What are your current projects?


Echelon is also re-issuing FORCE OF HABIT, a sf farce, and SIDESHOW IN THE CENTER RING, also science fiction.  I'll be editing and marketing those in the coming months.  I also plan to rough out a mystery during National Novel Writing Month. I blog every day.  I'm writing a short story set in the world of FORCE OF HABIT, which I'll post on Smashwords for free, as I did "Line of Descent" for EEL'S REVERENCE, and I'll do one for SIDESHOW when that one is about to be released.  I have some short stories I'd like to write for various anthologies.


Do you see writing as a career?


It's a way of life.  I write.  I just do.  I always have.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

No.  That book was that book.  I can think of many, many other ways the story could have gone, and I'd like to write every one of them.  The hardest part of writing, for me, is having to ignore all the possibilities you can't pursue, because you have to choose.  You have to open Shcroedinger's box and see if that cat is alive or dead.  Well, actually, if I could change anything, I would have less stop-and-describe.  I would leave out discriptions of characters' appearances, or work them in more casually.


Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?


My mother took me to see a re-release of Bambi.  In one scene, Thumper, the rabbit, is told to recite a poem.  He does, then adds a line of his own.  When my mother told me somebody wrote the whole movie, that they weren't just Received from the Past but written by people alive today as a living, I knew that was what I wanted to do.  And I've been doing it ever since.


Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?


Plotting.  There are so many branches from each moment.  It's so hard to decide on a story arc.  Following one is relatively easy, but choosing one is hard.


Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?


This was my first completed novel, so the main thing I learned was that I could do it!


Do you have any advice for other writers?


Read.  Write.  Repeat.  Don't give up.  Respect your work.  Listen to criticism, but respect your own talent and instinct.  If you realize a critic was right and you were wrong, correct yourself and write some more.  Love it.


Thanks Marian for dropping by!


You are welcome.


You can find Marian Allen on the web at www.marianallen.com

Erastes, Author of 'Tributary' from the Anthology 'Last Gasp'

Scribal Love Welcomes Gay Historical Fiction Author Erastes.


Erastes is an author of gay historical fiction.  Her newest work TRIBUTARY is available as part of the four novella anthology LAST GASP from Noble Romance Publishing.  The other authors in the anthology are Charlie Cochrane, Jordan Taylor and Chris Smith.

What inspired you to write this book?


I had a vision of an Italian landscape a windy road, leading up and up into forested hills and a little grey sports car moving along, seen from above, until it reached the top.  It started there. I wasn't sure who was driving that car, or what he'd find in the hotel he'd stopped at, but I knew I wanted to find out. 


Do you have a specific writing style?   


Hmm. I'm probably not the person to answer that. I'm probably more descriptive than is usual, I like to try and immerse the reader in the era, as if the book was written IN the time, rather than ABOUT the time. Only the reader will be able to say whether I've succeeded in that, though.


What is the name of your latest book?  And how did you come up with the title? 


Tributary is the last book released. The title came from the idea that the person has been meandering through his life for a long time, as if he was drifting down a river, and he reaches a parting of the river, a tributary—a choice to be made.


What is Tributary about?


It's about a man called Guy Mason.  It's 1936 and World War One has been over for a good while, but Guy—like many other men of that era, are still suffering the after effects. In Guy's case, it's survivor guilt. He never actually fought at the Front, despite having thought that he wanted to, he had a job in the War Office and feels that he was safe while so many of his friends died or come back half-whole. He's also lost a lover and he's just drifting through Europe, unable to settle—hardly even really aware that Europe itself is rolling its inexorable way towards more war. 


In a remote hotel in the middle of the Italian landscape he meets Professor James Armstrong and his secretary Louis, and he finds an instant attraction to Louis, who—he finds—is not only James' secretary, but also his lover.  


It's a story of loss, and guilt, and of choices made and choices not made.


What books have most influenced your life most? 


I'm a bookaholic, my house is filled with more books than I have space for and I never (or very very very rarely) dispose of books, even ones I don't think much of. So it's hard for me to pick books that have influenced me.  I spent most of my life reading the Classics, so I suppose Austen and Dickens and Thackeray are my main influences, but there are probably tons of others.  More recently, and in keeping with the genre I write, I find The Charioteer by Mary Renault, At Swim Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill, A Strong & Sudden Thaw by R W Day,  As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McAnn, Wicked Gentlemen by Ginn Hale and False Colors by Alex Beecroft—all these are writers who have such a tremendous "voice" and superb skill that I wish I could have a voice as distinctive.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor? 


I was lucky enough to have R W Day as a mentor during my formative years—she's a stunningly good author and much overlooked. She kept me working hard, and by exposure to her writing, it spurred me to up my game. I'm pretty lucky, actually, that I have a lot of author "internet friends" who are madly talented, and I think we all encourage and mentor each other.


What books are you reading now?   


I'm reading "The Glass Minstrel" by Hayden Thorne for review on Speak Its Name (www.speakitsname.com) and "Making Money" by Terry Pratchett.


What are your current projects? 

I'm currently writing something tentatively called "I Knew Him" which is set in 1921 in England. It's a little bit murder mystery, a little bit romance, a little bit this a little bit that. Gay romance of course, as usual, but it's interesting writing about the 20th century, rather then the 17th or the 19th!


I have a new book coming out in Spring, that's with Lethe Press—called Mere Mortals--and that's a gothic mystery/gay romance set in 1840 on the Norfolk Broads in England, where I live. 


Do you see writing as a career? 


I do. I'm not self-sufficient just yet. I'm my father's Carer—he has Alzheimer's—and so I get a little bit of money from the state to do that.  My dad is a great supporter, so I write at his house in the mornings, and then we go out somewhere nice in the afternoons. It's a tough job, sometimes, both the writing and the caring, but both very rewarding.


Some professional author (and I can't remember who it was) said that to consider yourself a writer you should write 1000 words a day, and that's my goal. I don't always manage it, but that's what I am for.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book? 


No, I don't think so. I'm pretty happy with Tributary. Some reviewers have said it's a bit sparse, and a bit remote, but that's exactly the feel I was going for, that "no man's land" between the wars when nothing really felt real. There was a generation who hadn't experienced war and longed for a fight to break out so they could have some glory, and a generation who were still suffering from the horrors of the last one. It was all very brittle.


Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? 


Absolutely. I came out of fan fiction, and I'll never deny that.  Although I always knew I wanted to write, I never had any original ideas or plots – and the couple of books I had started, one kid's book and one YA just foundered because I didn't know what I was going to do with them. Then in 2003 I discovered fan fiction, literally hadn't heard of it before, and also slash (again, something I hadn't heard of.)  I found them fascinating and inspiring and immediately started writing a Harry Potter novella.  When I finished it, I was so pumped up with adrenaline it was unbelievable, but I realised that I couldn't DO anything with the book—I wanted to SELL books I wrote, so I started to write Standish, and the rest is history!


Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? 


The research. I live in fear of getting something wrong, and it's so easy to trip yourself up.  The research involved in writing a sequel to Standish (USA specifically in the 1820s) is putting me off from getting on with that book—and I want to write about Roman Gladiators and getting THAT right is going to be a challenge.  


I'm also the world's best procrastinator—the gleam off a bald head is enough to distract me from writing. Hence me doing this instead of writing this morning!! I need that mentor to be standing behind me with a big stick. Or a cattle prod. WRITE! WRITE!


Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?


Oh, I learn something with every book I write. I often think that I know a bit (or sometimes even a lot) about the era I'm writing, and it ALWAYS turns out that actually, I don't know hardly anything at all! For example, when I was writing "Transgressions" (which is set in the English Civil War, 1642 onwards) it was quite hard to find any details online.  There are pages and pages of battles and uniforms and generals and musters and ambushes and everything concerned with the war, but very very little about everyday life in the time.  I had to seek it out in other places, Living History groups etc who were so informative and so helpful, that I learned far far more about the 17th century than I ever needed to know. Did you know that it took 40 different movements just to fire a gun?  Well, I do!


Do you have any advice for other writers? 


Believe in yourself. That's it pure and simple. Take advice, yes, listen to others, but don't try and automatically follow all these so-called RULES that you read all over the place.  OK one editor says he hates descriptions of weather, or prologues or that your characters should meet in the first chapter—but if that doesn't work for YOUR book, then don't try and copy other people.  Believe in your product. 


Thank you Erastes for dropping by!  


It was my pleasure.  




You can find Erastes on the web at www.Erastes.com