|
What is your perfect writing
atmosphere?
This varies
day-to-day, and scene-to-scene, really, and of course, on my
mood. I'm at home during the day, so I'm lucky enough to
have 'me' time for writing (you'd think I'd be more
prolific, right? But alas, no). Me time can involve blaring
music (think eclectic, very eclectic -- from Feist to George
Michael to Clannad to Katy Perry and back, and of course the
non censored versions with sweary words, please!), but then
sometimes it's just me, and the bubbles from my coke. I'm a
atmospheric flip flopper, I'll admit it.
My 'other' job
was as a seamstress, but I decided that I was having no fun
with that any longer, so I took my sewing room and turned it
into my writing room (it's still a work in progress at the
moment, this only happened two weeks ago). So, for the
moment, writing has its own clean little space in my world.
We'll see how long that lasts as I have some ideas for a new
venture or two (hand designed day planners with fabric
covers, and fabric covers for Sony eReaders and Kindles)
that will no doubt clutter all my nice clean room (in other
words the mess migrated from here…to the garage and yes, my
husband is an unhappy man).
Would you call yourself a panster or
a plotter?
In the most
part a panster, but I am starting to see that plotting can
be useful. Especially when you write yourself into a corner
you can seem to write yourself out of. I swear ballroom
dancing logistics is easy compared to the 'panster plot
hole'. I was reduced to this:
http://bp0.blogger.com/_qz0GseuwLsg/SHdh8W9-TNI/AAAAAAAAAVg/DR91dq3VZX4/s1600-h/IMG_3757.JPG
not all that long ago!
Yes, that's my
dining room window…
What leads you to the characters you
write about?
All sorts
really. I won't say my characters 'speak to me' so much as I
see them as this interesting (hopefully) person. I'm sure
some of my friends could probably say they can see some of
themselves in different characters, they'd be right.
Characters need the little things to make them come alive,
and now and then I swipe a few of the little things J.
Where were you when you got your
first contract? Who did you tell first?
At that point
hubby and I were having a bad breakup with our other love,
Dark Age of Camelot (DAOC for short) so both of our
computers were in the same room. I'd made the hard break and
gone cold turkey, but hubster had decided to cheat on our
beloved and try out City of Heroes. So while he cursed and
swore at his screen as he tried to make his superhero fly, I
had my nose pressed to mine as I wrote Persuading Jo,
having been egged on to do so by my girlfriends.
Needless to
say, when I got the email from Loose Id asking for a full ms
I was cool and collected, although surprised by how fast the
request had come through (Yes, my head got big -- I was
thinking NY timelines at that point, and had no clue
about ePublishers and Romancelandia, or blogs and websites
of authors at that point… boy that changed fast!). I kept it
low key until two weeks or so later when I got the 'we'd
like to offer you a contract' email.
I yelled and
screamed and jumped around the room and made a general wally
of myself; scared the crap out of the hubster so much that
he lost control of his superhero and died, and did the
patented to all authors 'Hooolleee shit, I really wrote a
book' ass wiggle (complete with moving arms and facial
animation for $19.95, batteries not included).
Of course once
hubster got over his superhero dying (I mean, it shouldn't
have been that hard, he tended to die with great
regularity), the first question he asked was "So when do you
get paid?"
Sheesh.
What characters would you like to
bring to life?
Possibly
Craig, Jack and Wren from Tea for Three, mainly
because I set that book in my home area and I think I'd
really like those three as friends. But it would be a toss
up with the guys from Rockville -- Pearl, Rex, Shaun, Rob
and Jak. They are such a hard case bunch you couldn't help
but to like them, warts, cranky tempers, fangs, claws and
all.
Romance leads people to expect a
happily ever after. Have you had to fight a character to
achieve his/hers?
Oh yes. Jay,
Ian and Sam from Red Skirt, Cool Fountain. Oh, my,
yes. This is the one story, of all I've written so far, that
people either love or hate. I think the reason is that it's
very real. No paranormal, no scifi, just a contemporary
setting with three people who have a lot to learn about
themselves and each other. My editor made the comment that
it felt the most plausible of any of my ménage storylines,
very true to life. I think that's what made it so hard to
bring to a satisfying conclusion -- real life is neither
easy, nor neat. It really has more of a HFN ending to it,
and it was a fight to get that.
What are some of your favorite
things in life?
Oh, where to
start…
I am a
dichotomy. I am both a tech whore and a stationery addict…
old school versus new. I'd be the first person to sign up to
have tech brain implants. I'm never with out my 'baby' on my
hip. Baby being short for laptop J. But I drool over crisp
white sheets of paper. I love laser printers as the paper
comes out hot and crisp -- much like heavy cotton sheets out
of the drier. I just want to sniff that smell all up! (It
could be worse, instead of toner it could be cocaine or
something, right? No? Bugger!)
Other than
that it's the usual -- handbags, red shoes (seriously I have
this thing for red shoes and handbags, but red is so not a
good colour for me), cola, candy… all the things that are
either bad for you or your pocket book.
If I followed you for a day, what
would I see or experience?
Seriously,
you'd be bored out of your tree. Well, except for when I get
off my arse and dance around doing the housework, you'd get
a great laugh then… oh, and Thursday coffee with the girls,
there's nothing like a good gossip session!
Some authors say they are open to
bribes to drop hints -- if you would be, what type of bribe
would it be? (not saying that you are or anything)
Shiny things.
I'm all over shiny things. Oh and gadgets, and paper -- I've
searched so long for the perfect day planner I'm now
designing my own!
What books are in the wings, and
what is just around the corner?
Witch Vamp
Were? has released at Loose Id. WVW? follows on from
Accidentally Were? that released last November. If
you've read AW? you've met Shaun who is the female protag of
this story, Rob, the Huntingdawn Alpha is here, too; and a
new player on the scene Jakov Pieter (yeah, you sounded that
out right hehe), a vampire. These stories are the
total opposite to my other WIP. They are lighthearted and
fun, and my little poke in the side at the paranormal genre.
I love writing them as I get to let my inner ironic, snarky
and funny side out to play. I've got a couple of other
stories planned for some of the other members of the
Huntingdawn Pack, but they are still a little vague at the
moment.
I'm working on
story that will be the follow up to my first erotica story,
Curious Intimacies, which was released with EC. It's
a toughy, as the storyline is essential Female dom/ male
sub. When you have the word from publishers about this sub
genre to 'be as good as Joey Hill' it takes a lot of
considering getting the plot and story just right. This
one's a real work in progress at the moment, there's some
rewriting to be done to make the story the best it can be. I
very much want to write this story as it's one I can't find
anywhere to read. (shhhh, don't tell hubby I have secret
fantasies of tying him up and suspending him from the
ceiling while performing wicked, wicked deeds to his body!)
How can a reader contact you?
Via my
website, of course, and the nifty contact page:
http://annedouglas.com/blog/?page_id=139
You can join
my mailing list (new releases and contests only):
http://www.honeybkids.com/mailinglist/?p=subscribe&id=3
Email me:
anne@annedouglas.com
Thank
you so much for allowing me to interview you!
|
