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Please tell us about your newest release?
THE
HUNT
is a sexy paranormal romance with Egyptian overtones. Mrs
Giggles called HUNT "unexpectedly and wonderfully enjoyable"
and described it as "Lora Leigh goes on the Amazing Race."
The women who enter the twisting tunnels of the Guardians
have little hope— or wish— to escape. But Miu has her own
reason for participating in the Hunt, and she has no
intention of being caught... until she meets the darkly
sensual predator who's on her trail. A centuries-old
Guardian, Jafar is honor-bound to punish all thefts. He
mercilessly releases his inner Beast, transforming into the
Cat to track and execute any who thieve from his Temple. Yet
when he discovers Miu in the act of a stealing a priceless
necklace, the brutal violence of the transformation wars
with the intense sexual need of his people. For the first
time, he cannot kill a thief—although he still might
consider hunting this one down. As his mate.
When beginning a project do you know how it is going to come
all together right away or do you find out as you go along?
That's a difficult question. With
HUNT, I knew what was going to happen in the first three
chapters and the very last chapter. Every thing in between,
however, was a complete mystery to me. The heroine led the
hero on a mad chase through the temple, dragging me right
along with them. With my next book, however, I've done much
more pre-plotting. One of the fabulous things about working
with an editor is that she'll ask all sorts of questions and
you can brainstorm possibilities.
What is your writing schedule like on any particular day?
I like to set myself a word count that I'm going to hit for the day. Finish that
number of words, and I'm done. I usually start around 4 a.m. and then I can get
in a couple of hours before heading off to the day job. I pretty much squeeze in
writing time wherever I can find it. The BART is becoming my own personal
writing studio! It's amazing what you can get done on the train. Not to mention
ten minutes here, ten minutes there-- it really adds up. I'm a huge fan of
writing sprints as well.
What part of writing do you find the hardest?
The reviews! I've had some really
fabulous ones-- and a few that were
curl-up-in-bed-with-a-gallon-of-ice-cream worthy.
Objectively, you know that your story won't be for everyone.
Some people are going to love it and some people are going
to put in the bag for Goodwill. Reviews, however, really,
really make you confront that reality.
When you first became published, what was the biggest thing
that surprised you about the industry?
The last year has been nothing but one surprise after another! My first surprise
was that NYC does business pretty much on a phone conversation and a handshake.
I'd just finished buying a house, and we'd been up to our eyeballs in legal
documents and contracts. No one handed over the keys until we'd signed at least
a ream of paper. In triplicate. Eventually, I did get a semi-enormous ream of
papers to sign from the publisher. About six months after my agent and my editor
agreed on the deal and it appeared in Publisher's Marketplace and after I'd
already turned in the final revisions. The paranoid part of me kept thinking
that maybe, just maybe, Dorchester would change their minds. It's so
deliciously, wonderfully nineteenth-century to give your word and keep your word
without invoking the threat of documentation from the get-go.
What is the most outrageous question you have gotten when telling people about
your profession?
Bodice rippers. Everyone wants to know what a bodice ripper is. Apparently all
those half-naked, heaving bosoms make a terrific impression. At least, I'm
assuming that folks want a vocabulary lesson and not an explanation of how to
recreate the process at home. Once I explain that female bosoms are more the
territory of historical romances, rather than the paranormal romances that I
write, we usually segue into a conversation about covers. Most of the people I
talk with don't realize that there's a very definite cover grammar and that the
publishing industry invests a not inconsiderable amount of time into figuring
out which colors and images cue readers into the book's content in one quick
glance. HUNT's cover is dark, with lots and purple and black-- your first
paranormal "clue." Plus, there's a moon and a cat (because my Guardian hero
shape-shifts into a cat) and a delicious male torso. Bingo. Hot paranormal
romance.
Are there any genres that you would like to try to write but haven't yet?
Absolutely! I'd love to write fantasy or YA. I suspect that part of the appeal
of fantasy is the length-- the likes of Robert Jordan get to write these
beautifully long books. Most paranormal romances are 90K-100K in length. It's a
good discipline, but it seems terribly decadent to get to write a 200,000 word
book. I have fantasies about not having to delete any scenes and to be able to
keep writing on and on and on, rather like the Energizer Bunny. |
