PJ Schnyder

Meet PJ Schnyder!

Born and raised in the North East, PJ Schnyder spent her childhood pretending to study for the SATs by reading every fantasy and sci-fi novel she could borrow from the local and school libraries. She scored fairly high in the verbal portion.

She was introduced to the wonderful world of romance a decade later by her best friend at an anime convention in Seattle.

She now lives somewhere temperate watching the seasons go by with her two dogs and super stealthy ninja kitty, writing her stories.

PJ is represented by Louise Fury of the L. Perkins Agency.

First question:

Eggnog or Mimosas? Are you old enough to drink?

Mimosas! I especially love mimosas capped with a touch of Amaretto to add a little extra something. And yes, I’ve been old enough to drink for a long, long time. ;)

We’re also taking pictures with Santa, did you bring a gift for him? (Maybe a new release or a pretty book cover…)

Unfortunately, my roomie ate the cookies I’d baked but I do have a cover or two. There’s Evie’s Gift, my holiday steampunk short, and Hunting Kat, my sci-fi romance.

Blurb:

As a mercenary, Kat Darah doesn’t have to pass for a normal human. On the edge of the solar system, she’s just another biped. Most of the time.

Nearing the end of his military tour, Lt. Christopher Rygard debates the idea of hanging up his uniform for good. Looking for answers at the bottom of a glass of scotch, he meets Kat.

One shared night of mutual desire seems harmless. But when their tryst is interrupted by attackers hunting Rygard, Kat must reveal her other form, the predator beneath the human façade.Together they embark on a dangerous mission—a race against time to meet the enemy’s demands, while trying to deny the passion between them. Rygard is faced with a terrible choice in the face of duty: Report the existence of a human turned shape-shifter. Or forget he ever met her.

Please enter. Drinks are served by the elves in the corner.

What’s your favorite holiday and why?

I love Christmas. Few things make me as happy as finding the perfects gifts for the people in my heart. Plus there’s the beautiful lights and decorations, the smell of a real Christmas tree and fresh baked cookies, and the quiet hush in the night once everyone has fallen asleep.

Did you ask Santa for anything good?

Shh. That’s between me and Santa. ;)

What’s your favorite place to spend the holidays?

Anywhere there’s family. We’re simple in our holiday celebrations. There’s a lot of relaxing involved, eating and napping. Don’t be surprised if you see me and the lil sis curled up in chairs reading.

What is your favorite Christmas memory?

One Christmas morning, the lil sis pulled out the user interface she was programming. It was inspired by my teaching her the old programming language “logo” and designed to engage children in playing with computer programming.

We brought the lil bro into it by building a Lego car with him. Then we programmed a set of directions using her interface and uploaded it to the car using an infrared tower. We then set it on the floor and ran the program to watch the car go.

The rest of the morning was spent setting up obstacle courses and seeing which sibling could write the appropriate program to navigate the car through the course taking into account changes in terrain like linoleum versus carpet.

The PJ Daddy came downstairs, took one look at the serious geekery, poured himself a cup of coffee and retreated back upstairs.

Do you have personal resolutions for the New Years? Anything interesting?

Absolutely.

I plan to submit the next books in my Terra’s Guardians series and Triton Experiment series so watch for them. I’ve also got some exciting steampunk planned. Stay tuned!

On the personal front, I’ve got some serious fitness goals set for myself. I’ll be a literary guest and panelist at several conventions this year, so my readers can see for themselves how I’m doing there. :P

Why do you write romance?

Yup. I write both sci-fi romance and paranormal romance with a few steampunk romances out there too. My stories are on the sweeter yet saucy side.

How long have you been writing for? And how would you describe your publication journey?

I’ve been writing for a long time but only recently got published in August of 2010. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind year of releases and becoming represented by Louise.

I’ve worked hard, done a lot of research and busted my behind promoting my stories. Every time a reader lets me know they’ve enjoyed one of my stories, I’ve done a little happy dance. I’m so thankful to my readers and hope they’ll continue to read my work as I write more in the coming year.

Are you a plotter or pantser? What is your routine?

I’m predominately a plotter. I use Scrivener now to plot my stories, take notes and store my research.

However, as I write each scene, there’s always potential for epiphanies and I find myself pantsing it a little too. Then I’ll rework my outline. :P

What characteristics do all your heroes/heroines have in all your stories?

They each have their own strength. Some of my characters are obviously strong in a kick @$$ kind of way. Others display a different kind of strength, overcoming trauma or illness or simply surviving to live every day when someone else might simply cease to exist.

What writing resources do you abide by as a writer?

There are so many valuable online communities open to writers. Many agents and editors provide solid advice on every aspect of the industry from writing craft to query letters to what comes after publishing.

Some of my favorite places are:

The Online Writing Group (OWG) of the Kelley Armstrong Forums (http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/forum/index.php?board=35.0)

Miss Snark’s First Victim (http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/)

Before You Hit Send Workshop (http://nicemommy-evileditor.com/before-you-hit-send/)

Romance Divas (http://forums.romancedivas.com/)

What advice would you give aspiring authors?

I’m going to quote a friend of mine and someone I admire greatly.

“Surround yourself with the most creative people you know, in whatever field — there’s nothing quite like the motivation of being the only one in the room who hasn’t done something cool in the past 24 hours to keep you working and striving to be better.” ~ Kyle Cassidy

What are you working on right now?

I’m finishing up revisions on my urban fantasy novel. I’m also revising the third book in the Terra’s Guardians series and drafting the second book in the Triton Experiment series.

What news would you like to share with your readers?

Some exciting news is upcoming but I can’t share just yet. For exclusive sneak peeks and announcements, please feel free to sign up for my newsletter here: http://pjschnyder.com/blog/contact-2/

Where can readers find you?

    1. Twitter: @pjschnyder
    2. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pjschnyder
    3. Website: http://pjschnyder.com
    4. Others: http://pjschnyder.tumblr.com/

List other books you have out:

Carina Press titles:

Hunting Kat, Book 1 of the Triton Experiment series

Decadent Publishing titles:

Heart’s Sentinel, Book 1 of the Terra’s Guardians series

Red’s Wolf, Book 2 of the Terra’s Guardians series

Evie’s Gift

Tease Publishing titles:

Drowning Tides (incl in the Love’s Immortal Pantheon Vol 5 anthology)

Remember My Name (incl in the Gimme Shelter anthology) from Galileo Games

Thank you so much for joining us at Romance Author Hotspot! 

PRIZE:  Hunting Kat mug and Black Panther Beanie to a random commenter. (Open to International)

 

Tags: , , , , ,

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 24th, 2011 at 1:30 amand is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

50 Responses to “PJ Schnyder”

Leave a Reply