Romance Author Hotspot

Today, our guest of honor is Charmaine Gordon.  It’s so nice to have you here! Hope you’re ready to party!

I am definitely ready  and have something good to bring to the party.

First Questions:

Wine or beer? (If you say club soda, we’ll have to send you to the corner…)

Half glass of chardonnay please or I’ll be tap dancing on the table.

Cake or chips? Are you a sugar or salt kind of person?

Something sweet to go with the salty conversation, thanks. And I’m definitely old enough to drink. No carding necessary. How ‘bout you?

So, what do you write? And why?

A year ago, a story popped in my head as I slept. In the morning I began to write. I call this sleep writing. What sells now is erotic and a lot of gratuitous sex but Reconstructing Charlie is totally the opposite and yet there is romance and suspense. When I typed The End and cried and then got over myself, I realized there was another story to be told. Sin of Omission came next. Thus my “Dynamic Duo” was created and I will gift to one lucky commenter the two books.

Blurb from Reconstructing Charlie

Charlie Costigan has a secret. Home life gone from bad to the worst when she protects her mother from another vicious attack by her drunken father. Midnight. Clothes thrown into an old suitcase, she races for the bus with a letter to an unknown aunt and uncle. “This is my daughter. Embrace her as if she were your own.”

Determined, Charlie begins again. Alone with her secret.

Tell us about one of your characters:

Charlie Costigan is a special character in this modern world of sexual freedom. She’s learned from watching her own family that it’s better to remain a virgin until the right man comes her way. As an attractive talented athlete, there are lots of temptations but Charlie has a steely reserve.

How long have you been writing?

Until a few years ago, acting was my career. Movies, stage, daytime drama and commercials kept me busy. Then toward the end of a run of a play off Broadway, The Fourth Commandment, I had an idea for a story. My only experience was reading scripts. Undaunted, I began to write a book. You ask why and I reply, I don’t know. I just wrote and wrote and the book was published. The following year I met Chelle Cordero, a published author with Vanilla Heart. She bought my book, told her publisher about me and now I have five books with the wonderful Vanilla Heart Publishers.

What is your writing premise?

The theme running through all my stories is Survive&Thrive. Romance/Suspense. My writin style is what I call loose and I fly by the seat of my pants.

What do you like doing besides writing and reading? Is it dangerous?

You ask about danger in my life. Everything I’ve done in my life has turned out to have a dangerous twist. Not like spies and caught in gun fire but just in the homely part of living. Like having too many kids can do injury to one little mom; too much tennis has worn down both shoulders, one knee and continues to wreck body parts. And I loved the game. But I’ve paid a high price when every doctor shakes his head and says, “Sorry,” and suddenly I’m under the lights and it’s not show biz.

Any thoughts you’d like to share?

To all the folks out there who say they’d just love to write, I say, DO IT! It’s a joy to create characters and get them in and out of trouble and just think of all the fictional power you have with your imagination. Give some bad guy a fatal disease or send him off a cliff. Give the lonely woman a lover, the poor kid a pair of shoes, the family a new home. Have fun and then get down to the real business of making a story work.

Thank you for inviting me to your party. I hope I’ve brought enough to liven things up a bit.

Love to all from Charmaine Gordon.

Charmaine is awesome enough to be offering a giveaway!  –>Giveaway-ebook copy of Reconstructing Charlie and Sin of Omission

If you’d like to find more from Charmaine find her:

http://authorCharmaineGordon.wordpress.com

http://CharmaineGordonSSS.wordpress.com

http://twitter.com/#!/CharJGordon

http://www.facebook.com/charmaine.gordon

Kindle link
http://www.amazon.com/Sin-of-Omission-ebook/dp/B007XA9V2I

AllRomance link
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinofomission-784842-149.html

http://www.amazon.com/Sin-Omission-Charmaine-Gordon/dp/1937227650

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sin-of-omission-charmaine-gordon/1111456\
096

http://www.amazon.com/Reconstructing-Charlie-Charmaine-Gordon/dp/1935407910

Our midweek blog-party-guest is Jane Toombs, please join us in welcoming her!

Sometimes I wonder:

If any writer really knows what she or he is doing?   Occasionally we think we know, but do we? My first two gothics I wrote pantserwise and my agent sold them.   (I had an agent though a lucky fluke.)  The third book didn’t interest anyone. Then, by another stroke of luck I learned what synopses were and sold a fourth book on three chapters and a synopsis.  What I learned from that was that not only did a writer not have to write the entire book for a sale, but that a synopsis made the book far easier to write.  I also learned why the third book hadn’t sold by trying to write a synopsis for it.  Incoherent was the word for that plot.  So I wrote a new synopsis, rewrote and the book sold.  That’s when I realized I was a far better writer as a plotter than as a pantser.  I truly admire those authors who can and do write good books by the seat of their pants.   But I need that synopsis.

If writers are born or created by themselves or others?  I now believe I was not only created genetically by my father, but he deliberately encouraged me to become a writer by telling me that, yes, he’d teach me to use his big old L.C. Smith typewriter if I wrote him a story every time I used it. I was about seven at the time and it never occurred to me I couldn’t write a story—after all I read them.  He then used the perfect method of critiquing by telling me each story was good, but there were ways to make it even better.  Even at that young age I could see he was right, so, since he’d already praised the story, I had no problem making changes.  This taught me to listen to editors.  (Not that all of them are right all the time!)

If any writer is quite normal, including me?  Hey, we work long hours, sometimes for not much monetary return.  We also get some of our kicks from typing words onto a screen.  Also we’re doing this in the hope that some publisher will like it enough to buy it.  We want readers to enjoy what we’ve created and we get depressed when some don’t.  And yet we wouldn’t give up what we’re doing for anything.

BLURB:  Forced to marry a man she dislikes, Donella is frightened, but relieved when the terrifying call of “Pirates!” ends her wedding. She’s rescued by a never-forgotten man she’s seen only once before. But can he keep her safe from either the pirates–or her new husband?

You can find more from Jane on her website (JaneToombs.com).  And if you were hoping for a giveaway, you’re in luck!  Jane is offering:

“Deception’s Bride ebook to a random selected chatter  Also anyone who goes to my website, clicks on my email and asks   for a read-only CD with excerpts of  all my recent books will be sent one if you give me your snailmail address.”

Our special party-guest today is Fierce Dolan - please join me in welcoming her!

For years I’ve been fascinated with a reference to androgyny that’s most often attributed to Native American cultures.  Given that most of what seeps into mainstream knowledge about indigenous traditions is wrong, I’m willing to stand corrected on this one, as well.  However, from what I’ve studied, within some tribes is what’s called a “two-spirit” path, or biogendered men who take on the role of women.  Other indigenous cultures have observed such a third, or between-gender role, as well.  Two-spirits are usually considered deeply intuitively gifted and rise as spiritual leaders in their culture.  Not considered male, though not exactly female either, they carry the duties usually ascribed women and may marry a man in their tribe.

In my newly released short story, Traveler Through Darkness, from Decadent Publishing’s The Edge series, I envisioned Wo, a young Navajo man, as a two-spirit.  While he’s not decked out in a corset and stilettos (although it could happen), he’s very clearly embraced aspects himself that are both out-and-proud, is wise beyond his youth, and is comfortable with being an empowered, effeminate man in a patriarchal culture.  In contrast, he meets the older Tarik, a Middle Eastern man from a culture fatally against homosexuality, let alone the blurring of biogender roles.

They’re a good fit for each other—this very traditional man suppressing deep-seated desires, and Wo, the two-spirit who helps him acknowledge them.  Their joining, itself, expresses how we can all overcome limitations, push beyond boundaries, into new, undefined territory.

What are your thoughts on third gender?  Are there possibly more genders?  How would you describe them?

BLURB:

A lifetime of want collides with fate the night of Tarik’s bachelor party, fulfilling his deepest secret desire—only it’s not with the strippers his Arab friends hired to cater to his every whim. Uncomfortable with the debauched festivities, Tarik ducks out of the soirée, stumbling into Wo, a kind Navajo artist, who forces him to say what he really wants, then gives it to him, all night.

Enjoy Traveler Through Darkness along with the Reader’s Guide!  (<–Click link for the Reader’s Guide)

If you’d like to reach and/or follow Fierce please look for her:

Twitter:    @fiercedolan

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/fiercedolan?ref=tn_tnmn

Website:    www.fiercedolan.com

Thank you for reading!  Fierce is offering a free giveaway to a random commenter, specifically: “Back catalogue novella, “Gigolo Seduction,”

 interracial erotica, to random commenter 18 or over.”  Please give her/us your thoughts!

Hi there!  Today’s guest of honor is Juliet Chastain!  Pleae join me in welcoming her and her blog:

Greetings, fellow romance readers and writers.  I’ve just finished writing a series of short stories called Gypsy Lovers. These are sexy novellas, set in the Regency period about Gypsies and the English men and women love them.

I wanted to do some stories in which totally inappropriate, culturally, and socially mismatched men and women find love together—or don’t. I’m not a big fan of stories in which a rich man comes along and rescues the heroine but prefer protagonists who are willing to go without material goodies in order to be with the one they love. In two of my four Gypsy stories wealthy aristocrats fall for traveling Romani musicians who just aren’t all that interested in giving up their life on the road for wealth and prestige.

In the just-issued To Tempt a Gypsy a beautiful noblewoman want to amuse herself by seducing the handsome Romani musician, Cambio Adams, and couldn’t care less that he has promised to wed Tsura, a Gypsy lass. Lady Chinton always gets what she wants, and what she wants is Cambio. She wines and dines him and flirts most charmingly. He begins to doubt his love for his Romani sweetheart and is sorely tempted to succumb to the wanton aristocrat. The lady figures that if her charm and beauty can’t seduce this impoverished Gypsy, her fabulous wealth can. What she doesn’t count on is falling in love with him. It’s touch and go all the way.

In a previous book, For Love of a Gypsy Lass, we have a bored-out-of-his-skull English nobleman, Lord Harry Beresford who has simply had it with his luxurious and dull existence and the noble and dull ladies he is supposed to court. He falls hard for an itinerant Gypsy singer called Talaitha Grey. He assumes she can be easily seduced by his wealth and prestige, but to his surprise she’s not the least bit interested in any of that—although she is, against her will, attracted to the man behind it all.

Somehow these characters must find their way to happily ever after—and they do so in unexpected ways.

To Tempt a Gypsy and For Love of a Gypsy Lass, are available at:

Breathless Press!

| Amazon |

All Romance eBooks  and at many e-book stores!

To learn more about upcoming stories or about me: julietchastain.com.

While you’re there, check out my other short romances:

The Captain and the Courtesan

The Cry of the Wolf

as well as my other Gypsy tales.

You can also find me on www.facebook.com/JulietChastain

or

Twitter@julietchastain

Thank you for stopping by Juliet!  Please feel free to say hi to her below 

In the meantime Happy Independence Day!!!

Today, our star of honor is D L Jackson. It’s so nice to have you here and shining! I’m sure you’re ready to share with us your success and many fun endeavors. So, let’s get on with the party!

BIO:  D. L. Jackson is an award-winning writer of urban fantasy, science fiction, military romance and erotic romance. She loves to incorporate crazy plot twists, comedy and the unexpected into her worlds. As a U.S. Army veteran, she naturally adores men in uniform and feels the world could always use more. She does her part by incorporating as many sexy soldiers in her novels as she can. When she isn’t writing or running the roads, you can often find her online chatting with her peers and readers. Grab a cup of iced coffee, pull up your virtual chair and say hi. She loves emails and blog visits from her readers. http://www.authordljackson.com

Let’s get to know you a little better. Why don’t you step over here under the spotlight and shine a little.

First questions: (I’ll go easy on you.)

What made you decide to become a writer? I’ve always loved telling stories. My father called me Windy as a child, because I never ceased to talk. It carried over as I got older and so people didn’t think I was nuts, I corralled it and put it into books.

What inspires you? Where do you get your ideas? Life inspires me. Witnessing the funny, odd and sometimes scary things people do.  It’s like I see it, and it flips a switch.

Do you beat your muse? I mean…Wait! Do you have a muse? Does he/she have a name? I have a muse, but she’s on strike at the moment. She’s a little demon that adores shoes, sits on my shoulder and generally annoys the crap out of me. She’s called Bunny. Haven’t seen her around have you? Been looking to net her for a couple of weeks now.

Let’s talk about your writing process. Are you a plotter or pantser? Are there any weird things that you do before you start to sit down to write? (Like stretch those fingers…? Scream at the computer…?) 100% pantser. I write all my novels in my vehicle, even when at home.

Have you always envisioned yourself a writer? What were you doing before you started writing? Has your earlier career influence your current one? I was a soldier in the Army, in Military Intelligence. I wrote before I went in, but not seriously. I didn’t start to write seriously until I got out and my children were older. They are both in the military now too. My oldest is a Marine and my youngest will be leaving for Basic Training in August. So, my mind is always on them. I write a lot of stories about soldiers, so yeah, it did influence me a little. LOL

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now with your writing career?

Hopefully moving forward. My goal has always been to grow my career and readership. I have a story I plan to shop to an agent this summer, if I can find another 20k to add to it.

The gears are turning and I’m getting close.

What is the hardest thing you’ve had to overcome in your writing career so far?

Balancing work, family and life. I think every writer struggles with this. Last year was particularly brutal for me, and I don’t talk about it a lot. I lost six family members, two were my grandparents and while I was under contract and in edits for Seducing Liberty. Along with that, my father was going through chemotherapy and my Marine infantryman son, was deployed to a hot area in Afghanistan. It was hard to keep my focus, but the writing did help me to work through the loss and stress.

Now let’s talk more about you. If you could pick to live the life of a movie star, who would it be and why? Does this person show up in your stories?

If I could pick the life of a movie star, I’d probably run the other way. I can’t imagine the in-your-face aspects of their lives. They have no privacy. Everything they do is under public scrutiny. I’m a serious introvert, and always have been. I don’t like crowds. I prefer to be home, alone or with my family. It’s one of the primary reasons you don’t see me at conferences, why I don’t live in the city, or travel to them often. I want to go and meet people, but I just don’t like large crowds, they spook me. I grew up on a ranch in the open, two hours away from cities and I appreciate the solitude of that life.

Through research, what is the most silly thing you’ve ever done?

I started mixed martial arts for research, but kept going because I loved it. Same thing with Chinese language lessons. I really look kookie talking to myself in my car outside of work in Chinese, but hey, practice makes perfect—I hope.

What genres do you read? Do you read what you write? Sometimes. Hell, okay, I’ll admit it, I’m a book whore. I don’t care what it is, tampon box inserts, electronics manuals. If it’s not nailed down, I’ll read it, and tuck that useless information away to annoy the shit out of my husband later. He always says not to tell him useless facts like, National Arbor Day started in Nebraska, or that the Earth weighs a ton more every day from falling space dust, as it takes up valuable space in his brain for something important he needed to remember. Anyway, I’m reading Sun Tzu’s Art of War right now. Does that tell you anything. LOL

Time to lop the concubines heads off.

What’s the last book you’ve read for fun? Did you read it on an e-Reader or are you still a paperback-kind-of-person?

For fun. For fun. Hmm. The Hunter by Theresa Meyers, a steam punk romance. This last weekend.

What did you wish you had known back then when you began writing?

How better to read contracts. Live and learn.

Is there anything else you’d want your readers and friends to know about you?

I’m really not crazy. That would mean I keep repeating the same mistakes, expecting the same results. There is a method to my madness and I promise you, I will bring the fun with me to my books.

And lastly, where can we find you?

Email: dlareejackson1@gmail.com

   Twitter: Dlaree69

   Facebook: D L jackson

   Website: http://authordljackson.com

Thank you so much for being a star DL Jackson!  Please tell us about your giveaway!

  I’m giving away a copy of My Boogie Woogie Bugle Guy and a $10.00 Amazon Gift Certificate [to a randomly choosen commenter].

Blurb:

When Grace Daniels goes to the cemetery to visit the grave of her twin brother, she meets a soldier, there for the same reason, or at least that’s what she believes until he tells her about the blind date her brother arranged before he was killed in combat.

It’s the date of her dreams. Big band, brass and sass. Madame Eve from 1NightStand has set her up for an unforgettable night, a WWII swing dance party. Unfortunately she’s having trouble letting go of her past, and is afraid to take the chance given to her.

Sergeant Frank Winters is an Army trumpet player who travels with the color guard, a great dancer and six feet four inches of eye candy that could make her an addict. He’s also a soldier and soldiers can get killed. Grace doesn’t have the heart to lose someone again, but Frank knows a good thing when he sees it, and he’s determined to show her in one night, she’s got more to lose if she walks away.

Excerpt:

Frank sat up, slammed his eyes shut, and pressed his hand over his forehead. “Ah, what did you do last night, Frank?”

“You drank too much, played a horrendous solo on top of the mausoleum, and puked in my car.”

“God. Please tell me I didn’t.”

“Oh, but you did,”

His eyes snapped back open and he searched the strange room for the source of the voice. When his gaze stopped on the strawberry blonde in an overstuffed easy chair, her leg draped over one of the arms, sipping a cup of coffee, he couldn’t look away. She wore a pair of red sweat-shorts and a worn T-shirt that had faded from black down through several shades of gray until it settled into a dingy, well-loved, pewter shade. A big Army logo ran across the front in bright yellow.

Hu-ah.

“You left your bike at the cemetery. When you’re ready, I’ll take you to get it.”

“Who are you, and where am I?” Frank surveyed the room, searching for any memory of how he’d ended up there. The place was cozy, the woman gorgeous, and he certainly could have done worse. “Did we?” His head throbbed as he strained his brain for details. Certainly he wouldn’t forget hitting that.

“My name is Grace Daniels.” She snorted and rose to her feet. His gaze immediately drifted back to a body that rocked the workout clothes she’d donned. “You can rest assured, we did nothing. I had to haul your butt in here on a dolly last night.”

“Damn. Can we get a do over?”

“How about we start with java instead?”

“Yeah.” Grace Daniels. What were the chances? Frank rubbed his temple, trying his best to sooth the monster headache that threatened to split his skull. A dolly? Really? Did she say I puked in her car? There went any chance of a good first impression. He’d have to clean that up as soon as he got his bearings.

Thanks again! 

Our special guest-blog post to keep the RAH party rolling comes from a beautiful “blood-sucking” lass, Sussanah Sandlin!  Please join us in welcoming her “into the fold.”   ;D

“Vampires are dead,” everyone told me. (Well, no, they’re undead, but that’s another topic.) “They’re so yesterday. They’re so Twilight.”

I’ve never been one to listen much. Just ask my parents, teachers, bosses.…you get the idea.

So when I decided to branch out from my urban fantasy genre, where I have a series under another name, I turned to paranormal romance. I love to read it. I love a dark, tortured hero. I love the way paranormal characters allow us to shine a light on some very human issues like love and family and acceptance.

Okay, I’ll admit it. I love vampires.

I’ve actually wasted brain cells trying to figure out why I love vampires, and here’s the result of my brain-strain:

1) Torture Males. No, no. Not the BDSM kind of play-torture, or the Guantanamo kind. Women love tortured guys so we can then spend much drama and angst trying to save the big old lunkheads from themselves. And who can possibly be more tortured than some quasi-immortal being who’s probably lost more loves than we can imagine?

2) Strength…and Vulnerability. Think about it. You have these virtually immortal beings, usually with incredible strength and ability to heal. Speed. Scary mental powers. And yet, unless you let your vampires twinkle in the sunlight (pleeeeze don’t do this), there are several hours per day when they are completely vulnerable. We love caring for vulnerable beings like little babies and big dudes with fangs.

3) Need. We all know guys need us, whether they admit it or not. But think about a vampire guy. He literally can’t live without what we can give him. Okay, sure, it involves puncture wounds and a siphoning of body fluids, but in a well-done romance, the plasma donor also gets a pretty good rush from it, yes? We love to be needed.

4) Bad Boy Syndrome. Women love bad boys. I love bad boys in fiction (in real life, I usually want to kick them about the head and other body parts), and vampires are usually bad boys. The heroes in my new vampire trilogy are all bad boys in their own ways. Aidan is emotionally scarred but knows how to kick ass when he needs to, and can be a stubborn jerk. William covers his insecurity with bravado and sexual, uh, proclivity. Mirren…well, let’s just say in his human life he wore chain mail and wielded a battle axe, and he hasn’t changed that much. Whether they’re alphas or beta males, bad boy vampires are always masculine, confident (at least on the outside), and don’t play by the rules. What’s not to love?

5) Sex Gods. Let’s just say a vampire who has been around a century or three has had a LOT of time to practice his technique and has learned the art of delayed gratification. Ahem.

So…are you a vampire lover? Or are you fanged out? Leave a comment to win a copy of my new release, Redemption, the first in the Penton Legacy series, and a $10 Amazon gift card!

BLURB:

The world’s vampire population is on the brink of starvation since the vaccine to treat a global pandemic rendered human blood deadly to them. Their only hope for survival is a handful of rural areas that the vaccine never breached.

The tiny town of Penton, Alabama, is one such enclave, where the immortal Aidan Murphy has established a community of vampires and their willingly bonded humans. Together, they live in peace—until Aidan’s estranged brother descends upon the town and begins attacking its humans. Whether the rampage is a result of his centuries-old feud with Aidan or the civil war threatening to erupt in the vampire world matters not. All that matters is the blood.

Desperate to save his adopted family, Aidan breaks one of his cardinal rules, kidnapping an unvaccinated human doctor—and unexpectedly falling in love for the first time in nearly four hundred years.

Sensual and thrilling, Redemption is the first installment of what is sure to be a darkly addictive new series from paranormal romance novelist Susannah Sandlin. Book two, Absolution, will be released on September 18, followed by Omega on December 18.

Susannah is awesome enough to be offering a giveaway!  A random commenter will be selected, and will recieve: Print or digital copy of Redemption (winner’s choice) and $10 Amazon GC. International!

If you like what you see find more from/about Sussanah:

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/susannahsandlin

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/susannahsandlin

Website: http://www.susannahsandlin.com

Hi all, Monday’s post has broken again   :’(   Our immense apologies for that!  At the last moment PJ Schnyder was awesome enough open some time in her schedule and sit down for an impromptu interview.  

That interview will go up in a few short hours – in the meantime here’s her most recent blog post.  Thank you for your patience awesome readers!  We promise more and more giveaways in the future! 

Lori Foster’s RAGT 2012

Today, our star of honor is the lady with one of the best websites we’ve seen in a while!  Its: Camryn Rhys. It’s so nice to have you here and shining! I’m sure you’re ready to share with us your success and many fun endeavors. So, let’s get on with the party!

BIO:

Camryn Rhys grew up on the border of Canada and the US, and still hasn’t decided which country to call home. She splits her time between the Alberta and Montana Rocky Mountains, with friends and family in both beautiful locations. After running her own restaurant for several years and acquiring advanced degrees in writing, foodie romance seemed the only logical option. When she’s not watching the Food Network, she’s reading a romance novel, or if absolutely necessary, working as a consultant. Someone has to put really excellent food on the table.

Let’s get to know you a little better. Why don’t you step over here under the spotlight and shine a little.

Romance So Good You Can Taste It

First questions: (I’ll go easy on you.)

What made you decide to become a writer? I’ve been telling stories my whole life. Some of them, I pretended were true, and some I knew were lies. But the story was the thing. I love stories.

What inspires you? Where do you get your ideas? I think everything inspires me. I’ve gotten ideas from someone speaking another language, and from recipes, and from knowing certain people. It just depends on the moment and what will spark my mind to think… hmmm, I wonder…

Do you beat your muse? I mean…Wait! Do you have a muse? Does he/she have a name? I do have a muse. His name is Ian and he wears a kilt. Nothing but a kilt. As far as whether or not I beat him, I may have to plead the 5^th.

Let’s talk about your writing process. Are you a plotter or pantser? Are there any weird things that you do before you start to sit down to write? (Like stretch those fingers…? Scream at the computer…?) I used to be a pantser, and I can’t even say I really had a “process.” But I took this fantastic class about the “W” plot and now I am a faithful plotter. It’s not as fast a process as it used to be, but I think my books are a ton better because of it.

What is your call story? Actually, it depends. I have a novella call story and a novel call story. My novella call story begins with an editor approaching me… why I always encourage people to write wherever they can write. If you have a compelling voice, you can’t hide it.

Have you always envisioned yourself a writer? What were you doing before you started writing? Has your earlier career influence your current one? I definitely always assumed I’d be a writer someday. I based my whole expectation of the future upon it. I would love to think that I would be able to make a living as a writer. Then I would leave the mundane world behind. LOL!

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now with your writing career? Still writing books I love to read, I hope. Maybe even getting paid for it. J

What is the hardest thing you’ve had to overcome in your writing career so far? Definitely my time constraints. I have a very demanding day job and I spend most of my spare time writing or promoting. It’s a lot of work. If I had more time, I would definitely utilize it.

Now let’s talk more about you. If you could pick to live the life of a movie star, who would it be and why? Does this person show up in your stories? Hmmmm… I wouldn’t like the life of a movie star. I value my privacy way too much.

Through research, what is the most silly thing you’ve ever done? Wow, I’ve done a lot of weird stuff. Let’s just say that because I write romance, research is lots of fun, and I’m always interested in making a fool of myself… haha!

What genres do you read? Do you read what you write? Honestly, I don’t read as much as I used to. But when I do get a chance to read, I’ve been moving through fantasy books at a pretty good clip. Really fun. My head is full of fairies.

What’s the last book you’ve read for fun? Did you read it on an e-Reader or are you still a paperback-kind-of-person? Spell of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning. Actually, I listened to it on my iPhone. Loved it!

What did you wish you had known back then when you began writing? That your career can take off fast, so be ready to commit to a genre and make your writing happen!

Is there anything else you’d want your readers and friends to know about you? Umm… I’m really boring. My website is lots of fun, though! There’s tons of stuff about my characters and little hidden eggs all over the place!

And lastly, where can we find you?

Email: author@camrynrhys.com

Twitter: @camrynrhys

Facebook: @CamrynRhys

Website: http://camrynrhys.com

I’m giving away a copy of both my Big Muddy Westerns: BARN-DANCE and BARN-RAISING.

Thank you so much for being a star Camryn!

Our guest today is Nancy DiMauro. Lets have some fun:

Tell us about yourself…

 I’m a mommy, writer, lawyer who lives on a farm with too many animals (according to my husband). Eleven years ago, I convinced my poor condo-raised husband to move from the city to a horse farm. He agreed because it was my dream. If I could clone him, I’d make a fortune. Although, he still get testy when I call him “Zsa Zsa.”

A typical day starts at 5:00 am when I kick the husband out of bed so he can the kids up and get ready himself, and I can feed the animals. Once the critters are fed, I’m on breakfast duty for the boys. As soon as all three of them out the door, I leave for my day job. I’m a partner in a small law firm based in the Washington, D.C. Metro area. My practice is mostly business law and litigation. I finally get to write after 9pm when the kids are in bed and the critters have wound down for the night. My life is hectic, but I wouldn’t trade it.

Tell us about your book…

 Shots at Redemption is a collection of short stories about three mythical creatures (a goddess, a witch and a dragon – I know it’s a joke waiting for a punchline) who get second chances at love.

I’ve always thought the women, even the goddesses, didn’t fair well in Greek mythology. I started wondering how Kalypso “imprisoned” Odysseus for seven years. After all, Odysseus is always described as being clever. A clever man would escape if he wanted to. Then there was the fact that Kalypso and Odysseus had children. If Odyssues stayed for seven years, it was because he wanted to. So, why did he leave? What would happen if he came back? From those questions, Kalypso’s Song was born. It won an Honorable Mention from Writers of the Future.

Best Dressed and Obsessed came out of an error from a Liberty Hall (libertyhallwriters.org) writing prompt. For whatever reason, I got a single word “array” rather than the actual prompt for that week. After spending most of my 90 minutes trying to figure out what to write, I ended up settling on a retelling of Medea using a cursed dress to kill Jason’s next lover.  Best Dressed also won an Honorable Mention from Writers of the Future.

I started the final story, A Sea Serpent’s Tale, based on a call for submissions to a dragon anthology. I got about half way through the story and hit a stall point, a real risk with being a pantser. The story sat in my trunk (okay, computer hard drive) for about 6 months before I realized what was missing. From there it took me a weekend to finish the first draft. Unlike the other two stories in the collection, A Sea Serpent’s Tale focuses on parent/child love rather than romantic love.   

 What are your five favorite novels?

 Only five, geez, that’s tough. Probably:

- The Last Unicorn, by Peter Beagle

- Daughter of the Blood, by Anne Bishop

- Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte

- Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

- Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson

What are you working on now?

 I’ve finished a novella in three acts called Apollo Rising in which Apollo tries to break the curse on Daphne and return her to a nymph. Apollo Rising is also under contract with Musa Publishing, and should be out by the end of the year. At this point, I’m waiting for comments from my editor.

In the meantime, I just finished the first draft of an erotic romance novella called New Bohemia: Just One Night.  When his roommate, Maysoon, propositions him, Pete has just one night to convince her that they can be so much more than a one night stand.

While that cools, I’m working on my urban fantasy novel, The Nocebo Effect, which features Vonna, one of the characters from Paths Less Traveled, which Musa Publishing released on May 11, 2012.

I also received comments on my other novel, The King’s Falcon, from an agent I really respect. I’m ready to go through them and see how I can strengthen that story. Falcon was also featured in a short story in Paths Less Traveled.

Are you a Plotter or a Panster?

Despite my best efforts to the contrary, I’m a pantser. When I outline, it’s only in very broad strokes. One of the joys of writing for me is discovering what happens. I generally know the characters and how the story’s likely to end when I start. Between those two points, anything goes.

BBQ? Carolina, Tennessee, Texas or Kansas City?

I grew up in Boston, so to me BBQ was a way of cooking meat, not a specific dish. I didn’t learn how wrong I was until I went to college in Richmond, Va. Our friends, who had moved to Richmond years earlier, invited us over for BBQ. Imagine our surprise when instead of grilled chicken breasts and steak, we were served shredded pork with sauce in a sandwich. So, pork barbeque – or Carolina style – is my favorite. Although the Texas beef brisket is a really close second.

BLURB:

We all make mistakes. In this collection, a witch, a goddess, and a dragon take their shots at redemption in the hope of reclaiming lost love.

Eons ago, Zeus decreed that Odysseus leave Kalypso. In Kalypso’s Song, Odysseus is reborn as a scholar. Can Kalypso convince him to reclaim the love they were denied?

In Best Dressed and Obsessed, Janelle, a graduate-level witch, chooses a magic dress to enthrall her professor. Sadly, the dress is cursed.  At her graduation ball, will she kiss the man she loves? Or kill him?

The sea dragon Ryu finds an unlikely surrogate family in A Sea Serpent’s Tale. When her new family is attacked by another dragon, can Ryu save them?
Shots at Redemption. We want them. We need them. But, do we get them?

Thanks for having me and I hope you enjoy the stories.

Enjoyed the interview?  You can connect with Nancy:

Email:               nancy@falconsfables.com

Twitter:           https://twitter.com/kings_falcon

(that’s an “_” between the kings and falcon)

Facebook:       http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/Kings.Falcon

Website:          http://www.falconsfables.com

Blog:                   http://nancydimauro.blogspot.com

Or read on for an excerpt from the featured story, Shots at Redemption:

Garrett talked to Tabitha by the buffet table. How dare she? He was mine. Something cold and predatory slid over me.

I wound my way through the masses. The sinuous curves of my body slid in a seductive symphony. A smile eased over my features. The Dress glimmered unicorn white. Strobe lights bathed it in ever-shifting colors. I was the most remarkable woman here.

And Gary was finally going to get his due.

He stepped away from Tabitha. “Ms. Willowbalm, may I have the privilege of the next dance?”

I inclined my head as I took his arm. “I thought you were going to call me Janelle.”

“Of course.”

At the edge of the dance floor, one hand held mine while the other wrapped around my waist. It’s a wonder he didn’t hear my heart racing. A flush of heat warmed my face. His redwood and light musk scent enveloped me. I closed my eyes and breathed in his essence. A wide stupid grin stretched my features. I was dancing with Garrett Rowan. He was holding me.

“You’ve undergone a rather remarkable transformation this year,” he said.

“Things just seemed to fall into place.” I shrugged, knowing it made my cleavage more notable. His eyes flittered lower before jumping back to meet mine. “I’m surprised you noticed.”

“I like to think of myself as an observant man.”

Gary murdered us, the silken voice of The Dress snarled in my mind.

No, I thought.

Gary cannot be trusted.

This is what I w-want, to be here, with Garrett.

Mercury strands formed a net around my mind. My body jerked as they closed in.

No! I screamed in the confines of my head. I ordered my body to pull back, to shout for help. It didn’t respond. The Dress had seized control. Sweat prickled on the back of my neck.

A deep sadistic laugh was my only response. Foolish child. Gary’s blood will pave the way. The initial sacrificial lamb. The Council will fall to me this time.

Gary held me slightly away from his body. “Ah, Medea. It was about time you showed yourself.”

“Gary dear,” a voice that wasn’t mine spilled out from my lips. It was deeper than the voice I’d heard in my head from The Dress. I felt the muscles in my face stretch to a grin. “I’ll enjoy killing you.”

The spirit me screamed, unheard and unbidden. I couldn’t feel the warmth of his hand as it rested against the small of my back or where his other hand was conjoined with mine. Even his redwood and spice scent didn’t fill my senses. Was I dead? No. This can’t be happening.

Get out of my head, I snarled at the invader, Medea, Garrett had called her Medea. If I’d still retained control of my body, my legs would have bowed, unable to support my weight. Medea Oleander. Medea Oleander was inside my mind. And she wanted to kill Garrett. I couldn’t, no, I wouldn’t let her succeed.