Author Spotlight - Stephanie Draven

Today we're delighted to have hugely prolific author Stephanie Draven join us here at the minxes to tell us a little bit about herself, and her books. Take it away, Stephanie!

1. Where were you in your writing career 5 years ago?

Exactly five years ago to the day, I faced a career crisis. I’d been dreaming of publishing my books for years. I’d been working at it, taking classes, collecting rejection letters, and beginning to think it was never going to happen. I was at a low point. And that’s when I received a most extraordinary opportunity. I was offered a job as a special assistant to a U.S. Congressman.
Now, if I had to choose any career other than writing books, it would be that of a speechwriter and this job would have been a stepping stone in that direction. It would have been an opportunity to do something meaningful. It was almost my dream job. Almost. If I took this job, I’d have to give up my dreams of publishing my books. That was a certainty. The demands of the job wouldn’t allow for both.
And I had a choice to make. Would I go for a sure thing, or continue to pursue a dream that might never become a reality? I’m a very practical person, so the decision seemed clear to me. I would have to take the job.
But I didn’t. I couldn’t. And turning down that job was one of the most terrifying and angst-ridden decisions I’ve ever made in my life. Sometimes I still wonder if I did the right thing.
It would be almost two more years before my first professional sale and six months more before I was offered representation by my agent, the fabulous Jennifer Schober of Spencerhill. After that, things went very quickly for me. Since then, I’ve sold four full-length novels (all of which will have been published within this year) and six novellas!

2. What do you prefer writing, novellas or full length?
That’s a little like asking do you prefer dinner or dessert! I love the accomplishment of writing a full-length novel, and the room I have to sprawl and show off. But the novella is a special kind of art form that really replenishes the creative well and helps me rediscover the joy of writing!

3. You write paranormal, what challenges does that present?
You have to build a world for any fiction that you create, but paranormal romance requires that you build a world that defies the rules of the universe. That’s quite a challenge to do that and fit in a satisfying love story to boot!

4. Where did you get the idea from for this particular book?
What if the monsters of ancient mythology still walked the earth...and what if you found out that you were one of them? That’s the premise for my Mythica series and I’ve had a blast exploring the stories and symbols of Greek mythology. I’ve always loved the idea of sirens. They’re certainly the bad girls of ancient lore and I write very smart books for very bad girls, so it was a natural pairing! Also, I’ve always wanted to set a book in Annapolis. I lived there for a year and it’s one of my favorite places in the world.

5. Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?
I want to be a New York Times Bestselling author. Is that too much to ask?

6. Was there any particular author or book that made you want to be a writer?
I was a storyteller long before I could read a book!

7. What's the most romantic moment of your life so far?
I’m very fortunate to have a romantic husband who has filled my life with love and romance. It’s very difficult to choose just one moment, but I’m going to say that spending a day luxuriating on crisp white linens with the ocean breeze flowing in through the windows is definitely my happy place.

8. What do you wish you'd known about being an author before you were pubbed?
I wish I’d known how much time I’d spend doing things that have nothing to do with writing. Wow. The task of getting people to know about your work, much less read it, is a full-time job all in itself!

9. What's the best writing advice you've ever been given?
Have lots of product to sell! Beginning authors spend too much time obsessing on making their first novel better. This is an important stage, but you have to learn when to move on and just write more and faster and better.

10. Tell us about your latest release.
Siren Song is a bite-sized romance that stars a modern-day sexy siren and the ancient triton she tries to seduce. He was banished from his home because of his weakness for sirens before and now he’s determined to resist her. When I started writing the story, I thought my siren would be a very wicked girl, but in the end, she turned out to be one of the sweetest, most innocent heroines I’ve ever written. I love when I get to turn expectations around--even in my own mind!

11. I hear Mills & Boon have replaced Nocturne Bites with the longer Nocturne Cravings, does writing Nocturne Cravings appeal to you?
Yes! I’m following up Siren Song with something much darker for the Cravings line entitled The Fever & the Fury which will star one of the furies as a heroine and the phoenix who teaches her how to accept pleasure instead of giving only pain. It should be scorchingly hot!

12. What’s next for you?
In November, my newest full-length installment of the Mythica series will be released. It’s called Dark Sins & Desert Sands and is about an Arab-American soldier who has been broken by torture and turned into a mind-controlling minotaur whose first vengeful act is to capture his beautiful interrogator. It might be a little controversial, actually!

Thank you so much for the interview, Stephanie!
You can find out more about Stephanie and her books, and read an excerpt of Siren Song at her website: http://stephaniedraven.com/
Siren Song is available as an ebook now from Mills & Boon here

Not in New York ... with Zonkeys

For those like me, who could only dream of being at last week’s glamorous RWA conference in New York, I’ve decided to take you across the globe to a far less glamorous but equally exotic locale ... the African bushveld in midwinter.

I’m currently on Day 3 of a 5-day commercial film shoot, and this is one of our locations:

This is what a film unit looks like ... insignificant against the backdrop of the savannah.

And finally, just for a laugh, here’s one of the animals spotted on our current location ... Debra the Zonkey (this is for real!)

For me, this is all in a day’s work, but if you’ve ever had any questions about film shoots, or how movies are made, this is your chance to ask.

Words of wisdom from Trish Wylie - Part Two

Last Friday, Trish started her series about how to start a romance novel. She covered: The inciting incident, introduction to the characters, the external problem and the internal problem.
Today, she's continuing with part two of three - this week examining the areas, foreshadowing, setting and tone.
Take it away, Ms Wylie!

5/ Foreshadowing.


In a Romance novel, just as a hint of the beginning of a new life for the characters is present in the end, there is the promise of a happy outcome to their problems at the beginning of the story. In a sense this is easy because there is already an expectation from the reader that the characters will end up together. The trick is to make them doubt the outcome by throwing obstacles in the characters’ paths (occasions that remind them of the thing they fear most).

6/ Setting.

The world the characters inhabit should be glimpsed in the opening so the reader is grounded in their reality. This includes anything that can be seen, heard or perceived by the characters in the same way we would be aware of our surroundings. Once again this should be brief, the emotional involvement in the story stemming from a connection with the characters rather than the place they inhabit. Think of a stage play and it is the characters and what is happening to them that hold our attention rather than the backdrop; the scenery merely adding a sense of place.

7/ Tone.

The tone must be both clear and consistent from the beginning. Characters will remain ‘in character’ from the moment they appear on the page, with all of their actions and reactions making sense to the reader based on what they are told from the beginning. By setting a clear tone, we establish the ‘rules’ of the story, including the narrative and most importantly, the writer’s VOICE. Quite simply, a writer’s voice is the way they tell the story. Think of a Scorsese, Spielberg or Tarantino movie and they are each instantly recognisable as ‘belonging’ to the respective director. It’s exactly the same for writers, so while there may be no such thing as a ‘new’ story, the way we each tell it is as individual to us as our handwriting or the way we speak. Setting the ‘mood’ is somewhat different. As the characters continue on their journey there will be shades of dark and light, just as there are in real life. So while there may be moments of sadness and deeply felt emotion, there will also be times when there is humour or a tempting glimpse of how happy the characters will be in the end.

Pop back next Friday for the concluding blog post of the series - covering back story, theme and the hook.
Thank you, Trish!
 
Trish’s long-awaited book, ‘The Inconvenient Laws Of Attraction’, will be out in the UK and Ireland in December 2011.
 

In the meantime, her third book, ‘Her Unexpected Baby’, is available for the first time in the USA and Canada direct from eHarlequin RIGHT NOW!
You can get it from here.


You can find out more about Trish and her books at http://www.trishwylie.com/ or follow her between deadlines on Twitter @TrishWylie

Author Spotlight - Zee Monodee

I met Zee when I was still a complete newbie writer, and her support and encouragement really helped get me on teh right track, so I am pleased and proud to have her here in our Spotlight today. Zee lives in the exotic island paradise of Mauritius and is published under several names.

1. Where were you in your writing career 5 years ago?

I had just sold my first novel (The Other Side, written under the name of Aasiyah Qamar) to a big publisher over here in Mauritius. At the time, I had pretty much completed my second book, and was working on ideas for more books down the line.

I had to admit I was a total newbie back then and when I started penning stories some 6 years ago. Apart from English and literature classes I took in secondary school, I’ve never been formally ‘trained’ into writing. I had a knack for languages, all right – had a good way with words and yes, was totally wordy too. I just knew I wanted to write, and had no clue how exactly to make a career out of it. I thought you wrote, offered the book up to an editor, and if it got accepted, great. The book was pubbed, and you went on with writing the next book, and so on.

While publishing with a big print house (as was the case for my first sale) is very close to this scenario, when I started looking into e-publishing houses over in the US, I found out that being an author wasn’t just about writing books, but a totally different kettle of fish on top. I learned everything from scratch, from self-editing to self-proofing to finding critique partners and establishing my name and Web presence. I’m still learning to this day.

2. Where did you get the idea from for this particular book?

I’ve always loved a good story featuring amnesia. The buried past, the secrets just under the surface, the smokescreen of deception that hovers because the memory is blank. I wanted to write a story with an amnesiac heroine, to bring my own version of secrets and buried past to the light. I started this plot about 3-4 years ago, but back then the story was going nowhere because I wasn’t satisfied with the boring skeletons the heroine, Amelia, could bring out of her closet. I let the story stand on my hard drive, and delved into other mss.

Then, a combination of factors happened to steer me in the direction to pen Walking The Edge. It was the thick of winter here, and my son was on school break. I came down with a bad cold and tried a new medication, which threw me off my trolley while I was under its influence. I’d wake up, and not know if I was fully awake or dreaming, a sort of strange déjà vu feeling. During those moments of near-lucidity, I could hear the mind-numbing music of my son’s SpongeBob game which he bandied around on his GameBoy. This was a really weird moment in my life, and it got me thinking – what if Amelia felt like this too? She’d need to be under the influence of drugs for this to happen, and thus her cold, manipulating husband, Peter, came on board as the bad guy. What was his game?

And then I watched the movie Wanted starring Angelina Jolie, and things just clicked. I had the secrets that were lurking inside Amelia’s closet, the secrets Peter wanted no one to discover. Why? Well, *wink*, that’s in the book.

3. Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?

Still writing and putting a few books out per year, having an established reader base, making a difference in my readers’ lives, the way a good book makes my day/week better.

4. Which was the last book you read that you wish you'd written?

What I Did For A Duke by Julie Anne Long. I love historical romances, and I’m always in awe of how good historical authors bring worlds of times past into scope for the reader. This one caught me under a spell – it’s one of those books that read effortlessly. There’s this ‘flawed’ hero, this duke in fact, who’s out for revenge, but things don’t turn out the way he planned, because the heroine is no simpering miss. Lots of twists, turns, surprises, and these totally amazing, vivid characters that leapt off the page. That story captivated me, and I was going, “Darn, she’s good!”, about Ms. Long’s easy manner of drawing the reader into the story.

5. Was there any particular author or book that made you want to be a writer?

Vikram Seth and his novel A Suitable Boy. It’s a huge tome, but the read is riveting. It was like being in India during the times he talks about, feeling what the characters are feeling, smelling the food, discovering a new world of customs and traditions, a whole ‘other’ way of life. My ancestors hail from India, and I grew up in this Indian culture that’s somehow adapted to our adopted homeland, Mauritius, but which still bears striking resemblances to the ways of India.

I was inspired by Mr. Seth’s writing because I wanted to make people discover Mauritius and my world the way he brought the late 1940s India to life.

That’s how I started my career writing penning culture-based romances set in Mauritius. And then I discovered British authors Jill Mansell and Sophie Kinsella. Riotous romps set in England, a land close to my heart, that didn’t feature culture or traditions but which were so entertaining and fun. I wanted to write that kind of story too, and this is how I started penning non-cultural romance too.

6. Do you find writing love scenes giggle-worthy or cringe-worthy?

I used to cringe at writing love scenes, mostly because I imagined my very strict mother and aunts reading the words over my shoulder. I loosened up afterwards though, when I realized that writing love scenes didn’t have to mean writing total smut.


Today they’re neither giggle-worthy (like, say, my first attempts that were littered with purple prose), nor are they cringe-worthy (like the ‘smut’ I was once encouraged to write). I’ve found my right balance with love scenes, which I love to write, because it’s a new dimension to bring to the dynamics between a man and a woman. Some stories beg to be written with the bedroom door closed, others let you peek in, and others take place ‘in the open’, so to speak. I usually let my characters dictate the path to their very own love scenes.

7. What's the most romantic moment of your life so far?

When my husband told me right away to go for my dream of writing. He didn’t ask questions, didn’t ridicule any mention of ‘romance’ – just gave me his unending support at a time my life was spinning off its axis. Many men in his shoes could’ve dropped me like a hot potato, because I got sick and having a wife who’s not in perfect health condition is not exactly glamorous. He stuck by me through thick and thin, and that’s the most heroic thing a man can do, in my book.

8. What do you wish you'd known about being an author before you were pubbed?

That it doesn’t end with selling a book! In fact, it all starts when you sell a book. I wish I’d known about things like promo, and establishing presence and name. Being an author is not being an island out there in the world. You have to be a total continent with bridges to every other land imaginable in your realm. Today I’m much more comfortable with myself as an author because I know I am doing everything I can to not be this remote, unreachable island.

9. What's the best writing advice you've ever been given?

To write your story, your way. I can’t remember exactly who said this to me. A lot of people have tried to advise me and through this advice, shape me into something I wasn’t. Of course, writing your story your way doesn’t mean you don’t care about facts and rules of grammar and story construction, etc. It simply means to be true to yourself, all the way. Ultimately, you have to be able to look into the mirror and be able to bear the image that beams back at you. You shouldn’t be ashamed of your reflection, and what better way to ensure such a thing never happens than being true to yourself?

10. Tell us about your latest release.

Walking The Edge is a novel that bridges over quite a few genres, and stands as Book 1 of the Corpus Brides series. At the heart of it, the story is the journey of an amnesiac woman who is out to find out what her erased past hides. It’s a mystery she must unravel, and along the way, help happens in the form of a French police commissioner. At first, he wants her as far away from him as possible, but events unfold that draw him to her like moth to a flame. Romance blooms between them as they go about the city of Marseille trying to figure out who she is, but what will happen when she does find out who she truly is?

This is the blurb for the story:

The next step might be the last...

A woman without a past
Left amnesiac after an accident, Amelia Jamison struggles as her instincts slowly rise from the depths of oblivion, leading her to question her life as the wife of a cold, manipulating and distant man. Wisps of a dream show her another man she may have known intimately, but is he a memory, or a figment of her imagination?

A man with too much information
After many aliases, today Gerard Besson is simply a police commissaire in Marseille. When a mysterious woman starts to follow him, he is suspicious - and intrigued. But things aren't what they seem, and as he reluctantly gets closer to her, dregs of his painful, buried past emerge and make him question her identity.

Each seems to have led several different lives
But neither is prepared for what awaits them when they cross the fine line between knowing your true self and that of your alter ego.

Danger is the name of the game, and as it catches up with them in the French Provence, both know they better be ready for the inevitable fall.

The book can be found at the Noble Romance Publishing website - buy links coming soon.

11. What’s next for you?

Penning more stories! I have Book 2 of the Corpus Brides under way, titled Before The Morning, and it will be the prequel to Walking The Edge. Book 3, the final one for this series, is still in the outlining stages.

The Attraction of a Hairy Man

It's no secret I'm not fond of an overabundance of body or facial hair, but there's something about a man with a hairdo long enough for a ponytail that really does it for me.
I'm going to take you back into the mists of time today, to visit my first celebrity crush: Shaun Cassidy. Yes, I have to admit, when I was 14, the younger half-brother of David - and Hardy Boy extraordinaire - made my teen heart race. You might say I'd set the bar quite low on that one, but compared to the boys at school he was definitely an improvement. And he was the inspiration for some of the heroes in the (dire) short stories I scribbled in my exercise book when I should have been doing maths.


He looked a bit like a girl with his big eyes and long hair. And, I suppose, the reason I liked pretty boys was because they were non-threatening - not like manly men. Manly men were scary.

By the time I was 15, my tastes had matured: Step forward Marvin Lee Aday. Otherwise known as Meat Loaf. Mr Loaf also had long hair, but in no way could he be described as girly. And, if I'm honest, I love him still. Although, he's never provided inspiration for one of my heroes - not yet, at least, but there's still time.






Then there was Robin of Sherwood. Did any man ever look as good in a tunic as Michael Praed? He was a real pretty boy - so pretty I could never have gone out with him because he was much better looking than me (and he didn't ask - but we'll gloss over that). He's inspired several heroes. And look, there's the long hair again. We saw him recently in a stage version of The Sound of Music - and he's still very easy on the eye (although, sadly, he no longer has long hair).



To this day I love hairy men:






The very lovely Josh Holloway - who is very welcome to star in any of my stories. And he's so gorgeous, he's even forgiven the facial hair.

But, sometimes, only a manly man will do. Very occasionally, a non-hairy hero will make it onto my list:

(A quick apology before I go - I still can't comment on blogs. I've tried to follow several suggestions with no luck. Will keep at it - but just want to say thank you for all the comments on my previous posts and I'll reply as soon as I can.)