An Interview With Author Annie Nicholas

Please help me welcome, Annie Nicholas, author of multiple paranormal romance novels. She has a new release out today, The Alpha, published by Lyrical Press, and has stopped by Para-fanatics to share a little about her latest release.



Annie, Please tell us a little about yourself.

Who says a sexy man has to be human?


I remember making this argument to some friends a long time ago. At the time, I got a few strange looks but this happened before paranormal romance busted out of the publishing industry, when the closest thing I could find to read was Anne Rice.


Now, whose friends are buying out the vampire/werewolf sections of the bookstore?


I’m Annie Nicholas and I write Paranormal with a Twist, which means if you like your stories off the beaten path, your characters cut from a broken cookie cutter, and to get your beliefs challenged then welcome to my worlds. My mind is a dark and strange place where odd people live.


You wouldn’t know it by meeting me. I’m a baseball/swim team mom, standing on the sidelines cheering my boys, baker of cookies, healer of scrapes, and keeper of the household peace. Yet, monsters live in my head.


Some of them are members of werewolf pack but not your regular alpha, over-the-top dominating gang. These are pansies of the paranormal, my kind of people, computer geeks, gaming fiends, and jokesters. The second book of their series The Vanguards releases June 21.

Why do you write?

Because it’s fun. What purer form of escapism is there? And it’s free. LOL


What were your early influences in writing?


I actually wrote an article posted on my website thanking all those specific authors who influenced and how. But the ones that come to mind right away are Larry Niven, CJ Cherryh, and Anne McCaffery.


When did you know you wanted to be an author?


About a year ago when I got my first contract, until then I just wrote for enjoyment. My CPs encouraged me to submit my work and a whole new world opened for me.

What kinds of research do you do for your work?

I research the city my story is set in and try to make it as realistic as possible, naming real landmarks and streets. Language, currency, transportation…etc whatever details I can get. For Bait, I found a blog about pink payphones in Budapest. Of course, I had to use that tid bit.

What are you favorite scenes to write?

I love banter. Be flirtatious or dangerous or both, I love writing the dialogue of quick-witted, smart ass conversation that could boil a person’s blood. I also love tension and creating the build-up.

Do you have a favorite character?

Connie Bence is still my favorite heroine. She’s featured in the Angler series as quick on her feet, street smart woman who can’t stop getting tangled in vampire affairs.

What are the hardest scenes to write?

Happily Ever Afters. Maybe because it means my journey with theses characters is coming to an end.

Do you have a writing tip to share?

I’m offering a series of blogs called Writing 101. They are on my blog with links in the side bar.

Any new novels in the works?

Book 2 of The Angler series: CATCH is coming soon.


I’ve always got a story up my sleeve, now, which one to play with next?

Any up and coming releases? What are they and when will they be available for purchase.

The Alpha Book 2


Blurb:


Someone is about to get some Spice in his life.

Spice has nothing but the clothes on her back when she returns to Chicago. She's looking for a better life, and that means reuniting with her estranged twin sister, Sugar. She isn't thrilled to find out Sugar's boyfriend is a vampire. But then she meets Eric, once the bottle-cap-glasses wearing nerd next door - now grown into the kind of man she'd love to snuggle with on this cold winter night...and he’s offered her his room in Sugar’s house.


Eric can’t believe Spice has returned. He’d given up hope of ever seeing her again, let alone having her stare at him as if he’s sex on a stick. But now that all of his fantasies for them are coming true, reality rears her ugly head and Eric must tell Spice his intimate secret; he’s actually an Alpha werewolf looking for his mate and he thinks he’s found her.

Link: www.lyricalpress.com/the_alpha

Excerpt:


Warm yellow light streamed from behind her. “Forget your keys, Sugar?” a male voice asked from the doorway.


She stopped and glanced over her shoulder but saw only his silhouette.


“Oh my God, you cut your hair. Daedalus is going to freak.” The laughter in his comforting voice disappeared and he moved closer. “Don’t cry.” He wiped a tear from her face. “It looks great.” With a grin, he ruffled her short blond curls.


She couldn’t help but smile back.


He thought she was Sugar, her twin sister. Something in his voice sounded familiar. The face didn’t ring a bell though, but shaggy brown hair fell around most of it. He had a nice, easy-going smile. It would be wonderful to come home to a smile like that every night, but it belonged to her sister.


Her grin faded.


He wrapped his strong, thick arm around her shoulders and pulled her inside. Laughter drifted from the living room where three men and an oriental woman were setting up a board game.


One of the men, who had short cropped red hair, looked up. “Where’s the food? You were supposed to grab some grub on the way home from work.”


“We’ll order pizza.” The guy next to her squeezed one more time before walking into the next room, a huge kitchen.


“You cut your hair.” The woman spoke with a thick accent and sprung across the room to run her fingers through her hair.


Spice retreated and bumped against the entrance wall. This game of pretending to be Sugar used to be fun as kids but not anymore. With her hands raised, she kept the strangers at bay as they surrounded her like a pack of wolves. None of them looked dangerous, but what were they doing in her sister’s house while she was at work?


The way they grinned at her and each other, she concluded they were all good friends.


Sugar had everything she wanted; a loving man, friends, and a home.


“Daedalus let you cut your hair?” A short man built like a bodybuilder approached her.


The awe in his voice snapped Spice out of her self-pity and the protector inside reared its head. This was the second reference to someone allowing her little sister to do something. “What do you mean ‘let me’?”


What kind of relationship did Sugar have? She needed permission to cut her hair? Maybe destiny brought her back to Chicago to save her little sister from some monster. Again. All those bad things happening to drive her here couldn’t be coincidental.


She crossed her arms over her chest. “Where is my sister, and what are you doing in her house?”


They glanced at each other, confusion apparent on their faces. “What?”


The man in the kitchen stuck his head out of the door, chocolate brown eyes wide as he stared at her. “Spice?” The smile he’d given to her when he thought she was Sugar returned but wider.


Her heart skipped a beat. In the light his face seemed familiar as well. “I know you.”


“You should, we were only neighbors forever as kids.”


“Eric!” He had grown. Stupid, of course he’s changed. But she never expected that the skinny, lanky bottle-cap-glasses-wearing nerd would develop into a charming, handsome I-wanna-snuggle-you-on-a-cold-night kind of man. “Hi.” The jobs as a hostess, a bartender, and the most recent, a stripper taught her how to talk to men the way they liked. But with him grinning at her like a happy puppy, her mind went blank.


He swept her into his arms in a bone-cracking hug.


“Wow, I’d forgotten Sugar had a twin.” The redhead scratched his chin. “You look exactly alike, except your hair is short.”


Eric set her back on her feet. “Let me take your coat.” He tugged on the belt and untied it. To her surprise, the small action sparked warmth between her thighs. Not like he took off her clothes but she began to wonder what it would feel like if he did.


Their eyes met. His pupils dilated, the chocolate brown faded to amber, and something feral peeked at her.


She gasped and stepped back.


The pretty oriental girl took her arm and dragged her into the living room. She chattered about making tea, but Spice’s attention riveted on Eric as he stood with the men surrounding him.


What the heck? She’d seen need in men’s eyes before but this was darker, deeper, and so much more alluring.

You find me and more of my books at www.annienicholas.com


www.annienicholas.blogspot.com


www.paranormalromantics.blogspot.com


Annie Nicholas

Thanks for stopping by Para-fanatics, Annie and telling us about your new release and novels we can look forward to in the future. It's been a pleasure.

Dawn

Please Help me Welcome Author Kate Kaynak

I KNOW what you're thinking.

I’m thrilled to introduce author, Kate Kaynak. Her young adult romance novel, Minder, is out today with Spencer Hill Books. Please give her a big Para-fantatic’s welcome.

Kate, please tell us a little about yourself.

I was born and raised in New Jersey, but I managed to escape. My degree from Yale says I was a psych major, but I had WAY too much fun to have paid much attention in class.

After serving a five-year sentence in graduate school, I started teaching psychology around the world for the University of Maryland.

While in Izmir, Turkey, I started up a conversation with a handsome stranger in an airport. I ended up marrying him. We now live in New Hampshire with our three preschool-aged kids, where I enjoy reading, writing, and fighting crime with my amazing superpowers.

Why do you write?

I wanted to create a story that I would love to read. Minder started with a few simple ideas about how inconvenient extrasensory abilities actually would be. The story then grew into an incredible love story and adventure that I simply had to get out of my head--and put into other people's.

What were your early influences in writing?

I've always been a voracious reader. Orson Scott Card's work strongly influenced me. His writes vivid characters and straddles the lines of fantasy, sci-fi, and historical fiction.

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I've wanted to write novels since high school, and I've started several over the years. I completed my first fiction novel in 2007, and my first GOOD fiction novel in 2009.

What kinds of research do you do for your work?

I've had to do a lot of research on the history of paranormal abilities and neurology. Since I wanted my characters' paranormal abilities to seem believable--and even possible--I worked out a lot of details that never made it into the book itself.

What are your favorite scenes to write?

I love writing dialogue. I stopped "writing" these scenes early on, though--the characters took on lives of their own, and I just took dictation.

Do you have a favorite character?

I love experiencing things from Maddie Dunn's perspective. She's my main character, and she's strong, yet vulnerable. She has a wonderful take on the world. And I have a huge crush on Trevor.

Do you have any favorite lines in your novels?

I have a bunch of them, but my true favorite has to be: "I had a sudden rush of warmth as I realized that he knew my name, but it died as soon as I realized now he also knew my nightmare."

What are the hardest scenes to write?

The hardest scene in Minder was the opening scene. My main character is attacked and it looks likes she's going to be sexually assaulted. Her attackers are stopped, but it was traumatic to write and rewrite it, because her feelings of fear and powerlessness clung to me.

Please, tell us about your books.

In Minder, sixteen-year-old Maddie Dunn is special, but she needs to figure out how to use her new abilities before somebody else gets hurt. Ganzfield is a secret training facility full of people like her, but it's not exactly a nurturing place.

Every social interaction carries the threat of mind-control.

A stray thought can burn a building to the ground.

And people's nightmares don't always stay in their own heads.

But it's still better than New Jersey--especially once she meets the man of her dreams...

Website: http://www.ganzfield.com/

You can watch a book trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lv6eC3E-9k

And here's where you can get your copy with Barnes and Novel:  http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Minder/Kate-Kaynak/e/9780984531103/?itm=1&USRI=kate+kaynak

A downloadable, several-chapter-long PDF excerpt:   http://www.site.ganzfield.com/uploads/MINDER_partial.pdf

Do you have a writing tip to share?

Revise, revise, revise, then get feedback from other writers and/or people in your target demographic groups. Then revise some more. Repeat this several times. Writers are terrible judges of the quality of our own writing. We're too close to the story, so it plays vividly in our minds even if it doesn't come through on the page.

Any new novels in the works?

I'm currently finishing revisions on Legacy, the third book of the Ganzfield series. It's scheduled for release in January 2011. I've planned a fourth installment in the series, as well.

Any up and coming releases? What are they and when will they be available for purchase. 
Adversary, the sequel to Minder, comes out in August.

Amazon's taking pre-orders now:  http://www.amazon.com/Adversary-Second-Ganzfield-Novel-Kaynak/dp/0984531122/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276827374&sr=1-15

Thank you, Kate, for visiting Para-fanatics and taking time out of your busy schedule to tell us about Minder.

Thank you so much for this, Dawn!

Looking for a few good authors.

The Marines have the right idea, so I'm borrowing it. I'm looking for paranormal romance authors who'd like to do interviews. If you have a new release coming out or you'd like to promote some of your current novels, email me or leave me a message and contact email. I'd love to chat and I'm always looking for new worlds to explore on Para-fantatics.

Best,

D. L.

We have a winner!

beyondjenna is our lucky winner.

Please contact Sara at:  brookesofbooks at gmail dot com, and she will forward you e-copy of Midnight's Ghost.
Make sure to remove the spaces and change "at" to @ and "dot" to .
Ever vigilant of spy bots.

An interview with author Sara Brookes

Please help me welcome Sara Brookes, author of paranormal romance and unforgettable stories the readers will have a hard time putting down. She has a new novel, Midnight's Ghost, being released today, May 10th. In honor of her newest release, I had a virtual sit-down with the literary artist to find out more. Grab your coffee and pull up a seat. At the end of this interview there's a chance for one lucky reader to win an e-copy of Midnight's Ghost. 

Sara, please tell us about yourself.

Come to think of I'm actually quite boring. I spent vast amounts of time sitting in front of a computer screen both at my day job and when I'm writing.

Why do you write?

The short answer: I must. The long answer: It's something I have to do because I feel lost otherwise.

What were your early influences in writing?

My favorite book, to this day, is Charlotte's Web by E B White. That was probably the first time I'd read a book and fell completely in love with the style of writing instead of just the story. I started reading Stephen King when I was 15/16 and there was something about the intricacy of his stories and characters that I love as well. It's two vast ends of the spectrum, but to this day, both of their books grace my bookshelves and are things I can read over and over and never get bored with.

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I've always written, but it was only in the past few years that I decided to take it further and see if a publisher would be interested in something I'd written.

What kinds of research do you do for your work?

It depends on what I'm writing at the time. With Flash of Dark taking place in Cincinnati - a city I've never been to - I spent a lot of time studying maps and satellite images (from Google Earth) to get a lay of things. I was already familiar with vampire lore and Fae myths, so adding my own spin on those was the easy part. With Midnight's Ghost, the research was different. Most of that knowledge I already possessed, so it was creating my own world with it. The sci-fi was actually easier because I was only limited by my imagination as far as worldbuilding went. The research there was coming up with names for things that I wanted to still be pronouncable to readers.

What are you favorite scenes to write?

Any scene where the words just flow.

Do you have a favorite character?

No one character stands out for me - they each have their quirks and pesonalities that I find interesting. I like complicated and flawed characters and probably the one that is the most flawed is Wallace, from Midnight's Ghost. He made a choice to do something and has never apologized for it and still refuses to in fact. He knows what he did is wrong and stands up for the punishment given to him because of that choice. He's a very good example of an anti-hero.

Do you have any favorite lines in your novels?

Oh a bunch, but I'll narrow it down a bit:

“You may have asked yourself if you could, but did it ever occur to you to ask yourself if you should?” - Stark, Flash of Dark

“What would you do if I kissed you right now, Taran? If I didn’t stop with just a simple kiss? If I put your legs around my hips, opening you so that I slid inside you in one mind-numbing thrust? Would you still tell me then you’ve moved on, that you feel nothing for me anymore or would your voice resonate off the walls when you screamed my name as you came?” - Wallace, Midnight's Ghost

“He breaks your heart, I get to disembowel him, tear him limb from limb and personally drop his ashes in the ocean after I light him on fire. No questions asked and I’m not going to ask for your permission. Got it?” - Quinn, Blood Fever

What are the hardest scenes to write?

I hear most people answer "sex scenes" or "action scenes" in the answer to this question but those are actually the easiest for me. The hardest for me really isn't a scene per say, but anytime scent is involved. Since one of my series is vampires with heightened senese of smell, it makes it even harder. Not having a sense of smell came in handy when I used to change dirty diaper - not so much as a writer trying to describe scents to readers when she has no idea what they smell like. Family is invaluable with that!

Please, tell us about your books.

Available Now with Liquid Silver Books:

Flash of Dark (Book 1 of the Rebirth Series)  http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/books/flashofdark.htm

There’s trouble brewing on the horizon. Ana – a member of the immortal Fae – unknowingly discovers a secret that could potentially alter the calm life she has carefully built around her. Toss in a few murders, a best friend who is a vampire and a human male fervently pursuing her and that toxic touch she possesses could be the least of her worries.

Excerpt:

“You’re quite possibly the only person I know who wanted to turn their back on something that could prove pleasurable. I understand your reasoning, but it was unfounded and unnecessary.” His mouth moved over my fingers, skimming against my knuckles as he tugged lightly in an effort to pull me closer. Food was obviously the last thing on his mind.

I shook my head, pulling my hand away so that we could continue eating and talking. As much as he thought that this was what he needed, I really wanted to spend some time talking. Possibly just to prove to myself that this wasn’t just a physical thing. Okay, so not only a physical thing. The sex had been too good to deny that. He let his fork dangle between his fingers as he watched me eat. “What?” I finally asked, tired of the audience.

“Nothing, just enjoying the scenery,” he said casually.

I snorted. “I can think of far more interesting subjects. Since I’m looking for a topic change anyway—I had a visit the other day at the club from our friendly homicide cop.” Better that I be the one to tell him before someone else did, especially since it was obvious we’d be spending more time together.

His interest in me temporarily forgotten, he asked with his usual flair for words. “Oh yeah? What did the upstanding Lieutenant Asshole have to say?”

We had spoken about the first visit briefly, but we had both been too preoccupied at the time to pay more than the barest of passing interest. “He was questioning me about another murder that took place in the same area as the first one. Same method, too.” I played a little with the noodles on my plate.

“Why would he come to see you again?” Stark’s eyes narrowed at me. He took a few swallows of wine and rested his hand on the stem as we talked.

And here came the part I hadn’t told him about. “I was seen tossing the victim out of my club earlier that night for roughing up his girlfriend.”

He swore under his breath. “So that’s what Lucas was referring to.”

“Lucas? You’ve talked to him?” I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by this because Lucas hadn’t even talked to me and here he was talking to Stark. So much for the rationale of telling him before he heard it elsewhere. Lucas had already beaten me to the punch.

“Yes. I’ve talked to him. He contacted me a few days ago, told me that I needed to keep an eye on you. Make sure you didn’t go anywhere by yourself. Which, I completely agree with, by the way.” He added that last bit before I could open my mouth to respond.

“Why? So, some psycho is tearing apart victims near my club? This is the city, murder happens all the time.” I was trying to keep things light and here he was making me feel like I was child who wasn’t allowed out of the house by herself. The two of them ganging up on me was getting really old, really fast.

He had apparently been expecting my reply because he shot back with sarcasm of his own. “So people you personally throw out of your club regularly end up dead?”

Something about the tone of his voice caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end. Why had he suddenly gotten so possessive? A visit or two from a cop was no cause to garner a reaction like this. A thought occurred to me then. “What is it that you’re worried about, Stark? How you’ll appear to the press when it gets out that the woman you’re screwing is a possible suspect in two bloody murders? Afraid to have your image tarnished by being linked to me?” The tone of my voice was snide and unmistakable. I wasn’t in the mood to be cosseted by him—or anyone for that matter.

I watched as he struggled to contain his temper. “I’ve done a damn good job of tarnishing it myself without you to help, Ana. My concern is for you.”

“Are you worried that it really was me? That I really killed those two men?” If so, then I seriously needed to recheck my psycho meter.

“Did you know either of the victims, Ana?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“I did.”

Upcoming Release (Available May 10th from Liquid Silver Books):

Midnight's Ghost (Star Runner Saga)

The timeline is excruciating. Taran has three days to get her former lover – whom she’s barely speaking to – and the mysterious teenager she knows nothing about from one planet to another. Given the fact her ship, Eidolon, is the fastest in the star runner fleet, Taran knows she can make the run in the time Wallace has allotted. As the best – and only – female pilot, she’s got something to prove.

As if things weren’t complicated enough, Wallace, and the teenager he has in tow, are both escapees from the harshest prison facility in seven galaxies. Not only is Taran putting her career on the line, she’s got the Intergalactic Patrol hot on her heels. It isn’t long before unresolved feelings and tempers flare to life again and Taran is left second-guessing her decision of putting everything she stands for on the line.

Her determination may just cost her everything.

One man who feels no remorse for a crime he committed and one woman pilot determined to fulfill her promise equal one impossible mission.

Excerpt:

I released my grip and as he fell to the side, I drew myself up to my full height so I was looking down at him. He panted as he tried to draw a full breath and groped out with a hand, searching for something to anchor himself to. His eyes were on mine and I could tell from the far away glazed look he was somewhere else. Unfortunately, his mind had been weaker that I expected, and for a moment, I debated sticking around to see if he was alright.

I heard the hiss and pop of a blaster and looked up in time to see the vivid streak of blue light fly past me before it exploded into Dalen’s chest. Blood, guts and other things I didn’t want to think about flew through the air and the crowd who had gathered around to watch the fight scattered.

Wiping the purple blood from my face, I turned to see who was responsible for the killing shot. As the tallest of the remaining group of onlookers, he was the easiest to find. He shot a casual smile in my direction as he flipped his shirt over the illegal weapon he was sliding into the waistband of his pants. My brain blared a warning and my feet started moving before I was even aware of it.

I ran like the wind.

I knew I needed to get away because he was the last person I wanted to see, especially right now. There was a loud crash followed by a riot of curses behind me, but I knew I would waste precious seconds if I looked over my shoulder to see what the commotion was.

“Reece, fire up the engines. I’m coming in hot and heavy,” I shouted into my holowatch as I pushed my way through the burgeoning crowds that were suddenly filling up the market alleys.

Didn’t these people have jobs to go to?

“Stirring up the natives again I see, Captain.”

“Just do it, dammit.” I flicked off the open line with my thumb and slid the glove I removed earlier back on my hand as I decided to risk a glance over my shoulder to ensure I still held the advantage.

My pursuer was weaving his way expertly though the mingling crowd and he was making far less of a disturbance doing so. Even at this distance, I could see one side of his mouth was quirked up in a lopsided grin.

Damn, he was actually enjoying this.

My attention momentarily distracted, I ran full tilt into a trader’s cart and watched the horizon tilt wildly as I went head over heels. For the second time today, I was fighting for air as I stared at the dull cerulean sky. A few careful blinks assured me the dimming light was because of the triple sunset and not my spinning equilibrium.

My pursuer’s face came into view overhead with a smile so wide it nearly split his face in two. Leave it to Wallace to find pleasure in tormenting me.

“Going somewhere?” The smug expression on his face made me want to reach up and slap it to the next galaxy. He would probably have some sick fascination about seeing my red hand print there later as it marked his perfectly sculpted jaw and decided against it.

“Stuff it, Wallace,” I spat out and winced at the level of effort it took to do so. With the combination of the fight with Dalen and the tumble I had just taken, everything hurt. I wasn’t too proud to admit that either. What I was too proud to do was take the hand Wallace was offering me. I rolled away from his extended hand, purposefully refusing his gesture as I gathered the effort needed to push myself up to stand.

A frown darkened his features and his hand fell uselessly to his side as he watched me. Based on our history, he had known that I wouldn’t take his hand or accept his assistance, but that didn’t mean it stopped him from offering. A few years ago, I would have taken it without hesitation.

My holowatch chimed, a signal Reece was trying to contact me. I sighed heavily and tapped the acknowledgment button. “Power down, Reece.”

Do you have a writing tip to share?

Sure do - let yourself suck. I'm a huge believer in this one. Too often times writers give up simply because they can't get it right the first time. I know, I was one of those. Once I started giving myself permission to suck, I realized I could always go back and fix it later. What I couldn't do, however, is go back and fix what didn't exist.

Sara is giving away a copy of her sci fi romance e-novel, Midnight's Ghost, to one lucky reader of the blog. All you have to do is leave a comment under the interview before Monday, May 17th at midnight and we'll draw one name from the virtual hat.

Sara, thank you for interviewing with Para-Fanatics. It's been a pleasure having you. To the readers, I hope you all will take a chance with this new author and give her books a read. You won't regret it.


Best,
D.L. Jackson

And the winner is....

Thanks to all for leaving a comment and checking out Barbara's interview. Now it's time to announce our winner.

*drum roll*

The winner of Power of Love is--Ilona.

*\0/* *\0/* *\0/*

Please contact Barbara at bjelsborg @ googlemail.com (deleting any spaces), with your email address and she will forward the e-novel.

What's next? An interview with Sara Brookes. She's got a new release on May 10th and she's graciously agreed to give away a copy to one lucky reader of the blog.

So, be sure to stop by May 10th for a chance to win an e-copy of her latest release, Midnight's Ghost.

Best,

Dawn

An interview with Barbara Elsborg

Barbara Elsborg has multiple novels and short stories published with Ellora’s Cave, Loose I.D. and Ravenous Romance. You can visit with her at he blog,  http://barbaraelsborg.blogspot.com/. 
Barbara's novels are available online and in print. She’s been described as having strong heroines with a sense of humor that keep her readers turning the pages and wanting more. Please help me give a big welcome to Barbara Elsborg, romance author extraordinaire.

Why do you write?

I write because the world in my head is far more interesting than the one I live in. I write because without it, I’d go crazy. I write because it’s what I love doing. I write because I hate shopping and cooking and cleaning.


What were your early influences in writing?

TV and movies. I was an unhappy child, teased because I was very tall and I didn’t have any friends. Pause for sympathy. I walked to school on my own and used to drag TV or movie stars along with me and chat to them in my head. A short step then to making up a world with me and them in it and from there to writing it down. I filled lots of notebooks with fan fiction – still have them. They all feature a tall, blonde, gawky girl and a handsome actor.

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I’ve always written but I guess the idea of actually wanting to be published didn’t stick its claws in me until I was in my early twenties. I subbed my first novel when I was twenty-seven. A thriller called Unnatural Selection. I did get a personalized rejection from one publisher – who called it very dark and asked for something lighter. It’s still in the bottom of the closet. Funnily enough it features a tall, blonde, gawky girl.


What kinds of research do you do for your novels?

I don’t write anything that requires a huge amount of research. I write from knowledge and experience – well apart from the whips and chains and clamps and – er… no, I obviously don’t write from experience at all. Google is my source for almost everything, that and my thousands of books.

What are you favorite scenes to write?

Dialogue – especially snappy dialogue between hero and heroine. Other than that, I like all of it.

Do you have a favorite character?

In my stories? Charlie in Strangers. He is such a bad boy with so many faults but he is irresistible. The photo of the guy on the cover is uncannily close to how I’d imagine him. Not exact but near enough for me to love that cover.

Do you have any favorite lines in your novels?

The end. Ha ha. Awful confession I know but I can’t remember much detail of what I write. It comes as a complete shock to me when I reread a story. Did I actually write that?– are the words that often flitter through my head.
What are the hardest scenes to write?

Sex scenes. I don’t find them easy. They need to be different and it’s all been done before. All that thrusting and pounding and pressing and pushing and stroking and…oops getting a little carried away.

Please, tell us about some of your books.

~Lucy in the Sky~

When you find a spaceship in your backyard, what do you do? Choose from three:Phone the police.Scream.Go yell at the alien for wrecking your garden.Lucy confronts the inept pilot and the last option turns out to be both the right and wrong choice. She’s torn between fury that gorgeous alien hunk Three has decapitated her statue of Eros, and a longing that he enliven her boring life and whisk her to the stars. Three doesn’t give her a choice when he throws her over his shoulder and takes her into space. Lucy soon finds herself exploring alien territory in ways she never imagined.Three’s efforts to hide and protect her on the mother ship are stymied by his inability to keep his hands off the luscious Lucy. But Three and Lucy are being observed. Three’s friend Hyll has been in unrequited lust with Three for years. And he wants what Lucy’s getting. When lust turns to love, it comes from a most unexpected quarter.

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I'd like to put it on record that if ever a spaceship DOES land in my garden, I'd like the alien to look like Three. If it's some monstrous blob with three eyes and green skin, the lady next door is lovely!!


~The Consolation Prize~

'You are invited to spend four days at Sunset Spa, Washburn Hall. Accommodation and nourishment provided. All spa treatments included.'It should have been a big thrill--an all expenses paid trip, but it was actually the topping on Chloe's really bad night. She'd lost her promotion, destroyed a pair of designer pumps, and turned in her notice. Washburn Hall, where her family died, was the last place she wanted to go. But Chloe's pulled towards the spa by forces beyond her control.Luka is handsome, rich, and gay. That's what he'd like everyone to think. Luka's really a Trueblood, a fertile vampire. Not a bad thing, unless being staked out in the sun and fried to a crisp is appealing. But his secret gets out. Instead of staked, he gets shanghaied--straight into stud service and chained up in a basement of Washburn Hall.Chloe wonders if the gorgeous naked man in chains is part of the all-inclusive package. Somehow she doesn't think so, but you know what? She's taking a consolation prize: free him and run. It should be simple enough. After all, the only thing between Chloe and the man of her dreams is a few horny vamps, a decent set of bolt cutters, and a step-grandmother from hell.Who said the trip to the spa wouldn't be fun?

~Lightning in a Bottle~

Lightning isn't supposed to strike twice, but when the electrifying Erin Markov whirls into Felix's life she gives him more than his destroyed family home to think about. Erin's exciting and unpredictable, in and out of bed, if only he could get her to stop dancing in thunderstorms, rollerblading in the middle of the night, and leaping around on unsafe roofs. Plus she has this annoying habit of biting his neck.Erin wishes she could remember who she is. The couple who claim to be her parents leave her in a dilapidated stately home with supplies of a revolting energy drink and instructions not to go out in the sun. Then she discovers sculptor Felix living next door and life becomes far more tasty.

~The Misfits~

It's not easy being a faerie. Holly would know. She's the laughing stock of Fae, useless at magic and has wings that never cooperate. She can't understand why a high-born faerie she hardly knows would want to marry her because she certainly doesn't want to marry him. The mortal world looks far more enticing.Being a vampire bites. Crippled with guilt over his part in the death of his twin, Dominic is estranged from his family. When he rescues an injured werewolf on the run from his pack, he sees a kindred spirit in the damaged outcast.What use is a werewolf who can't scent or track? Victim of his conniving brother, Jay is viciously attacked by his pack. The wolves might not want him but once he's living with Dominic, they won't leave him alone.After a night of passion with Dominic and Jay, Holly's ready to move in with them. But their enemies are intent on keeping them apart and the trio of misfits find themselves in a fight for survival. If they can't figure a way through the web of lies and deceit that bind them, they'll lose more than their families. They'll lose each other.~Falling for you~She lives for the moon.Every month, for five days around the full moon, Jo has the overwhelming urge to jump almost every male she sees. Convinced she's gone crazy, she seeks medical help but finds none. All she can do to stop the hunger is run. One wrong step and Jo's life plummets in a direction she didn't expect. She falls into the lair of a badly injured vampire.He lives for the night.Alek can't believe the angel who's dropped from the sky. With a knife wedged in his chest and too weak to move, he'd given up and is waiting for sunrise. But when the beautiful jogger crashes into his lair, Alek finds more than a way to survive -- he finds a reason for doing so.Every dog has his day.Lyall, alpha werewolf, wants Alek dead so he can take his land. He wants Jo alive to breed more wolves. But Lyall hasn't reckoned on the power of love. Annoying Alek is a big mistake. Annoying Jo could be fatal.


Do you have a writing tip to share?

Read your work out loud. You can hear what doesn’t work more easily than you can see it. You’ll spot repeats, poor grammar, inconsistencies etc. Oh and don't drink alcohol while you write. It won't seem such brilliant prose in the morning.

Any new novels in the works?

The Small Print (Tentative title)– a paranormal ménage with a vampire, werewolf and a something else. The something else is a secret. It will spoil the plot if I say what. The premise is that you should always read the fine print on a document – otherwise you could end up in trouble. When Turner – vampire – buys a new house, he doesn’t realize there are conditions attached and his life will never be the same again.'It’s In His Smile' – is the next project. Title still tentative but it’s about a gargoyle.

Any up and coming releases? What are they and when will they be available for purchase?

Snow Play – a Quickie for Ellora’s Cave – should be out soon but I don't have a release date yet. It's a MF contemporary set up a mountain in Austria where the heroine gets trapped in an ice cave. Just so happened I freaked out in an ice cave in Austria this year. I didn't get a handsome hunk as a rescuer though.

~Snow Play~

Single on a couples get-away? Not the way to spend your vacation.Allie, the odd woman out, takes a tour under a glacier and ends up trapped in the dark. Cold and alone, she resigns herself to a night of misery. But when Zach finds unclaimed skis after the mountain has closed, he follows his instincts and charges to the rescue, bringing more than a helping hand. He brings enough heat to melt the polar icecaps and change her life forever.Fight to Remember will be my next for Loose-Id – no release date yet. A MFM paranormal – the last in my Trueblood books.


~Fight to Remember~

A twist of his body and vampire, Rhyl Markov, avoids being staked in the heart. He’s thrown into the earth but trapped between slabs of rock, he manages to avoid plunging into hell. With only the blood of rats to keep him alive, he fights not to lose his mind.

What’s my name?

For eleven years, Piper Kennedy wakes with no idea who or where she is. After she falls asleep, she forgets all personal details of her life. Each day she must read her notebooks before she goes to work and then pretend to remember the day before. Her whole life is a battle.

What did I do last night?

Werepuma, Keir Sparks, is bound to a demon who operates a deadly fight club with only one leaving the ring. After seven wins, Keir hopes eight is his lucky number but the faces of the dead fill his mind when he hears his name chanted by the bloodthirsty crowd.

When will this end?

Three lives are set to collide. Rhyl’s memory returns while Piper’s remains elusive and all Keir wants is to forget what he did.
The Power of Love is an emotional roller coaster and a little known Elsborg treasure. I had the fortunate opportunity to read this novel in its early stages. I have to say it’s one of my favorites and I promise it’s a story readers won’t soon forget. Barbara, can you tell us a little bit about Joe and Poppy and what inspired the Power of Love?


~Power of Love~

Joe is a lost soul.When Joe is killed in the line of duty, the result of a blunder by his girlfriend Poppy, he ends up stuck between worlds, not quite in heaven, not quite in hell. Heaven is Poppy lying in his arms, hearing the sound of his name on her lips as he makes love to her, again and again. Hell is the knowledge that to save Poppy, he must convince her to let him go.Poppy is a soul lost.Joe was Poppy’s heart, her soul, and since he died she’s lost it all, including her sanity. Everywhere she looks, he’s there—talking to her, touching her, sharing ice cream, showers and making love to her like there’s no tomorrow. But tomorrow does come, and letting go of Joe could destroy her.Sometimes love lasts a lifetime. Sometimes love reaches beyond death. Sometimes…love lasts forever.

* * *

This isn't a sad book, it's largely a funny book! It was great fun to write though I should have remembered the challenges of writing about an invisible character. My WIP - has someone who's invisible throughout.I wanted to call this book Letting Go. Unusually for me I had the idea of the theme before I started writing. What normally happens is that at the end I have a moment of revelation where I realize that there IS a thread running through the story that links everything. I assume I do it subconsciously!! But this story - I had the idea of a woman who loved her boyfriend so much that after he died, she kept talking to him, kept him part of her life. She feels responsible for his death because she physically let him go. So its the story of how she has to learn to let go and how Joe has to learn to open his heart to love. That sounds sad and morbid and it isn't!!

What kind of research did you do for the Power of Love?

I had to find out a little about the British police force but other than that, it came pretty much out of my head. Apart from the sex. That's all made up. Oops.

How about an excerpt?

Joe awoke at sloth speed, facedown and dribbling into his pillow. He slid his cheek a couple of inches onto a dry spot. His eyelids fluttered but stayed closed. Too much effort. His back itched—no, ached. Shit, it really ached. Joe gradually became aware something was very wrong with his back. It hurt like he’d been hit with a barstool. What the fuck had happened last night? Had he been hit with a bar stool? He tried to roll over. Pain shot down the length of his spine, spiraling into his legs and he froze. What the hell had he been doing? Joe pressed his face deeper into the pillow. Damned if he could remember. His head didn’t swim, nor did his stomach so this wasn’t a hangover.

Memories trickled through the thick sludge in his brain, filtering into pockets of sense. An accident. Yeah, come to think of it, he remembered…falling. Joe lifted his head and blinked. He must have hurt his back. What else? An exploratory hand between his legs ushered a sigh of relief. Backache he could cope with, but not damage to his wedding tackle.



Joe tried to shrug off his duvet and it flopped back in place. He sneezed in the disturbed air and howled at the knife-like pain between his shoulder blades. Howled seven times as he sneezed seven times. What the hell was wrong with him? He wasn’t in hospital, this was definitely his room. Joe levered himself out of bed.



His body felt heavy and sluggish and whilst that wasn’t entirely unusual for a guy who liked sleeping, Joe prided himself on the fact that he was physically fit. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. One roll of his shoulders and a flurry of activity erupted behind him. The next moment Joe lay sprawled on the carpet and everything had gone dark. His eyes were open so why had the light dimmed? He forced his dull brain to cooperate. The duvet must have fallen over his head. He reached up and touched a feather. No wonder he’d sneezed. He was allergic to feathers which was why he’d purchased a synthetic-filled duvet. Joe felt the fluttering of alarm.



Every movement slow and careful, Joe got up again. He might not be firing on all cylinders but he knew he wasn’t alone. Someone was behind him. Joe tensed. Fuck, a burglar. Now his brain worked too fast. Someone had broken into his apartment. Someone was in his bedroom. That someone had fucking knocked him over. That someone was dead.



Joe whipped round and watched in horrified fascination as everything sailed off his bedside table. His Ferrari alarm clock hit the wall with a high pitched whine, followed by a glass of water and his watch. Joe whipped the other way and the music system on his chest of drawers sailed halfway around the room before crash-landing on the carpet. Joe seethed with fury. The fucker was wrecking his room. Where the hell was he? Joe spun again and three black and white prints of mountain peaks flew off one wall to smash on another.



He yelped. That hurt. Not just the ruined pictures. Him. It had hurt him. Joe glanced down at his naked body, a rapidly diminishing morning woodie and dark grey feathers.



Feathers? “What the fuck?”


Staggering to the wardrobe, he flung open the door to look in the mirror. A pale face stared back, his unruly dark hair wilder than usual. Joe looked down. Jonny and his two pals seemed okay, only now rather timid and retiring. He tried not to look at the other things he could see, but there was no way to ignore them. A fleeting hope a pinch might wake him, dissipated like snow falling in a puddle. This was no dream. Overnight, he’d grown wings. Fucking hell.


Barbara, I’d like to thank you for taking time to do this interview. Barbara will be giving away a copy of The Power of Love to one lucky reader. All you have to do is leave a comment under her interview here or the announcement for this interview at any of the below listed blogs or all of them. One comment per blog, please. Deadline to enter is midnight on Friday, May 7th. One prize—four chances to win: 

http://takeittothestars.blogspot.com/
http://backwardmomentum.blogspot.com/
http://para-fanatics.blogspot.com/
http://paranormalists.blogspot.com/

Thanks to everyone for stopping by. If you haven’t yet read any of Barbara’s books, I highly recommend you give them a read. Barbara’s books can be found both at Ellora’s Cave (link) and Loose I.D. (link) You won’t regret it.Best,D L Jackson

Thanks for having me, Dawn. I suppose I should mention my one and only non-erotic book - which is out 29th April 2010 with Cerridwen Press. The only one I can tell my mother-in-law about. My own mother is no doubt spinning in her grave at my depravity. Sorry, mum! Anyway - Digging Deeper - is a romantic comedy set where I live in West Yorkshire. Largely based on the disasters of my own life - though not the unexploded bomb- it's the story of how two people seem fated not to be together. It's the funniest thing I've written and modesty aside - I could really see it as a movie - should anyone out there be interested. It has everything - homicidal sheep, singing reindeer, nurses stuck in windows, tanning booth accidents.....