Today, we’re interviewing Shelby Reed, author of sexy contemporaries and paranormals for Ellora's Cave Publishing.
1) Where are you from?
I was born in Washington, DC—a seventh generation Washingtonian. I’ve been doing genealogy and my roots run all over that beautiful city.
2) Tell us a bit about your family.
Well, the first thing that comes to mind is how noisy we are! I grew up in a very vocal, affectionate household. My father was twenty years older than my mother. He happened to see her performing as a nightclub singer in Washington, and fell in love with her at first sight. It took him two solid years to convince her to marry him (the first time he proposed was the minute she walked off the stage that first night), and eventually they had three children. I wish the story had a happy ending, but he was killed in a car accident when the three of us were still little. Even though I grew up without him, his spirit has pervaded every part of my life, so in many ways I feel like I’ve known him all these years. When I was ten, my mother moved us to Florida to begin a new life. Now she’s getting ready to retire from teaching pre-school children. My younger brother is an emergency room physician at George Washington University and has a little boy of his own, and my older sister is a special education teacher in Florida. None of them read romance. LOL
3) Can you share a little of your current work with us?
I’m working on the sequel to Midnight Rose, a paranormal romance I released with Ellora’s Cave in 2005. It revolves around Jude, who was a child in the first book and ultimately became a vampire. In this story, he meets his first love, a much older woman who also happens to be mortal. Here’s a little tidbit from the scene I’m working on:
I watched in rapt silence as he prepared the injection, my pulse surging. I thought he’d regretted giving me his blood before. I thought he detested the bond it created between us.
“I’m not turning you,” he said, his attention on his task.
Warmth flooded my cheeks. “I know that, damn you.”
“This will make you feel better, though.”
“Good,” I retorted. “Maybe then I can call a cab and save the perfectly good night I ruined for myself by coming here.”
His gaze darted to mine, then back to the syringe. “You’ll stay the night.”
“Why?” Astonishment, followed by a crisp, cold burst of anger, stiffened my spine, and I had to resist yanking my captive arm from his grasp. “What do you want from me?”
“Reassurance,” he said, rising on his knees before me. “I’m not sure what kind of effect this injection will have on you, and if you throw a reaction this time, I’m the only one who can fix it. Besides…” He tapped the bubbles from the syringe and rubbed his thumb across the inside of my arm, feeling for a vein. “I’m already damned when it comes to you, Moira. You might as well stay.”
The needle slid into my flesh with a pinch and he depressed the plunger. “Okay?” he prompted softly when he was done, and set aside the syringe.
*Your heart’s desire, Moira. Identify it. Embrace it.*
“Okay.” I whispered, and closed my eyes as the warmth of his blood began a slow crawl to my heart.
4) Do you ever suffer from writer's block? If so, what do you do about it?
I just came through a devastating block that lasted almost four years. I couldn’t pinpoint what caused it, and I honestly thought I would never write again. It began right after I finished my sixth novel, Seraphim, and at first I thought I was just burned out. I didn’t connect it to a new medication I was taking to treat migraines. It wasn’t until this past Christmas that, in desperation, I began looking at physiological reasons for the block. I had been blaming my own lack of focus and discipline…and then my doctor changed the medication because it wasn’t working anymore, and within a couple of weeks the block began to dissolve. When I questioned him, he confirmed the drug is known to affect the creative part of the brain. ARGH!! Now I’m writing full force again. So if I can give any advice on this subject, it’s to turn over every stone while you’re examining your creative block. It’s not always a lack of focus or inspiration!
5) What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing?
Getting to meet readers at the Romance Writers of America National Conference literacy book signing, where I sat with a zillion other authors and autographed my novels. I was profoundly touched by the people who had read my work and sought me out. It was the first time I’ve come face-to-face with the true fruits of my labor—more than a royalties check, more than seeing the books on the shelf at Border’s, actually talking to people who had read my stories and were back for more completely astounded and moved me.
6) Which is your favorite of the books you have written?
The most blood, sweat and tears went into Seraphim. It was tricky marrying romance and sensuality with the hero's status as an angel, but I felt really proud of it when I was done. Here’s the blurb:
When a masked group claiming to be warrior angels kidnaps Gia Rossi, she believes it's retaliation for her wealthy husband's shady dealings. Squired into a high-tech underground world by her strangely gentle captors and placed under the tutelage of Joachim, their handsome leader, she soon learns that among her lost childhood treasures is a medallion, which places the fate of the world in her hands. Gia's job is simple: locate the relic and lead the angels to it…and somehow, fight the forbidden attraction that fast develops between her and Joachim.
As commander of the angelic warriors, Joachim must protect Gia and, with her help, locate the sacred relics needed to conquer the demon Therides. But Joachim doesn't count on falling prey to sexual attraction when it comes to their beautiful, headstrong captive and soon another battle commences, one between consuming desire for his charge and a weighty sense of celestial duty. For if Joachim and Gia succumb to the fire smoldering between them, it could prove to be the end of both their worlds.
7) Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
That's a no-brainer! Since 2000, I’ve been a member of Romance Writers Unlimited. This club is comprised of some of the best people I know! I can say with complete confidence that I would never have finished the first novel—or any novel—if I hadn’t found RWU. If I lose internet access or the site goes down, I feel completely adrift. That’s how attached I am to my writing buddies. RWU opened a whole new door to me. There I met and developed friendships with such authors as Paisley Scott, Laurie Breton, Katherine Allred, Katherine Coffing (who’s also a professional writing coach), and Gina Ardito. Meeting some of these ladies at writing conferences has been the joy of a lifetime!
8) What are you reading now?
I’m between books right now. I just ordered Call of the Highland Moon by Kendra Leigh Castle and Three Nights of Sin by Anne Mallory. I love paranormal and historical romance, although I don't know if I could ever write historical fiction. It would be the challenge of a lifetime for this writer, but I think about it.
9) What about the romance genre interests you?
I’m fascinated by the complexities of human relationships, and try to include more than just a romantic relationship in every story I write. For one, I believe doing so helps give the reader a deep glimpse into the characters’ hearts. Secondly, I’m interested the tangling or untangling of the webs we create with others around us. It’s a form of people-watching, I guess. It helps me to understand other human beings. And since I live so much in my head, it pulls me out of myself.
10) What is romantic to you?
Romance is the gradual beating-down of the doors to each other’s hearts, so anything that exposes us as the fallible beings we truly are. People going out on a limb to show their feelings for each other is romantic. My brother recently took his wife to Ireland for their anniversary. While they were wandering around a little country village, he suggested they go inside the ancient church and look around. When they stepped inside, there was candlelight, and music, and a priest waiting for them with a handwritten ceremony to help them renew their wedding vows. My brother had arranged all this via the Internet months ahead of time as an anniversary gift for his wife. Now THAT’S romantic. :-)
Home: United States
About Us: Romance Writers Unlimited (or RWU as we call ourselves) was founded in August of 2000. We are a small, tight-knit group of friends and crit-partners who write romances in all different genres.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
posted by Shakespeares Sister at 4:17 PM
Friday, June 20, 2008
I've been a voracious reader ever since pre-school. By voracious I mean I'd read everything I could get my hands on. I was also precocious; I read both Clan of The Cave Bear and The Colour Purple in Grade 5. However, neither of those classic novels were my first reading introduction to sex or romance. That honour belongs to a Mills&Boon romance book whose title I have long forgotten.
I remember seeing Carmela sitting on the sun-warmed asphalt, with her back half obscuring one of the set of cricket stumps painted on the red brick wall. Finding myself a little chilled that Spring lunch time, as well as all the benches scattered around the playground full of other groups of kids, I chose to sit down next to her. With our bodies soaking up the heat from both the man made materials we sat against and the sun shining overhead, we finished our books in companionable silence.
Well, being a much faster reader than her, I finished, but she did show me the title of her book, plus let me read the blurb. I went to the library during afternoon recess, and found a whole section of Mills&Boon books. I was off and running. Then I learned the social stigma attached with reading romances, and they became my guilty pleasure.
My cousin's girlfriend lent me the whole(to date) Sweet Valley High series when I was about thirteen or fourteen. I didn't want my Mum to know, so I hid them under my bed, and only read them when I was out of her sight. But she found out eventually. So, I became a brazen hussy with my romance reading. Out and proud in front of everyone. I loved SVH, but I also found that they weren't really meaty enough for my tastes. Despite putting a good dent in the pile, I didn't make it through the 100+ books. Of course there were no fantastic elements like Dragons or Magic which was (and still is) my first and foremost love, so that was another mark against them.
Discovering the Intrigue line of Mills&Boon was what kept me reading Romances. What stopped me in my early twenties was my realisation that I was depressed that my own life didn't magically sort itself out in the same amount of time as the books. I'm as guilty of obnoxious behaviour as any reformed person: I loudly pooh-poohed the thing I formally loved to anyone who would listen, and often to those who wished they'd never even momentarily entered the same room as me.
Funny thing is, I kept all of my old romance books. I even schlepped them all the way over to America with me. After they sat in the same box for two years, I donated them all to Goodwill. Let some other Poor Desperate Housewife get some enjoyment out of them, was my thought process at the time. Pretty hypocritical since not only was I a Poor Desperate Housewife myself, I'd graduated to paranormal romance books. But, I rationalised this by reading them for the kickarse chicks and the plot, rather than the romance.
Then I discovered the Silhouette Bombshell books written by one online friend, and a Red Dress ink series by another. And you know what? I liked the changes that had occurred in the decade since I'd last read something that I couldn't pretend was anything other than a Romance book. It hit me that it wasn't Romance that I didn't like or was embarrassed by being spotted reading, it was the types of heroines and their story lines I disliked. In my ignorant innocence I'd based my Romance reading on other people's preferences, and then blamed the genre for being misogynistic and vapid when I found it lacking in enjoyable material.
Lemme tell you, if a library card had limits on it like credit cards do? I'd have spent the next two years way beyond maxed. Noting like falling off the wagon to encouraging whole hearted wallowing. {grin} I've discovered heroines and authors I adore and even graduated to buying romance books again. Lots of them. I'm a romantic at heart, which is why every thing I read, even the sci-fi, has to be character driven.
Wanna know my new guilty secret? I'm not only writing sci-fi or fantasy stories that have romantic character driven plots, I've started writing an honest-to-goodness paranormal romance of my own.
Romance reader and writer? Guilty as charged, Yer Honour!
I remember seeing Carmela sitting on the sun-warmed asphalt, with her back half obscuring one of the set of cricket stumps painted on the red brick wall. Finding myself a little chilled that Spring lunch time, as well as all the benches scattered around the playground full of other groups of kids, I chose to sit down next to her. With our bodies soaking up the heat from both the man made materials we sat against and the sun shining overhead, we finished our books in companionable silence.
Well, being a much faster reader than her, I finished, but she did show me the title of her book, plus let me read the blurb. I went to the library during afternoon recess, and found a whole section of Mills&Boon books. I was off and running. Then I learned the social stigma attached with reading romances, and they became my guilty pleasure.
My cousin's girlfriend lent me the whole(to date) Sweet Valley High series when I was about thirteen or fourteen. I didn't want my Mum to know, so I hid them under my bed, and only read them when I was out of her sight. But she found out eventually. So, I became a brazen hussy with my romance reading. Out and proud in front of everyone. I loved SVH, but I also found that they weren't really meaty enough for my tastes. Despite putting a good dent in the pile, I didn't make it through the 100+ books. Of course there were no fantastic elements like Dragons or Magic which was (and still is) my first and foremost love, so that was another mark against them.
Discovering the Intrigue line of Mills&Boon was what kept me reading Romances. What stopped me in my early twenties was my realisation that I was depressed that my own life didn't magically sort itself out in the same amount of time as the books. I'm as guilty of obnoxious behaviour as any reformed person: I loudly pooh-poohed the thing I formally loved to anyone who would listen, and often to those who wished they'd never even momentarily entered the same room as me.
Funny thing is, I kept all of my old romance books. I even schlepped them all the way over to America with me. After they sat in the same box for two years, I donated them all to Goodwill. Let some other Poor Desperate Housewife get some enjoyment out of them, was my thought process at the time. Pretty hypocritical since not only was I a Poor Desperate Housewife myself, I'd graduated to paranormal romance books. But, I rationalised this by reading them for the kickarse chicks and the plot, rather than the romance.
Then I discovered the Silhouette Bombshell books written by one online friend, and a Red Dress ink series by another. And you know what? I liked the changes that had occurred in the decade since I'd last read something that I couldn't pretend was anything other than a Romance book. It hit me that it wasn't Romance that I didn't like or was embarrassed by being spotted reading, it was the types of heroines and their story lines I disliked. In my ignorant innocence I'd based my Romance reading on other people's preferences, and then blamed the genre for being misogynistic and vapid when I found it lacking in enjoyable material.
Lemme tell you, if a library card had limits on it like credit cards do? I'd have spent the next two years way beyond maxed. Noting like falling off the wagon to encouraging whole hearted wallowing. {grin} I've discovered heroines and authors I adore and even graduated to buying romance books again. Lots of them. I'm a romantic at heart, which is why every thing I read, even the sci-fi, has to be character driven.
Wanna know my new guilty secret? I'm not only writing sci-fi or fantasy stories that have romantic character driven plots, I've started writing an honest-to-goodness paranormal romance of my own.
Romance reader and writer? Guilty as charged, Yer Honour!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Today, we’re interviewing Leslie Ann Dennis, writer of spicy contemporaries for The Wild Rose Press. Her latest book, Reason to Believe, will be released in August 2008.
Thanks for being with us today, Leslie! Now on to the questions:
Q: As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
A: I wanted to be a dentist (actually, an orthodontist). But as a senior in high school, we had a “career day” and I went to “work” in a local dentist’s office. Oh. My. Gawd. It was incredibly boring. Plus, it smelled funky and the music was terrible – all MUSAK, all the time. The dentist was filling a tooth and the song, “Feelings” came on the ceiling speaker and I started singing, “Fillings, whoa whoa whoa…filllllllings….” I thought it was pretty funny, but I realized they really couldn’t take a joke as I was escorted off the premises.
Q: What is your favorite food?
A. Being a
A: Yeah. That’s gonna be the actual WRITING part. Ha! Actually, I always have trouble with the conflict (hey, I’m a lover, not a fighter). It’s hard for me to put my characters in jeopardy, or stomp on their fragile hearts… but I gotta!
Q: How do you develop your plots and characters? Do you use any set formula?
A: Generally, I get an inkling of an idea for the plot, but I don’t really have a set formula. I sometimes wish I was organized enough to plan it all out and stick to my outline. I’ve tried. Honestly, I have. But my stories are always very character-driven. Whether I like it or not, the folks living in my created world tend to dictate to me what’s going to happen. I shoo them in certain directions and drop little hints about the next scene into their ears and they tend to listen to that. I usually have a beginning, a middle with a hint of what the conflict will be and an ending. But that’s my main say in the plot – the rest is up to them.
Q: What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?
A: A good imagination. Seriously. That’s the best tool I have. I figure I can write on anything, computer or loose-leaf paper – heck, I’ve written ideas on the back of a taco wrapper before. And I can always get hold of a dictionary or thesaurus – online or in book form. But what there is no substitute for is imagination to help you conjure up countless what if scenarios.
Q: What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
A: I don’t know how interesting my quirks are, but there is something that I always HAVE to do when I begin on a new story. I have to come up with a title. Even though MOST of the time, the editor will change the title, I have to have a title that works for me. In my most recent story, REASON TO BELIEVE, the working title was FAMILY TREE. If you read the book, the title will make sense. But as you can see, it’s not really romantic or even alluring. Reason to Believe was a much better title. But back to the quirk – I’m seriously at a standstill until I can come up with a workable title on the new story.
Q: Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
A: I think every writer gets asked this question. All I can say is I’m glad I bought that idea-generating robot off Ebay or I’d be in serious trouble! Ha! Ok, I’m kidding. It’s a joke-generating robot and it’s not that funny. To be honest, I don’t have a specific place where I fish for ideas, they just come to me when I’m reading the newspaper, surfing the web, or eavesdropping on a conversation nearby (yeah, I’m not above listening in on the juicy stuff if you’re loud enough to share it with me – LOL). The idea for REASON TO BELIEVE came from an insert that fell out of a Genealogy magazine. The card was offering to sell a tree that would be planted in your (or a loved one’s) honor, on the land of a Scottish castle. The idea just took off from there. I guess you just have to be open to receiving ideas in any form and think how you could use it to your advantage – or rather to your hero and heroine’s advantage.
Q: What do you like to do when you're not writing?
A: My husband and I tend to get lost in online games (World of Warcraft, Everquest II, Vanguard, Dark Age of Camelot, etc). It’s a vice… but it’s fun and I’m addicted.
Q: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
A: Without question it would be Sandra Canfield (also wrote as Karen Keast). She wrote for Harlequin and Silhouette in the late 80s through the 90s. She lived in the same town as me and would invite me over to critique my work and help me with my writing. She was an awesome writer, evoking beautiful imagery and emotion in her stories. It seemed to come so easily to her. No one would have known from her writing that she had debilitating arthritis, so bad her hands curled into balls and she had to dictate her later manuscripts. Sadly, I lost touch with this wonderful woman and had just located her when her husband told me she was in failing health. Sandra died about a month after I’d tried to reconnect, but her health was so bad she couldn’t talk or take visitors. She was so talented and such a sweet person.
Q: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
A: This group of talented writers right here. RWU! This is my refuge. I can hide out here, or brainstorm or just gab with folks I trust. I’m never afraid to ask a stupid question or to put my sometimes cock-eyed story ideas out there for them to give me their opinions. This is my home away from home.
Q: What was the first romance book/story you remember reading?
A: The first one I remember reading was an old Harlequin my 7th Grade BFF and I filched from her mother’s nightstand. I wish I could remember the name, but gads, it’s so long ago it’s not even traceable. I remember it had triplets in it and the hero was a Greek Millionaire (weren’t they all back then?) It was called the
Q: Do you ever fall in love with your hero?
A: That would be a big, honkin’ YES! Every single one. Not only do I fall in love with my heroes, but most of the heroes from other books I’ve read too. Creating hunky heroes is one of the most rewarding parts of writing a romance – where else can you create the perfect man? It’s no wonder readers and writers alike fall hard for these men!
Q: What is your favorite book outside of the romance genre?
A: WHAT DREAMS MAY COME by Richard Matheson. This is such an awesome book. I didn’t care for the movie AT ALL – but the book, whew... what a ride. I highly recommend it.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Today it's officially five years since I joined RWU. Let's review, shall we? Since becoming a member here I've:
1. Made a lot of new friends.
2. Improved my writing tremendously.
3. Found the guts to fire a bad agent.
4. Established a web presence.
5. Published my first romantic comedy.
6. Sold my second romantic comedy.
There's more: I've reveled in others' celebrations, passed the cyber chocolate to ease the disappointments. I've shared secrets, photos, and amusing anecdotes. One hot July night I even raced through the streets of Dallas in a red Mustang with a few RWU pals!
There've been sad times, bad times, mad times. But through it all RWU has been a place for me to bring my troubles, bring my successes, bring my talents, bring my words. It is a place like no other and I'm so very lucky to have landed there.
The beauty of RWU is in the family we've become: each of us stronger together than we could ever be alone.
Thank you, Leslie and Bran, for allowing us into your home. And to all the lovely ladies who make me race to the computer a dozen times a day, my neverending affection and gratitude goes out to you all!
Best graphics, layouts, and more for your profiles! Click Here!
1. Made a lot of new friends.
2. Improved my writing tremendously.
3. Found the guts to fire a bad agent.
4. Established a web presence.
5. Published my first romantic comedy.
6. Sold my second romantic comedy.
There's more: I've reveled in others' celebrations, passed the cyber chocolate to ease the disappointments. I've shared secrets, photos, and amusing anecdotes. One hot July night I even raced through the streets of Dallas in a red Mustang with a few RWU pals!
There've been sad times, bad times, mad times. But through it all RWU has been a place for me to bring my troubles, bring my successes, bring my talents, bring my words. It is a place like no other and I'm so very lucky to have landed there.
The beauty of RWU is in the family we've become: each of us stronger together than we could ever be alone.
Thank you, Leslie and Bran, for allowing us into your home. And to all the lovely ladies who make me race to the computer a dozen times a day, my neverending affection and gratitude goes out to you all!
Best graphics, layouts, and more for your profiles! Click Here!
Labels: Anniversary, Friends, RWU