September 24, 2007

Maya Reynolds Tell All

ST: Good Morning! This week we have the mother of all bad girls with us, Maya Reynolds. Welcome, Maya, and thank you for visiting with us this week.
MR: Thanks, Sloane. I’m so glad you invited me. I love your site and your books. It’s a good day whenever you have a new release.

ST: I agree! Tell us about yourself.
MR: Well, I was born in New York City and grew up in Florida. I have a Masters in Social Work and spent years working on the Dallas County mobile crisis team (a terrific job for a writer looking for story lines). I live in a small town in Texas and work at a university in Dallas. I love to garden and work through my stories while pulling weeds or fertilizing my roses.

ST: Your debut novel, BAD GIRL, has just been released. Let’s show everyone your gorgeous cover.

ST: It was an exciting, hot read. I loved the book. Please tell our readers about it.
MR: BAD GIRL is about a woman named Sandy Davis. Sandy didn’t start out intending to spy on her neighbors in the high-rise across the street. It began innocently. But then, she couldn’t bring herself to stop. Night after night, she hid in the shadows of her balcony and peeped through each different window, watching people going about their lives, never realizing they were being observed.

It was just a game. No one had to know. Then one night came a phone call…

“You’ve been a bad girl.”

He calls himself Justice. He has a pastime too. Watching Sandy watch others. He has the pictures to prove it. Now it’s his turn to play–by making Sandy pay the price in exchange for holding on to her naughty little secret.

As the sensual dance between two strangers begins, so does Sandy’s fear that she’s moving closer to the edge of extreme desire–and inescapable danger.

ST: How did you come up with the story line?
MR: I was taking a writing class online and wanted to find an unusual story where the heat level would scorch the pages. I happened to see Rear Window on television, and it started me wondering what would happen if it was a woman spying on her neighbors–and what would happen if she got caught.

ST: And where and can we buy BAD GIRL?
MR: It’s on sale now. You can find it at bookstores like Barnes & Noble, or Borders, and at the online booksellers like Amazon.com or Powells.com.

ST: You have an agent. Was it difficult to connect with one you really wanted to represent you?
MR: I’ve heard it said that it’s harder to find an agent than it is to find a publisher. I don’t know about that.

I began writing BAD GIRL in February, 2005. I entered the first chapter in the “Just Erotic Romance Reviews” contest that summer. Raelene Gorlinsky of Ellora’s Cave picked it as second place winner and asked me to submit the full manuscript. The only problem was that I hadn’t finished the novel at that point. It took me several months to finish the story. In the meantime, I continued to query agents.

Having won that second place prize certainly helped me attract the attention of the agents I wrote. I had multiple requests to see the manuscript. Then, one of my critique partners met Jacky Sach of BookEnds at a conference and mentioned BAD GIRL to her. Jacky asked to see the manuscript. I called her, and we clicked almost immediately so the decision to go with her agency was an easy one.

ST: Your experience is a rarity. I’m happy for you, Maya. Hopefully we’ll see you tomorrow?
MR: I wouldn’t miss it.

ST: Until then…

Happy Writing!
Sloane

September 22, 2007

OOH LA LA!

Bon Jour, Mon Amies,

I am so excited to share my new cover for FRENCH Delights coming soon from Eternal Press. Hope you like it!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Sloane

September 21, 2007

Gazing into the Crystal Ball

ST: We’re here with Marie Treanor ofr our last day of terrorizing her. lol. Marie, what does the future hold for you?
MT: Well, with Changeling Press, I have a short story, Swan Song coming out some time this year – about a cursed but well-endowed ballet dancer. And a short Christmas story called Christmas of the Damned.
And in the spring of next year, I’ll have a novella out with Samhain – Killing Joe…
In time, I hope to find new homes for the books currently tied up in Triskelion’s bankruptcy. In the longer term, who knows? I’m just enjoying the moment and feeling good.

ST: If you had one wish that would be granted, what would it be?
MT: That my kids have happy and healthy lives. Is that two? lol.

ST: How did you and all your publishers come together?
MT: With Triskelion, I remember I liked the variety of stuff they published, and so I sent them my first stories. Then, one of my editors left Trisk to go to Samhain and later invited me to submit there, which eventually I did.
It was Kyla Logan, my loop partner, who suggested I try Changeling Press, and when the right story came to me, I did.

ST: What’s in the works for the future?
MT: Well, I’m working on a sort of gothic/fantasy/historical/paranormal story just now – not sure yet how that mix will work out! And then there’s a ghost story I’d like to finish some time. And I have an idea for a naughty comedy, which may or may not come off.

ST: I sure hope it does. Sounds like an interesting read. Thanks, Marie, for spending so much time with us. It’s been a great week and I’ve enjoyed learning more about you. The very best to you in the future and keep us posted on your future releases.
MT: Thanks, Sloane, I’ve really enjoyed being here! And of course I’d love to keep in touch. Thanks for letting me ramble!

ST: Until next week…

Happy Writing!
Sloane

September 20, 2007

The Soft Side of Marie Treanor

ST: We’re back with the Paranormal Princess, Marie Treanor. Marie, please describe your writing space.
MT: Officially: a corner of my bedroom, containing an old bureau with a fold-down top for the computer, books on the floor held up by Indian-made book-ends. It’s by the window with a view of the sea.
In reality: My very often my cluttered living room or wherever the kids, especially my tyrannical small daughter, want me to be.

ST: LOL. I understand about children. Tell us what’s your favorite part of writing?
MT: When the characters start telling the story, even making me re-think it to suit them. Annoying but exhilarating!

ST: What do you absolutely hate about being an author?
MT: I don’t think I absolutely hate any of it! I’d like more money, of course, and I’d prefer someone else to do the promoting for me. But on the whole, I have to say I’m really enjoying it!

ST: In your opinion what’s the most important thing for a new writer to learn?
MT: Never to give up.

ST: Your website is lovely. I recommend everyone cruise over to www.marietreanor.com and check it out. How did you decide on the content and design?
MT: By knowing my limitations I asked Tina at the Romance Studio to design me something sensual and atmospheric, with a hint of the paranormal and the historical. I confess I love it!

ST: She did a great job. I hear your sweeties calling, Marie, so I guess that’s all for today. Until tomorrow…

Happy Writing!
Sloane

September 19, 2007

Author, Author, Tell Us More

ST: Good morning! We’re back with Marie Treanor. Before we start our interrogation - er, I mean - interview, let’s look at three other fantastic covers Marie has with Changeling Press.

ST: Marie, are there any quirks you have or do before or while you’re writing?
MT: Not really. I like coffee on tap. LOL

ST: Who or what encouraged you to write erotica?
MT: Long story! I found writing long historicals too time-consuming when my daughter was born, but I did want to keep writing. Deborrah MacGillivray encouraged me to try my hand at a short romance. I wasn’t keen at first – to me romances were the old Mills and Boons my granny used to read! – but when I discovered ebook romances I realized I was way behind the times! I was both amazed and impressed by the array of imagination and talent and sheer variety out there. I tried a couple of my own and sent them to Triskelion. Gail Northman at Trisk encouraged me to write one of them a little hotter, and it seemed to work for me.

ST: Just how hot are your books, Marie?
MT: Scorching hot! Tsss! LOL. Only kidding. I’m not really very good with labels, but I think my books are probably on the border line between very sensual and erotic. My characters enjoy pretty sexy and graphic relationships, but so far at least they’ve always been single-partner heterosexual relationships. Not because I disapprove of anything else, just because these are the characters and stories that have come to me. I think I’ve found my comfort zone for now, though I don’t rule out pushing the boundaries!

ST: Where do you get the ideas for your novels?
MT: Mostly from the characters who pop into my mind. Sometimes inspired by real people or faces glimpsed on trains or in the street. Sometimes from something I overhear, or read in a book. Once from a television advert!

ST: How do you research your books?
MT: Depends on the book. I do lots on the internet now, but I still like books! Also, just talking to people helps. My husband for example supplied the necessary chess moves in Queen’s Gambit (sadly not available right now). Thinking about it, he also told me about tethers and stopped me making a pratt of myself over rocket fuel in the City of the Damned stories 

ST: Who is your support group?
MT: In real life? My husband, my old friends and, in a different way, my kids.

ST: You’re fortunate to have a good support system.
MT: I know and appreciate them all.

ST: Until tomorrow…

Happy Writing!
Sloane