What three qualities does an irresistible love interest have to have?
How do you find new inspiration when you’re feeling stuck?
I have no clue. New ideas just pop into my head. Sometimes it’s just a first line, which was the case with one of my old historicals. The line was, “He was dying, and he didn’t care”. (Midnight Fire) Well, that prompted a lot of questions. Why was he dying? Why didn’t he care?
What special challenges did you face making your story stand out from others in the genre?
I don’t really worry about that. When I write, I write mainly for myself and hope that what I like, my readers will like. I love writing paranormal stories because I can let my imagination run wild. Witches and werewolves, vampires, and time travel. There’s a whole world of possibilities.
If you didn’t write, what would you do for work?
Nothing. I’d just be a stay-at-home housewife.
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
Joining the Orange Chapter of Romance Writers of America. I learned a lot at the monthly meetings, met a lot of published authors. Even got to meet Fabio, who was on the cover of one of my books.
What’s next for you? Are you working on a new project? If so, can you give us a teaser and/or an expected release date?
Just published is In the Dark of the Night, one of my fav stories. The back cover copy says:
In a time of desperation, Lorena Halliday’s father sells her into service to wealthy Lord Fairfield. After years of servitude and unwanted sexual advances, Lorena finds the courage to run away, only to be accosted by a man with a knife.
Standing on the roof of his home, Demetri witnesses the attack and goes to the young woman’s rescue. After dispatching her assailant, Demetri takes the unconscious woman to an inn and procures a room for her. After paying for a week in advance, he carries her up the stairs and tucks into bed. She is young and beautiful and her blood calls to him like no other.
Needing to see her again, Demetri returns to the inn and offers the lovely redhead a position in his home as his housekeeper. Desperate and with nowhere else to go, Lorena accepts. She soon discovers that her mysterious benefactor hides many secrets. Nevertheless, Lorena finds herself falling in love with a man who lives In the Dark of the Night.
June 28th is the expected pub date for Surrender the Dawn. The back cover copy reads:
Angelina Rossi has always been fascinated with vampires. She loves the movies, the TV shows, the books. After reading a love story between a woman and a vampire, she finds herself yearning for a love like that. What if vampires really do exist?
Determined to find out, she searches every Goth club in the city, ending up at a nightclub called Nick’s Nightmare. The attraction between Angie and Declan Nicolae, the club’s owner, is instant and undeniable.
Declan is an ancient vampire who, having once tasted Angie’s blood, is determined to never let her go. For a time, romance blooms and all is well, until Samantha, Angie’s best friend, becomes one of the Undead and Angie learns vampires do exist — and that the man she loves is one of them.
Travis and Sara would likely never have met if Travis hadn’t chosen her as his prey. Was it mere coincidence that brought the two of them to the same sleepy little town? Or the hand of Fate?
August 24th will see the publication of the last book in my Children of the Night series – Night’s Illusion. The cover copy reads:
Giovanni Lanzoni may just be the world’s oldest male virgin. Or at least, the oldest male virgin vampire. Giovanni has clung to the vows he made a thousand years ago as a mortal priest—yet he is no longer either of those things. Others of his kind have settled down since claiming immortality, finding love, even raising children. Sensing his loneliness, Mara, Queen of the Vampires, eagerly sets out to find Giovanni the perfect mate. But only one woman, met by chance on a dark night, truly tempts him . . Cassie Douglas has never met a man she trusts as much as Giovanni. Yet the shocking truth he reveals makes her question their deep connection. There are other urgent obstacles too. Giovanni’s sire, an ancient, dangerously powerful vampire, is awakening after centuries of slumber, with vengeance on his mind. And in the battle unfolding around them, everything is at risk—their lives, their loved ones, and a passionate eternity together . . .
These are all vampire romances.
I just finished a Western titled Kade, the first one I’ve written in a while. I’m really happy with it. I don’t have the cover copy yet, but it starts like this:
He stared up at the vast blue vault of the sky. He had always known this day would come. Any man who lived by the gun usually died that way. Even now, blood from the gunshot wound low in his left side was leaking through his fingers, soaking into the dirt beneath him.
Only a matter of time, he thought. He might have had a chance of finding help if his horse hadn’t been shot out from under him. But maybe that was a good thing. When a warrior died, the People killed his favorite mount so the warrior’s spirit wouldn’t have to walk to the happy hunting ground. Kade grunted softly as he glanced at the dead mare. At least he had a good horse to carry him to the land of spirits.
Resigned to his fate, he closed his eyes and waited for death.
