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Radio Interview: A.E. Rought/Print Interview: Beverly Rae and Lex Valentine

Interview: Feb 20, 2009

Don't miss this weeks podcasts from What's Hot in Romance. The Featured guest is author A.E. Rought. Be sure to tune in every Monday night for the live broadcast from 9:30 - 10:30 pm est at Blog Talk Radio

That's right, What's Hot In Romance internet radio show is on Blog Talk Radio, where our host Cat Johnson has a full schedule of not to be missed romance authors in every genre. So please tune in tohttp://www.blogtalkradio.com/whats-hot-in-romance at 9:30 pm est.

Listen to our interview with author A.E. Rought

Wildfire would like to welcome author Beverly Rae and Lex Valentine.

Beverly Rae

Julie: What influenced you to get published? How long did it take for your first book to get published?

Beverly: I started writing because I have always written. Then my sweet hubby suggested I take an online writer's workshop and, during the workshop, I pitched an idea to an editor. She loved it. The only problem was that I hadn't written a word of the story and she wanted it now. Needless to say, I wrote my not-so-little fanny off and it was e-published within three months.

Julie: What are the elements of a great romance for you?

Beverly: The elements of a great romance are the same for any book. The story needs to have believable, relatable characters, action, emotion and, for me, at least a healthy dose of humor.

Julie: What makes your characters so vulnerable yet strong? Can you describe them to us? What do you do when characters stop talking to you when writing?

Beverly: The people in my books are formed combining characteristics most humans share. It's all a matter of how you mix those characteristics together. So of course, they're going to have strengths and weaknesses.

Now, as to the question of my characters talking to me? I've never had that happen. If they do, I hope they've either become real through powerful magic or someone can recommend a good psychiatrist for me!

Julie: How much does reader reaction mean to you as an author?

Beverly: Reader reaction is everything! I love it when a reader emails to tell me that my story made them laugh, or cry, or think. I even like it when a reader tells me what didn't work in the story.

Julie: What is the best advice anyone has given you?

Beverly: Be careful of when someone tells you how to write. You can lose your voice trying to write the way they recommend. Just write what you want and enjoy the trip.

Julie: What is your writing process? Do you outline, fly by the seat of your pants or a combination of both?

Beverly: Other than my very first book, Love Times Seven, I always, always write an outline first and a synopsis (Urgh!) second. Then I start writing the book. For instance, for my latest release, I Married a Demon, I took nearly a month to write a short outline and synopsis. But after that, the writing was a breeze because I knew exactly where the story was headed. Plus, writing the synopsis and outline gave me the setup for the next book (now a work-in-progress), I Married a Dragon.

Julie: What do you do for research before you begin a new book?

Beverly: My books are primarily written in the world we live in which means I don't have much research to do. I just take our world and twist to make things more unusual and interesting than they are. Additionally, since my books are all paranormals/fantasies, I can make up a lot of the details.

Julie: Any advice for aspiring authors?

Beverly: Just keep writing. Write every day, especially when you don't want to. Writing is like exercise. You can't get any results unless you do it.

Julie: What's next for you?

Beverly: I just finished one book and am in the process of working on I Married a Dragon.

Julie: Tell us something that your fans would be surprised to know about you.

Beverly: My favorite movie─and I can hear my daughter shouting, "No! Don't tell them!"─is Planet of the Apes. I like both the original and the 2001 remake. I love to go ape! (Sorry. I couldn't resist.)

Julie: Dealing with writing deadlines can be a challenge. What do you do to cope with the stress?

Beverly: Please don't hate me, but I love deadlines. I work better that way and have always turned in my books at least two weeks before the deadline.

Julie: If someone hasn't read any of your work, what book would you recommend that they start with and why?

Beverly: I don't have a favorite, so I usually recommend my latest book. Right now that would be I Married a Demon. But any of my books would be a good first choice. It just depends on what the reader wants to read about. Want a ghost story? Read D�j� Vu You. Do you like hunky cowboys and beings with super powers? Studs would be perfect for you. Or how about a woman who can tell a person the name of their soul mate simply by touching them? Try my award-winning book, Touch Me.

Beverly Rae's witty, sexy, action-packed romances leave readers experiencing a wide range of emotions. As a multi-published author, Beverly is always working on her next book, taking the "usual" and twisting it into the "unusual".

Backlist:
I Married A Demon, Samhain Publishing
To Fat and Back, Samhain Publishing
Wailing For Love, Samhain Publishing
Touch Me, Samhain Publishing
Studs, eXtasy Books
Love Times Seven, eXtasy Books
D�j� vu You, eXtasy Books
Fool You Twice, eXtasy Books
Fool Me Twice, eXtasy Books
My Angel, eXtasy Books
Spirit On The Wind, eXtasy Books
Mr. Lonely, Aspen Mountain Press
Paradise Island, Aspen Mountain Press
Baby Blue, Aspen Mountain Press

Coming soon:
Howling For My Baby, Samhain Publishing
Magical Mayhem, Samhain Publishing

Links:
Website
Beverly Rae Merchandise
MySpace
Yahoo Group

Lex Valentine

Julie: How long have you been writing? What inspired you to pick the pen up one day and create characters that capture the imagination?

Lex: I've been writing since I was a kid. I won a poetry contest in elementary school when I was 7 or 8. As far as writing stories goes, I started in my teens but nothing ever really went anywhere. In my 20's, I wrote a full length novel called Note By Note in long hand. Ugh.

Julie: What influenced you to get published? How long did it take for your first book to get published?

Lex: It wasn't a what, but a who. Jennifer McKenzie (aka Jennifer Leeland) started coming to my blog and read about the serial story where I write. She started telling me I should get published because my characters were awesome and that I was "frickin' brilliant." She was my spur, and my first crit partner, and just the bestest writer friend anyone could ever have.

The first thing I subbed got a couple of rejections. Then Mary Winter offered to show me what was wrong with it. I fixed it and resubbed it. Meanwhile, she shows me this call for submissions for Pink Petal Books. I whipped out 23K for her and she gave me my first contract. That was for Shifting Winds, which comes out with its sequel Hot Water on March 5. Basically, I started in July of 2008 working toward the goal of being published. I got my first contract the day before my birthday October 30, 2008. My first release is The Wise Guy, my most recent contract, on February 22, 2009.

Julie: What are the elements of a great romance for you?

Lex: A strong hero. An equally strong heroine. Conflicts inside themselves that they need to overcome. I love a heart wrenching story where one of the main characters is sooo positive he/she will never have happiness, never be with the other main character. Then when it happens, it's so poignant it makes you cry. THAT's a great romance to me. Make me cry. I don't cry easily either.

Julie: If you had to write yourself as a heroine, what would she be like?

Lex: I have written myself as a heroine, at The Bar, the serial story where I write. I even stole her name to use as my pseudonym. I haven't had the same experiences as Lex Valentine my character, but who Lex is on the inside, how she deals with adversity and business and men, is all me. I'm very strong when it comes to business� a megabitch. I've overcome a lot of adversity in my life. It's given me a lot of flexibility, but it's also taken a lot out of me. The people I care about most can hurt me with the flick of an eyelash because I don't have much in the way of defenses with them due to redirecting my resources to deal with other bad stuff. But Lex always tries. She doesn't give up hope. She's willing to work for what she wants, but also willing to sacrifice for those she loves.

Julie: What is the strangest source of writing inspiration you've ever had?

Lex: Hahaha. Usually conversations I've had on IM spark something especially when I'm joking around or flirting. However, the truth is that the oddest inspiration I've ever had was a weird dream I had about Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee. Very vivid. Frighteningly vivid. But I used it to fuel my writing in a very positive way.

Julie: How much does reader reaction mean to you as an author?

Lex: Well, once something's out there� it is what it is, you know? It's not like you can take it back and change it. Reader reaction that is positive is a good feeling, and negative can be devastating. Really, even with positive responses, I take it all with a pinch of salt. I'm not everyone's cup of tea. No author is. It's just the reality of life.

Julie: If your muse were to talk behind your back, what secrets would she tell us?

Lex: HEH. I think my muse is a man. Who looks like Marcus Schenkenberg. Oh, yeah. And he would tell you that I like to sit in my underwear and write. That I love flirting in IM when I'm working because it fuels the sex scenes. That I write more words a minute when I'm writing sex. He would also tell you that I suck down tons of diet Dr Pepper when I'm working and pints of Ben & Jerry's Cr�me Brulee ice cream. He would also admit that I watch XTube before I have to write M/M scenes. LOL

Julie: What is your writing process? Do you outline, fly by the seat of your pants or a combination of both?

Lex: I'm a little of both. I start with an idea for the characters, a meeting, an ending, and a general plot. Then I figure out mile markers that they need to hit along the way during the story. It's an outline, but not a heavily detailed one. I let my characters talk to me as I write because they often don't turn out as I originally planned. Not way off from my initial ideas, but enough that I can see that it's a good thing they take on a life of their own. They often know more about the story than I do!

Julie: If you were told you have to meet one paranormal creature, what would choose?

Lex: If it was one of MY paranormal creatures, I would want to meet the Fairy Godfather, Marty. He's such a nice guy, fun and cool with all this power. Someone else's paranormal creature? JR Ward's vampire Vishous. He's an IT geek like me, but with fangs.

Julie: Any advice for aspiring authors?

Lex: Find good critiquers. Not people at the same level as yourself. Find someone multi-pubbed who will tell it like it is to you. Listen to them and learn from their crits of your work. I've been very, very blessed. I met Jen Leeland, Dee Carney, and Mary Winter. I can't tell you how much I respect those three as writers and women.

Julie: What's next for you?

Lex: Finding a home for the Twisted Tales of the Darkworld. I want one of the bigger houses to take it. So far, it's been at Cobblestone almost 120 days with no word yet. It's a very big thing for me because the first two Tales come out March 5. I really want the sister series to have a home with a bigger publisher so they can compliment each other.

Julie: What are you working on now?

Lex: I'm working on a short erotic tale for a contest where the winner gets this cool cover and a contract at Freya's Bower. I'm also working on another short for a Wild Child Publishing anthology and a M/M ghost story for an MLR Press anthology. That's on top of Books 3-5 of the Tales of the Darkworld for Pink Petal Books, Book 2 of the Twisted Tales of the Darkworld, a m�nage, a Valentine's tale with Cupid and the Grim Reaper, an urban fantasy, and a contemporary romance about a writer who falls in love with a model because of his blog.

Julie: If you had to ask a fictional character out on a date, who would you ask and why?

Lex: It's absolutely Alaric Kohl from The Bar, who is my all time favorite character even though only the writers and readers of the serial know who he is. Not counting Alaric the Asshole, I would have to say Moira Rogers' Connor O'Malley, the werewolf. He's hot and he's an IT geek like me. I could talk Citrix server all night to a man like that� well, in between all the sex. ;)

Julie: What books are currently on your nightstand?

Lex: Literally, JR Ward's compendium and Phury's book. I just got them at Christmas from my friend Jen Morgan who is one of her mods. I've got the whole set signed. It's like my prize possession. Also, Katie MacAlister's Zen and the Art of Vampires.

Julie: Dealing with writing deadlines can be a challenge. What do you do to cope with the stress?

Lex: Yell at my daughter. LOL Seriously, I bitch a lot. I spend too much on eBooks and stay up until 1 am reading to unwind the tension in me. And I flirt with younger men on IM. Well, not really on the flirting� but I wish.

Lex has been writing stories and poems ever since she could hold a pencil. A few years ago, she got caught up writing in an online paranormal serial story. The story was very intense and a challenge to her writing skills. As she began to write more and more, fans of the story and her blog readers began to encourage her to submit her writing. Lex lives in Orange County, California with her long-haired musician husband and her teen aged daughter. Lex loves loud music, reading hot stories, reading her friends' blogs and hanging out with them, enjoys building her own computers, and has a propensity for having very weird vivid dreams about Nikki Sixx.

Backlist:
Christmas Hookup, Pink Petal Books

Coming soon:
The Wise Guy, Noble Romance
Shifting Winds, Pink Petal Books
Hot Water, Pink Petal Books
Silver Lining, Midnight Showcase

Links:
Website
Blog
Twitter
YouTube

If you would like to request an interview, please send a query to info@allromanceebooks.com

Until next time!

Julie Cummings
Wildfire Interview Coordinator
All Romance eBooks

Caught Under The Full Moon by Kiki Howell

This story is rated 4 flames. Frequent, explicit love scenes described using graphic and direct language.

Dry logs crackled as the fire tried to consume them. Once she felt the heat infiltrate her body, she shed her deep burgundy, velvet clock and watched as it fell to the ground like pouring wine. The compact inferno threw flickers of light that danced upon her skin. Turning, she lit the spicy incenses of cinnamon and sandalwood on her makeshift altar. Brianna ignited and then dropped scraps of paper into the cauldron at her bared feet. The meshing colors of the flames burgeoned around the words of that which she vowed to change in her life. She stayed as close to the warmth as she could trying to ignore the chill accosting her back. Lost in her rituals under the light of the Full Moon coming through the thin canopy of the winter treetops, she neglected to hear the approaching footsteps.

The final shift of the brush as a man came into her clearing startled her. She turned on her visitor. Forgetting she was standing there fully exposed, she stared into the eyes of Mitch, a friend from her apartment building two floors up and one door over. Despite the fact she had developed many quaint friendships, no one there knew that she was a witch.

"What are you doing here?" She asked reluctantly, as she followed his eyes down over the erect nipples of her breasts to the small patch of hair between her thighs. Unable to avoid turning to get her robe, she was forced to display her backside to him also.

"I saw a cloaked figure enter the woods and debated about checking it out until I saw the flicker of fire through the trees." She blushed as he had stumbled over the words. "I couldn't sleep. What are you doing here at three o'clock in the morning?"

Thoughts rushed through her mind as to if he would approve or disapprove of her Wiccan ways. He took a few steps towards her to get closer to the fire, and she momentarily felt like a trapped animal. His baggy, wrinkled sweatshirt didn't prevent her from being distracted by the images of him shirtless this summer.

"Listen, Brianna, you don't have to be afraid to tell me the truth. There is obviously more going on here than a sleepless night. I won't judge you. You know I'm not like that." He turned to face her then grabbed the front of her robe gently with his hands and fondled the crushed velvet between his fingers. "Will you feel better if I confess something first?"

"I don't know." Her voice sounded strange even to her as apprehension and excitement commingled making her insides tremble. The smell of him drifted over the short distance between them, and she closed her eyes as she took it in. She could never deny to herself the attraction she had to him, but he had never made any advances before to show her he felt the same.

"Then here goes." A sly grin relaxed his face a bit. He stepped in making his hands, still holding her robe, press up against her abs; and her hands, still holding her robe protectively closed, touch his hard chest. "I have wanted to be alone with you, since the first time I met you, so I could see how you would react if I did this�"

The warmth of his breath brushed over her face before the fullness of his lips surrounded hers. He brought his hands up into her hair, and the chill of his fingertips felt like pure magical energy.

Mitch kissed her cheek, and whispered in her ear, "Relax, Brianna. I won't do anything you don't want me to."

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel better." She became acutely aware again of her nakedness under her robe as heat pulsed through her core, moistening her with desire.

"Now why are you out in the chill of winter in the woods in the middle of the night buck naked? I can't get that image of you out of my mind." He pulled her against him tighter, and she let her pinned arms move to her sides, allowing his jean-covered hardness to touch the skin of her stomach where her robe had opened slightly.

"I am Wiccan, and I was performing a full moon ceremony." She dared to let her hands move onto his hips as she spoke, liking the way they felt against one another.

"I like holding you, and I am thrilled that you are not pulling away."

"Then it doesn't matter to you that�" A kiss interrupted her question. He penetrated her lips with his tongue and swept it over hers.

"That you are a witch? No, you can explain that more later. All I can think about now is getting my hands under your robe."

She felt her smile all through her body. "Then touch me," she said as she withdrew from his embrace and let her robe cascade to the ground again.

He didn't immediately come to her. First, he slowly unclothed himself, barely taking his eyes from her body. She liked the way it felt to be exposed to him. The thoughts she'd secretly had of them together over these past months welled up within her as his palms cupped over her breasts. He kissed her briefly again before cradling her body to his and guiding her down to the ground to lie upon their discarded clothing. Old leaves crunched and slim branches cracked as he spread apart her thighs and tasted her. The feeling of his tongue separating her nether lips made her give thanks to that moon for what she believed she could now leave behind above and for the bounty that laid before her. She reached out to finally touch his hardness as he kissed up her body and over her nipples.

Just before the thickness of his member entered her wetness, he said, "I feared this moment would never happen."

"Anything can happen under the power of the full moon."

Ever since she was young, Kiki Howell loved to listen to a well-woven tale with real characters, inspired plots, and delightful resolutions. Kiki could spend hours lost in a book, and soon she knew that creating lives, loves, and losses with just words had to be the greatest thing that she could do.

To that end, she pursued her study of literature and writing, earning a bachelor's degree in English. She then followed in a Master's program in Creative Writing.

"After a long break having my boys, I finally just had to write again. And, as soon as I gave the stories the space, they entered it. It's both awesome and humbling to find the words in my mind become characters on a page and create their lives."

Kiki resides in the Midwest with her incredibly handsome and talented, singer/songwriter husband and two children. When she is not writing, she is spending time with her family, reading, baking or knitting.

Backlist:

The Healing Spell, eXcessica Publishing

Celtic Love Knots Vol 10, Whiskey Creek Press Torrid

Mystic Stones, Whiskey Creek Press Torrid

Coming Soon:

Beltane's Guide in the Four Seasons: Spring 2009 Anthology, eXcessica Publishing
The Witch's Beast, Whiskey Creek Press Torrid

Links:
Website
MySpace
Blogspot

Sent: Feb 21, 2009

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