Wow! I absolutely LOVE your cover, Juliet. Now, let's have some info about you as a writer and what you have cooking in the works of your writing:
Juliet: As soon as I learned how, I became a voracious
reader. My mother had to go with me to the library every week because otherwise
the librarian wouldn't let me take out more than three books at a time and that
wasn't nearly enough.
In sixth grade, inspired by one of my most treasured
possessions, a wall calendar with photographs of kittens, I wrote a sad story
about a couple of kittens. The tragic tale made me cry but got me an “A” from
my teacher.
Along the way, I switched focus, so to speak, and became a
photographer. But here I am, after fifteen years of photographing fashion,
writing again. This time my stories have lots of steamy romance and happy
endings. No kittens no sad tears.
Writing is hard work, but I suspect that's the
case for a professional at any job. From my years as a photographer I learned
that if you want to be a pro in that field, you have to be creative and productive
no matter how you feel. I was paid to take beautiful, interesting photographs.
It didn't matter if I didn't feel inspired that day, I still had to produce
that kind of photographs—and I did, no matter what.
Same goes for the writing. Inspired or not, I
must sit down and start tapping away. What I don't have with the writing is the
energy of working with other people to nudge me along—no models, stylists, make-up,
hangers-on, whatever. It's just the computer and me—and the computer is simply
a tool, like the camera. I am all alone trying to find my way through—or to—a
story.
I start off with an idea or two—a whole scene
maybe or just a small piece of one and a character. I can't seem to find the
plot before I write the story, so I have to bumble along, bumping into a walls
now and then or finding myself at a dead end. It can be frustrating but I have learned
to allow myself to do those things as part of the process of writing a story.
In some ways the most challenging thing is to
get my butt to the chair in the morning and start writing. I used to swim year
round in an indoor pool that was unheated. It was really hard to get in that
water in the winter and I never got used to doing it. It's that way with
writing the first draft. It's so hard getting started and I never get used to
it. But just like when I'd done the first ten or twenty laps in the pool, once
I've been writing for a bit, I don't want to stop.
Another difficult thing is when I'm in the
middle of a story and suddenly I don't know where I am going with it, and I
can't imagine what comes next. Very demoralizing. That’s when I start thinking
that I really have no business doing this, that its hopeless etc., etc. The
best thing for me when that happens is to get up, do some little non-writing
thing and then come back and work on something else for a day or two. Often
when I get back to the piece with the problem I know what to do. It just needed
to percolate in my unconscious for a while.
****************************.
My latest story, Vampire Cowboy, my first e-book
with Ellora's Cave, is a Quickie—you
could read it in an evening or two. It's a 19th century western featuring a smooth-talking vampire who is looking
to get a little wild on his way out West.
One bad hand of cards stranded Eliza on a failing
ranch in the middle of nowhere. She’d do anything to sell the ranch and make
her way back to the city, even seduce the handsome stranger who rides into town
and expresses an interest in her land.
It’s been hundreds of years since anything has
caught Daniel’s interest. He doesn’t expect much in the two-bit dusty town he’s
passing through to change that…until he sets eyes on the sassy, stubborn Eliza.
A look ignites their chemistry and soon enough a shared dinner is tossed aside
for more carnal delights.
Eliza and Daniel both have plenty of reasons to
keep their affair to a single night, but the sex between them takes temptation
to a whole new level. Now every time they try to walk away, they’re reminded that
some cravings can never be satisfied.
A Romantica® western historical erotic romance
from Ellora’s Cave
Available now from: Elloras Cave
eBooks | Amazon | All Romance eBooks
Okay, seriously, a smooth talking vampire wanting to get a little wild out in the old West? Definitely a must read for every type of romance reader out there!
Thanks so much for taking the time to visit Juliet! Happy writing :)
