Character spotlight with Reeve From Devotion

Author: “Hello, my name’s Blak Rayne and I’m the author of a soon to be released novel titled Devotion. This is the first of two parts. It will be available for sale through Extasy Books and here’s the link(s) http://www.blakraynebooks.com/ or http://www.extasybooks.com/ where it can be purchased.”

Character: “Bestseller, babe, bestseller! You have to be confident!”

Author: “I’m so sorry for that untimely outburst. One of my characters is here with me as well and I guess he feels a need to be involved. Oh lovely…and I can see he’s drinking this morning.”

Interviewer: **Makes a failed attempt at cutting in on the conversation**

Character: “Only two, I swear!”

Author: “Anyway, I guess now’s as good a time as any to introduce you to Reeve Taylor. Go ahead, Reeve, knock yourself out.”

Interviewer: **Sighs loudly, giving up and holds the microphone closer to the cowboy**
Reeve: “Much appreciated, babe.” **Grabs Interviewer’s wrist, so the mike is even closer** “As my author already established, I’m Reeve Taylor and one of the central characters in her novel Devotion. I’m six foot six, sexy and balling the other male lead, Slade, blind. And is he hot! Ha ha! Well he is, trust me. I work for one of the world’s larger military bases we call Zone Zero. I went into training right after my father found out I was a homosexual and booted my ass out the door.” **Stops to swirl the ice cubes in glass**

Interviewer: “What makes you special? What differentiates you from your kind? Do you have special abilities?”
Reeve: “What makes me special you ask…well I thought that was obvious? I’m a sniper by trade–and a damned good one, actually the best in my world. I carry a big ass rifle called a Villarus 5000X, I’m hot–and if it’s not too bold, I’m incredible in bed! Would that be classified as a special ability?” **Laughs and points at lover’s abashed face** “Oh and you know it, sweet cheeks! There see he’s blushing! I am a god!”

Interviewer: “Tell me about your most current adventure.
Reeve: “Coping with Slade’s secret. I was sent away on assignment and ever since I’ve returned things have been real shitty.” **Pauses to emotionally regroup and suck back another mouthful of rye** “Sorry, I’d prefer not to talk about it right now and I don’t want to hurt the other half. He’s quite sensitive. And I’ve had a couple of drinks this morning and there’s certain things I won’t discuss when I’ve been drinking. I suggest you read an excerpt of the book my author has inserted at www.blakraynebooks.com on the Bookshelf Tab. The book’s due out on September 1-2010.”

Interviewer: “If you could offer your author advice, what would it be?”
Reeve: “Blak, babe, stop sniffing the glue–just teasing! Here’s my advice, she knows how much everyone loves my character and the relationship I have with Slade, so I wish she’d seriously consider writing a sequel.” **Taps mike** “Did you hear me, Blak?” **Writer pretends to ignore**

Interviewer: Are you happy with the way people perceive you?
Reeve: “I think so, for the most part. Okay that’s not really true. I’d love more exposure and I don’t think my character’s been written to its fullest potential yet. All right, I admit, I’m just an honest guy who’s got a few skeletons in the closet, but I never fail to get in trouble, and with my trusty sidekick and my undeniably witty sense of humour it’s a winning combination.” **Pauses to refill glass** “I want people to experience more of me—if that’s not to arrogant sounding. I want them to read the book and walk away with a sense that they need more. Popular! That’s it! I want to be every reader’s fantasy!” **Laughs**

Interviewer: “Does your author ever try to take over the story? And how do you deal with it?”
Reeve: “Of course she does, she’s the author, but there’s no talking to the woman when she goes off on a tangent. So that’s when I sneak off, ingest a stiff drink and try to ball Slade.”

Interviewer: “Is humor important? Why or why not?”
**Loudly laughs** “Sorry I’m still in stitches from the last question. Hell yeah I think humour is important! It’s the key to survival in my book, literally speaking, and it makes for awesome entertainment. Plus Slade doesn’t have a sense of humour, so I have to compensate some how. Okay…now he’s glaring at me.”

Interviewer: “Is expressing love difficult for you? Why?”
Reeve: “Not really, but for the significant other it is.” **Chokes** “Sorry about that, I disappeared for a second there. Slade just elbowed me and I spilt my drink. To be honest, I don’t embarrass that easily and personally I don’t give a shit what anybody thinks. I just say whatever leaps to mind. I’m an affectionate person so the verbal sharing thing comes quite naturally for me.”

Interviewer: “Is there a message you want to get across in this interview?”
Reeve: “Drinking is not the only answer, sex helps.”

Interviewer: “What does your significant other think about your adventures? And how do they deal with it? Do you ever ask your significant other for advice?”
Reeve: “More like misadventures and he wasn’t too thrilled with any of them. I guess he coped as best as he could. My forte is guns. I’m the one the government calls in to do their dirty work. It isn’t pleasant blowing people’s heads off, but I get paid well and someone has to do it. I don’t normally ask Slade for advice, actually I don’t usually ask anyone for advice because I might appear weak and I’d hate like hell to shatter my image.”

Interviewer: “Have you ever lost control?”
Reeve: “If you mean temper wise–shit yeah! And it was so bad I nearly killed the guy. As for anything else, I have developed a bit of a drinking problem…the only other thing I can think of is sex, but we won’t discuss that here. Is this interview over?

Interviewer responds: “Not quite, I’ve got just one more.”
Reeve: “Okay, well make it fast, because my rye’s gone warm and Slade’s giving me the look.”

Interviewer: “What was the best sexual experience you’ve had?”
Reeve: “In a word whipping cream…” **Roars with laughter**

Author spotlight with Melody Lane

Hi Melody!
Thanks for joining us, today. Tell us, how did you feel when you got your first publishing contract? Ecstatic! I had self-published a few times, but that first real contract where you don’t have to pay out any money is stellar!

How do you categorize yourself: pantser or plotter? A little bit of both. I try to do an outline as to what I want to achieve with the story—beginning, middle, end. It may change along the way as I love the freedom of writing. There isn’t a better feeling than being at a part in your book where you can just let your fingers fly over the keyboard…the dialogue, the sex, the emotion, the action. You know what you want to accomplish and can do it while having fun!

What makes a book great in your eyes? The plot, the characters, the pacing. I’m a reader who is bored with too much description of the outside of the house or someone’s clothes. I also don’t like slow pacing. I’m a believer in keeping it moving.

What is the biggest piece of your advice you can give a beginning writer? If it is truly your dream, don’t give up. Keep trying. When I look at my early writing, I see many mistakes. I have learned so much over the years. Continuous quality improvement are words to live by.

Do you have any guilty pleasures? Thinking of my favorite rock stars and actors make the romantic lead easy to write…especially the love scenes. I also have trouble turning down a good margarita, girly martini or fruity white wine. And if you tell me you have an airplane ticket to just about anywhere, I’m there with you. Are you ready to go?

Are love scenes easy/difficult to write? They were hard for me to write in the beginning because I had never planned on being a romance writer. But with a little genre studying, a little dreaming…and a little wine as I thought about some hot men…it has gotten easier.

Do you have another career besides writing? What is it? I’ve been a registered nurse for many years working in a variety of settings. Since I have always enjoyed the medical field, I will be having books come out with a bit of medical in them. Can’t help it. Write what you know and all that.

http://www.melodylanebooks.com

Character spotlight with Ann Raina’s, Eric

Hello Eric, thanks for joining us this afternoon. It’s very kind of you to share some time with me before…
Hey, lady, I’m always kind. You should know that. Haven’t I seen you last week at the farm?

Oh, no, you must be mistaken. *blushes* I would never…
I’m quite sure, lady. Who could forget those…

Wait a minute. Why not get started with the interview, okay? Tell me a bit about you.
*points his finger at her* If that’s what you want. I’m Eric Bletchley, one of the main characters of Ann Raina’s No Fool: An Undercover Mission that came out in August this year at eXtasy Books. If you want to have a closer look, check it here: I’m the experienced guy at the wellness farm of Lady Summerston. Means, I’m already there when that guy Matthew comes in, totally unaware of what he has to expect. I show him around, you know, and tell him about his duties. We become friends. Later in the story, we have some fun at a bar.

Fun? What kind of fun?
Uh, well… I’m a known charmer and no woman can deny me. That evening in the bar, some guys weren’t so happy about me trying to flirt with their girlfriends. Things got rough and…you know, punches flew and Matt had a real good time showing off with his fighting talents.

You say, he got you out of the bar.
Alive, yes.

That makes me wonder: What are your special abilities?
I’m not a fighter, lady, I’m a lover. Look at me. I’m six foot four, muscled, young, got a great face, good manners—all of Lady Summerston’s boys have to have good manners or we wouldn’t work there—and not to forget my black hair, paired with green eyes. Besides that, I can flow with the rhythm. Whatever the woman wants—with me, she’ll get it.

And what is your part in the adventure?
Matt doesn’t understand the undercurrent that exists in a group of men. He doesn’t know nil about competition, distrust and the fear of being exposed to the laughter of others. At the wellness farm, all men fulfill the dreams of women, but they don’t want to tell the world about their job. I’m sure you understand that. It was my task to help Matt get acquainted with the other boys.

If you could offer your author advice, what would it be?
Hell, give me a greater part! It’s Matthew here and Matthew there, and I get only the small scenes. That’s disappointing. I want her to write another story and give me the main part.

Do you like how people perceive you?
Yes! Yes! Though I admit that it is more important to me how women perceive me. It’s a wonderful push of ego to learn that women choose you for a night, a day, a week to show off with you. It makes me feel great. I love my job.

Is there a message you want to get across in this interview?
Sure. Women, take whatever you want. If you want soft love, make sure you get it. And if you’re the rough type, don’t hesitate to ask for that, too. I’m so sick of women who always hide their sexual wishes because they are afraid of what their friends would say about them. What about you? Did you tell your friends you were here?

I really like your enthusiasm.
I’m the enthusiast in person, yes.

What was the least interesting thing that has ever happened to you?
Lady, do you have to ask this? Once, a woman took me to the opera. Yes, she wanted to show off, but can you imagine me to live through three hours of singing and even more singing? God, I was bored to death and still had to smile and be good company.

If you could pull your author into your world, what do you think would happen to her?
*smiles broadly* First, I would recommendate to never attend the opera. Sorry, just a joke. Second, I bet that she would liberate herself and ask the right questions to reach fulfillment. In everything. Every time. I would personally take care of her if she wanted me.

If you had the chance to meet another character, who would it be and why?
Another character? Hum, that beautiful woman that Matthew gets in the end. Yes, I’m almost jealous that she voted for him and not for me. Matt’s much smaller. He can hide behind me, y’know. She’s a classy woman, intelligent, strong in mind. Thinking about it—I don’t know if I could handle her. She gives me the impression of a woman who likes to be in command.

And that is something you don’t want?
Come on, didn’t you check out the dungeon last week? Ha, I knew you did! I’ve been down there many times. And if you’re bound, the woman’s in command. Bet on it.

Tell us what it’s like to spend a day with you.
That depends if I’m alone or with a woman. If I’m alone, I go to the gym for three hours, training. My body’s a fine-tuned machine that needs exercise every day. After that, I’ll have lunch and go for a swim or take my bike. Lady Summerston doesn’t want us to be in town alone. She always thinks that her precious boys could get molested or something. So I spend much time on the premises. In the evening, there will be a woman on my list. I take her out to a restaurant or… Last week, I had a really nice lady who wanted to ride a motorcycle with me. Hell, that was fun! She was about fifty and had never ridden a bike before. She enjoyed it immensely. And I did, too.

What’s the oddest thing you’ve seen or done?
That’s a long list, lady! The one thing was painful, really painful. A lady chose me and lost control. Since that happened in the dungeon, you can imagine how I looked afterwards.

Tell us about the lady.
No, hell, no! She’s a kind of evil creature I want to forget. Most of the ladies are nice and kind, even if they live out their fantasies which include my body. I’m not shy, I’m open for any kind of game, but that one woman… Matt avenged me. That was a good feeling.

Thanks, Eric, for that insight. Is there a question you wish I had asked but didn’t?
*Looks her deep in the eyes* Aw, yes. You can ask me if I’m free for tonight. And the answer is…

Eric, I have a boyfriend.
Lynn, I’ve had many, many women, and I never told their husbands or boyfriends about what we did. I won’t change that principle.

*Takes a deep breath* Thank you for the interview, Eric, and have a good night.

Author spotlight with Kelly Jacobs

Hi Kelly and welcome!
What has been your biggest influence on becoming a writer?
I think being a self-professed 90s kid was the big deal. In the 90s, we had this thing called the animation renaissance. We got the best cartoons the world had ever seen, and with most of the artist and writers among us, it instilled a belief that it was our duty to equal that beauty and imaginative quality of those works.

How did you feel when you got your first publishing contract?
Because of the current recession (let’s not kid ourselves, it’s an economic depression with a smiley face sticker), my heart jumped for joy! Like so many people my age who got robbed of all of the promises for the future we had been raised with, this was a glimmer of light in a dark cave.

How do you categorize yourself: pantser or plotter?
Texan. Maybe pantser. I start with a decade, and a singular character I like the idea of, and apply the story around that character.

What makes a book great in your eyes?
The ability to learn and feel from it. All the schmaltzy schlock that news anchors and celebrities in the world pile into pages just to sell a cheesy book is what’s killing the writer’s job. Those books have no feeling, or depth.

What is the biggest piece of your advice you can give a beginning writer?
Research all options, even strange and non-traditional ones, investigate new genres, and never give up. Did we surrender at the Alamo, no! The Mexican empire won, but only by default. (all the Texians died)

Do you have any guilty pleasures?
I don’t do anything I’d feel guilty about, like stealing. If it’s something like fudge or real Virginia ham, why would I feel guilty? My hips, my body, my rules. My ham, don’t touch.

What influences your writing? And why?
A desire to teach, and help others by any means necessary.

Name one thing readers don’t know about you.
I don’t care for coconut. It’s not the flavor, but the texture.

What are you working on now?
Whatever the editor and boss say to. (I bow before Tina and Jay) Seriously, a new and soon to be finished gay (m/m), regency era romance, set during the Texas revolution.

Who is your favorite all-time author?
Herman Melville, or R.L. Stine. What? I’m a 90s kid, I can like Stine if I want.

Are love scenes easy/difficult to write?
Only ones that are forced from the author, ones that I don’t care about.

If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?
Over the grave of Jimmy Hoffa, or the grave of Genghis Khan. Just so we’d know where to dig.

How do you deal with the dreaded writer’s block?
Bourbon, and staring at a picture of the Kiowa war chief Sitting Bear, and Walt Disney. I hate Disney so much. Happy now?

Do you have another career besides writing? What is it?
Embalming.

What’s your biggest reward in being a writer?
If you have ever learned something from my books, that’s my reward.

If you had the opportunity to say one thing to your readers, what would that be?
Don’t touch my ham, kidding—do what is right, even if it is hard, even if you do it alone. Do what is right.