Interview of Author Vijaya Schartz

Today I'm happy to present an interview of romance author Vijaya Schartz.

Latest Book: BOREALIS – BLACK DRAGON
Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001JP7UJ4

BIO:
Born in France, award-winning author Vijaya Schartz never conformed to anything and could never refuse a challenge. She likes action and exotic settings, in life and on the page. She traveled the world and claims she comes from the future. Her books collected many five star reviews and literary awards. She makes you believe you actually lived these extraordinary adventures among her characters. She currently has sixteen titles available. Her stories have been compared to Indiana Jones with sizzling romance. So, go ahead, dare to experience the magic, and she will keep you entranced, turning the pages until the last line. Find more at http://www.vijayaschartz.com

Q: What’s the first thing you did when you received word you’d sold a book?
A: I sold my first novel over ten years ago, but I remember dancing around the house and jumping up and down. The most wonderful feeling, however, was to hold the paperback in my hands. The feel of the brand new book out of the box, with its glossy cover and the smell of new ink was something of beauty. It made me feel like a published author. Nowadays, my books are sold before I write them, so it’s signing a new contract, then worrying about the deadline. I usually have five months to write a novel, and although I’ve done it over and over again, it still scares me. But that’s healthy. Then there are lots of little joys, like seeing the new cover for the first time, the eBook release, the paperback release, etc.

Q: Do all your heroes and all heroines look the same in your mind as you “head write”?
A: Not at all. Although a little of me goes into each of my characters, I make it a point to have a specific picture of my heroine and my hero before I start writing. At the brainstorming stage, when I think about their personality traits, where they mesh and where they clash, I also think of physical attributes to go with their personality. Then I create a poster for each story with pictures of them and setting. I hang it on my wall and look at it often as I write. It helps me remain true to each character, the setting, etc.

A hot Latina, like Tia Vargas in Anaz-voohri, will have a temper to match. Fiction imitates life, and without falling into the old clichés, you want your characters to be believable to the reader. Tora, the blond, blue-eyed, sword wielding heroine of White Tiger, is tall and slim, and just as fierce. My heroine in BLACK DRAGON, is a short, brown-eyed, curly brown hair pixie. As for my heroes, whether driven or brooding, whether Viking or Latino, physically flawed or seemingly perfect, they always are the kind of men you dream about. For my latest hero, BLACK DRAGON, my physical model was an actual romance cover model, Jimmy Thomas, a wonderful guy in pictures and in real life. I was privileged to meet him at various conferences. I have a picture of him on the book page of my website. I also have in my office a centerfold poster of Ryan, from an Ellora’s Cave cover model calendar. Ryan was the inspiration for Svend, my Viking warrior in SNATCHED.

Q: Do you eat comfort food when writing? If so, what food inspires your imagination?
A: My comfort writing food is my own recipe trail mix and it’s healthy but full of calories. Dark chocolate chips, peanuts, walnuts, almonds, dry figs, dry apricots and dry cranberries. It keeps my brain working. And when all else fails, some sweet wine, like port, or red Vermouth, usually does the trick.

Q: What hobby do you enjoy when not writing?
A: I don’t have much time these days, but I’ve been known to jump out of perfectly good planes, ride the Colorado River rapids, travel to exotic lands, practice Yoga or Martial Arts, meditate, or play with my cats. And I find inspiration in all of these activities.

Q: What’s your strongest point as a writer?
A: Creating imaginary worlds and make them believable to the reader, placing the reader in the middle of an action scene, and developing strong, believable characters. My heroines are never weak, although their strengths come in many forms. Some reviewers have called them “girls with guns,” and “kick-butt heroines.”

Q: What is your favorite romance book that you’ve read?
A: Lately, I especially like Linnea Sinclair, and my favorite book of hers is GAMES OF COMMAND. Great characters, great science fiction premise, great romance. I believe there is a movie being made of one of her books, not this one, though, and I’m glad to see that romantic science fiction is finding its audience. The movie based on her book is going to be called The Down Home Alien Blues.

Q: What genre would you like to try writing in but haven’t yet done so? Why?
A: Well, I’m a closet historical writer. I also love authentic legends. To me it's not so far away from science fiction. I’ve been working on an ambitious series based on post Arthurian legends involving a family of Magic Ladies related to Morgan the Fay. The first book is set in Scotland during the Viking invasions, and the other books span France, Spain, Luxembourg, and the middle-east, all the way to the Crusades. It’s history, it’s fantasy, it’s full of passions, and the first book is scheduled for release from Books We Love Publishing sometime next year.

Tell us where to find you:
http://www.vijayaschartz.com
Publisher page Desert Breeze: http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-template/VijayaSchartz/Page.bok
Publisher page Books We Love: http://bookswelove.net/vijayaschartz.php
Publisher page Sapphire Blue Publishing: http://www.sapphirebluepublishing.com/catalog/index.php?manufacturers_id=25&osCsid=18458beca61512fa4313ce73d10b2e8b
http://romancingscifi.blogspot.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vijaya-Schartz-Author/109777709045040
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#%21/Vijayaschartz

BLURB:
A gambler is cheating in a den of the Borealis space station, and Lieutenant Zara Frankel intends to catch him in the act. She always gets her man, but this one could prove more than she can handle.

Captain Czerno Drake, code name Black Dragon, has come under cover to break his innocent uncle from the most secure penitentiary in the galaxy, on the Borealis space station. He will stop at nothing to succeed, even enrolling the help of the lovely straight arrow TPP enforcer. When Zara realizes that she’s been used by a shrewd but seductive rebel, her reaction surprises everyone, most of all herself.

EXCERPT:
When she breezed through the doors of the crowded and noisy casino, Zara glided straight to the private area behind the row of tall greenery and searched the high stakes tables for her suspected cheater. The owner said he wore a tan and yellow outfit and flaunted a white fluffy Terran cat. An ostentatious luxury.

She easily spotted the caramel overcoat and the sleeping white fluff on the pink gambling table. From the back, as she walked toward the table, she studied the square shoulders stretching the expensive velvet, strong shoulders for a pleasure‑seeking dandy. The gleaming dark hair tied at the nape with a yellow silk scarf denoted a rare degree of refinement for a human male, and as she neared him, the musky scent of his cologne made her best perfume seem cheap in comparison.

Just before she reached him, he turned around, rose from his chair, and smiled down at her. He stood taller than she expected, muscular, with strong thighs bulging under the caramel velvet pants tucked into soft brown boots.

"Captain Czerno Drake, of the Providence. Lucky Drake to the ladies." The deep baritone voice rumbled low, like a sexy promise. The regular planes of his face, the square jaw, high forehead, dark brow, and the sparkle in his deep topaz eyes under thick eyelashes screamed of perfect genes and high‑born society.

When he took her hand and kissed her fingers lightly, a frisson crossed her spine and her legs melted like chocolate in a solar flare. Despite the extraordinary refinement of his garb and manners, this man was alpha‑male through and through, and as wild as they came. Eye candy in caramel velvet and yellow silk wrapping. All she could think about was unwrapping him, like a present at yuletide.

Anything else you’d like to add?
Anyone can enter my holiday contest to win a pdf of A DESPERADO FOR CHRISTMAS, a romantic suspense border patrol story set on Christmas Eve. Just click on CONTEST at the upper right of my website page and enter your name.

Thank you for the opportunity to share.