Interview of Author Suz deMello

Latest Book: Queen’s Quest
Buy Link: http://bit.ly/QueensQuest

BIO:
Best-selling, award-winning author Suz deMello has written seventeen romance novels in several subgenres, including erotica, comedy, historical, paranormal, mystery and suspense. Her books have been favorably reviewed in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and Booklist, won a contest or two, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.

Q: How did you celebrate publishing your first book?
A: I bought myself a diamond ring.

Q: Your novel is being made into a TV series/movie. Who’s in your dream cast?
A: The hero in Queen’s Quest is modeled on Viggo Mortensen, and the heroine is a Jennifer Lawrence type :) The villain...how about a surprise casting choice: Michael Jordan.

Q: What’s your writing schedule like? Do you strive for a certain amount of words each day?
A: I wish! But I have a number of responsibilities and my days are not predictable.

Q: What is the most important thing you do for your career now, as compared to when you first started writing?
A: Initially, I focused on craft. I’m still obsessed with quality and craftsmanship but nowadays I have to promote and market my books far, far more.

Q: How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book?
A: Very little. I have written seventeen books and a number of short stories. A writer’s personality isn’t interesting enough to sustain so many characters in so many books. I travel, meet people here and there, and my experiences shape my characters and stories.

I’d like to think that I’m as strong as Kathie Belmont in For My Master, as smart as Detective Liza Bowman in Phoenix and Dragon or had magical powers like Elena in Gypsy Witch. But I doubt that.

Q: Do you eat comfort food/listen to music when writing?
A: I definitely don’t eat when I work. It’s a distraction, and I also believe in being mindful. Multi-tasking separates ourselves from our full awareness and concentration on the task at hand. I want to be completely focused on the writing. And I love to eat so much that I rarely combine enjoying food with anything else.

But often I create a playlist for the manuscript I’m writing, which acts as a trigger for my creativity.

Q: Covers. Ever get one you wish you could change?
A: Rarely, but I must say that I am not a fan of stock covers. I think it discourages readers from buying a book if they’ve seen the cover image more than once. It tells the reader that the publisher doesn’t care enough to five the work a unique cover. That sends the message that the story is not worth purchasing. In my not-very-humble opinion, it’s a false economy.

Q: If you could give a younger version of yourself advice, what would it be?
A: Shed fear. There is nothing to be afraid of, no goal you cannot conquer.

Q: Have you ever used an incident from your real life into one of your books?
A: Often, especially in the sex scenes. I do use my escapades for inspiration, but readers will have to guess at what really happened and what’s fiction.

I do use places I’ve traveled as inspiration: Scotland, London, even nearby San Francisco and Santa Cruz.

Q: Out of your entire backlist, which book has the best opening line? What's the line?
A: Frankly, all of them are very good. I spend a lot of time thinking about the first line in a book because that line is likely to sell it. I often start with dialog, but as that’s hard for readers to understand or enjoy in a vacuum, I’ll give you this line, from Gypsy Witch:
Ben propped himself up on his elbows to better see the naked woman beneath him.

I also like to start a book with a bang—that is, in the middle of a sex scene.

Fun Stuff:
Q: What is your favorite holiday and why?
A: Ooh, I only get to pick one? Mmm...Halloween.

Q: What are two things people might be surprised to know about you?
A: I enjoy refinishing old furniture and loathe soda pop.

Q: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: An “astronette.”

Q: Favorite food.
A: Salt and vinegar potato chips.

Q: Favorite happy memory.
A: Partying with my writer buddies at the Women’s Fiction Festival in Matera, Italy.

Q: Favorite drink.
A: Prosecco (an Italian white wine).

Q: Hot summer days or chilly winter nights?
A: Hot summer days...at the beach.

Q: What is the top thing on your bucket list?
A: Retiring to Spain or Italy.

Q: If you could have a super power, what would it be?
A: Flight.

Tell us where to find you: website(s), publisher’s page(s), blog(s), Facebook page(s), etc. List them all!
Books at http://www.suzdemello.com/
Amazon author pages are: https://www.amazon.com/author/sueswift and https://www.amazon.com/author/suzdemello

For editing services, email her at suzswift@yahoo.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sueswiftTweets her reading picks @ReadThis4fun

Her current blog is http://www.fearlessfastpacedfiction.com/

BLURB:
Janus is a planet which lacks both tilt and spin, and its Shadowlands are the pewter band of dusk dividing the violently hot Lightside of the planet from its Darkside, imprisoned by eternal night. Because of the peculiar conformation of the planet, birthrates are low and indiscriminate mating encouraged.

Audryn, Queen of Shadow has reached that time in her life when she must choose a King to rule with her or fail to bear an heir, casting not only her realm but all of Janus into chaos.

Despite her duty, she is reluctant to share power, even a bit distrustful. Janus’ nobles vie for Audryn’s hand. Although she enjoys trysting with all her suitors, none seize her heart.

Then Storne, the warrior Prince of Darkness, arrives to claim her as his bride.

Will his masterful ways allure or repel the willful Queen?

EXCERPT: Warning: Adult Content and Language
Prince Storne took out a small pouch from a hidden pocket in his doublet. “My first gift to you.” He tugged apart the drawstring at the pouch’s top and upended it above his cupped palm. A stream of molten gold spilled forth, resolving into a fine chain, nearly three feet long.

“Thank you.” Puzzled, I examined it by the light of the torches lining the marble terrace. The chain had little scissor-like appendages at each end, each maybe the size of my thumbnail. The scissors had curved blades that weren’t sharp but were lined with tiny seed pearls, leaving a circular gap in the center perhaps the size of a baby pea. The ends were curlicued to wrap around each other.

I raised my brows at Storne.

“Allow me.” But he didn’t take the chain, instead reaching for my bodice.

I gasped and jerked away. “Sir, you presume too much.”

“Do I? Audryn, there is only one sure test of our ability to rule together, and this mating is a radical step neither of us can take without some...experimentation. I know you approach your seventeenth starturn, and you have sworn to crown your king on that day.”

My jaw tightened. “Your spies are most effective.”

“Thus, time grows short. Please.” He reached for me again, and this time I did not resist. He was right; besides, I wanted him to touch me intimately. Though his hands were rough, he handled my breasts with tenderness, lifting them above the gown and away from the corset’s confinement, resting them atop my lace-trimmed neckline. Cool air washed my breasts, a delightful sensation. My nipples wrinkled. He passed a hand over the mounded flesh, traced one curved pink aureole’s edge. Need flared through me, and my pussy dampened anew.

He slid an arm around me and bent his head to kiss first one nipple and then the other, licking around the aureole, sucking to lengthen the tips until they were hard and distended. He gripped my left one between his teeth and gave it a sharp little nip. I gasped, “Storne!”

“Did that hurt?”

“A little.”

He rubbed his lips over the tiny pain he’d caused, and the sting dissolved into a haze of pleasure. He took one of the scissorlike appendages and opened the clasp, then closed it around my swollen nipple.

The tiny pearls gripped the very tip of my breast, lighting a spark of need that zipped to my pussy. I rested my face against his chest, breathing deeply in a vain attempt to control my reaction. I felt heat in my cheeks and the softness of his velvet doublet, my pulsing clit...an array of dizzying sensations.

He dropped the chain, and the slight weight tugging on my nipple built my pussy’s spark into a fire. He lifted my right breast higher and pinched my nipple, kissed and licked the tip. It also swelled and he fastened the other clip to it. The fire roared into a blaze, and I grabbed his shoulders, flinging back my head. He laid a trail of kisses across my bare chest, up to my throat, along my jawline before he reached my lips.

This time, he took my mouth with a commanding kiss, holding me so tightly that I could feel the embroidery on his doublet abrade my naked breasts. My captured nipples rubbed across velvet, scraped across silver thread. I tore my lips away from his and I cried out.

Anything else you’d like to add?
Thanks for the opportunity! And if any of you reading this want a hot, sexy read that doesn’t feel icky or porn-y, I’m the writer for you. I pride myself on writing quality erotic romance. After you read one of my stories, you won’t feel as though you need to take a shower. Instead, you’ll feel warm and fuzzy, uplifted and happy, full of passion and love.