Please welcome Samara King to the blog today!
1. How did you celebrate publishing your first book? I went out to dinner with my family - actually before knowing that I had an acceptance letter awaiting for me at home for my first book. When I arrived home, I remember opening the letter and guzzling down wine and swiping tears. It was a wonderful night.
3. What’s your writing schedule like? I attempt to get up at 3:30 am, meditate/pray/journal, workout about 3 times a week and write for an hour to 90 min - which I break down into 15 min segments.
4. Do you strive for a certain amount of words each day? I try for 2000 words - five days a week.
5. How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book? Laughing, ummm...quite a bit. I have to say that my heroines definitely have my humor sometimes and my sass.
6. Of all your characters, who’s your favorite, and why? I love Detective Elle Taylor, in Sweeter Than This. She has grit, and flaws and insecurities. I mean she's a woman in blue and finds out her biological father is the criminal of the year, not to mention fallowing for his second in command. Her whole world goes crazy, yet she's able, not without doubts, to keep her soul. I really value the realness shown in Elle's development throughout the story, that I think we all face when determining where we stand on certain issues.
8. Do you eat comfort food/listen to music when writing? Popcorn, chocolate, especially Hershey's Treasures w/ almonds, green tea or coffee. I must have music, which I listen to all the time, except when editing. LOL. During the first draft it helps me through the journey and even sets the mood for love scenes.
9. How do you choose names for your characters? I have several name books, one by the year a name was introduced into use, another by personality. Often the names come to me by the characters themselves as I'm jotting down their character profile.
10. Covers. Ever get one you wish you could change? Yes, but you learn to go with it and enhance the book with interesting promo pieces.
11. Give one advice tip to an aspiring author. Never give up on your vision. Your creativity is enough. Will always be enough and never stop learning and recreating your vision is always an option - just never give up.
12. If you could give a younger version of yourself advice, what would it be? Don't stress so much over the little things, just DO IT.
13. What genre would you like to try writing that you haven’t yet tried? Actually I will be writing historical romance under a separate pen name, Olivia Alicia next year. :)
15. Any part of a book that drives you crazy as you write: beginning, middle, or end? I would say the middle. But I've learned to stop for a moment after chapter three and re-read, write down all the could-happens, need-to-happens, this is about as much heavy planning as I do, other than jotting down a brief sentence of what I will write about before I write and loose character profiles.
Fun Stuff:
1. What is your favorite holiday and why? I have to say I love New Years, feels like rebirth, a huge restart button while running in the midst of a 5k run. I love the feeling of hope, well wishes.
3. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? A singer/dancer
4. Favorite food. It's a toss up between Mexican and Italian
5. Favorite sweet. Chocolate turtles or butter pecan ice cream :)
6. Favorite drink. Green tea (iced) or a strawberry margarita or mojito :)
7. Hot summer days or chilly winter nights? Summer, definitely!
8. What is the top thing on your bucket list? To travel to Eygpt and other world sites. Also, to use up all my talents to the best of my ability.
9. If you could have a super power, what would it be? I'd love to be able to fly, lol. Save me on those delayed flights and time. :) #supergirlenvy.
Samara's Bio:
Samara King began her literary journey at the age of twelve years old while sneaking to the back of the library and indulging in romance novels; soon after, she wrote her own!
She has penned four novels and fifteen novellas all within the multicultural erotic romance genre, as well as two poetry collections. She is a 2011 Poet of the Year Nominee by African Americans on the Move Book Club.
Samara lives in Chicago with her family, where she encounters new adventures every day that service her in the creation of each of her stories!
Readers can reach her at: http://www.samaraking.com
Anything else you’d like to add?
Readers may reach me at:
http://www.charactersbehavingbadly.com (my blog)
With her best friend murdered, the man believed to be partly responsible under the nose of her gun and a stranger looming in the shadows out for blood, Officer Elle Taylor is running out of time and people to trust. Will Elle risk crossing the line between attraction and revenge to take help from an unexpected source, before the murderer strikes again and leaves her life in flames?
Durant Kane is no stranger to trouble, especially the kind that comes with a gun trained on his face and an angry woman attached. But Elle's something different, something unexpected and sweeter. He never could have imagined coming to feel so deeply about her, even if his own disastrous path in relationships hadn't left him so wary. But he'll have to take the risk if he doesn't want to lose the woman he's come to realize he can't even think of living without.
EXCERPT
Everyone had a guilty pleasure. Some gave in once and could walk away afterward. Others became a slave to it. Given the wicked spasms pulsating between Officer Elisha “Elle” Taylor’s thighs, the deciding factor of which side she fell on was clear.
Seeing Durant Kane again cracked open her wall of defense. Elle gritted her teeth as she waited on her coffee. Her usual early morning joint was filled with commuters and the normal hum of conversations and steady traffic. Her gaze traveled slowly over the handsome man standing at the entrance of the diner. His golden skin, brilliant blue eyes hinting at wise-cracking cynicism, and cropped blond hair gave him the air of a playboy. Sophistication and confidence defined every move he made.
The shrewd gleam Elle knew oh so well in his baby blues matched his smooth-talking ways. Although it hadn’t taken much talking for her to end up in his bed. The dark designer suit lined his tall, muscular frame with contemporary style, as did the black, quarter-length coat he was shrugging out of. She noted that same potency registered with several of the men Durant stood with as he gazed occasionally at traffic. They seemed intent on his every word. She was addicted to him in all the ways that shouldn’t matter to a cop, but as a full-blooded woman—that was a different story.
Look away!
Elle turned to him just as Durant looked in her direction, a slow smile tugging at the corner of his lips. She faced the counter. Where the hell is that coffee? She needed to be on the road, and not recounting the ways he’d made her come a year ago. Knowing he still had the ability to captivate her attention made her blood boil. Lines had been crossed, dotted, and underlined in Durant’s company.
Guilty pleasures… Elle knew of them; she was experiencing one right now. The swipe of his tongue across his lips made her stomach clench. She balled her fist. Moments later, she felt the brush of his hand graze her lower back. She didn’t dare turn around, and with the steady stream of people roaming the diner, no one would notice that Durant was standing inappropriately close behind her. The heat from his breath fanned the back of her neck.
“Excuse me, Officer. So rude of me to reach over you.” He leaned forward, grabbing a menu.
“I should shoot you.”
She could hear the smile in Durant’s whispering voice. “A pleasure to see you as well, Elle.”
She raised her eyebrows, despite the sexual intensity spreading throughout her body. “I doubt your associates would see it that way.”
Durant chuckled. “That’s why they’re waiting outside.” The sound of his laughter was rich and filling, just as he’d been when their bodies had intertwined.
Elle squeezed her thighs, standing stiffly. “Perfect, a henchman who does delivery.”
“I try to be as accommodating as possible to my employees and otherwise.”
Elle grunted. “Is that what you’re calling it these days?”
“There are many names I have for what I want to do to you.” He moved closer, the hard muscles of his chest pressed against her back. An innocent onlooker would only see a man perusing the menu and not the sensual heat ricocheting between them.
Durant snaked his right hand to the side of her waist, over her belly, and tugged her backward. Her ass brushed his erection. “What’s good here?” he said against her ear, inhaling her scent.
“Get your hands off me.” Elle’s eyes fluttered for a moment before she pushed away, only to feel his hand clamp tightly against her. Her body responded swiftly, and her clit quivered wildly. She bit her lip to stop from moaning out loud. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. “Damn you! If I scream—”
“If you scream, it’ll be a sound I’ve been longing to hear,” he replied huskily.
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