Interview of Author Sue Swift

Today I'm pleased to present an interview of romance author Sue Swift.

Latest Book: Lord Devere’s Ward
Buy Link: http://bit.ly/DeveresWard

BIO:
Best-selling, award-winning author Sue Swift, a.k.a. Suz deMello, has written seventeen romance novels in several subgenres, including erotica, comedy, historical, paranormal, mystery and suspense, plus a number of short stories and non-fiction articles on writing. A freelance editor, she’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Liquid Silver Books and Ai Press, where she is currently Managing Editor. She also takes private clients.

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.

A former trial attorney, her passion is world travel. She’s left the US over a dozen times, including lengthy stints working overseas. She’s now writing a vampire tale and planning her next trip.

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: Quin, Lord Devere, is not conventionally handsome, so I’d choose Benedict Cumberbatch. For the heroine, Kate, I’d love to see Jennifer Lawrence play her, but I’d like to see her play just about anyone. She’s sooo talented. Anne Hathaway would also do a good job.

Q: What’s your writing schedule like? Do you strive for a certain amount of words each day?
A: I wish! Life is far too tumultuous for that. I’m lucky if I can wrote a page or two. But that’s okay. Life isn’t lived in front of a screen.

Q: What is the most important thing you do for your career now, as compared to when you first started writing?
A: Promo and marketing. When one first starts, there’s nothing to promote.(Those were the days!)

Q: How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book?
A: Nothing deliberately hidden, though I’m sure that my characters reflect me in some way or another. After seventeen books and a number of short stories, I can’t really draw on myself or folks I know. That would be boring, and boring the reader is fatal.

Q: Of all your characters, who’s your favorite, and why?
A: I’m extremely fond of Kate Scoville, the young heroine of Lord Devere’s Ward. She’s kind, smart and plucky.

Q: If you could change something about your first book, what would it be?
A: Nothing. I loved it. Maybe the size of my royalty statements LOL.

Q: Do you eat comfort food/listen to music when writing?
A: I don’t eat anything around my computer and drink water, which I keep a safe distance away—I’m notoriously clumsy. I create a playlist for each book I write to get me into the mood for writing that specific book. For example, I wrote two sheikh books for Silhouette romance, and listened to music from the Kite Runner, which evoked the Arabian theme nicely.

Q: Give one advice tip to an aspiring author.
A: Read excellent writing. The usual advice is “read within your chosen genre,” but candidly, there’s a lot of bad writing out there. Read excellent craftspeople—Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Rita Maw Brown. And read the classics.

Q: If you could give a younger version of yourself advice, what would it be?
A: Shed fear. That advice is based on my view of the universe, which is itself based on science. Everything is composed of energy—even solid objects are slow energy. Einstein taught us that. And, as energy is neither created nor destroyed, but conserved or transformed. We have always been here and will always be here, eternally. Thus, there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Fun Stuff:
Q: What is your favorite holiday and why?
A: OMG, I only get one? It would be either Thanksgiving or Halloween. I love autumn to begin with, and Halloween is just fun,fun, fun, all the way. And I love the meaning of Thanksgiving, to be grateful for the many blessings we all enjoy.

Q: What are two things people might be surprised to know about you?
A: I dream about climbing the face of Half Dome with nothing but a bottle of Snapple peach iced tea and sunscreen as equipment.

I’m a part time Dominatrix.

Q: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I really didn’t know, but I can say that writing was the furthest occupation from my mind.

Q: Favorite food.
A: My go-to grub is pasta.

Q: Favorite happy memory.
A: Hanging out the window of my then-boyfriend’s Mercedes the night that the Raiders won the Super Bowl...we were in Jack London Square, and everyone was happily smashed, chanting, ”We’re Number One!” It was hella fun.

Q: Favorite drink.
A: Prosecco.

Q: Hot summer days or chilly winter nights?
A: Hot summer days, absolutely!

Q: What is the top thing on your bucket list?
A: Living in southern Italy or Spain for an extended period of time.

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

Tell us where to find you: website(s), publisher’s page(s), blog(s), Facebook page(s), etc. List them all!
Find her books at http://www.suzdemello.com/
For editing services, email her at suzswift@yahoo.com
Befriend her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sueswift
and visit her group page at https://www.facebook.com/redhotauthorscafe
She tweets her reading picks @ReadThis4fun and @Suzdemello
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/suzdemello/
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/SuzATGoodreads
Her current blog is http://www.fearlessfastpacedfiction.com/

BLURB:
Orphaned Kate Scoville is trapped in a tower prison by her scheming uncle, who plans to wed her to his loathsome son in order to gain control of her fortune. Plucky and resourceful, Lady Kate escapes to London to ask for help from her guardian. She's sure the elderly Earl of Devere will help her in her plight.

Kate is astounded to find that the Earl has died, and his son has become her guardian. Quinn, the present Earl, remembers Kate from his childhood as an awkward child he loved to taunt and tease.

But now his ward has grown into a beautiful young woman. Though honor prevents Quinn from making Kate his, their attraction is irresistible…

Will Kate tempt Quinn into abandoning honor? Will the wicked uncle trap Kate, compromise her and steal her fortune?

EXCERPT:
Kate smiled at Quinn. "I believe I've won your prize, my lord."

"So what shall you demand of me, sweet Kate?"

She tipped her head to one side and regarded him, still flirting with her eyes, her smile. He could tell she was nervous, yet expectant. He did not know if he should encourage her.

"I'm not quite sure yet." She touched the tip of her tongue to her upper lip. "What do you have to give me, my lord?"

His voice rasped in his throat. "Quinn. Please, call me Quinn."

"My lord Quinn," she said, with just a trace of mocking good humor in her tone.

"Kate," he said, taking her chin gently between his long, strong fingers. She quivered slightly but did not pull away as he stroked her cheek. Her response rippled through her body as he drew her into his arms.

Yes. The first kiss was as sweet as he had known it would be. For a few moments, he forgot why he had denied his desire, and hers, for so long.

As he touched his lips to hers, it was as though a spark flashed between them, igniting their emotions. Their mouths caressed and danced. When his tongue sought admission, she did not refuse him entry. He groaned as his embrace tightened, pulling her onto his lap. She reached up, touching his shoulders, tentatively at first, then with more confidence as their kiss deepened. Her arms wound around his neck as he held her close. He could feel her breasts, barely confined by the flimsy muslin, pressing against his chest. Her heartbeat was quick as a rabbit's, and knowing she was excited aroused him all the more.

When they finally parted he regarded her with amazement. "My darling Kate. Where did you learn to kiss like that?"


Anything else you’d like to add?
Not really LOL—you’ve covered it all!

Guest Blog: Suz deMello: Writing a Book Series The Right-Brained Way

Although I’m creative, I’m also highly logical. I tend to think in a linear manner. I practiced law for twenty years, an undertaking that certainly requires logic and objectivity. Although my first manuscript or two were pretty off-the-cuff, I soon discovered that outlining was really helpful. When I wrote for Silhouette Romance, everything was charted—I knew what scene would slot in where, even down to the number of pages I wanted for each scene.

Digital books have changed publishing quite a lot. Silhouette Romances had to be rigidly structured because the story had to fit into 50,000 words. Why, you ask? Because the pre-cut cover flats are a specific size, and the book, when typeset, had to fit within that cover flat.

Ebooks are different. I write the book I want, and my publisher decides if it’s a short story, a novella, a novel or a saga; the story is priced accordingly. It’s a much more comfortable way to write, but has led to less structured writing over time.

So with my Highland Vampire series, which is projected to reach seven publications, the order which I’ve written them looks like this:
#7: Highland Vampire, a contemporary short story. FMI: http://bit.ly/ScotchVamp
#2: Temptation in Tartan, a novel set in 1747. FMI: http://bit.ly/TemptTartan
#4: Bridling his Vampire, a short story set in 1766. http://www.ellorascave.com/bridling-his-vampire.html
#3: Desire in Tartan, a novel set in 1759. http://bit.ly/DesireTartan
#5: Rakes in Tartan, a novel set in 1816. http://www.ellorascave.com/rakes-in-tartan.html
#1: Viking in Tartan, a novella set in medieval Scotland—around 1260 or so.
#6: untitled Victorian/steampunk, set in about 1880 or so.

#6 hasn’t been written at all yet, though I know the major characters and most of the plot. I just thought up the first scene yesterday driving home from hot yoga, so that’s good. I have a number of other scenes already in mind—again, part of the right-brained bouncing around my mind does. I’m part-way through Viking in Tartan...there’s a steep learning curve in regard to Scottish/Viking medievals. Little writing or reliable historic sources survive, though perhaps that’s an advantage—I can make up stuff.

The same meandering path often applies to writing the books. Authors often categorize themselves as “plotters” or pantsers.” A plotter will do what I did when I wrote my Silhouettes—plot everything out carefully. With a list of scenes, all one has to do is write each scene, like stringing beads onto a necklace. A pantser is completely different. She will eschew plotting, preferring a more casual unstructured approach.

Some writers think of themselves as “scenesters.” I’ve often followed this pattern. A scene that’s completely disconnected to anything I’ve already written on a project will pop into my head, often as the result of a dream or an event that happened in my life. I’ll write that scene, and maybe several others—but they’re out of order. They’ve jumped into my mind in a nonlinear fashion. But I can arrange them in chronological order, and the rest of the book becomes a matter of filling in the blanks.

Can a reader figure out if a writer is a plotter, a pantser, or a scenester? You tell me :)

Read this blurb, or maybe go to my site and read an excerpt, and let me know what you think.
BLURB:
Bridling his Vampire
Scotland, 1766.

Edgar, Laird MacReiver, has never regretted his decision to wed Isobel, daughter of Clan Kilburn’s laird, until she bites his tongue and drinks his blood. Still, he's determined to bridle the wild child of the infamous vampire clan by any means necessary, including bondage and discipline.

But are some women impossible to tame?

BIO:
Best-selling, award-winning author Suz deMello, a.k.a Sue Swift, has written seventeen romance novels in several subgenres, including erotica, comedy, historical, paranormal, mystery and suspense, plus a number of short stories and non-fiction articles on writing. A freelance editor, she’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Liquid Silver Books and Ai Press, where she is currently Managing Editor. She also takes private clients.

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.

A former trial attorney, her passion is world travel. She’s left the US over a dozen times, including lengthy stints working overseas. She’s now writing a vampire tale and planning her next trip.

Find her books at http://www.suzdemello.com/
For editing services, email her at suzswift@yahoo.com
Befriend her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sueswift and visit her group page at https://www.facebook.com/redhotauthorscafe
She tweets her reading picks @ReadThis4fun and @Suzdemello
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/suzdemello/
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/SuzATGoodreads

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.