The Gentleman and the Rogue by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Tell us a bit about The Gentlman and the Rogue


What's your favorite part of writing this book? Why?

Kate: My favorite part was 1. Working with Bonnie (this was our first book together) It’s a lot like that party game where one person writes a bit then hands it off to the next.

2. Watching the characters come alive, especially Jem. I think he was fairly clear to both of us from the start and it was fun making him more vivid.

Bonnie: Jem, absolutely. I was totally invested in this character, the humor and cockiness and warmth. I really enjoyed the cant Summer supplied for him and all the other details from her research. For example, I would never have thought to throw in an epergne (what the hell’s that?) It was a challenge to make sure the brooding figure of Alan wasn’t eclipsed by Jem.

What can we look forward in the future from you?

We have another book, The Nobleman and The Spy, in the editing process at Loose-Id. It’s the story of former enemies who once met on a field of battle. Now one of them is a spy sent to observe a German/English nobleman whose life may be in danger. A complicated political situation is the crux of the story—and of course, two men who despite their best efforts can’t keep their hands off each other.

If you could change one thing about your publishing career, what would it be? Why?

Kate: I think I would probably have all of my books under one name (I use Summer Devon and Kate Rothwell) and I would have spent less time trying to write the sort of book I thought New York wanted and more books that I enjoy.

Bonnie: They recommend “author branding” for a reason. People love to know what to expect if they pick up a book by so and so--romantic suspense, historical or what have you. Because I haven’t restrained myself from dabbling in a lot of different genres, I think it’s hobbled my sales, making it more difficult to find a particular niche of readers. But you know what? No. I wouldn’t change it. I had to write what I felt like writing, whatever stories interested me.

Where can we find your website?

Kate: I have a bunch. My blog is http://katerothwell.blogspot.com/ http://www.katerothwell.com/ and http://www.summerdevon.com/

Bonnie: http://bonniedee.com/, I no longer keep a blog. I’m on Facebook and Twitter.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Tell us a bit about L.A. Bytes


L.A. Bytes came about through two events. One was the big Eastern blackout back in 2003 and my reading a book called Black: the Invisible Threat of Cyber-Terrorism by Dan Verton. In the book he discusses the possibility of something like the black out being caused by a terrorist attack, then followed by physical assaults on our power grids. He made a very chilling case for it and I became fascinated with the idea. But instead of doing it as a broader thriller, with global consequences, I decided to put it in L.A. with Chris and David the ones at risk. After L.A. Boneyard, where David was central to the book, I wanted one that gave Chris more focus. So in L.A. Bytes, he gets to use his computer skills to save the day and David.



What's your favorite part of writing this book? Why?

In some ways I like the revision best. I've done the hardest part, which is finishing it, now I get to play around, get some feedback from beta readers and sculpt a good story out of the bones that are already there.



What can we look forward in the future from you?

There will be at least 2 more L.A. stories. One is already in first draft. It's called Bermuda Heat and takes our lovers out of familiar territory and puts them in an alien world. The second one after that is barely in outline form. I want to return to L.A. next year for research. I'm also branching out into historical novels, some gay and some straight. I'm heavily involved in researching the 1920s and 30s. I have one novel finished set in L.A. and am writing another.

There may be a third Geography book with Alexander Spider and Jason Zachary. I haven't been hit with any ideas yet, but I like those 2 and I'd like to see more of them.

There is another book set in L.A. coming out this year. It's called Between Darkness & Light and puts an LAPD detective with a dark secret in his past with an up and coming fine artist to find out who's killing art critics.



If you could change one thing about your publishing career, what would it be? Why?



I wouldn't have waited so long to try to get published. I wrote for decades before L.A. Heat, but aside from one or two submissions I never worked very hard at getting published. I guess I didn't really believe in myself then. I would have like to have seen where I'd be now if I had put more effort into it even 30 years ago.

Where can we find your website?

My main site is: http://www.pabrown.ca/

My new historical site, which I write under my pen name GK Parker is here: http://gkparkerhistorynoir.blogspot.com/

Roped In by Sindra van Yssel

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

• Tell us a bit about Roped In

Roped In is the first of a series of books set in Bondage Ranch, a rural retreat for the BDSM community. Laera is camping in the woods and misses a trail, gets lost, and twists her ankle. The woods she’s camping in are right next to Bondage Ranch, and she’s discovered by a sexy Dom named Bruce. Bruce isn’t your typical BDSM hero -- if you’re looking for a “bad boy” he’s really not it. He’s a very gentle, caring person, who is also very dominant. He convinces her to spend a day with him at Bondage Ranch, and she’s totally hooked by him and by his way of loving.

• What's your favorite part of writing this book? Why?

It’s hard to pick just one part. I liked writing the minor characters; Dylan and Alex Allison and Mistress Sue. There’s a funny exchange between Sue and Bruce, the hero, that was really fun because BDSM romances are often so serious. There’s a scene where Laera meets a real jerk of a dom, and he gets put in his place -- that was fun to write, too, because there’s a real visceral satisfaction in it. But Roped In was fun to write the whole way through, really; it all went very quickly and just flowed.

• What can we look forward in the future from you?
• A sequel to Roped In, Pushing Limits, was just published by Loose Id in June. I’ve written book three in the Bondage Ranch series, which was harder to write than the other two but after several rewrites I’m now really satisfied with the results and I think it’s one of the hottest things I’ve ever written. I also have a paranormal BDSM series coming out from Cobblestone. The first one, Dark Xanadu, was published in July, and the second one, Chilled to the Bone, was just contracted. There should ultimately be four books in the series if all goes well. I’m trying to do something different with the traditional vampires and werewolves in those books. For instance, the heroine of Chilled is a vampire, and even though she’s more powerful than the hero, she’s still the submissive in their relationship. My current project is a stand alone Contemporary BDSM romance, which I don’t have a title for yet -- titles are definitely not my favorite part of writing.
• If you could change one thing about your publishing career, what would it be? Why?
• I went through a long period, years really, where I was just too afraid of getting a rejection letter. I submitted my first romance years ago to a publishing house -- it was one of those situations where you send in a few chapters and if they like it they ask to see the whole thing, so they asked and I sent, and I didn’t hear back from them. While I was waiting, I didn’t write at all -- just waited. And they never did get back to me. I sent them letters after a year, and they didn’t reply to them. What I should have done is keep writing and sending things off to different publishers, but I let the whole experience throw me off. What writing I did for a while was either non-fiction, or fiction for which there is no market. If there wasn’t a market, I didn’t have to submit, or worry about whether my writing pleased anyone but me. When I finished writing Roped In I was on vacation, and I immediately started working on the next book. When I got home I did some editing, sent Roped In off to Loose Id, and then went back to working on Pushing Limits. I figured I’d get a rejection letter, so I didn’t even worry about the wait to hear back -- I just kept writing. And that’s the right way to do it -- just keep writing, keep sending things off.
• Where can we find your website?

That’s easy. www.sindravanyssel.com! And thank you. This was fun!


Sindra van Yssel

www.sindravanyssel.com

Roped In and Pushing Limits from Loose Id

Dark Xanadu from Cobblestone Press