I recently was interviewed by Drea Becraft on her great blog as part of my introduction and launch of Genetic Attraction. I had a great time answering these questions, so i thought i would share them with you in case you didn’t see them at Drea’s place. A bit about me *blush*:
Questions about book:
What inspired this story?
I discovered erotic romance in 2009 and was hooked! I loved it, especially M/M and ménage. I decided, after a lifetime of writing non-fiction, that I really wanted to write a novel. But what about? Well, when you’re writing fantasy, it makes sense to start with your fantasies. I always loved older-woman/ younger/man stories, but I knew that I wanted a M/M element in the story too, so, voila, a ménage was born. I love capable women characters, and in my great day job (I own a small ad/PR agency) I get to meet people from all kinds of fascinating professions and industries. I heard about a woman geneticist doing all kinds of interesting work, and I thought, bingo, that’s what I want my heroine to do. My one hero needed to be a part of her world, so he’s also a scientist. The other hero I wanted to be from a really different world, and I wanted him to be famous so it would be hard to keep the relationship quiet. That’s where my yummy supermodel, Roan Black, comes in.
What was your favorite part of the book to write – the beginning, middle, or ending?
Wow, that’s hard. I loved it all. Endings are really fun because , if you’ve set up your plot well, the characters are hurtling towards a powerful conclusion. But the sad part about endings is, well, the ending. Then you have to write a sequel or a prequel because you can’t let your characters go! LOL.
Is there a message in your book that you want the reader to grasp?
My heroine’s mother, Shakti, tells her, “You always have a choice, baby.”
I think that’s the message. No matter how impossible the consequences of our choices, we STILL have a choice.
Formal Questions:
How long have you been a author?
This is the first novel I ever wrote. I have since contracted another book, am editing a third and writing a fourth. So I guess a year. I have been writing non-fiction for a lifetime, however.
Whats the biggest surprise you’ve discovered about the writing process?
The degree to which it happens on it’s own. There’s an old play I’ve always loved called Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello. In it six characters that have been unresolved by their writer come to a theatre company to have their story played out. It’s so true. You start a scene and your characters tell you about themselves and the story. You just try to keep up. In my currentWIP, the hero’s boss comes to talk to him and I suddenly realized, oh my gosh, she’s Chinese. I didn’t know that until she told me. LOL.
Do you have any other upcoming releases or projects?
The prequel to Genetic Attraction, called The Scientist and the Supermodel, has been contracted by Loose Id and will appear, I imagine, in the spring. I am editing the sequel to Genetic Attraction titled Androgynous Dreams. And I’m working on a new book that takes place in the ballet world tentatively called The Golden Dancer.
Where can readers find you?
This may be waaay to much information:
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: https://taralain.com
Author blog: http://taralain.blogspot.com
Book blog: http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4541791.Tara_Lain
Savvy Authors: http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/member.php?2398-Tara-Lain
Twitter: http://twitter.com/taralain
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Tara-Lain/100001514105686
Fun Questions:
What do you do to recharge your batteries?
I adore movies. Before I started writing fiction, I used to see one or even two a week. Not so much now. I also love Pilates (I have a reformer in my home) and yoga which I started practicing way before it was fashionable.
Whats the one thing you can’t write without?
This is a convoluted way of saying this, but I can’t write without no music. In other words, I can’t write with music playing. Funny, I know most writers actually write to music. I can write with people talking and all kinds of hubbub, just not music. I think I’m so right-brained when I write, that the music competes for the right brain’s attention.
If you could choose anywhere in the world to set up your desk and write, where would you like it to be?
I live near the ocean which I love, but I can’t see it from my desk. Even more than the ocean, I love really big trees. So, I guess I’d like to be somewhere where my desk looked out on really big, lush trees. But I’m quite happy where I am.
Whats so special to you about this place?
I’ll answer about my current spot. It’s in a nice office in a lovely home that looks out on the ocean. Most important, my husband is here and family and friends are not too far away. That’s what counts. Plus, I have a computer that lets me make friends all over the world. I like that.
Who is on your “keeper” shelf?
A LOT. I have many books, dating from way back. Collections of Shakespeare, the Greeks, Emily Dickinson, Jane Austen, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, and a ton more. In my own and related genres, I save Jet Mykles, Lynn Lorenz, J.R.Ward’s BDB, Charlaine Harris, a lot of Laurell K. Hamilton, the Twilight series (blush), plus a bunch of others.
What are you reading now?
Actually, I’m reading Tara Lain! While launching my book, I’m also doing this amazing editing intensive at Savvy Authors called Edit Palooza. We have to read through our own book as if we are a reader. So I popped my WIP on the Kindle and pretended. When I finally finish this month’s marathon efforts, I’ll go back to reading Breathe by Sloan Parker. I loved her first book and look forward to digging into this one.