Guest Author Day with Dee Brice

To get us started can you tell us a little about what you are working on or have coming out?

First, thanks for inviting me to do this interview.

A lot is going on right now. Three recent releases from eXtasy Boos: Great Dane on January 1; Chosen on January 15; and Their Consummate Courtesan on February 1, 2011. Still to come are His Virtual Bride, Model Misbehavior, and Her Virtual Consort--all before June of 2011.

Do you have any guilty pleasures? I wouldn't call them guilty pleasures, but I love to read and usually have more than one book on my table at a time. I also love to write. My characters get a little testy if I'm working on some other characters' stories or am reading too much.

What is the hardest scene you have had to write (published or not)? Why? I find all love scenes challenging--which is strange because I write erotic romance. The challenges lie in keeping the scenes fresh, different and HOT.

If you had a reporter follow you around for the day, what would the readers get to see in your daily schedule? My days are pretty boring. I check emails first thing, then write until--oh! soaps are another guilty pleasure--my favorite soaps come on. Then I check emails again and write some more until dinner time. Watch TV or read until bedtime.

When you begin your stories, do you go with the flow, or go with an outline? I'm definitely a go with the flow (aka pantser) writer. My stories usually begin with two characters arguing at the top of their lungs. Many first drafts begin with dialogue I've "heard" in the middle of the night. Which is great for storytelling, but not so much for a good night's sleep.

Is it hard coming up with titles or characters names? Titles not so much. I've heard publishers usually change titles anyway, so I don't sweat over mine. So far, I've only had one title changed to better appeal to readers. I DO spend a lot of time in my character naming reference books. Names--and their meanings--influence how a character behaves. And some names I choose just for fun. In "Passion's Four Towers" three of my male characters have names that, in various languages, mean "spear." I thought that appropriate for the story even if my readers don't recognize what I did.

What does your workstation look like? A mess. I can find things in chaos, but never if/when the area is pristine.

When you're not writing, what do you like to do to just kick back and have fun? Back to guilty pleasures? I read. I cook. I read. I dream of gorging on chocolate while reading.

 

Do you ever experience writer's block? If you do, how do you cope with it? I don't think I've ever had writers' block per se. If I'm having difficulty with a scene--because my characters have led me down a path that goes nowhere, for example--I get even by working on a different story. I usually have the opposite problem. Too many stories I want to write that distract me from the one I'm writing.

Were you an avid reader as a child? What type of books did you enjoy reading? Very avid. My mother said if I was reading the house could burn down and I'd never notice. I don't remember what I read when I was very young, although I still have all my AA Milne Christopher Robin/Winnie-the-Pooh books. Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames as I got older. Then I graduated to Frank Yerby and Kyle Onstott. And I still love Daphne du Maurier.

Tell us a bit about your latest book, and what inspired you to write such a story. Chosen took me by surprise. With the popularity of vampires and shape shifters, I never thought I could write that genre--at least not as well as the really good authors do. But then the "what ifs" took over. What if…because of Domenic's longevity, humans assume he's a vampire? What if he needs something other than blood to survive?

Is there any books coming that you are itching to read (either electronic or print) from your favorite authors? I love anything by Nora Roberts, especially her JD Robb "Death" series. I also enjoy Stephen R. Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series, even though I have to keep a dictionary nearby. Janet Evanovich and just about anything by Jennifer Cruise and Stephanie Bond. I've recently discovered Shannon Abe's drakon series and love them. She writes such beautiful narrative and strong characters.

If you were to replenish your cabinets with one junk food, what would it be? Chocolate. Although I really don't consider it junk food. Neither does my heroine in Her Virtual Consort.

What is one thing scientists should invent? Hmmm. Diet food that tastes really yummy, but lacks all the bad stuff that makes food taste so good. Does that make sense?

Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning, definitely.

Where can readers find you on the ‘Net? deebrice.com. My website is being updated, but the new version should be up soon. Email me at deebrice@sbcglobal.net/

Sneak Peek into CHOSEN

Paranormal/Vampires

eXtasy Books

Available HERE

Soulless. Irredeemable.  Blood-drinker. Vampire.


Many people have called Domenic Nadal many names in the course of his nine-hundred-year life. None has come close to what he really is. He has also been called a recluse; a name he accepts because it is true.

Mortal fundraiser Ariadne Fortesque has no idea her boss is using her to wage a five-hundred-year old vendetta on the handsome, ageless vampire. Neither is she prepared to deal with her attraction to a man who could destroy her will with a single glance from his silver eyes or drain her life blood.
He will live forever. How much time can they have together?

Excerpt:

Prologue

Domenic

1 January 2675

There is something innately beautiful about a new journal. A book with blank pages, I mean, not those tiny data collectors doctors implant in newborns’ brains to track their lives from birth to death. But a real book, in which I can write my deepest desires with no one the wiser.

Nowadays, one has to search long and hard to find a journal. One has to pay dearly for the privilege of owning such a volume—even one made from recycled napkins or newspapers. I am forever grateful that the reuse craze did not extend to toilet paper.

I am blessed with foresight and purchased many journals in those halcyon days when journals—or diaries as some called them—were kept on a daily basis. A lovely record that allows one to look back at one’s family history. Or, in my case, one’s life.

The aroma of velum fills my nostrils. I caress the paper with my fingertips, as I shall touch the woman who will soon come to me. Soon, for me a month or year or century, is relative only to my growing impatience to meet her. I will breathe her scents as I now inhale those of parchment and India ink—another remnant of my past.

After years of trying to tempt me with imitations of herself, Erma is sending a woman more to my tastes. How do I know? Franken wants me to fund her latest research—an exploration of why vampires drink blood—beyond the obvious need to survive. So I know the woman she sends this time is a woman I shall want.

I also know Franken wants more than money. I know she wants my blood.

Ari

My employer, Dr. Erma Franken is sending me to solicit funding from the oldest vampire in the country. Maybe the oldest vamp in the entire galaxy. She says he won’t bite me or do anything I don’t want him to do, but I’m still scared.

Domenic Nadal is a recluse. He’s also tall, dark and dangerous looking. I’ve seen pictures of him—pictures taken in the twenty-fifth century. But people who’ve seen him since say he hasn’t changed at all.

Which only adds to my apprehension. Dark eyes have always fascinated me. Not that I expect Mr. Nadal—Domenic, I imagine him whispering in my ear—to fall hopelessly in love with me. I’m hardly the svelte or dainty type he escorted in his past. Before he became a recluse. I’m the problem.

I could fall under the spell of his eyes. I could beg him to drink my blood.