Today, it’s my pleasure to have author Candace Havens in my interview hot-seat.  Candace was kind enough to answer my questions (thanks, Candace!). Candace has a great new book out, DRAGONS PREFER BLONDES (love that title!), and it’s a book that I had to snag this week.  🙂

1. Please tell us a bit about yourself and the genre (or genres) that you write.

I write paranormal romances for Berkley, and I just signed a deal to write sexy spy/detective romances for Harlequin Blaze. I’m a syndicated columnist and I write about celebs, TV and Film. I’m also on the radio as a film reviewer.

2. Describe your current (or upcoming) release in 15 words or less.

In Dragons Prefer Blondes, a Dragon slaying heiress falls for super hot head of security.

3. Okay, now use as many words as you’d like to describe your story.

Alex Caruthers is a socialite who knows when it’s time to turn in her dancing shoes and kick some serious dragon booty. But when Ginjin—the dragon warrior who’s tried to kill her numerous times—chooses her as his mate, Alex finds herself in a situation that’s too hot to handle.

For help she turns to Jake, head of Caruthers security—and a total hottie in a suit—and asks him to pose as her boyfriend. Their relationship might be fake, but Alex can’t deny that one touch from Jake makes her burn hotter than any dragon could.

4. Which character do you like better from DRAGONS PREFER BLONDES—the hero or the heroine?

LOL. Now that is an impossible question. I love Alex, my heroine, because she’s so darn feisty, but I also love the level-headed Jake, who will do anything to protect her. Sigh. Okay, I pick Jake. He’s also hottie, and those man muscles always win in my book.

5. What is the most challenging part of being a writer?

For me it’s balance. Trying to find that balance between the day job, family and the novels. If I could, I’d sit in my office all day and do nothing but write fiction.

6. In a fight, who would win…Dracula or the wolf-man?  What? This question seems odd? Please, folks are dying to know this answer.

In my world Dracula wins because he’s just as strong as the wolf-man, but also super fast and has venom in his bite. (smile)

7. What’s your favorite scary movie?  Come on, spill.  No explanations—just name it.  Let everyone else guess why.

It’s a tie between Constantine and Drag Me to Hell.

8. Tell me the one thing you wish you’d known about being a writer, um, before you became  a writer.

Hmmm, that there’s a lot more to the job than just writing.

9. What is your writing schedule like?

I’m usually at the computer an average of 12 hours a day if I don’t have to review a film. When I’m working on a book, I can be there 18 hours straight for several days in a row. Once I begin, it’s hard for me to stop.

10. Tell me anything you’d like to tell me.

One of the best things about being a writer is the friends I’ve made. Thanks for letting me hang out with you. This was really fun!

Update:  Thanks for all the wonderful comments!!! Nicole picked her winner and the prize goes to…Edie! Congrats, Edie!!!

Hi, everyone! For the next few days, I’ve lined up some fabulous guest authors–I hope you enjoy their posts!

First up is the amazingly talented Nicole North–she’s got a great new novella out from Red Sage.  Nicole, welcome!

I know your thirty days of demons are over, Cynthia. But your June theme inspired me because the title of my story in Secrets Volume 27 Untamed Pleasures is Devil in a Kilt. What manner of devil is this? Not a literal devil, but a Highland chief of the 17th century who’s had a curse placed on him by a witch of the Dark Arts. Gavin MacTavish’s clan believes he is possessed by the devil and most of them have fled in terror. This devastates Gavin because he simply wants to be a great leader for his people.

But even before the curse, folks had nicknamed him MacDeevil, partly because of his incredible skill in battle, and partly because of his wicked eyes–pale blue with a darker rim around the outside of the iris. When he gives people the evil-eye or a vicious glare, it’s extremely intimidating. But he doesn’t scare the heroine.

Gavin is gorgeous with dark hair, but he received an injury in battle and has a straight slash scar down one side of his face. Even this injury didn’t frighten the ladies away, before the curse. But after the curse, when he started shape shifting into a hawk at dawn and back into a man at dusk, the women and most everyone abandoned him. Surely he was evil if he could change form, they thought. But Gavin isn’t evil, just misunderstood and lonely. He would give almost anything to break the curse, become a normal man again, and have his clan return home.

But he has a few obstacles to overcome first. One of which is that the dark witch who cursed Gavin may want to punish him, but after seeing him in action, she might like to capture him as her sex slave too.

Even cursed, bad boy warriors in kilts need love…

Excerpt:

Gavin glanced out the window at the Highlands and the first faint trace of dawn peeking over the eastern mountains.

It won’t be long.

A yell echoed from down the corridor, the ravings of a madman. His father. One day that would be Gavin, talking to ghosts and shadows. But likely when he sank to that level, he would have no roof over his head. Or else his sparse clan would lock him in the dungeon to die alone. Since he had no heir, his greedy, grasping cousin would become laird. His clan would rejoice when their devil laird was dead.

“Damnation! Alpin willna unseat me. The craven whoreson.” Draping his plaid around his waist and holding it in place, Gavin strode from the bedchamber and down the corridor toward his father’s room.

“There ye are, lad,” Crocker said, his sparse gray hair sticking out in all directions. “Thanks be to God. He’s a right lunatic this morn. Asking for ye, he is.”

“What the devil is wrong with him?” Gavin stepped inside the chamber.

“I dinna ken.”

“Gavin! Gavin!” his father screeched from the four-poster bed as his body writhed, his long gray hair tangled. “The lass. Ye must look for the lass. Ye must marry. For the sake of the clan. For the sake of yer very soul.”

“What lass?” No lass for miles around would so much as glance in his direction. He used to have to drag them from his bed and send them on their way. Now, he couldn’t pay one to give him an hour’s pleasure.

He would like as not turn them to stone, or they would end up possessed by the devil, as he was thought to be.

Gavin waited for his father to tell him which lass he referred to, but the older man now lay still with his eyes closed, apparently asleep. Mayhap he’d meant the lass from Gavin’s arousing dreams. But she wasn’t real, and he’d never seen her face.

Fingers of dawn light gleamed over the mountains and Gavin’s animal nature surged forth, beyond his control.

“Damnation! When will it end?”

He moved toward the open window, helpless to resist the call. Just as he reached it, a moment of pain sliced through him. His body transformed, and great glossy-black wings appeared where once he had arms, and talons on his feet.

Taking flight from the window, he became one with the wind, the Highlands and the bright colors of dawn.

***

Devil in a Kilt, Red Sage Secrets Volume 27 Untamed Pleasures July ’09

Blurb: A trip to the Highland Games turns into a trip to the past when modern day psychology professor Shauna MacRae touches Gavin MacTavish’s four-hundred-year-old claymore. What she finds is a Devil In a Kilt she’s had erotic fantasies about for months. Can Shauna break the curse imprisoning this shape shifting laird and his clan before an evil witch sends Shauna back to her time?

***

Which is your favorite kind of hero and why? A bad boy, a demon, a Highlander, a cop, a cowboy, a vampire or something else? Do you like a hero who is really dark or who has a sense of humor? I’ll choose a winner from the comments to win an autographed copy of Secrets Volume 27 Untamed Pleasures.

Bio: Nicole North writes sensual and erotic romance novels and novellas.  She is the author of paranormal erotic romance novellas Devil in a Kilt, Red Sage Secrets Volume 27 Untamed Pleasures, July 2009; Beast in a Kilt, Red Sage Secrets Volume 29; and (contemporary) Kilted Lover. She lives with her husband in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, but wishes she lived in the Scottish Highlands at least half the year. Though she holds a degree in psychology, writing romance is her first love. Visit her at www.nicolenorth.com

Secrets Vol. 27 Untamed Pleasures book trailer video

http://www.nicolenorth.com
http://fierceromance.blogspot.com/

Buy links:
B&N and Amazon

Hi, everyone!  Hope you’re having a great Wednesday!

A few notes for today…

Dara Edmondson (a great writer and a fabulous lady) interviewed me and the post is up at Slave To Romance.   Thanks, Dara!

I’m also blogging over at The Bradford Bunch. Over there, I’m talking about the 2010 Silken Sands Writers’ Conference. This conference is held in beautiful Pensacola Beach, Florida (directly on the beach!).  This is the conference held by my local RWA chapter, and I’m the chair for the 2010 event.  This is a great chance for writers to hone their craft, to network, and to pitch to editors and agents!

And, another note…Amazon.com is offering MIDNIGHT’S MASTER for 33% off!  Sweet!

Last note for the day (I think!):  I’ll be participating in a booksigning at the Books-a-Million in Pensacola, Florida, on Saturday, from 2 until 5. If you’re in the area, come by and say hello!

Full-screen

850-478-4849
6235 North Davis Highway
Pensacola, FL 32504

Oh, yes, we’re in the heart of the season–that wonderful, awesome summer reading season.

Today, there are lots of new books hitting bookstore shelves like…BURN by Linda Howard.  I love Linda Howard’s stories. I’ve been hooked on her work ever since I read Mackenzie’s Mountain years before.  This book is going to be a reward read for me. As soon as I finish polishing up the rough draft of DEADLY LIES (half-way there!), I’ll reward myself by reading this book. This one and…

DRAGONS PREFER BLONDES by Candace Havens.

Because, yes, Candace has a new book out! And her stories always make me smile.  Here’s the blurb for DRAGONS PREFER BLONDES:

Alex Caruthers is a sassy socialite who knows when it’s time to turn in her dancing shoes and kick some serious dragon booty. But when Ginjin—the dragon warrior who’s tried to kill her numerous times—chooses her as his mate, Alex finds herself in a situation that’s too hot to handle.

For help she turns to Jake, head of Caruthers security—and a total hottie in a suit—and asks him to pose as her boyfriend. Their relationship might be fake, but Alex can’t deny that one touch from Jake makes her burn hotter than any dragon could.

***

Of course, if you’re looking for more summer reading fun, you could always try Cynthia Eden’s MIDNIGHT’S MASTER. It’s my blog, so I get to plug my book.  🙂

But if you have another book you’d like to plug, a great book that folks should check out for the summer reading season, please post about it in the comments section. I’m always looking for more great books!

Thank you so much to the kind folks who have been emailing me about MIDNIGHT’S MASTER. I am SO happy that people are enjoying Niol’s story–thank you. 🙂 (Those emails have sure made me smile!) I was hoping that readers would like Niol’s story because he is one of the characters that I had received the most letters regarding–people wanted to read his story and I wanted to get the story right! So, to everyone who has contacted me…thank you.

I did want to post one bit of info. It seems that when Manda was shopping for MIDNIGHT’S MASTER in Books-a-Million, she didn’t find it in the romance section. Instead (and thanks for the head’s up, Manda!), she found it shelved under general fiction. Not sure why that is, it could be some sort of coding issue. But, if you happen to be shopping for MIDNIGHT’S MASTER in Books-A-Million and you don’t see it on the romance shelves, just ask one of the friendly associates there and he/she can look it up in the system to see where it is shelved.

Have a fabulous week!!!