(But first, a quick note–Yay! I’m at page 405 in my second RS story! The end–she is in sight!)

The book that I am currently working on is a very research intensive book–probably the most research intensive I’ve ever done. Before I could even start the story, I had to spend hours researching fires and firefighters.  And, yeah, some of the stuff I discovered scared the the crap out of me.

The heroine in my story is a firefighter, and I wanted to be sure to get the details right about her career and my villain is an arsonist, so that means I had to do a ton of research on fire starting.  Who knew there were so many accelerants out there?  Well, I know now, and I know some tips for scoping out a scene and determining if the fire was arson or not.  Ah, my writing always provides me with interesting trivia for later.

Over the weekend, I paid a visit to a local fire station. As fate would have it, one of my son’s friends was having part of his birthday party at the station. I don’t know who was more exited about this visit–me or Jack. 🙂  I’d been looking forward to the trip for weeks because I knew it would give me an up close and personal view of the workings of a fire station.  I knew that being in the fire station would give me details that all of my book research and online research hadn’t.

And I was right.

Actually being there–it will add so many more details to my scene. I think the small details are what really bring a scene to life.  Now I have more details to add–like the WE LOVE OUR FIREFIGHTERS sign that hung over the entranceway, signed by a group of school children. I never would have thought to add a banner like that if I hadn’t seen it, but just the sight reminded me how important the firefighters are to the community–and now I’ve got to add it!  I also had the chance to see the holiday/vacation chart, I heard the crackle of the radio when a call me, I saw the thick fireman coats hanging on their pegs, right above the boots.

I tried to suck all the information in as quickly as I could. When we went outside, I told my husband how great it was and I started listing the things I’d seen  He stopped me during my grand retelling to say, “That was there? Where?”  And I realized I was probably the only one in the group hyper attuned to the setting. My focus was on learning my scene, while everyone else was interested in the firehouse mascot–the cockatoo that taught fire safety. (The cockatoo was cool, btw.)

Normally, using my books and my beloved Internet is enough for me when it comes to research, but this time, I sure am glad I got my up close and personal look.

I also learned some sad facts about fires and fire fighting. Like the fact that in Alabama, someone dies in a fire every 4 days.  Jeez, that’s scary.

And here’s my helpful tip for the day. If you have kids and a fire starts, get them all out at once. Don’t think you can come back for a second trip (a situation I’m using in my book), because as my fireman said, there’s never enough time for that second trip.  You go back, and, according to fire fighter lingo, “You’re DRT.” Dead Right. There.

But that is my research ramble for the day. For the other writers out there–what’s your favorite research method? And what interesting facts have you learned while researching?

Today I am very happy to welcome author Michelle Pillow to my blog. Last week, I had the absolute pleasure of reading Michelle’s KING OF THE UNBLESSED, and I was blown away by the book.  So many absolutely wonderful fantasy elements–so many great twists and turns–and so many amazing characters.  I’m now hooked on Michelle’s books.  🙂  Thanks, Michelle, for writing such great stories!

Time for the interview!

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

I’ve been a published author for five years and I absolutely love my job. I get paid to make up stories and create my own worlds and rules. I adore large world and character building, creating myths and legends, all of it. And I’m very honored to have readers who enjoy what I do.

I love all romance genres and tend to write in several at once, including historical, contemporary, futuristic, paranormal, fantasy, dark, light, sexy, sweet and every combination thereof.  I think changing it up helps keep my style and voice fresh.

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

Dominating warriors who know nothing of love and need a strong woman to kick their…

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

Lilith Enraptured releases March 29, 2009 in ebook. It is an alternate reality romance and the start of a new series I have coming from Ellora’s Cave called Divinity Warriors. If all goes well (and it looks like it is) I plan on having a bunch of different series in the Divinity Universe.

Divinity Corporation exists on a parallel plain to ours and they’re the first to have discovered inter-dimensional travel.  Like any corporation, they’re out for two things—power and money. They get this by trading, entertaining, monopolizing, whatever they have to.  In Divinity Warrior, there is only one thing the guys of that plain need – wives.  So Divinity offers to trade women for minerals. The ladies are supposed to be willing, but it turns out the first batch has no clue as to what’s going on. And, to top things off, it’s a primitive Medieval like plain where inter-dimensional portals don’t exactly grow on trees.

In Lilith Enraptured, Lilith is a data analyst for the company who’s accused of stealing an artifact. The “higher up” who actually did the deed has her sent to the primitive place to get rid of her and fulfill the trade quota.

Here’s the blurb:

Sorin of Firewall lives in a land forever at war. In fact, the Starian men are so busy fighting, their marriage ceremony has been reduced to a “will of the gods” event where they simply pick a woman out of a lineup and claim her as a wife. With women becoming scarce, it’s necessary to trade the offworld Divinity Corporation for brides. Duty-bound to attend the ceremony, he has no intention of picking a bride, let alone one from another dimension. That is, until he sees Lilith, the bewitching woman sent by the gods to reward—or punish?—him.
Lilith, a data analyst for Divinity, is betrayed by the Corporation and wakes up in a primitive, uncharted dimension filled with warriors who only know war and duty. But her initial fears of becoming a sex slave to a big beefy knight become all too real when a warrior of god-like proportions claims she’s his new woman. As Lilith discovers, there are worse fates than being the focus of Sorin’s skillful and earthy seduction.

4.    Which character do you like better from Lilith Enraptured—the hero or the heroine?  Why?

The hero, Sorin. He’s a tough, super alpha whose been burnt marriage-wise in the past.  His kind isn’t taught about love, but of the necessity of marriage. Raised to be a warrior who does his duty beyond all else, it’s really fun to bring this guy to his knees.

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

Marketing. It’s a tough business. When I started, like most newbie authors I had the impression that I wrote the book and could now sit back and let the publisher do the rest. Not so. As an author, I have to be proactive in what I do (not that I mind, a lot of it is fun now that I know how to do it). I have a radio show, I do my own website, blogs, promotions and marketing, signings, workshops, designing promo items, panels, ect. But I had to learn most of it from scratch.

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.

I agree, this is a serious topic. I mean, Dracula’s a badie, but he’s a little on the nobleman effeminate side. I think the more primal wolfman would take him in hand to hand claw slashing. If it’s an intellectual battle, Dracula would definitely win over the beast.

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

I love watching Horror movies. I think, right now (it changes daily), it’s Dawn of the Dead at the shopping mall (down with the sickness lounge style). No, wait, Shaun of the Dead. Or Zombi 2, with the famous zombie v. shark. No, wait, Bad Taste (Classic!). Um, Land of the Dead. I am Legend—no, wait, I’m still mad about the dog in that one. Ok, I’ll say Perfect Creature. Um…. This is too hard. Next question please.

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

Again, it would be the marketing. I would have gotten started before that first book came out. I had to learn things and fast—building a website, graphics, yahoo etiquette, review sites, where and who and how and when. All that jazz.

9.    What is your writing schedule like?

Fast paced. At any given time I’m thinking of my next book or twelve, researching and writing another, in edits with 2-3 others,  marketing an upcoming or new releases (like for this month I have 4 book releases to promote—Lilith Enraptured and the 3 book relaunch of my Realm Immortal series at Samhain Publishing that just happened on March 6th).

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

Confession time? Um, well, I have a secret affinity for B movies. LOL

I have several books on the schedule this year that I’m very excited about, with more I’m waiting for official word on.

Pleasure Island (ebook) – Jan 23, 2009, Ellora’s Cave
Realm Immortal Series (3 Books) – March 6, 2009 (ebooks) 2009/2010 (print), Samhain
Divinity Warrior: Lilith Enchanted (ebook) – March 25, 2009, Ellora’s Cave
Divinity Warrior: Fighting Lady Jayne (ebook) – Summer 2009, Ellora’s Cave
Faire Justice (ebook) – April 2009, NCP
Prisoners of Love (print) – Sept 2009, Pocket Books

Thank you for having me!

Thank you, Michelle!

Bet you didn’t know it…but Mobile (my home) has its own leprechaun.

Guess what I’ll be looking for today? Because, dude, I want that pot of gold, too.

My dad would so be the guy in the camo gear–he’d be ready to take out that leprechaun!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Lately, I have been in the mood to re-read books.  When I have a few minutes, I snag one from the shelf and plop down on the couch for some nice, relaxing time. And when I am particularly time pressed, I like to re-read novellas.

Here are a few of my re-reads:

Angela Knight’s “Blood and Kisses”  novella in Secrets, Volume 3 (Angela’s work later inspired me to write for Red Sage)

Sherrilyn Kenyon’s” Dragonswan”

Kresley Cole’s “The Warlord Wants Forever” in Playing Easy to Get

Linda Howard’s “Lake of Dreams” in Everlasting Love

Jill Barnett’s “David and the Angel” in A Holiday of Love

Since I am trying to finish up the rough draft of my latest novel, free time is at a minimum for me, and these novellas are perfect for that time pinch!

Do you have any favorite novellas that you’d like to share?

So today is the second Friday the 13th of 2009.  I don’t know about you, but my bad luck began early.  🙂  I hope everyone else out there has a good day. Meanwhile, I’ll be taking my broken glasses, torn contact lenses, and heading to the eye doctor! Ah!

Some people I know really get worked up about Friday the 13th. Cause some of them, yep, they are very superstitious.  Growing up, there was one superstition that my family literally thought of as death’s kiss. If anyone in my family–my mom, any of her sisters, my grandmother–dreamed of water, then the phone calls started.  They had to check to make certain that everyone was okay. Because to them, water equaled death. The really creepy thing?  Sometimes, they were right.

Do you have any superstitions that you follow?  Or that your friends follow?  Despite me being, well, a paranormal freak, I don’t really have any.  Sure, I try not to break any mirrors but I’m not the salt throwing type. I guess if I have a really bad dream,I don’t talk about it before breakfast (another lesson learned from my family), but that may be it.

If you’ve got a superstition you follow, share it with me. I am so curious about these things!