Today’s interview victim is the very talented Denise Agnew.  Denise was kind enough to answer all of my questions (b/c she’s a trooper!). If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading Denise’s award-winning work, then you need to get busy reading! How would I describe her stories? Sexy and thrilling.  Awesome.  🙂

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

I write several genres within romance: romantic suspense, paranormal romance, erotic romance, contemporary romance and historical romance. In particular, I like to mix these subgenres. So I might have a historical with paranormal mixed within.

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

IN HER DEFENSE is the second story in my HEART OF JUSTICE SWAT series and the next one to come out.

3.    LOL—okay, now use as many words as you’d like to describe IN HER DEFENSE.

Celeste Rice’s life has been shattered by terrible violence more than once. Violence threatens to creep back into Celeste’s world when her ex-boyfriend stalks her. When Celeste inherits her aunt’s home, she decides to move back into her childhood neighborhood after long years away. Upon her prodigal return, she encounters old friend and long-time object of her desire, Mick MacGilvary at a charity event and knows that she is finally ready to pursue that heart-stopping attraction. She believes she’ll stop craving him if she has sex with him once and gets it out of her system. She decides to test the wildfire attraction, even though Mick’s violent past and his SWAT position frighten her. Mick will do anything in her defense…

SWAT cop Mick MacGilvary’s instincts tell him Celeste’s ex-boyfriend has something evil up his sleeve. Mick’s uneasy past with Celeste makes him gun-shy around her. His protective feelings for Celeste have never abandoned him. Ten years ago, Celeste rejected his advances, and he hasn’t forgotten. The heavy-duty attraction he’s always had for her ramps up now that she’s near. Better yet, she’s obviously interested in bedding him. Danger lurks around the corner…

Caught up in a passion neither of them can deny, Mick and Celeste’s strengths and weaknesses are tested when her ex-boyfriend decides if he can’t have her, no one will.

4.    Which character do you like better from IN HER DEFENSE—the hero or the heroine?  Why?

Probably the hero Mick. He’s one of three brothers, but all three brothers are not related by blood. The boys were adopted by a SWAT cop. Each boy was a problem child with significant challenges and bad family backgrounds with their birth parents. Mick, like his brothers, had to turn his life around. He’s also…hot, hot, hot.  🙂

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

I think it is different for each writer. For me it is maintaining the spark of what makes me want to write in the first place and not allowing it to be overrun by the business side of writing. It’s possible to forget why I’m writing in the first place if I allow the business part overwhelm me.

6.    In a fight, who would win…Dracula or the wolf-man?

Well, I’ve written a vampire trilogy and I have a “wolf” oriented book coming up…I’d have to say my vampires would kick wolf ass, so I’m assuming Dracula would, too.

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

The Exorcist.

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

That no matter what people say is the right way to write a book, you’ll find a million examples that prove that what people said about the “right” way…well, it isn’t right.

9.    What is your writing schedule like?

It’s a bit mental, really. My goal, though, is to meditate first, then grab my Alpha Smart or pen and paper and write without interruption for a few hours with breaks for food, drink, etc. Whether it all happens in that order or not is another thing.

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

Ummmm….uhhhh….  Thanks much Cynthia for interviewing me! I appreciate the time you’ve taken with me and giving me an opportunity to allow a peek into my world. 🙂

Thank you, Denise!!

There’s a new blog on the scene that I’m really enjoying–it’s called Mama Writers.   The tagline is “Raising Kids. Writing Romance.”  A very cool place. If you get a chance, check it out.

And I want to send out a congrats to my friend Zoe!  Yay, Zoe!  Zoe has advanced to the semi-finals in the Better Sex Erotic Fiction contest.  You can read all the details on her blog, and, she needs your vote to continue to advance!

Now, my last bit for today is about friends. A good friend sent me a forward (and I tell you, really, I don’t normally post these. If you’re a regular to my blog, you know I don’t generally post forwards), but this one made me smile, so I’m gonna post.  (By the way, I have no idea who the author of this work is, so if you know, feel free to post so we can give credit.)

True   Friendship

None of that Sissy Crap

1. When you are sad – I will help you get drunk and plot revenge against the sorry butt who made you sad.

2. When you are blue – I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.

3. When you smile – I will know you are thinking of something that I would probably want to be involved in.

4. When you are scared – I will rag you about it every chance I get until you’re NOT.

5. When you are worried – I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining.

6. When you are confused – I will try to use only little words.

7. When you are sick – Stay the hell away from me until you are well again.  I don’t want whatever you have.

8. When you fall – I will laugh at your clumsy butt, but I’ll help you up.

Ah, friends!

I’m blogging over at Divas of the Dark about the benefits and pros of small conferences vs. big, national events. If you get a chance, drop by and let me know what you think.

I’m so happy to announce that I have been named as a PEARL finalist in two categories!

HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT is a finalist in the shapeshifter category, and “Spellbound” has been named as a finalist in the novella category.

Nominated for 2008 PEARL

Paranormal Excellence Award in Romantic Literature

I want to extend my congratulations to all of the other finalists. So many great books are represented in the PEARLs, and I am honored to be included in this wonderful list.  Thank you to everyone who nominated my stories!!

If you’d like to see a full listing of all the finalists, please click here.  Be warned–just looking will make your TBR list grow!!

When you talk to authors, you find out quickly that most of them (um, us) follow a different writing process.  Some authors edit their material as they write–say, writing a chapter, stopping, editing it, then moving on.  Other authors use writing programs to help organize their work. Some writers compose their scenes out of sequence and go back later and shape up the book in the proper order.

My technique?  I’m a fast rough drafter. I try to get my first draft out as quickly as I can–no edits. I write and I keep going until its done.  Sometimes my story changes as I write (say, I may change a kill scene or a villain’s actions), and when I do that, I make notations so that I can go back later–once the draft is finished–and make my corrections. Going forward quickly on this draft is the technique that works for me. 🙂

Now, after I finish the first draft, I do one serious edit, from manuscript beginning to end. I eliminate all plot holes; I do a consistency check, I layer my scenes, I add scenes, and even add secondary characters if they’re needed. My editing process often adds anywhere from 20-30 pages to my story.

After this edit, my story is pretty clean. It’s in the form where I feel comfortable showing other folks.  (Cuz I’ve prettied it up!)  I’m just about to move to that prettying-it-up phase with my latest story. Typically, this phase takes about two weeks to complete because I tend to take my time on this part.  Nice and slow to get all the details worked out.

But, if you’re a writer, what process works best for you?  I always love to know what works for others!