J.K.: Hello there Emma, before we start, let me tell my five readers how fabulous you are. *Aside: Emma is fabulous, trust me.* Ok, so now I need to tell you how much I loved your website. All dark and sexy, the perfect backdrop for your books. And I especially love the guy there—I’m a sucker for a big guy with a wicked tat. Oh, and let's not forget the gorgeous cover of your new release, Seducing St. Nic.EMMA: Hey J.K. And thanks for having me. I heart my cover too. When I saw it I squeed like a little girl. And thanks for the website complement. I love my website. Wolfgirl (that’s her name) is a favorite of mine.
Five readers?!? I am so jealous. Your five totally trumps my two.
J.K.: Seducing St. Nic is the first book in a new series. Do you want to tell us a little bit about it?
EMMA: Actually St. Nic is a rebirth. It’s new to Ellora’s Cave but it was previously published at another small press originally. The series is about kick ass women who fall in love with vampires of questionable natures. When I say questionable I mean it’s not clear from first glance whether our heroes are good or bad.
The first book, Seducing St. Nic, is about Barbara Jean Ruiz. She’s every woman. Has a job she hates. A boss she has the hots for and a cat she buys presents for.
Don’t give me that look. I am sure BJ and me aren’t the only ones who buy our cats presents.
J.K.: What inspired you to pick the pen up one day and create the characters of Cypriano San Nicolo and Barbara Jean? And let’s leave Frank out of this one, okay?—I’m thinking he gets entirely too much credit.
EMMA: See, I personally don’t think Frank gets enough credit. The majority of my ideas come from Frank. Frank and Toussaint. (Who is actually Duchess.) Like a good part of the things I get myself into, Seducing St. Nic was a dare. Someone was like, “You can’t write a vampire Christmas story.” And being the contrary chick I am, I took it as you must write a vamp Christmas story. I don’t know how it became a smutty vamp Christmas story. *shrugs* Almost all of my books end up smutty. That’s why I no longer write YA or Inspirationals.
J.K.: How many books are planned for this new series? What will we be seeing in the second book?
EMMA: At this time they are five and the next installment will be coming sometime in 2009. I know, I know, very vague but I’m almost done with the second book but not quite. The second book is about Barbara Jean’s naughty cousin, Nina.
J.K.: With approximately ten books under your belt, what do you feel is the most important thing that a first-time author should know?
EMMA: Oh jeeze. LOL. I’m like totally the wrong person to ask. I’m still learning myself. What’s worked for me is surrounding myself with super supportive friends with similar goals. It’s always important to have people around you who will understand what you’re going through and will kick your ass when you need it.
J.K.: What do you hope for your writing career in the next few years? Any goals that you have yet to obtain that you have set for yourself?
EMMA: I want to always make sure I get better with each book. I never want to become complacent and produce just to produce. I want to make sure my readers get that same feeling I get when I read my favorite authors. That is my ultimate goal.
J.K.: Sometimes people envision an author’s life as being really glamorous. I like to set them straight, so tell us what’s the most unglamorous thing you’ve done in the past week?
EMMA: Hehe. Yes, my life is super glamorous. Hmm…and the most unglamorous thing I did this last week…Go pick up a Christmas tree? Le sigh. I am so not in the Christmas mood but I went and picked one up anyway. And now I must keep it safe from the Black Menace and his Nemesis.
J.K.: In the life of your alter-ego—you know, that relatively normal person we writers can sometimes become when we aren’t hard-wired into the keyboard—what is your favorite thing to do?
EMMA: Shop. I love, love, love, love to shop. And read.
J.K.: What books are currently on your nightstand?
EMMA: Toni Morrison’s A Mercy. Molly Weatherfield’s Carrie’s Story. Nailed by Amie Stuart. Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris by Ian Kershaw.
J.K.: Do you have a pesky day job?
EMMA: Does shopping and cat wrangling count?
J.K.: Emma, thank you so much for being here, and before we go, please let my five readers know your pertinent info and what’s coming up next for you.
EMMA: More books. If I do nothing else in the new year there will be more books.
Author Bio:
Emma Petersen wrote her first romance in high school after falling in love with historical romance and has been writing ever since. She shares a tiny shack on the Southern California coast with her cats, Toussaint and Toussaint’s Nemesis and is currently recovering from an addiction to shoes and internet porn.
Seducing St. Nic:
Barbara Jean Ruiz’s life has never been what anyone would call glamorous. She lives in an okay apartment, in an okay neighborhood and has an okay job with less than okay wages. Her life is…okay.
Then her luck starts to change. She wins a gorgeous fur coat. She gets promoted and her new boss is none other than the super-sexy St. Nic. Cypriano San Nicolo is everything a woman could want. He’s tall, dark, handsome, rich, successful and, oh yeah, the evil undead.
After nearly a century of self-imposed sleep, St. Nic has only two uses for humans—blood and sex. Until he meets Barbara Jean, his irreverent, wisecracking assistant. If he shows up at her apartment just before dawn, she’ll have to take him in, right? Into her bed, if everything goes as planned.
Links:
Emma’s website - http://emmapetersen.com
Emma’s Blog - http://emmapetersen.com/blog
Emma’s Design Site - http://emmapetersen.com/designsby
Emma’s Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/emmapetersen
The Triple D Authors Yahoo! Loop! - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deliciously_decadent_december
5 comments:
Wow. This all sounds fascinating, and may I complement you both on the questions and the answers. Still reeling from Emma's reading list, LOL. I have a student in the library waiting for Mein Kampf to come back and I worry about him!
Gorgeous cover. Congrats, Emma!
Hi Emma, my fellow 3D writer. I have to agree about constantly learning and evolving when it comes to writing. I like to try different things with books and try to improve each one. It's an ongoing practice.
Your series sounds great. :) There's nothing like a challenge to get the creative juices flowing.
@ Maggie - Fortunately Kershaw's work is nothing like Mein Kampf. The author wrote 2 or 3 books about Hitler's life and rise to power, they're factual and not filled with racist rhetoric.
Le sigh. I think children need to read and be taught about Milosevic, Hitler, Trujillo, Amin and holocausts like the ones that took place in Nanking, Germany, Poland and the Dominican Republic. But I think also it depends on the child's parent and/or educator. Is the child being talked to truthfully and without bias about the material they’re reading? Or is the rhetoric being reinforced and adding to underlying prejudices the child may already have? That’s the danger in some reading Mein Kampf.
We can say Hitler was a bad man but what made him a bad man? What made an entire nation of people stand by and allow him to commit the kind of atrocities he did? Those are questions we need to know the answers to so we can make sure history doesn't repeat itself.
And thanks for the complement on my cover. Seriously, it's like my favorite of all time. I saw it and I squeed like a little girl.
@ Shelley - Hey 3D Buddy! *waves*
Emma, thank you so much for visiting with me!
Happy holidays to you and Merry new year
Post a Comment