Good morning! Please welcome guest blogger NJ Walters. Though I will be away for part of the day, please feel free to leave comments for NJ and I will post them as soon as I return. Thank you!
~Kate
Hi, Kate. Thanks so much for having me as a guest on your blog.
Hello, NJ! Thank you for being here. When you’re brainstorming for a new story, what usually comes first for you, the plot or the characters?
For me, the characters come before the plot. I need to know who they are and what motivates them before they can tell me their story.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I’m mostly a pantser with a bit of plotter mixed in. I use file cards to keep characters sketches of my characters. I need to know who they are before I do anything else. I also have a general idea of plot and maybe a scene or two, but that’s all in my head. Once I have the opening scene down, I start writing and let the story unfold.
When you’re writing, who is more in control, you or your characters?
The characters are definitely in charge. I’ve often said that I feel like I’m simply taking dictation. I get out of the way and let the characters tell their own story. They often surprise me and the story will take an interesting turn I never saw coming. That’s part of the fun of writing.
Can you write sex scenes at any time or do you have to be “in the mood?”
I’m lucky in that I can pretty much write them any time. I get deeper into the mood of the scene as my characters do.
What do you like best about writing?
I love my job! There are so many things to love about writing. I enjoy creating new stories and new worlds. I’ve had the good fortune of working with some pretty incredible people since my first book was published. Best of all is the wonderful people I’ve come to know online. I have the best readers in the world and I’m grateful to every one of them.
What do you like about writing series books?
I love to read and write series. It can be a challenge to keep track of all the little details about characters and the world I’ve created, but it also allows me to go deeper into that world, to learn more about the people who inhabit it. I’m always sorry to see a series end, but I’m also smart enough to know that sometimes it has to. I don’t want to keep rehashing the same plotline in a series. If I get bored with it then the reader will too. Still, it is hard to see a series come to a close.
Where do you find inspiration for your stories?
Inspiration is everywhere. I’ve gotten ideas from magazines, television and overheard snippets of conversations. Mostly ideas come from the combination of ideas and what I like to call the “what if” questions.
The idea for my popular Tapestries ménage series came from two different places. I knew I wanted to write a ménage a trois and I had a female character in mind. Christina was a curvy girl who didn’t always feel attractive. Then I happened on a book about Medieval tapestries and my mind started turning. What if there was a magic tapestry that would whisk her away to another world? What if it was like Medieval England? And what if in this land there weren’t enough woman and brothers were forced to share? The entire series unfolded from there.
What do you like best about writing menage?
I think I like writing ménage for the sheer erotic fantasy. I mean, what’s more exciting for a woman than to imagine two or three hot guys who all want her and they’re ready to do whatever it takes, in bed and out, to make that happen.
Would you tell us about your latest release?
Double or Nothing is a sexy, western ménage a trois featuring two hot cowboys and the woman they both want…
After ten years away from home, Cherry Edmonds returns to West Texas when her father is ill and dying. Now she is left to deal with the estate and pick up the pieces of her life. The past is waiting for her in the form of Wesson and Remington Smith, the two brothers she was half in love with when she was eighteen.
Wes and Remy know they’re different from most men. They are both in love with Cherry and have been since they were kids. One night of hot sex leaves all of them wanting more, but she believes their time together is just a one-night stand. It’s up to the Smith brothers to prove their love for Cherry and their commitment to the ménage, and to convince Cherry’s she’s definitely capable of loving two Texas cowboys.
http://www.ellorascave.com/double-or-nothing.html
What are you working on now?
Right now, I’m working on a new paranormal werewolf series for Samhain Publishing. I’m having a blast with this new world and the amazing characters who populate it.
Where can we visit you online?
Website: http://www.njwalters.com
Blog: http://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
Newsletter Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/awakeningdesires/
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/njwaltersauthor
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/njwalters
When you’re not writing, what do you like to do?
I love to read. No surprise there.
Name three fictional characters (not your own) that you find hot. They can be from books, movies, or TV.
Three fictional characters I find hot? That’s tough. There are so many. Rhage from J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. He’s big and tough and a complete marshmallow with the woman he loves. Then there is Valiant from Laurann Dohner’s New Species series. He’s part man, part beast and he’ll do anything to protect his woman. And then there’s Rourke from J.D. Robb’s In Death series. I mean the guy owns half the world and is as sexy as all get out. But it’s the way he is with Eve that truly makes him sexy. He understands her and that’s about as sexy as it gets.
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Hi, Kate! Thanks so much for having me on your blog today. 🙂
Thank you for being a guest, NJ!
Kate
Great interview N.J. and Kate.
Somehow I forgot about this book coming up. I can’t wait to start reading it. I miss the Tapestry series, my introduction to ménage romances. You never forget your first 😉
Thanks for having me here, Kate. 🙂
Thank you so much for stopping by, Donna. I appreciate it. lol I guess you don’t ever forget your first. *g*