What is one of your favorite things about writing?
I’ve joked that unless I lose my mind, it’s something I can enjoy for the rest of my life. My husband is a very active person so unless it’s good weather, he’s bored most of the time. For me, the enjoyment of transferring the stories that walk in my head to written form and then the challenge of delivering it in a way that pleases the reader is bliss.
When you’re brainstorming for a new story, what usually comes first for you, the plot or the characters?
Definitely the characters. I was driving the mail route several years ago when Cass, my Aussie hero from Undone, appeared literally in front of me at a stop sign. Sometimes the ideas come from photographs where the scene unfolds around it.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Extreme pantser. I wrote my first book and many partials pantsing, then decided plotting would certainly make it easier, so I bought Scrivener back in 2007 and started trying to use it to develop at least a skeleton of plot first. Last year, I had an epiphany and gave it up completely—plotting not Scrivener 😉 I figured out that I’d been afraid that if I just sat down and tried to write by the seat of my pants the words wouldn’t come. Boy, was I wrong.
When you’re writing, who is more in control, you or your characters?
Ha! Absolutely the characters. When I was writing Hard Days Knight, my hero Luc was telling the heroine, Del, about his family. He told Del his backstory and it was all news to me. I kept saying, “Really! How cool.” It was the best writing experience for me so far and so affirming in that the ideas just flowed.
Can you write sex scenes at any time or do you have to be “in the mood?”
Oh, boy. Sex scenes. I’m not sure “in the mood” describes it but definitely not any time. They are difficult to do well and I want them to be more about emotion than just what they are using and where they put it, you know? So that means I have to be ready, understand where they are before, during and after in their character and story arcs. Then I’m ready to attempt the love scene—in the first draft.
What do you like best about writing?
Everything when the story flows.
What is the most difficult thing about writing?
Shoot, everything is hard about writing. The commitment to cut out distractions, choose to write instead of the many, many other things that catch my ADHD attention span which is zilch. Staying put and getting the words down. Choosing the right words, improving on the first draft, layering in emotion and plot threads, keeping the pace up, delivering on the promise to the reader. Making sure the book fits what my blurb presented. Does that make sense? And probably the most difficult of all is when the scene isn’t coming together and I want to skip over it; making myself sit there until it does. That, I think, is the most difficult, and the most rewarding.
What do you like about writing series books?
One of the things I remember early on was that ‘they’ said series weren’t selling, only stand alones and trying to pitch my books as single titles wasn’t working. I always loved reading series, so I couldn’t imagine not writing them, and since I write both paranormal/small town urban fantasy and contemporary romantic suspense, my Storm Lake series is perfect. The supernaturals mostly stick to the west end, while the more normal folks are on the east. As you would expect there’s some mixed traits mid-lake, lol. I love revisiting the folks from Destiny in each book of the Destiny Paramortals but those books build on each other so I have to remember and keep a lot of details straight. Whereas, the Under-Cover Knights revisit the area and characters but don’t necessarily have to be read in order.
What is one of your favorite ways to learn about your characters?
I search the web for pictures of them at various sites. What I find in the process builds on what I see when I find their likenesses. For instance, I found a picture of what Jack looked like when he came to Destiny when he wasn’t willing to accept anything but black and white, normal, Mayberry. Then I found a picture of the same model looking like he’d been put through a wringer and I thought, hmm, that’s how Jack would look when he finds out he’s surrounded by “creatures”, that Destiny is more like Middle Earth and he’s contemplating leaving.
What do you feel are some of the pros and cons of epublishing?
When I was trying to get my books traditionally published, I found that I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what genre they were, determine how long they were going to be. And I have a problem with my memory that worried me about working with an editor who would expect me to change the book to match their needs and expectations. I love being free to make those decisions, let the book determine its length, be active in the cover design, take all the responsibility for its success or failure. Those are the pros. The cons are that it is a sixteen hour job on top of my day job. As a self-published author I’ve had to do my own editing, covers, promo, design my website, try to get visibility for my books, continue to renew my commitment to my future success by working as hard as I’ve ever worked. And it’s just me, my critique partner, and my online writer friends and support groups.
Where do you find inspiration for your stories?
I’m a transplant to Louisiana and even when I was a child in D.C. I had an unnatural fear of storms. Here, the fear got worse and along with it came a weird fascination. I started writing toward publication after some tornado outbreaks and three big hurricanes, Katrina, Rita and Gustav. It seems like once I stopped working eighty-hour weeks back in 2004 the characters just stormed the gates into my head—pardon the pun. Lately, they’ve been coming at me so fast I feel like I need a brain recorder to get them down before I forget them. But that’s better than the alternative. I’ve been told I have ‘quite an imagination’. I’m not sure it was a compliment but it’s what’s born in my head. 😉
What do you like best about writing menage?
I haven’t published any ménage. I like reading them but don’t know how the author keeps track of so many hands, lips and er, the rest.
What do you like best about writing erotic romance?
Undone from Blood Opal series is my only erotic romance so far. I actually had to close my eyes and type the sex scenes to make them come out like I wanted them. I’m pretty happy with the result, though it’s more adult contemporary with an erotic flavor, J
What are your favorite research resources?
The internet, Google and I’ve purchased some books on aviation, weather, etc. since many of my characters are pilots and most of my books revolve around weather.
Do you find it harder to write novels or short stories?
I write both novels and novellas. Often I get halfway through the first draft and think this sucker is going to be a novella. Damn. But then before you know it it’s at least a short novel. They usually come in around 55-75k. My first Storm Lake book in rough draft was 117k before I ever revised so it ended up being split twice and is still growing.
Would you tell us about your latest release?
Hard Days Knight, #1 in the Under-Cover Knights takes place on the east end of Storm Lake in Larue, Louisiana.
The tall, dark and deadly looking mercenary Delilah Burke confronts at the robbery scene is sexy as sin, and apparently “saved the day”, but is anything about him real? At Knights Production Inc. there are heroes on the cover. Beneath the disguise lies the heart of a hero.
What are you working on now?
In a couple of weeks Cry Me a River, bk #2 in the Destiny Paramortals will be released. And after that, approximately one per month, the third in that series and the next two in the Under-Cover Knights.
Do you have an excerpt from your latest release you would like to share?
From Hard Days Knight:
Mercy’s antics were getting to him more today. And it was Delilah Burke’s fault. Delilah. Her name suited her. He’d only gotten a hint of her beauty in that uniform, but…
“Damn it, Mercy.” He’d been trying to get into the wardrobe room, but when the hall emptied she’d twined her arms around his neck from behind and pushed herself against him, rubbing his back with her hard…fake…breasts. With his cheek pressed against the door, he ran through his options.
Luc knew enough women that some might consider him an expert. He appreciated and respected them too much to ever use force against one. But Mercy Love was unlike any of the other women in his life, and he was getting desperate. She had him in an awkward position, and she knew it. If she persisted, the only way he’d be able to get her off of him was to toss her against the opposite wall. Then she’d make a scene and accuse him of using his superior strength and size to assault her. He’d heard about her from a friend over at Victor Films. She was trouble. This would be his last shoot with her if he had anything to do with it. “If you don’t leave me be…”
“Oh, shut up, Luc. You’ve been making eyes at me, rubbin’ that hard body against mine. I know you want this.” Her hand moved down to cup his groin.
He reached down and grabbed her wrist. “Enough. I mean it.”
She ignored him, grinding her pelvis against his butt. “Oooh, the big man wants me to beg. Pleeaase, Luc. I can have you begging for it in just ten minutes. Give me a chance, please,” her voice whined and her other hand roamed.
The bitch was too much. “I’m. Not. Interested.” He spun her around and crossed his arms over her chest, his only option, but a big mistake. Now his groin was taking the abuse, and much as he was becoming disgusted with himself, he was aware that only a dead man would be able to remain unaffected by her antics. He was stronger than her, though. He should be able to end this some how.
“Uh, excuse me. Do you know where I might find Luc Larue?”
Luc stilled. Mercy was good on the fly. She jerked a hand free and then it was in his hair. “Luc, honey. I know you want me bad, but a ten-minute break just isn’t enough time to do a girl justice. Let me go freshen up and we’ll take this up after the shoot.”
Luc released her wrist and all five-nine of lusciousness slithered away. Like a snake in Regency clothing.
Delilah Burke stood in the hallway in her cop uniform staring first at the woman flouncing away and humming. Then she turned narrowed eyes on him.
“Well. That was certainly…”
“Shocking?” Luc asked, resigned.
“Entertaining,” she said.
“Embarrassing,” he said.
She raised one eyebrow. “I’m not embarrassed.”
What three words would the hero of your story use to describe his love interest? Beautiful, strong, all-cop.
What three words would the heroine of your story use to describe her love interest?
Genuine, luscious, good-guy
If the main characters in your latest release were invited to a masquerade party, what costumes would they wear?
Luc might come as a highlander in kilt. Del would probably come as Sharon Stone in the Quick and the Dead.
What makes the hero of Hard Days Knight hot?
Well…look at the cover 😉 but he’s a genuinely good guy, which makes him imminently sexy.
Would you give us a sneak peek at one of your upcoming releases?
From Cry Me a River Sept 14 (Warning – spoilers if you haven’t read Storm Crazy)
I recognized him… by the voice that had been likened to bellowing organs, crying out rain over the mountains to flood rivers, sending fire to create fear and move rock and earth.
Menori recognized the familial wind. She skyrocketed through my system, flushing the blood through my arteries. Impulses of neurotransmissions crashed and exploded like missiles in a giant conductor making the tendrils of her bonds loosen and stretch, preparing to strike.
If not for that…the man before me would have been a stranger—tall, massively built, bronze from head to black leather biker boots—think, The Rock on mega steroids, and that’s before he goes Djnni. This man had a heavy mane of burnished copper hair. The father I remembered was bald, but the last time I’d seen him, I’d been seven years old, and I’d been told he was dead. My heart felt like it was being clawed apart from the inside.
“Dutch.” Menori’s control made my voice calm.
“Tempest.”
Wait, motorcycle boots, black leather… “You! The rider who followed me, who watched my house, watched me come and go, but didn’t have the parental consideration, love or decency to knock on my door and reintroduce yourself…say, ‘oh, yeah, honey—you grieved for nothing, belittled your mother undeservedly and because of me your little brother may d-die!’ How about that, Dutch?”
I couldn’t stop it. I saw him cross his arms and set his teeth the second I unleashed the fury of my wrath at him.
On the periphery of my vision. I saw a protective shield rise like a dome over the picnic table and faerie guests who stood against the transparent barrier, gaping and pointing at the out of control weather witch. I glared at them, my eyes lit with a hot inner sunlight, and they scampered under the table.
“It’s me you’re angry with, daughter. Unleash your fury here!” He pounded his enormous chest and flexed hulking arm muscles.
As if those were the magic words, I came un-glued. Wind roared and slammed into him, but his body was like a mountain—immovable. Rain pounded in big fat drops and baseball sized hail fell on the backyard until he was standing in six inches of it, and still, he stood like a statue. Shards of ice bounced off his impenetrable skin.
I called lightning, big honking bolts of jagged blue that ripped across the sky and slammed into the ground at his feet. And closer. He deflected those, and smiled.
I raged. What could bring down a mountain—a flood, but he was not made of dirt. Frustrated I gathered menori around me and jacked up the speed of my spin, directing all of the rocks around the pond into menori’s new power.
He shouted. “No. Tempest.”
Before the small boulders went ten feet, he rose, his Djnn nature acting on instinct, making use of the pond to become a giant waterspout. I dropped the rocks and gathered the elements and aimed a straight-line wind in his direction. I’d break through that vortex and he would have to regroup.
“Tempe, my God, stop.”
My Tempestaerie rejected the human voice off hand. She was angry. Danger. I turned, and she aimed at…him.
Jack.
Do you have a favorite character or characters you feel especially close to?
Cass was it for me until Luc. I’m loving all the Under-Cover Knights heroes. Luc’s cousin, Duc, the movie star I think may turn out to be. But you never know.
Would you share one of the sexiest or most romantic lines from one of your books?
HDK –
His mouth claimed hers in a kiss that was neither flirty nor urgent but comfortable and welcoming. He’d missed her. She was smiling when he raised his head. “Am I late?”
His eyes narrowed and now she saw the banked desire, like gems on fire. “If you’re not where I am, it feels like it when you arrive.”
What are a few of your favorite book covers that have been done for your books?
Well I loved Cass’ cover first, but the way Linda Boulanger was able to capture the overall feel of Storm Lake while maintaining the individuality of the various sub-series was awesome. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with for Thunder Point.
If you could meet one of your characters, which one would it be?
Hmm, this stumped me for a minute. I think it would be Montana. She is a Dinnshencha and Eve of Chaos (Oct 14) is where she really shows her stuff. She can shift into anything in defense of women. I’d love to be able to do that.
Do you prefer writing your heroes, your heroines or do you like writing both equally?
Both.
If you were a shapeshifter and could become any one item owned by your latest romance hero (or heroine), what would it be?
One of Conor’s brilliant twisting jagged multi-metal swords. Sounds like there might be a warrior wannabe inside of me…
If you could step into one of your books, which one would it be?
Probably Undone, so I could Latin dance the nights away and everything else with Cass in Brazil or Australia.
Would you share a favorite quote from your latest hero, heroine or villain?
Tempe from Cry Me a River – Isn’t it just like a man to exit a relationship when he finds out a woman has a few little secrets? In a matter of days we’d gone from attraction to suspicion, support to friendship, then romance to oh-my-god-get-away-from-me revulsion. I didn’t know where we’d go from here once he got the full picture.
Would you tell us about yourself?
D.C. native living on the bayou in Louisiana. I’ve been a professional singer, salesperson, computer trainer, plant manager and mail carrier, and probably half a dozen other things. I’m currently the owner of a small seasonal restaurant near the Mississippi River. I give workshops on the Joy of Using Scrivener 😉
What are your favorite genres to read and write?
Read: Urban Fantasy, Romantic Suspense, thrillers, Historical Romance, fantasy.
Where can we visit you online?
http://liviaquinn.com where you can see the tourism brochure of Storm Lake.
When you’re not writing, what do you like to do?
Practice my guitar and learn new music, travel to Scotland or somewhere I haven’t been.
Do you have any particular writing habits?
I need quiet but I’ve learned especially this year to write between customers. I can’t wait to have an office with a door.
Where would you go on your dream vacation?
Scotland again.
Name three fictional characters (not your own) that you find hot. They can be from books, movies, or TV.
Roarke, Jamie, and Colin Byrne from Ain’t She Sweet.
What is your favorite season?
Winter
What books are you currently reading?
Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ and Grace Burrowes’ latest.
What is the last movie you watched?
Not exactly a movie, Outlander. YAY!
What is your favorite comfort food?
Beef tenderloin, so I’m anxty a lot.
Do you have any pets?
A big Pomeranian, Dusty, who thinks he’s a lead sled dog. Every time he goes outside he tries to head to north.
Follow Livia Quinn on Facebook @liviaquinn on Twitter Pinterest and Goodreads
Undone Storm Crazy Hard Days Knight
Sign up for my newsletter to be included in monthly contests and release alerts.
Social
Thanks for having me, Kate. I enjoyed answering these interesting questions.
Hi Livia!
Excellent interview. I think many people are afraid of storms, but not many channel that into great stories. I love to hear about the books your releasing. Sounds like a great winter ahead. 🙂
Wow – so many wonderful stories!
Well, Dale, it was either continue to crawl around on the floor when the storms hit or channel it somehow. I still duck in parking lots and take off like a scared rabbit.
Thanks, for dropping by, Cathy.