What is one of your favorite things about writing?
I can work from home wearing my zebra print bathrobe and slippers.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I started out as a pantser, then a plotter, especially when I wrote for Silhouette Romance. I was a very structured writer then. Now I’m more of a pantser. I get an idea of story and characters, know where I want to end up—usually with a HEA ending—and find my way to it. It’s more fun.
What is the most difficult thing about writing?
When it’s hard, it’s the hardest thing to do in the world. I once described it as feeling like digging ditches with my teeth. Writers create something out of nothing. It’s magic, and the main lesson about magic is that it’s hard. It’s not waving a wand, that’s for sure.
What do you like about writing series books?
I’ve written only one series, and enjoyed it a lot. It gave me the opportunity to really dig into setting very deeply. My series, Highland Vampires, starts in medieval Scotland and ends in the present day. Because it deals occasionally with fae creatures, I researched Scottish history and mythology extensively. Weaving what I learned into the books was really really fun.
Where do you find inspiration for your stories?
Travel and history are two of my primary inspirations. For example, I wrote a book, Temptation in Tartan, that was influenced by the Battle of Culloden Moor (1746), often viewed as the fight that broke the clan system and the Highlands. My heroine was widowed in that battle, and my hero unexpectedly elevated to the lairdship of his clan.
Do you find it harder to write novels or short stories?
Novels are very rewarding, but short fiction is easier because, well, it’s shorter. And my very spare writing style is well-suited to short fiction.
Would you tell us about your latest release?
My latest release is Perilous Play: The Real Fifty Shades. It’s a huge departure for me as it’s a memoir. I call it a fictionalized memoir, but very little in it is fictional. It’s the story of my misadventures in BDSM. Though I’ve met some lovely kinksters, most of my kink relationships have ranged from disappointing to heartbreaking.
What are you working on now?
I’m writing a F/m story called Spring Training for the Naughty Literati’s spring boxed set, Naughty Fling. Again, it’s a departure–though I’ve written a couple of femdom scenes in books, I’ve never centered a story around a F/m relationship. Right now I am midway through the sex, and have no idea how to end the story. (This is Suzie being a pantser).
Do you have an excerpt from your latest release you would like to share?
Sure. This is from my memoir, Perilous Play. In it, I discuss the relationship I had with my first Dom, a man I call Trapper Hart. This excerpt is from early in our relationship:
Trapper and I spent the rest of the day together. We went to a vegan restaurant and two bars, including one dive so obscure that even Trapper got a little lost in the vast transit system despite his wealth of knowledge about the east bay. As we went back to school so he could pick up his bike, he started a conversation about sex.
Bondage sex.
BDSM sex.
My heart raced. I said I was interested.
He wanted to know what role I preferred.
I said I thought I tended toward submission while trying not to squirm too obviously.
I found some courage and asked him out Saturday night. He said he wanted to go to his condo at Sea Ranch, a beautiful beachside getaway on the Sonoma coast.
I tried not to be too disappointed.
Later in the week he clarified—he wanted me to go with him.
I was stunned.
I was actually considering going with a man I barely knew to his condo, alone, a hundred miles away from my home, where I would have BDSM sex with him as his submissive.
Had I lost my mind?
Yes, but not completely. I might not have known Trapper well, but I saw where he hung out. As far as I knew, few serial killers were bike-riding, Birkenstock-wearing Berkeley-based vegans. In fact, even though I had a legal background and an interest in true crime news, I had never heard of a bike-riding vegan serial killer.
So I figured I’d be okay.
If you could meet one of your characters, which one would it be?
Probably Orlando Havens, the basketball-playing hero of Naughty Balls, my story for the Naughty Literati’s Valentine’s Day boxed set, Naughty Hearts. I modeled him after Michael Jordan and made him, in the words of the heroine, “a super-nice guy.”
What are your favorite genres to read and write?
I love to read history as well as young adult paranormal fiction. I write steamy romance, though I’ve written in a number of different genres and subgenres. I frequently throw in a mystery for my characters to solve—it gives them something to do while they’re falling in love.
Where can we visit you online?
My blog, The Velvet Lair of Suz deMello
When you’re not writing, what do you like to do?
World travel and hot yoga
How long have you been writing?
I started writing my first novel in November 1996, I believe.
Name three fictional characters (not your own) that you find hot. They can be from books, movies, or TV.
Sherlock, Spock and Aragorn…I have a senseless attraction to tall, aloof males. It’s very stupid.
What book are you currently reading?
The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens’ London by Judith Flanders
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Thanks for hosting me, Kate!
Thank you for being here, Suz!