Author of the Week: Nara Malone

Welcome back to Buy a Book, Tell a Friend!

This week Nara Malone visits the blog. I met Nara when I read her BDSM tale The Dungeon Gourmet and messaged her on Facebook to find out if there was another one coming. Mr. SM and I also tried out her Baked Peach Ice Cream recipe and it was divine. Nara eventually invited me to join her in her online community in OpenSim. Today I asked her one question about virtual worlds and writing.

BBTF: You have a strong connection to the virtual reality community. What is it about virtual worlds that appeals to you and how does that translate into your writing?

Nara: Virtual reality is fiction and nonfiction in three dimensions. It is a simulation. It can simulate a laboratory where theories and prototypes can be tested. It can simulate a work environment where participants scattered around the globe can come together and work on projects. But mostly it is a place where artists, musicians, writers, engineers, builders, programmers come to create what has never been created. I think a virtual community is a good look at the personalities you would find in an early colony--the explorers, rugged individualists, adventurers, scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, and storytellers. These are the folks who always push boundaries and explore new frontiers. They were the ones that explored earth's continents, expanding the boundaries of civilization. They are the ones who launched the digital age and have started the colonization of inner space. They are the ones who'll be populating the first space colonies.

As an author, this is a crowd I love to hang with--they inspire a million ideas. As a lover of fiction, how can I resist exploring the fantastic simulations they build of fictional and real world settings?  Virtuality encourages you to be more and then gives you the tools to do it. And just like reading a book, I walk away from that experience a different person from the one who walked into it.

The best way to make a decision about the value of a new frontier is to go exploring. You can find instructions to get into the colony I've been building with authors, artists, and musicians here.

[Link for colony instructions]

If you'd rather do that through a book first, you might like to read Snatch Me, a story about a virtual world romance. My newest release, Make Me Wet is not about a virtual world but I built the setting from the story on my virtual world of Nara’s Nook and wrote the book while I sat at my virtual desk and typed at on a pixel computer. I loved the idea that I could sit down to work in a virtual world and make something real.

You can find out more about Nara Malone's magical and virtual worlds on her website. Be sure to buy a book and tell a friend. Happy reading!

Siobhan

Author of the Week: Nichole Severn

Welcome back to Buy a Book, Tell a Friend!

This week Nichole Severn visits the blog. I met Nichole in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Romance Writers. She and I were the youngest members at the meeting and we started talking writing, family, and movies. We became friends over the years we attended the monthly meetings and now she's one of my best critique partners. Today I asked her one question about her choice of heroes in her tales.

BBTF: You often write unusual heroes and heroines, even serial killers and demons. What truly brings them to life in your imagination and makes them loveable for you?

Nichole: I have a soft spot for bad guys. Always have, even as a child watching Disney movies. Maybe it's because I feel bad for them and want to understand what they're going through to make them hate the world so much. I'm always trying to imagine what brought my serial killer or demon to that point in their life, what heartbreaking choices they had to make. Sometimes it's psychological trauma like in Let Me Out, or a choice to give up their future for the greater good to end up as a demon like in my current work in progress. Either way, their stories are often untold and I'm trying to change that.

Janet Reid from Fineprint Literary Management said it best, "Your antagonist has to think he's the hero of the story or your story is boring." I take this to a new level by actually putting what other authors would consider antagonists as heroes in my stories. I realized a long time ago not everything in romance has to be a fairy tale. People have flaws. They make mistakes and sometimes, they even do it for the right reasons. That's what makes my characters loveable for me, the reasons behind their choices, and with that I believe I'm giving readers something new.

You can find out more about Nichole Severn's flawed and original characters on her website. Be sure to buy a book and tell a friend. Happy reading!

Siobhan

Author of the Week: Bronwyn Green

Welcome back to Buy a Book, Tell a Friend!

This week Bronwyn Green visits the blog. I met Bronwyn in New Orleans at Authors After Dark when Kris Norris invited me to go to dinner with her and some friends. Bronwyn is one of the most generous and kind women I've ever met. She is so kind she made me some hand warmers when my fingers got cold in the (mild) Las Vegas winter. Today I asked her one question about her favorite aspects of paranormal romance.

BBTF: What is your favorite aspects of the paranormal genre and how do you incorporate them into your writing?

Bronwyn: My favorite aspects of writing paranormal fiction isn't necessarily a particular kind of creatures or even sub-genres. What I love best is when the magical crashes headlong into the mundane. I try very hard to blend the supernatural with every day life. When readers finish a book, I want them to look side-eyed at an abandoned school house and wonder if there are ghosts inside. I want them to notice a particularly beautiful grove of trees and imagine just for a moment that there are faeries lurking within -- or notice a super hot guy and wonder if he might be a shifter or a god in human form. That's what I like best. And when readers tell me about these moments, it makes me really happy. But if pressed, I'd have to say that my favorite elements are witches/magic users, faeries and shifters.

You can find out more about Bronwyn Green's magical paranormal romance on her website. Be sure to buy a book and tell a friend. Happy reading!

Siobhan