Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born and raised in upstate New York. The rural part, not the city. My dad is a musician and my mom is a poet, so I come from a family of artists. When I was seven I discovered Stephen King thanks to the picture of the cat on the front of Pet Semetary and decided I was going to be a writer. Instead of growing out of the notion, it stuck with me through high school (where I was editor of my literary magazine.)
After school, I spent a few years writing reviews of other people’s books for the website Dread Central. Then I branched out to ghostwriting erotica and romance for awhile before deciding to try my luck at getting published under my own name. My short story ‘Swim Lessons’ appeared in the 2016 Women in Horror Annual anthology and most recently, my paranormal erotica story ‘A Single Heartbeat’ was published by MLR Press.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Honestly, I was doing my annual rewatch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when I got to the Season 2 episode ‘School Hard’. Any Buffy fan knows that’s the first appearance of Spike, who is one sexy vamp. I couldn’t help but imagine how the scene outside the Bronze would have played out if I was writing it.
That little ‘what if’ eventually became my debut M/M story ‘A Single Heartbeat’.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m very much a night owl, so I tend to be awake and writing when everyone else is asleep. My most prolific time is between like 4 AM and 6 AM.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Anne Rice were all big influences on me growing up. I also love Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, Richelle Mead’s Georgina Kincaid series, and anything by Nalini Singh. Recently, I discovered Nora Sakavic’s All for the Game series & C.S. Pacat’s Captive Prince series and have fallen in love with them as well.
What are you working on now?
A lot! I’ve got a M/M wolf shifter novel in the works, a sort of twisted take on Cinderella with vampires (also M/M), and another story in the Heartbeat universe as well.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is my first real experience with promoting, so I’ll have to get back to you on this one!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read a lot. Write even more. Don’t worry about getting it perfect the first time. Or even the second time. Keep going. Rewrite. Edit. Polish. It’s a lot of work, but if you keep perfecting your craft, it will be worth it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Put your butt in the chair and write. Or, put more poetically, “The worst thing you’ll ever write is better than all the things you’ve never written.” (I’m paraphrasing, but it’s something like that.)
What are you reading now?
I recently finished the latest book in Jay Northcote’s Housemate series, ‘Watching & Wanting’. I loved it! Also, Glitter in the Garland by Helen Juliet is fabulous.
What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing! I’ve got several short stories out for submission as well, so hopefully those find homes.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The first 2 books in the Earth’s Children series by Jean Auel, and the first 2 books in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Apart from being great books with a really high reread value, they are also full of survival tips! I read somewhere that Auel did survival training for like a year to learn the different tactics Ayla employs in the wild. I feel like that would be helpful.
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