THE ZOMBIES ARE COMING

October is a month of nasties comin' at you. Vampires, ghouls, ghosts, Freddy Kruegar, and the host of pint-sized pixies, princesses, and super heroes invading your neighborhood and pounding on your door. 

And then there are zombies... 

My guest is zombie aficionado and author, Dana Fredsti, who wrote Plague Town about a tough and sexy zombie hunter, Ashley Parker. Ashley is also smart and sassy mouthed--reminds me of a certain author I know. Plague Nation is book number two in the series. 

Dana talks a bit about zombies in movies and history.  

I’m sure most of you probably know at least one, if not more, people like me. You know, the friend you invite to dinner who, instead of appreciating the spectacular view from that big old picture window in your living room, lectures you about the impossibility of boarding it up efficiently when the zombies come. 

 

Yeah, I’m that person. And it used to be there weren't very many of us; just a relatively small fringe group of people given to eye-balling his or her surroundings at any given moment, planning just what we’d do if the zombie apocalypse should happen to start right then and there.  We were like a small, select club, but instead of a secret handshake we’d all laugh knowingly when someone else said, “Yeah, they’re dead. They’re all messed up.” 

 

Now you can’t turn around without running into zombie savvy civilians.  Over the last few years zombies have taken over publishing, movies, television and pop culture as relentlessly as they've overrun farmhouses and malls in George Romero’s films. Even the CDC has gotten into the rotting, shambling spirit of things.  Some people are proclaiming zombies are the “new vampire” (and if, by “new vampire” they mean zombies are the currently the monster du jour for film and literature, I take their point. I don’t, however, see them taking over as romantic heroes, sparkling or otherwise).  Others state that zombies have already “jumped the shark” and are on their way out, end of story.  Not likely, says I.  People like me have been waiting a long time for enough zombie fodder to satisfy our appetites. 

 

Not that the concept of a zombie apocalypse is new.  There are references to the flesh eating dead in the Epic of Gilgamesh, perhaps the oldest surviving work of literature.  And one has only to take a peek at a few choice passages in the bible to see that the dead returning to life is not a new theme.

 

Throughout history most cultures have had, if not precisely zombies as we've come to define them (i.e. reanimated corpses with a voracious appetite for human flesh), assorted critters close enough for government work: vengeful reanimated corpses called revenants (think Creepshow's  "I want my cake!" segment); nachzehrers and gjengangers (ghouls that feed on corpses, but also attack the living and spread disease); and the Norse draugr (dead Vikings who attack, eat and infect the living). 

 

Haitian folklore brought us the "zombi" (which translates as "spirit of the dead"), in the form of either an animated corpse or living human controlled by a Bokor (voodoo priest) after being zapped with a nasty toxic powder called "coup poudre." These zombies didn't eat human flesh, but they were still creepy.  Early movies like White Zombie, I Walked with a Zombie, and the '80s film Serpent and the Rainbow featured this relatively benign incarnation of the walking dead.

 

George Romero's 1968 release Night of the Living Dead brought us the classic (and now ubiquitous) slow, but relentless flesh-eating zombies. Subsequent films/books/games/television have since brought us more slow zombies; zombies that could win gold medals for sprinting; smart zombies (Day of the Dead); brain-eating zombies (Return of the Living Dead); shark fighting zombies (Zombie Flesh Eaters); funny zombies (Shaun of the Dead/Zombieland); pathetic zombies (Zombie Honeymoon); and sensitive zombies (Fido). And yes, oh well, Summer Blockbuster Zombies that can only be defeated by Brad Pitt.   

Reasons for the zombacalypse range from exploding space probes, biological warfare, demonic possession, tainted meat, mutating viruses/bacterial nasties, biblical prophecy, and more.  And now, thanks to The Walking Dead (AMC) and Dead Set (BBC), zombies have successfully infiltrated network television. 

And I couldn't be more delighted to invite them into my home. :-)

• How about you? Are you a fan of Zombies? The Walking Dead?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

 

BUY: AMAZON, B&N, INDIEBOUND

PLAGUE NATION

Dana Fredsti

Sequel to the thrilling zombie novel PLAGUE TOWN.

The last thing Ashley Parker wanted when she went to college was to become a zombie hunter. But she is one of a select few who are immune to the virus. Gifted with enhanced speed, strength, and senses, she’s recruited by a shadowy organization that’s existed for centuries, its sole purpose to combat the zombie threat. 

The Zombie Swarm… The undead have been defeated in Redwood Grove, but reports of similar outbreaks are coming in. What seemed to be an isolated event is turning into a pandemic. 

Dark secrets begin to emerge, and when an unknown enemy strikes, Ashley and the other wild cards embark on a desperate mission to reach San Francisco. If they fail, the plague will sweep the nation unchecked. And the person she cares for most may die. Or worse. Excerpt (on Amazon)

"Dana Fredsti has given us something I never thought possible – a hot and steamy version of the zombie siege story...And Plague Nation is exactly what the zombie genre needed." Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Flesh Eaters and Inheritance 

                                                                                                                                                    

Dana and Pogeen

Dana Fredsti is ex B-movie actress with a background in theatrical sword-fighting. Through seven plus years of volunteering at the Exotic Feline Breeding Facility/Feline Conservation Center (www.cathouse-fcc.org) in Rosamond, California, Dana’s had a full-grown leopard sit on her feet, been kissed by tigers, held baby jaguars and had her thumb sucked by an ocelot with nursing issues. She’s addicted to bad movies and any book or film, good or bad, which include zombies. Her other hobbies include surfing (badly), collecting beach glass (obsessively), and wine tasting (happily). Her other books include: Plague Town and Plague Nation (Titan Books, 2012 & 2013), touted as Buffy meets the Walking Dead, and a number of spicy genre romances written under the name Inara LaVey. Plague World will be out in April 2014. 

You can find Dana: Website, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter

Kilt Kilpatrick: The David Bowie of Erotica

Céad míle fáilte romhat, a Kilt!

BUY AMAZON & RAVENOUS
PREVIEW

So maybe you can help me with my dilemma - how do you label a writer when all their stories are so different from each other? 

Take my very good friend Kilt Kilpatrick, the author of the new Ravenous Romance anthology UNDER THE KILT. Kilt is a literary chameleon who has written first time gay male erotica, naughty romps of a college co-ed, touching lesbian love stories, and even the occasional straight coupling (or tripling...). And though I have it on good authority that Kilt is a straight male, he certainly has been mistaken for some other sex and /or sexual orientation by readers who’ve assumed that only a gay man, a lesbian, a naughty co-ed, etc., could have written the story in question.

If that weren't enough tomfoolery already, when he’s not gender-bending, he’s genre-bending. I don’t normally look for spicy erotica in my historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, steampunk or horror stories, but damn if Kilt isn't part alchemist and somehow manages to blend the most unlikely ingredients into wickedly delish literary cocktails. Come see what I mean:

A few of the twelve stories in UNDER THE KILT are perfectly contemporary; albeit very hot - but they’re arranged alongside other sneakier stories that seem buttoned down, ordinary and respectable until they quickly slant into the paranormal like a werewolf at that time of the month. Then there are lush historical tales with settings so richly detailed they’re like stepping into another world.  And you’ll also wander through stories set in the strange and scary surreal estate of fantasy, science fiction and horror (Yes, horror - who knew?) The Tiger's Tale is a historical fantasy set in the British Raj, featuring romance, intrigue, danger, tigers and gods in Victorian India.

A feisty Berkeley grad student says Later Days, Saints when two Mormon missionaries come knocking on her door with surprising results.  Next is Handsome and Grateful, a fractured fairytale take on the classic Brothers Grimm story of Hansel and Gretel, complete with a celebrity narrator, a slightly more mature Hansel and Gretel, a wicked witch, and a heroic woodsman – or are they? When the zombie apocalypse hits in Last Times at Ridgemont High, is it a nightmare come to life or a surprisingly sexy dream come true for our high school hero? Maybe a little of both...

What, two zombie stories in an erotica collection? A Zombacalypse horror story is an odd place to have a tender romance, but Kilt’s readers have especially liked the touching, haunting Love Bites: A Survival Guide. A Seattle fireman thinks he may be the last man on Earth after zombies overrun the world – until a mysterious woman appears. But is she real, or just his imagination, or something even worse? Don’t let the title of Humahumanukunukuapua’a scare you. It’s actually a charming story of a mainland girl in Hawaii having to cope with her increasingly powerful girlcrush on her best friend.

For the m/m fans, there are three more treats: Reach Out and Touch Someone is the "lost chapter" of Kilt’s debut novel, The Manny Diaries; in fact it’s the original opening to the book, but it was so hot the publishers decided to make it a stand-alone story. That Afternoon reads like a stand-alone story of a young man’s first time with another man, but it’s actually an excerpt from TMD, as is the sweet and spicy Christmas story Santa Claus is Coming.

Three truly fantastical stories round out the collection, including two never before published: Mutated States Of America is a post-apocalyptic romance-adventure set in a bizarre, savage but strangely beautiful near-future earth changed almost beyond recognition. Lady Cassiopeia’s Amaranthine Palace; or, the Aerial Xanadu is a quirky, baroque little Steampunk tale with a twist, a high-tech Tolkienesque fantasy set in the wild, wild, west of a techno-magical America that never was. Last is a novella, The Blue Morpheus Inn, a magical collaboration between Kilt and another popular Ravenous Romance author, the fabulous Inara Lavey (the bold, brilliant, wicked woman who rocks his world on a regular basis). Three college students heading home for the holidays are forced to spend the night at a mysterious motel where dreams come true, like it or not...

Though set in different times and places, and even different worlds, with varying degrees of fun and seriousness, these dozen Kilty pleasures all share the spicy romance elements that Ravenous readers have come to love. Some are wicked, some are sweet, some feature M/F action, some M/M, some F/F, or varying combinations of hot ménages; something for everyone, really. But make no mistake - these stories aren’t for everybody. Just you.

And btw, true confessions time... As you may have guessed by now, I’m not just an acquaintance who sure knows an awful lot about his very good friend’s anthology: I am Kilt Kilpatrick... and I truly hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed writing them for you!

Kilt Kilpatrick is the pen name of an Irish author sometimes called "the Ferris Bueller of San Francisco." When he's not writing sexy stories for Ravenous he is a nonfiction writer, public speaker, Bay Area event organizer, and somewhat oxymoronically, a biblical historian and atheist activist.

He is linguistically promiscuous; he is conversant in Irish Gaelic and bits and pieces of about two dozen other languages, including Welsh, Breton, Hungarian, Japanese, Arabic, American Sign Language, Cherokee, Klingon and Elvish. He loves reading, movies, dancing, sex, and has been a saber fencer for over 25 years.

He lives in San Francisco with his steady girlfriend and # 1 fencing partner Inara Lavey; who is also a Ravenous Romance writer. And yes, he does wear kilts. If you know anybody like that, it's probably him.

Titles by this author: The Manny Diaries, Bedknobs & Beanstalks: Anthology of Gay Erotic Fairy Tales (Contributor), Hungry for Your Love (Contributor), I Kissed a Girl: A Virgin Lesbian Anthology (Contributor), I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus (Contributer), Threesomes: An Erotic Anthology (Contributor)

You can find Kilt: Ravenous Romance and Facebook

Interview With Kilt Kilpatrick, The Manny Diaries

My guest, Kilt Kilpatrick, is a fine Celtic swordsman who happens to write erotic romance. His debut novel, published by Ravenous Romance, is The Manny Diaries.

 By day, Kilt is a serious non-fiction writer, but by night all his wickedness comes out in his erotic romance. Actually, Kilt is a fascinating person, very intelligent (his bio makes me dizzy), and he has a wonderful sense of humor, which permeates his fiction.


Kilt was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.



Céad míle fáilte romhat, a Kilt!

• Tell me a bit about Kilt. I know you have a gorgeous woman in your life. She won you in a wicked sword fight, right?

I really do! And you know, you’re not far off… Inara and I did meet through sword fighting, and we’ve had some wicked sword fights ourselves, too. I have the scars to prove it… (And did you know she’s a former Hollywood stuntwoman? Among other roles, she was a fight captain for the cult classic Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness)

I did, Kilt. She shared a few pictures. My son about fell out of his chair when he saw her in her costume, lol!

• Seriously, are you a swordsman? Where did you learn? Is this fencing with foils or if you were whisk back and time would you be able to handle swords or rapiers?

That’s a big ole yes. I started fencing with foils, eppes and sabers in college twenty-seven years ago, but then I got into Florentine style – which is where you have a real sword in one hand and a real dagger in the other. Very fun! I've also been working with cloak-and-dagger, and on a style of my own using two shortswords. And no mask or jacket, just a padded vest, so I’m ready for my time machine trip…

Hmmm, I have a few things to say about sans mask, Mr. Kilpatrick, but at least you wear a vest.
  

• As you know I have a penchant for men in kilts, oo-la-la, and I know you’re Celtic. Do you actually wear a kilt or is it something worn for special occasions?

I love wearing my kilts. I have four of them, including a big ole Braveheart style Feilidh-Mór great kilt. It’s basically just 5 yards of Scottish tartan wool that I have to spread out on the floor, painstakingly fold all the pleats, and roll myself in it like a big burrito.

For more ordinary occasions, I wear one of my beloved Utilikilts or my all-Ireland tartan kilt.

Oh, I know all about *pleating*, my brothers have, what they will proudly tell you, are *real* kilts, lolol! I will admit I’m pretty good at unrolling the kilts too. ;-)

• I’m thinking storytelling comes natural to some Celts, but when did you start telling and writing stories?

It must be in the blood – I’ve been writing stories as long as I can remember, and even when I was a kid, I always thought I would be an author – though I always thought I’d be a science fiction writer!

• What made you want to write romance and in particular, erotic romance? I know very few men who do.

A totally unexpected twist of fate. I’ve actually been primarily focused on a nonfiction biblical history project for the last ten years, a critical examination of the historical evidence for Jesus. But then one day Inara and I each wrote a sexy short story for one another. Her story was “Champagne,” which became the novel of the same name and is still my favorite of hers. Unknown to me, she also submitted my story to Ravenous Romance.com; they liked the way I write, and the rest is history. And I have to say; I’m totally loving writing erotic romance! I love how many different genres you can explore with it, and let’s face it, I love being able to put all that sex, lust and steaminess in the writing.

• You possess a good sense of humor, Kilt, and from what I’ve seen of your book; you utilize that sense of humor with Evan. What do you like about Evan?

Thanks, Sia! I tried to give Evan as much of my sense of humor as I could. I like that Evan is smart and funny, and still at heart a vulnerable guy who’s trying to find true love and keep going despite setbacks and the general weirdness of life.

• Now comes the tough questions; what made you pick this particular story to tell?

Honestly, I didn’t think I could write a full-blown romance novel, let alone a m/m novel; it was Lori Perkins who twisted my arm and said she knew I could do it. And once the cast of characters came together and I fell in love with them, that’s when it really did come together.

It sounds like a story that made you stretch as a writer. Not a bad thing.

• I have to tell you most stories with gay characters are *coming out* stories. And frankly, they get old after awhile. How would you classify this one?

This is the story that happens after you come out of the closet. There’s no long hand-wringing, agonizing over “Oh, oh, am I gay, or am I straight?” Instead, it’s “Okay. I’m gay. Now what do I do about it?”

• Good for you! My opinion is, people are people. We're hardwired to want to find love and happily ever after. That's true regardless of our sexual orientation.

Incidentally, there is a lost first chapter that tells the coming–out story that Trini and Evan hint at in the opening of the book. Watch out for that coming as a stand-alone short story from Ravenous…

• What’s the difference between a sexy (and they have some pretty hot sex scenes) romance story and an erotic romance?

I think “erotic” can cover a multitude of sins that you wouldn’t generally find in a straight-up romance; and I’m a big fan of sin…

Ahem...is this where I admit to a very cool black tank top that says, "I feel sin coming on...?" LOL!

• What’s next for you, Kilt?

At the moment I’m getting the 2nd annual Atheist Film Festival together in San Francisco, and finally getting that historical Jesus book published. Then there’s some new RR anthologies coming I’m excited about – and I promised Lori to write another m/m novel; I’m thinking of doing a paranormal... It’s going to be a busy year!

It certainly sounds like it Kilt. I wish you the best, my friend. Thank you for taking the time to chat a bit with me.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The Manny Diaries back cover Blurb:

 

Young art student Evan Ross falls out of the closet and into the fire when an unexpected sexual encounter with a friend changes his life forever. His rocky - and surprisingly hot - search for true love and a real job (not necessarily in that order) takes him on a series of romantic adventures and misadventures, from the lofty hills to the seedy streets of San Francisco.



When he lands a job as a male nanny for a precocious 8-year old, his career and romance paths start to converge - and he finds himself falling for a dead-ringer of his dream man, Clive Owen. The only problem? It's the girl's straight father.

Can he land his dream job and his dream man? THE MANNY DIARIES is sexy, warm and hilarious novel with a supporting cast of quirky, lovable characters, a fun pace, and a true-to-life setting.

Excerpt

Buy: Amazon  Ravenous Romance

 

Kilt Kilpatrick is the pen name of an Irish author sometimes called "the Ferris Bueller of San Francisco." When he's not writing sexy stories for Ravenous he is a nonfiction writer, public speaker, Bay Area event organizer, and somewhat oxymoronically, a biblical historian and atheist activist.


He is linguistically promiscuous; he is conversant in Irish Gaelic and bits and pieces of about two dozen other languages, including Welsh, Breton, Hungarian, Japanese, Arabic, American Sign Language, Cherokee, Klingon and Elvish. He loves reading, movies, dancing, sex, and has been a saber fencer for over 25 years.

He lives in San Francisco with his steady girlfriend and # 1 fencing partner Inara Lavey; who is also a Ravenous Romance writer. And yes, he does wear kilts. If you know anybody like that, it's probably him.


Titles by this author: The Manny Diaries, Bedknobs & Beanstalks: Anthology of Gay Erotic Fairy Tales (Contributor), Hungry for Your Love (Contributor), I Kissed a Girl: A Virgin Lesbian Anthology (Contributor), I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus (Contributer), Threesomes: An Erotic Anthology (Contributor)

Struggling With Validation

~Readers who loved the sly fun, humor, and romance, of Ripping the Bodice will be blown away by the sensuality and lushness of Champagne.~



My guest is Erotic Romance author, Inara LaVey.

I admit I have some interesting friends, and have met many fascinating authors Over Coffee, but not many with multiple personalities. When I asked Dana Fredsti if she’d like to be a guest Over Coffee, I wasn’t expecting her equally sexy alter ego to jump into the fray and demand her turn on my blog. Inara is saucy, sly, chocked full of humor. She can also be a demanding wench. I like that about her. :-)

Inara’s topic is one that many writers, published and unpublished, struggle with—validation. What does it take to make a writer feel validated? Is it when you finish a novel or two? When you start getting partial or full requests? Snag a good agent who believes in you? Getting a contract? Selling X number of books? All are forms of validation.

I have a friend, who has finished at least six novels that I know of, and she said, not long ago, “So when does the validation come? Am I wasting my time? Do I need the huge advance check and the mansion?”

We all struggle with validation on some level or another. We'll let Dana and Inara discuss their struggles:

The last two years have been busy for me as a writer. Both of me. See, I write under two different names: Inara LaVey for my spicy romances and my real name (Dana Fredsti) for almost everything else (I say ‘almost’ because, for several reasons I won’t go into here, I also co-wrote a non-fiction book called Secret Seductions under the one time pen name Roxanne Colville). My co-author and long time friend Cynthia Gentry also brought me in to co-write another non-fiction book, What Women Really Want In Bed, for which I got my first substantial advance. It was a ‘nice’ advance, as they say in the publishing biz. Certainly more than I’d gotten in the past.

What else? I promoted my mystery Murder for Hire: The Peruvian Pigeon with blog tours, book signings at stores and libraries, and a fun Northwest coastal Thelma and Louise type tour with fellow mystery writer Jess Lourey (Murder by the Month series). I published two short stories and two novels for Ravenous Romance (my latest RR novel, Champagne, was released this month, woot!) and I’m currently working on my third, as well as the sequel to Murder for Hire.

I have a multiple book contract with Ravenous, including a zombie novel (Dana and Inara both do love the zombies). One of my RR titles, Ripping the Bodice is part of the Escape to Romance package on Home Shopping Network and they’ve been selling really well. The recently released Hungry For Your Love, an anthology of zombie related romance in which I have a story, just had the print rights bought by St. Martin’s Press.

All of these things are good things and when I look at the list of what I’ve accomplished and/or been a part of, I can see I haven’t exactly been sitting back, waiting for the world to hand me my goals on a silver platter. And yet somehow I still wake up wondering when the world is going to discover I’m just a big old fake.

I’ve tried to figure out what my problem is. Why I haven’t been able to just enjoy my successes without constantly questioning my validity as a ‘real’ writer?

Logic and emotions definitely refuse to meet in the middle here. Maybe it’s because I don’t have an agent. Maybe it’s because, despite my best intentions, there are nights I sit with my laptop for the requisite two or three hours, but sometimes no real writing comes out of it. I dunno.

Maybe it’s because when I wrote Ripping the Bodice, I had epic writing sessions of three to four thousand words a day. Now the old goal of five hundred words a day seems paltry. And if you were to tell me you were writing a consistent five hundred words a day, I’d say you were doing a great job. And I’d be perfectly sincere. I’d also tell you it’s okay if some nights you just needed to take a break and watch, So You Think You Can Dance, instead of write. Everyone needs a break. I just can’t seem to cut myself the same slack. I’m constantly comparing myself to my fellow writers and always coming up short. And frankly, I’m irritating the hell out of myself. :-)

How about you? I’d love to hear about other writers and their own struggle with validation, be it from readers, authors, publishers, agents… or themselves.

By the way, if you have any suggestions to get one’s inner critic to just shut the hell up, I’d love to hear that too! Mine’s been a real whiny bitch lately and my muse is on strike until I treat her with the love and respect she says she deserves.

Blurb for Champagne:

• Jeanette Wilson is an American girl on the trip of a lifetime to the wine regions of France. Unfortunately, she's trapped with her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend Darryl, a self-absorbed, self-aggrandizing, self-styled wine expert bent on swirling, sniffing, sipping, swishing, chewing, swallowing and occasionally spitting his way through the wineries of France. Between his endless lectures and insufferable putdowns, her insignificant other is quickly turning her dream vacation into a nightmare.
  
  But things change for Jeanette once they come to the zenith of their French road-trip, the Champagne house of Chateau Roux-Dubois. Their hosts, Amaury and Marie-Elise Roux-Dubois, turn out to be both charming and attractive, and go out of their way to extend a warm welcome to her. And they make it very clear that it is she, not Daryl, who is their special guest, particularly when the striking Marie-Elise takes Jeanette down to the wine cellar for a very personal tour, followed by an unusual French lesson from Amaury.


• 
  When she and Daryl are invited to stay and participate in the harvest festival, Jeanette finds herself caught up in a ménage a trios with the Roux-Dubois, both intent on teaching her many things…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Inara LaVey is the erotica-writing nom de plume of a San Francisco mystery writer and former B-movie actress who has lived many of the experiences she writes about in her sensuous fiction. She has traveled throughout Europe, and worked in the uncharted wilds of Hollywood as a screenwriter, a script doctor, an award-winning documentary producer, a stunt woman (her background is in theatrical sword-fighting), and actress in more than one cult classic.

Along with her best friend, she created a mystery-oriented theatrical troupe in San Diego, which formed the basis for her Murder for Hire mysteries. She's written numerous published articles, essays and shorts, and is active in the Northern California chapter of Sisters in Crime.

She has a deep passion for all things feline, and for many years has worked with her beloved tigers, leopards, jaguars and other exotic cats at an exotic feline conservation center.

Another love is the sea; she adores living by the beach, surfing, strolling the strand and beach-combing. Her many friends know she can always be tempted by bad movies or good wine, preferably combined. When she is not hard at work writing or preparing for the coming zombie apocalypse, she can be found doting on her cats or sword fighting with her Irish lover.

• MURDER FOR HIRE: The Peruvian Pigeon (James A. Rock Inc, Yellowback Mysteries Imprint) RIPPING THE BODICE (Ravenous Romance, as Inara LaVey) www.danafredsti.com Member, Sisters in Crime (National & NorCal Chapters) Events Coordinator, SinC NorCal
  
  Vist with Inara/Dana: Zhadi's Den
  
  

Setting the Mood

My guest today is Dana Fredsti, author of MURDER FOR HIRE: The Peruvian Pigeon. Dana also writes erotica under the nom de plume Inara LaVey. Her latest release is Ripping the Bodice. Dana is a fascinating woman who has worn many professional hats in her career, but today she talks about the contrast of writing before being published and what it's like to write under contract.

When I write, I like to set the stage. Kind of like a woman preparing for what she hopes will be a super romantic date. You know, candles, the right music, the perfect food, and no distractions. Creating an atmosphere conducive to a particular outcome.

When I lived in Glendale (part of Los Angeles, near Griffith Park and the L.A. Zoo), we had a fireplace in the house so on days that were chilly enough (we don't really do 'cold' in the majority of Southern California); I'd build a fire. I confess to using a lot of non-environmentally, unfriendly faux fire logs back in the day. I’d draw the curtains to shut out the noise of the neighborhood (we lived on a busy corner, complete with bus stop and the only roundabout in Glendale), light some candles, and settle in on the couch with my computer and whatever music best suited the mood of my current project. The cats would curl up the couch next to me or in front of the fireplace and I'd write for a couple of hours. It didn't always insure a productive writing session, but it generally helped keep distractions to a minimum. The fact I worked at home doing freelance transcription also helped; I could pick and choose my writing schedule.

Then I moved to San Francisco and I lost the fireplace, but I gained a four-block walk to the beach, a quiet neighborhood and several cats. Easy access for a beach stroll and the lack of shrill, obnoxious teenagers improved the ambiance for writing. The cats? Not so much. Nothing says 'distraction' like a thundering herd of felines racing through the house, using one's lap and laptop as part of the racetrack. And I can light all the candles (and matches) I want, but when you're fostering kittens during the phase of weaning them from kitten kibble to adult food...there aren't enough matches in the world to mask the gaseous warfare that ensues.

Now if I'm working on one of my hard-boiled cozy mysteries, kitty poots can inspire such lines as 'he hung around like a fart in a phone booth.' But when working on erotic romance for Ravenous...not so much inspiration as watching my muse hightail it out of the room with a promise to come back when I've bought her a gas mask.

I also gained a full time job; including a 40-minute commute each way. The necessity of paying bills not yet covered by my writing income has severely cut into my creative schedule. However, over the last year and a half, I've been published three times. One traditionally published mystery novel, and one short story and novel for Ravenous Romance, an erotic romance e-publisher, co-written a non-fiction book about what women really want in bed (sleep!) with my childhood pal Cynthia Gentry http://www.cwgentry.com/ and have a contract for seven more books with Ravenous.

I don't have time to create the perfect ambiance for my writing now; I get home from work, toss down some dinner, park in my rocking chair, and fend off felines while working for a couple of hours. Sometimes I work with one or two cats draped on the top of my arms, my hands and laptop keyboard barely visible below the furry bodies.

Weekends are better: I get up and go for a long walk on the beach (Must. Collect. More. BEACH GLASS!), come home and putter for an hour or so, and then settle in around noon to write for most, if not all of the afternoon and evening. Some days I listen to music. Other times I have a movie playing quietly in the background. Something about bad Sci-Fi original movie about giant snakes/dragons/alligators/spiders and zombie movies just fires the creative juices. I think it best not to analyze why this helps me write erotica. Some things are better left to the mystery of the muses, doncha think?

What does this all mean? I'm not entirely sure, but it seems the less time I spend trying to set the perfect mood for my writing, the more time I spend actually doing the work.

And I finally understand what people mean when they say 'writers write.' It still makes me want to smack 'em, mind you.... but at least it makes sense now!

***
Dana has been involved in the entertainment world for many years as an actress in film and theatre. She has worn the hat of actress, producer, and writer much of that time.

Dana's love of all things feline has involved her in volunteer work with both large exotic cats with Exotic Feline Breeding Facility/Feline Conservation Center, and ongoing urban feline rescue. She has been writer and associate producer of several award winning documentaries on the subject.

Dana was co-producer/writer/director for a mystery-oriented theatrical troupe based in San Diego. These experiences were the basis for her mystery novel MURDER FOR HIRE: The Peruvian Pigeon. She is at work on the second in the series, Murder for Hire: The Big Snooze. Writing as Inara LaVey, she has a short story, Succubusted, and a novel, Ripping the Bodice, and is currently working on Champagne with Ravenous Romance, http://www.ravenousromance.com/ a new e-book site focused on erotic romance.

MURDER FOR HIRE: The Peruvian Pigeon is available through all fine bookstores in the US and Uk, on-line through amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and other internet sites. Also available direct from the publisher at www.rockpublishing.com