Fridays with Friends Featured Guest is Paranormal & Erotic Romance Author Zenobia Renquist/D. Renee Bagby!

Today, I'm honored to have multi-published author, Zenobia Renquist as my featured guest! We first met during the MSN group days, and in case you didn't see my brief post about Zenobia on yesterday at my Word Press site, http://www.darkparanormalromanceseries.com, you can also find her at Color of Love, where she's one of my sister administrative authors.

It is such a pleasure to have you here today, Zenobia! You write such a delicious variety of romance, I wanted to at least place a few tidbits around your interview for readers to get a taste. Readers, you can also find some of Zenobia's great stories under the name D. Renee Bagby. Following the interview, you'll find a special site to read first chapters of Zenobia's books.

Interview Questions

1.    What do you want readers to know about you as a person?  3 things.

a.     I tend to make things more convoluted than they need to be. As a result, it takes me a while to finish my novels. My novellas, on the other hand, go pretty quick because they have to be short.

b.    I love dragons with a capital L. Most anything with a dragon on it gets my attention. I have tons of dragons surrounding me in my office.

c.     I’m a home body. I prefer staying at home. I don’t mind traveling but my preference is to stay cooped up in my office.

2.    What are some of the most valuable lessons you’ve learned during your career as a writer/author?

a.     The most valuable lesson I have learned is that there will always be more to learn. This career is learning from start to finish. There’s always something new to learn—be it for writing craft or promotion or how to tell a story.

3.    That is so true. You’re a very busy lady. How do you spend your time when you’re not writing?

a.     I watch anime or read manga. I love Japanese culture. Both my anime and manga collections are substantial and getting bigger every month.

4.    Tell us about your books – genre, titles. Any favorite characters?

a.     My newest release is an Erotic Fiction title from Razor’s Edge Press called PRE-GAME SHOW. It’s a contemporary, voyeurism/exhibitionism short story about a wife who likes to entertain her husband’s poker buddies before they play cards.
http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1858

b.    Last month GUARDIAN’S TALES 1: ON AWHIM (Erotic Fantasy Romance) was released at Changeling Press. This is the tale of Rosaline, a human who has made the grave error of falling in love with a demi-god. This story also starts off a new series that focuses on Guardian, a demi-goddess who loves playing matchmaker.
http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1833

c.     In August is ETERNAL LOVERS thefinale for my CAVEAT EMPTOR SERIES (Erotic Paranormal Romance from Changeling Press). This series has followed three couples as they struggle to make love work during the vampire-mage war. Until now, all of the books have been from the heroines’ points of view. The finale gives the heroes a chance to shine.
http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1875

d.    I would have to say my favorite character is always the one I’m working on now. I have to love my characters in order to write them. Of my published titles my current favorite is Starling Moddel from PET’S PLEASURE (Mainstream SciFi Romance from Ellora’s Cave Blush). I had a ball writing her and reading aloud her arguments with Bekion. I loved the way those two bounced off of each other.
http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9948-pets-pleasure.aspx

5.    Is there a common thread in your books? If so, what do they have in common? What do you want readers to take from your creations?

Determined

a.     My common thread is Beauty and the Beast. It’s my all time favorite fairytale and my favorite Disney film. I love the idea of love breaking through a gruff exterior. My books tend to follow the same theme. I don’t know if readers can take anything from that other than I like my heroes to be a little annoying until the heroine gets to know them better.

6.    What can we look forward to from you in the near future? Works in progress? Projects?

a.     I have so many irons in the fire that I’m planning to go into seclusion in July. I’ll poke my head on the internet every now and again but I mostly plan to write and get stuff finished. I have four more books in the GUARDIAN’S TALES series to write as well as a spin-off from the CAVEAT EMPTOR series and then there’s a series that I haven’t even started yet. That’s not to mention the five SciFi Romances I have planned for Ellora’s Cave.

7.    What are some of your favorite writers’ resources? Online sites? Resource books?

a.     I recently discovered SIN AND SYNTAX by Constance Hale thanks to Angela Knight. It’s a resource book about “how to craft wickedly effective prose.” As I already said, this career is one of perpetual learning. I also subscribed to the CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE website since most publishers use that as their style guide. Beyond books, I’ve found RWA and its chapters to be full of authors willing to share their knowledge.

8.    What, in your opinion, are some key elements necessary in finding the love of your life? (I know. This one’s deep ;-)

a.     Number One – Similar interests. The love of your life should also be your friend. You’re going to be with this person for the rest of your life (ideally) and you can’t have sex all the time (though some try at first). You have to have something you can do and talk about together in between bedroom romps.

b.    Number Two – Different interests. You can’t be with each other 24/7. Eventually one will get on the other’s nerves. Sometimes people need time to themselves or with others who share an interest their spouse might not have.

c.     Number Three – Realize that life isn’t like a book or the movies. It’s great to get wrapped up in fiction, but real life doesn’t happen like that. Love takes work and diligence. As quickly as some people fall IN love, they can fall OUT of love if they aren’t careful.

9.    What do you look for in a good book?

a.     Characters I can love and a plot that grabs me. I want to laugh and cry and yell with the characters. I need to feel what they feel. And the plot has to have me reading as fast I can to find out what happens next. My favorite books are the ones that make me skip meals and ignore the real world until I finish them.

For more information about Zenobia, you can find her in these places around the web:

Blog - http://dreneebagby.blogspot.com/
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/ZenobiaRenquist
Newsletter - http://ymlp.com/xgeusujygmgj

Readers can preview the first chapter of all of my books on my First Chapters blog:
http://www.drb1stchp.com/search/label/Zenobia%20Renquist