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Good Enough To TrustI am joined on this sizzlingly hot Saturday by author Zara Stoneley - welcome, Zara.
When is your novel out? Now! ‘Good Enough to Trust’ is book 2 in the series and came out April 2013. Who is your publisher? This one is self-published, but I have stories published with Xcite Books, Breathless Press and Lyrical Press. Why do you write? I can’t not! I’ve got a long list of stories I want to tell – and not enough time to write them. Each author has a unique voice. How would you describe yours? A bit quirky! My writing isn’t always grammatically correct – I try not to analyse it too closely, but I think it is because my characters thoughts, as well as their dialogue, are fairly colloquial. I started off writing in quite a formal, correct style (as I’d been taught at school) but the story just didn’t flow for me – I didn’t own it. For me, the characters have to lead the story – and most people don’t think/speak in a grammatically correct way all the time. Correct isn’t real enough if that makes sense! Writer's block? Do you get it and how do you get over it? Not a complete block – more a hiccup which going back to basics with pen and paper normally solves. Ultimate story you'd like to write? I’m working on it! At the moment I’m keeping the details secret – I’m superstitious when it comes to talking about my works in progress. But, it’s longer than anything else I’ve written, has more plot twists and the characters are giving me a headache! How do you balance the erotic side of your characters with a good plot? In an erotic romance I believe that the sex is an integral part of the story – it links into the development of the relationship and the growth of the characters. It’s a part of the plot and the story wouldn’t work if you took it out. For example, take ‘Forfeit’ – the characters find out about themselves and who they really are by partaking! What do you do when a flash of inspiration hits you at an inopportune moment? Scrabble for a pen, or write a note on my smartphone (I often can’t understand what the hell I meant when I re-read it!). How do you unwind? Wine, food, gardening, playing guitar, reading – I need more hours in the day. How do you balance the writing ‘you’ with all the other ‘you’s? Not always well! Burnt toast anyone? Where is the most unusual place you have ever had sex? In a rhododendron bush (it was a big one!). How do you deal with the dreaded rejection? Sulk, eat chocolate and drink wine – then try and convince myself that all the great authors had rejections and that I’ve just got to try again to find the right home for the story. Which famous person did you have your first crush on? David Essex – I’m showing my age now, aren’t I? How do you deal with reviews that aren't as positive as others? I once read that if you aren’t getting bad reviews, then you aren’t widely enough read – which is a great way of looking at it! Reading is a personal experience and not everyone likes the same thing – but comments like ‘horrible’ are hard to understand, constructive criticism is great though, even if I don’t totally agree! Take what you can and ignore the rest is my attitude (most of the time). What is the one thing you can't do without when writing? Coffee! What's next? I have my current secret project on the go, then will be publishing Book 3 in the Good Enough series at the end of the year, and have promised a follow up to Riding High.
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