If You Can't Stand the Heat
The idea for If You Can’t Stand The Heat actually came about when I started watching a TV program here in Canada. There was one cast member that I absolutely detested on sight. He was a good-looking man, but smug, arrogant even. He seemed overly confident and he was brutally honest. But for some reason, I kept coming back week after week; just to discover what rotten thing he might spew next. However, there was something about this man that intrigued me and if for some reason he didn’t appear on an episode, I wasn’t even interested and would switch it off. Only to tune back in the next week to see if he was back. What was it about this ego with feet that had me hooked? And that is how Sesto Théodore began to take shape. And because he was such an overly confident character, I wanted to give him a worthy opponent. A strong woman, who could hold her own with him and rock his self-assuredness at every turn. That’s where Syn came in.
You are an avid reader so who are your favourites?
I’ll read just about anything that holds my interest and imagination. There are so many authors I love. The Brontë sisters are a favourite of mine from way back and Charles Dickens. I love to read anything Karen Marie Moning has penned. Kinley MacGregor and Janet Chapman. I could go on and on.
Why do you like a good happy ending?
I think I enjoy a happy ending because there are so many sad stories all around us every day; a break from the realities of life is sometimes a welcome change.
How long have you been a hopeless romantic?
I blame my parents for that one. They loved each other completely for forty-three years until my father passed, suddenly. My mum still wears not only her wedding band, but also his. My dad used to send my mum flowers on their anniversary every year; the exact arrangement that she carried in her bouquet the day they were married. I always thought that was the most romantic thing. She still receives a bouquet on their anniversary, a little altered, in his honour, but I knew that he would still want her to receive flowers on that day, even if he couldn’t be here to share it with her.
You are a dedicated writer, so how many hours do you make for your writing and what is your process?
I don’t really keep track of the hours. I write when I can, when the other demands of life are taken care of. It can be any time of the day or night. However, my process has evolved. The first manuscript that I finished and sent out into the publishing world, You Found Me, a historical romance, I wrote from beginning to end, in chronological order without skipping ahead to write other scenes. I’m not sure why, looking back, but that’s the way I thought it needed to be done. But now, I skip around scenes and go back and fill in details later, especially if I am on a creative run. At the moment I have several stories on the go, all in various states of completion. I work on whatever comes to the forefront on any given day. Unless I am doing edits for my publishers and then I drop everything to devote my time to that.
When life doesn’t work out the way we want it to then why is a good book sometimes the answer?
Escapism. In a good book, all things are possible. I can dive into a whole new world and live vicariously through another character for a little while.
Why did you develop a passion for erotic, historical and contemporary fiction?
When I started writing, I thought my genre was strictly historical romance because that’s what I love to read. But my muse had other plans and I found a real passion for writing erotic romance.
What is next for you?
Next, in the erotic genre from Totally Bound, the sequel to Streetlight People, an mff ménage, entitled The Best of Both Worlds and also an m/f contemporary, called Rock Me Gently, a story about a former rock star turned high school history teacher, which will come out in the new year.