Interview with Michelle Houston:
Hi Michelle. Thank you for doing this interview. I would like to welcome you to the Romance at Heart Interview and Author Grilling session. *bg* We are interested to find out as much about you as we possibly can, so lets get started...
- Please tell us about your latest book.
Coming up next is a short story called Nice Kitty Kat in the Erotic Tales 2 anthology and will be coming out from Phaze Books.
Katrina gets talked into attending a D/s part as her friend’s date, only to wind up a submissive to a complete stranger, while others watch. It’s just a quick, quirky lesbian piece, that I wrote in a “what if” mood. Erotic Tales 2 comes out in May.
- What can we expect from you in the future?
In the next few months, I have about a dozen stories coming out in print anthologies, in e-book anthologies, or in solo e-books. A full list can be found on my website, at www.eroticpen.net
The next ones in line are:
‘Unnatural Bonds’ in the Summer Solstice Scorchers anthology which is coming out from Whiskey Creek Press Torrid in June. Unnatural Bonds is the story of a woman who goes to great lengths to free a vampire from the clutches of a scientist bent on dissecting him, only to find out that now that she has freed him she has no clue what to do with him.
“The Life Not Lived” in the 413 Remembrance lane anthology from Phaze. This story was especially fun to write, since the other authors and I worked together to craft the premise of the anthology, to create the stories while making sure each contained a unique paranormal elements, and stayed true to the few common guidelines. We had no idea when we started if it would find a home, but we knew we wanted to write it regardless. The sexualities of the stories vary, running the gambit of lesbian/gay to heterosexual and threesomes, and branching from vanilla to D/s.
The common thread is a diary in the house at 413 Remembrance Lane, which tells of the wonderful and strange occurrences in the owner’s lives.
After that is my pride and joy, “Diggin’ Up Bones”, which is also coming out from Phaze. I laughed and cried as I wrote this story, trying to do it justice. And for once, I think that I did.
- How do we find out about you and your books?
My website! Most definitely, without a doubt, check out my website. I try and update frequently, mostly because I like playing around with webpages, but also because I am an avid reader and I like it when authors update their websites. Bugs me when I visit sites to see “coming soon ______ book in _____ month” and the book has been out a month or more.
So definitely check out my website, I keep it updated with all the latest information. The url is www.eroticpen.net
- How may readers contact you?
I can be reached at theeroticpen@yahoo.com I also have a snail mail address available on my website, in case anyone prefers writing letters to emails.
- When did you first think about writing and what prompted you to submit your first ms?
I can’t remember the first time I started thinking about writing. It has always been a part of my life. I do remember a poem in the third grade that I was SO proud of.
I started writing erotica/erotic romances (as opposed to the typical angst ridden poetry of my teenage years) seriously around 1998, and started trying to get published a little bit after that. The exact time frame is fuzzy.
I do know my husband is what promoted me to submit my first piece, a little flash fiction story of 100 words to Amoret, a website that has since closed down. (Which was NOT my fault I might add LOL). I was paid the grand sum of $2.00 for the piece.
I submitted a few more pieces, some were accepted, others rejected. All told, I think I made like $14.00, but I found that more important than the money was the emotional charge I got from it all. Not the rejections – those are a necessary evil though – no, it was the acceptance high. Someone LIKED my writings enough to want to pay me to publish it.
From there I compiled a collection of my short stories and sent it off to Renaissance E Books, and since then I have bit my nails while waiting on maybe a hundred submission, and have gotten several published in print anthologies and by e-book publishers.
- What about your family, do they know not to bother you when you are writing - or are there constant interruptions?
My husband is very supportive of me. There have been some nights, I will be laying in bed KNOWING I need to get to sleep, because of the next days tasks (work, college, and so on), and my brain just won’t quite wandering. He will tell me simply “go write”. Sometimes I do, other times I ride it out until I can sleep. But that simple acceptance of it, the way he will leave the house for a while so I can have some quiet time, and dozens of other little things he does keeps me writing.
My daughter also knows I write, but she is too young to know just what it is that I write. But she’ll tell anyone she is proud of me and that when she gets older she wants to write too.
- What do you do to relax and recharge your batteries?
I wish I knew how.
- Where do your ideas come from?
I like to call myself an equal opportunity idea moocher. Anything and everything has sparked ideas. I’m not a people watcher, but sometimes I will catch a movement out of the corner of my eye, I will happen to see a glance between two people, or I will hear a comment and I will just feel this ‘ah-ha’ moment.
- What are your thoughts on love scenes in romance novels, do you find them difficult to write?
Having gotten my start in erotica and then moved to erotic romance, I find them actually the easiest parts to write. It’s the character interaction outside of the bedroom, hallway, kitchen, living room, backyard etc that is the hardest for me to write.
I’ve sometimes found my characters eating meals in silence so that I can hurry up and get to the good parts.
- What kind of research do you do?
Well last week there was the swingers’ party, the month before we visited an S&M club … LOL
Seriously, I research about like anyone else does. I visit the library and pull information from books. I do some searches online. And when all else fails, I use the wonderful thing called ‘writer’s initiative’ and I make stuff up.
- What does your husband think of your writing?
My husband has a great sense of humor about it all. We even joked about getting T-shirts made up that say “Buy my wife’s books – I want to be a kept man” after I mentioned another author’s hubby thinking the same way.
And like I mentioned before, he is definitely very supportive of me. Even when I am moody, and cranky, and irritated that my characters have the nerve to want to do their own thing instead of what I want them to do.
- Do you have a favorite author? Favorite book?
I have so many favorite authors, it’s like I working on beginning a small library.
There is one book that stands out in my mind though whenever anyone asks my favorite book, although there many that I have read since with more charismatic heroes and heroines. One of the first romances I read, when I was still in my historical phase, was Desert Rogue by Suzanne Simmons. What is especially wonderful for me now that I have moved on to loving paranormal romances, is that Suzanne Simmons has recently announced on Amazon that she is “reinventing” herself, and taking the pen name of the heroine from Desert Rogue to write paranormal romances under. So I am looking forward to what Elizabeth Guest has in store for me in the coming years.
In the mean time, I still have the treasured copy of Desert Rogue on my bookshelf.
- Who are some of your other favorite authors to read?
Some of my auto buy authors, in no particular order, include: Angela Knight, MaryJanice Davidson (Betsy the Vamp Queen and related stories), Kay Hooper (the Bishop series), Linnea Sinclair, Catherine Spangler, Michele Bardsley (a newcomer with a lot of potential), Rebecca York, Katie MacAlister (the dragons and the vamps), C J Barry, Suzanne Brockmann (the Troubleshooter series), Christine Feehan (Dark, Game, and the witch sisters series), Tess Gerritson, Susan Grant, Patti O’Shea, Robin D Owens (the Heart series), Joanne Rock, Lynsay Sands (Argeneau vampires), and Nalini Singh (another hot newcomer).
- Are you a member of any author groups - RWA, critique groups, etc.?
I’m a member of ERWA – the Erotica Readers and Writers Association.
Without a doubt, if one is considering writing erotica, they need to check out ERWA. The staff is incredible and hardworking, and does it completely out of love of the genre.
- What do you think of critique groups in general?
In general, I believe in them and support them. If a writer can find a group they mesh well with, whose dynamics fit their personality, it works wonders.
However, if they jump in headfirst, with people they might not know that well, they can find personalities clashing, writing styles differing, and more of a headache than a help.
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
Hopefully, I will be out of college. As a non-traditional student, it has been touch to go back to school after almost a decade out of the swing of things, but also exhilarating. I am learning new things, pushing myself mentally, and working towards a degree that I have always wanted.
On the writing front, I plan to still be doing what I am doing – telling the stories that are demanding I write them.
- Are you in control of your characters or do they control you?
It kind of depends. Some character let me have my way, with only minor fits, and others are demanding from word one and I can’t do anything except let them have their way.
- Have you experienced writer's block---> If so, how did you work through it?
I have definitely been blocked while writing. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of not being able to switch from my ‘academic’ mind set to my ‘creative’ mind set, and I have to wait it out until things ease up at school and I can get back into the swing of writing. Other times, life just demands more than is possible to give, and writing has to take a back seat.
- What is the most rewarding thing about being a writer?
Knowing, thanks to the lovely royalties statements, that people are willing to give their hard-earned money to read the world I have crafted, to loose themselves in the tale that I slaved to write.
I don’t do it for the money (because let’s face it, I’m not a New York times bestseller, and even then, I know a few who are that are STILL struggling to pay the bills) so I am never going to get rich off of writing.
I write because I have to. I publish because it isn’t fair to myself, my family, or those that read my tales to keep them all to myself. Just think, what if no writer shared their writings?
- Are there any words of encouragement for unpublished writers?
Write because you love it, not to be published. Submit your writings because you want to share them, not to become rich. Don’t let it become a job, having to meet deadlines and getting stressed over it. Do it for the love of writing, and let things fall as they may.
I have been published several times, but I still refuse to commit to a deadline. If I want to write a story for a Calls For Submissions, and it comes to me, great. If not, then there will be another one to write for.
Thank you very much for taking the time with us and answering our questions. I really appreciate this interruption to your busy schedule. Good Luck, and we will be looking forward to the next delightful creation from your talented imagination!
Yours in good reading,
Rose!
Michelle Houston's Site Bio Yahoo newsgroup
Buy Author's Books at Phaze
Buy Author's Books at Whiskey Creek Press
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