The Wednesday Interview

Time for another brilliant author interview. This week it’s Charlene Leatherman and Prophecy of Vithan. I have read some excerpts of this book and I am eagerly waiting for tomorrow when the book is released. Next week is brilliant author Elaine Lowe with her book Scandalous Profession.

Prophecy of Vithan -The Blurb

Morgan had the life she dreamed of all her life. Although still a brothel slave, the king and queen treated her like a free woman, and the prince she was training was like a son to her.
Then everything goes to hell. Morgan is forced into a marriage with a man she can not respect or admire. Her prince is missing and the king and queen are killed. Morgan is blamed for the murder. Morgan’s primary concern is to find Prince Khai.
The only thing slowing Morgan down is the prophecy about her saving the galaxy, remaining a virgin, and that damn electric attraction she feels every time Len touches her.

Len had his orders. The ones everyone knew about and the other ones. Marry his soul-mate and consummate the marriage and determine if his new wife was the original Morgan Taj Zephyrain. The first he looked forward to. The second he preferred to ignore.
Morgan is accused of murdering the king and queen. Prince Khai is missing. Obviously, Morgan Taj Zephyrain is the criminal Len is seeking. It is Len’s job to bring the murderer to justice.

The Interview

1. What about sizzling sex scenes in your book. How hard is it to write sex and make it convincing?

Authors I have associated with tell me that writing sex scenes is fun and easy and so forth. For me, writing sex scenes is extremely difficult. I’m not sure why. I struggle with each scene, even with a kiss. I struggle with the words and with making it convincing. When I knock something off, write without struggling, the scene comes off contrived, strained and comical.

2. Romance and the condom. How hard do you find to slip it in or on when the action is hot between characters?

I avoided the condom issue in Prophecy of Vithan by two methods. First, Morgan is considered sterile. Her condition comes from the alteration she is subjected to as a child. Secondly, Morgan and Len are married, albeit a forced marriage.

Of course, I write about futuristic worlds in other Galaxies so there can always be a solution to the condom that may not be an actual condom.

3. Do you think romance just happens or do you make your characters work for it?

My characters have to fight tooth and nail for their romance. Morgan runs from romance hard and fast until it slams into her. Then the romance is ripped from her and she has to risk everything, her life, her sanity, her freedom to keep the romance in her life.

4. What is it about your hero that makes him irresistible to women?

Len Braxton is a man who has compassion and tenderness and a heart a big as the galaxy. He also has strength of character that gives him the ability to fight against all odds for his love, Morgan. He is handsome and sexy, but what makes him so irresistible is that when he commits to Morgan, nothing in the universe will stop him from protecting her. He will pull heaven down into hell if needs be to keep her in his life.

5. Do you think readers want to escape or do they want to identify with a character?

I think readers do both. I am a reader as well as a writer. I read to escape and it helps when I can identify with a character. Now, that doesn’t mean that every book I read deals with a middle-aged writer. However, the books I read need to have a heroine that can stand on her own two feet. The heroine may have to abide by conventions and in doing so acquiesces to men, but in her heart and attitude she is strong and self-reliant.

I think that readers who want to escape to other worlds and experience strong women in fantastical adventures will enjoy Prophecy of Vithan.

6. What do you think is the most important thing to remember when writing romance?

The most important thing to remember is that you are writing romance. By definition, romance includes love. Yes, physical love is included, but the deep, soul-filling, person-defining love is what romance is made of. The hero may be an alpha-hero or beta or gamma. It doesn’t matter as long as he harbors an ocean deep love for the heroine by the end of the book. The heroine may be a take-no-prisoners kind of gal or may be a fainting violet, but she has to have an all-consuming love, filling her from the tips of her toes to the top of her head, for the hero by the end of the book. I think we all want to have that kind of love in our lives. Whether we read to escape or because we identify with the heroine we all want to be told about that most fantastic love.

7. What are you working on now?

I am working on Stone of Cruento. It is a book that features a not-so-heroic woman who becomes a heroine. She is bitten by a vampire, protected by an ogre, married to a centaur and the fate of two worlds sit on her shoulders.

Thanks for inviting me to the party, Amarinda. I have had a lot of fun with this interview.

***Amarinda - Always a bonus to chat with you Miss Charlene-you have a wild mind

**Click on the cover and buy the book**

Last weeks brilliant author – Terry Odell and Finding Sarah

Did you check out the latest in our Emmeline saga? If not, down tools immediately and go to www.annycook.blogspot.com and then Thursday make sure you are first at www.kellykirch.blogspot.com to see what happens next.

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