Welcome to another great interview at Fallen Angel Reviews. This month I’m interviewing an author who is making it big not only for her great imagination and creativity but also for her great personality. Arianna Hart, author of Stranded from Extasy Books and Surprise from Triskelion Publishing. If you have not read Stranded you missing out on a great book by Arianna.

So sit back and enjoy an interesting interview with Arianna. Even this reviewer got to know more about her which is a real honor from such a busy author to catch some time to answer these questions.

First, can you tell us a little about yourself?

I can tell you all sorts of things about myself, hahaha, I’m my favorite subject. Well, I live in New England with my husband of seven years and our three daughters, ages 6, 4, and 2, and a cat and a dog. The cat is the only other male in the house. My husband has plans to move to the pool shed when the teen years hit. I am a part-time high school teacher, part-time kickboxing instructor, and a Black Belt in Karate. I spend most of my days running around like a lunatic with my kids, and when I get the chance, I write as much as I can at once. I like to listen to music, hang out on the beach, and go out with friends. None of which I get to do very often anymore. Does “Barney” count as music?

Your fellow romance readers would love to know is how did you come up with a terrific man as Connor O’Reiley to be your main guy in Surprise.

Gee, I don’t know to be honest with you. He is kind of a mixture of the men in my life with some of the qualities (and looks) of men I’d LIKE to be in my life. (hahahaha) My characters seem to just appear to me, full grown, in my head. I don’t get to do much other than pick their names, and even then they sometimes rebel. I try not to make them all look the same, although I’m partial to black hair and blue eyes, so an inordinate amount of my heroes tend to have those features.

Now in your honest opinion if you had only one character from your books to take with you on a trip who would it be? Why?

Hmmm, that’s a tough one. Where would I be going? Would I be single? Would I have to clean up after them? I’d like to take Ross, because he knows how to cook, but he is kind of arrogant at first and I don’t know if I have enough patience to get past that. Connor is easier to get along with, but he’s a slob. Hmmm, I have to pick one? Can I alternate? Okay, I’ll chose Connor, as long as we are staying at a five star hotel with maid service.

How long does it take you to create a wonderful story?

That depends. Now if you ask my parents, they’ll tell you I could come up with some great stories in ten seconds flat, hahahaha. Honestly, Surprise took me almost a year to write because I got bored in the middle of it (and pregnant, but that is another story) and put it away for six months. Stranded took me five weeks to write. It depends a lot on the word count and the genre. I tend to write fast, but then I have to go back and edit like crazy because I miss so much when I’m typing as fast as my fingers can fly. I’d die without my critique partners, I miss so much in my own writing.

Has anyone ever tried to stop you from writing a story, like saying you weren't good enough? If so what did you do to continue?

No one has discouraged me from writing, in fact, the opposite is true. My family is extremely supportive, especially my sisters. Plus, I have the most fantastic support group of writing friends I’ve met on line. There have been a few times after I’ve been rejected that they were more upset than I was. On the rare occasions I get discouraged they let me whine for a few minutes, then kick me in the pants to get back writing again. Did I say supportive? I meant tough love . . . Honestly, I don’t know what I would do without these folks in my life.

What inspired you to create a story such as Stranded?

I was dared! That’s the God’s truth, hahaha. I was online one night with a friend of mine and I’d had a glass or two of wine, and she dared me to write erotica, so I did. Then she dared me to submit it, and I fell for it again. The rest is history! I love writing erotica, it is such an open field, I’m eternally grateful to her for stooping to my level.

What is your take on all the genres popping up in the publishing world and which is your favorite?

I love seeing so many genres coming out these days. There are so many people in the world who have various tastes, I think it is great that there are now so many publishers making different books available to the masses. As a mommy I think ebooks are the best thing since sliced bread. I don’t have to drag three kids into the store to pick out a book, and if I want to read something that has a little bit more spice to it, I don’t have to pretend I’m buying it for someone else. My favorite? There is no way I can pick a favorite, I love too many. I am a huge reader and I love almost everything.

From the beginning you can sense that Sam and Connor are destined for one another why all the obstacles between them in Surprise?

Well, I had to get to 70,000 words, and if there wasn’t some conflict I wouldn’t have had enough words, hahahaha. Honestly, I think that nothing worthwhile ever comes easy. Samara and Connor had to work through some issues so that they’d know they could make it when the going got tough. I don’t mean getting shot at, that’s the easy part. I’m talking about midnight feedings and getting up in the morning. Now that’s a challenge for the survival of a relationship.

Do you see yourself as a writer or ever imagined that you would become an author?

I have always loved to read and write. As long as I can remember I have had my nose stuck in a book of some sort. I started writing when I was a teenager, but never finished anything. I decided to become an English teacher because I could talk about books all day and I’d have a captive (literally) audience. I’ve had stories running through my head as long as I can remember, and when they got to be too much I’d write them down. I always quit when they got boring, or life got busy, then a few months later I’d sit down and start another one. It has been my secret dream to be a writer since I was twelve, and the fact that I’m finally doing it gives me goose bumps.

With the success of your book, Stranded and Surprise has your life changed dramatically? If so how?

Changed? Not at all. The day I found out I sold Stranded I had company coming over and was cleaning the house like a mad woman because I had wasted so much time emailing all my friends. There’s nothing like changing a baby and cleaning a toilet to bring you back down to earth. I am busier now as I try to figure out this whole promoting thing, and I’ve found a whole new set of internet buddies who keep me pretty busy too, but in the grand scheme of things, I still am the one getting the girls ready in the morning and putting dinner on the table at night. I keep trying to tell my husband that I’m sure Nora Roberts isn’t emptying the diaper pail, but he isn’t impressed.

I haven’t suffered from writer’s block really. I get bored easily, so sometimes it is a real challenge to force myself through the “sagging middle” to get back to the parts I like to write. (i.e. love scenes) I have more trouble finding the time to write than not having anything to write when I finally get on the computer. If I am stuck on a particular scene, I try to go at it from a few different angles and see if that helps, and if all else fails help is only a few keystrokes away. (I mentioned my awesome critique partner’s, didn’t I?)

I’m always working on something, hahahaha. Right now I’m working my behind off to finish a paranormal/romantic suspense for Triskelion Publishing which will be out in March. I promised to get it in by the end of January and I’m anal about deadlines. After that, I have a few things kicking around, but I’m not sure just yet where I’m headed.

I’m glad you asked that! Take Your Medicine, Macayla and Jared’s story will be released from Triskelion Publishing in February. I had so much fun with those characters, it wouldn’t surprise me if you see them again. They’ve become my family in a way and soon I can see them popping in uninvited to other stories in the area.

Absolutely! Surprise was the first story I ever wrote from start to finish. My husband dared me to do something with it (are you sensing a theme here?) because I actually did finish one for once. I sent it in to a publisher and it was rejected a year ago December. January 2004 it will be released. Every good review I get from that just makes me more positive that there is a home out there for every manuscript, you just have to work to find it. Rejection is a part of writing, you have to accept that it is going to happen someday, and you can either suck it up, learn from it or you can quit. You might learn an awful lot about what not to do from a rejection, but you’ll go nowhere if you quit. I’m also quite stubborn, and I think that helps in the writing business. I’m going to keep trying until I get my way, hahahaha. You should see the editors run in fear when they see my name on a return envelop! Hahaha. There are tons of resources out there if you take the time to look, so take the plunge and have some fun with it!