Welcome Brenna! I know you are one busy lady, so I appreciate you taking time to visit with us.

Thanks for having me! I’m always happy to spend time with the great ladies at Fallen Angels.

Congratulations on your recent EPPIE nominations! Your work Renegade’s Run from eXtasy Books as well as your self-published book of poetry have both been nominated. What are your feelings on being nominated for these two different works?

I’m delighted, of course. It’s been a rush to final for so many awards in my first two years out, and finaling for a book that is self-published is a real feat in the EPPIE. I was actually surprised, not that I finaled but at which ones did final. I had been laying my bets on other books, but that just goes to show you that the judges are definitely of a different mind than the author.

You are also a finalist for two CAPAs. Your works Written in the Stars and Ultimate Warriors have been singled out for this book award. Well Done! Of these four works that are nominated, does a particular one hold a special place in your heart?

Renegade’s Run holds the closest place in my heart, though I don’t really think I can write a book and not have it become special to me. Why that one and not one of the others? I think it would have to be Jonas, the hero of Renegade’s Run. There has always been something special about him. There are portions of that book that I get out and read again and again.
The funny thing is, if you asked me for my second favorite from those four, I would have to say the poetry book, because it contains a bunch of poetry I wrote to my husband when we were dating and when he was in the Navy. In fact, most of the Navy section of the book consists of poems I put in a hand-written book of poetry sent out for halfway-night of one of his cruises, most of which were originally written into cards which were delivered to him every few days on his first Northern Run. He still has that copy of the book on his bookshelves.

Even without awards next to your books, your name is easily associated with quality writing. Do you feel it gets easier or harder with time to maintain the level of quality in your writing?

Thank you! Is it easier or harder? Easier. As I work with each editor, I learn more of my weak areas, so I start correcting them before they hit an editor. That means more work for me on my end, but the results are worth it. Not to mention, I have started seeing errors in the hand-written phase which get corrected before they even get typed in.
I had several authors scream that I was being bumped up in edits somehow, but what was really happening was that edits took me less than a day to complete. The last few books I have handed in have literally gone through a single edit, which was a polish mainly, a second pass by the editor which yielded nothing to fix, and a proofing pass by the EIC as it was formatted that never yielded more than two or three errors. Then the book was ready for sale. If that’s all you’re doing to it, how can you fail to get it out quickly?

How do you maintain your creativity and enthusiasm in such a demanding field?

There is always another story idea lurking. The hardest thing for me is convincing myself to do the “grunt work” (the personal edits and typing in the books) when I really want to be doing the fun portions (the writing). Sometimes, like this moment, I have to shelve all but the ones coming up on deadline and force myself to finish what I have to. I’ll admit that it’s hard! I have, among other things, story ideas for a few new Night Warriors, a new Grellan War book, a new Star Mage book, and even a follow-up to Prophecy. And that’s not even taking into account the stand-alones that are rolling around up there.

You recently released the story Playing Games II: Blackout in the Dark Romance anthology, The Abyss. Can you tell readers a little about this story?

Playing Games II: Blackout follows Denise and Adam from Playing Games (eXtasy Books’ Sensual Shorts Nuggets Collection) into the aftermath of her encounter with the beast (Night Warriors series) Polero. She was left blood-weak and near death at the ER doors with no memory of four days of her life. At the opening of Blackout, she enters the scene of her attack and tries to figure out what happened to her. It is a very dark little sensual piece basically asking what you would do if you had memories that you couldn’t share, even with the person you trusted most in the world.

Is Dark Romance a genre readers can expect to see more from you in the future?

I’ve always written Dark Romance. I think Written In The Stars is one of the few I can’t claim the dark label on. I simply never had a name for it when I started writing it. Grin... Yes, I think it’s safe to say that you’ll be seeing a lot more of the genre from me.

Are there other genres or ideas that are just begging to be written?

Genres begging for me to write them? I have a couple of straight fantasy books brewing upstairs...and a straight horror book. I do occasionally write something that’s not romance-based. As for story ideas? More than I can ever count. I will never catch up with all the ones I have floating around up there.

Your site offers readers an opportunity to speak with your characters. To date, can you tell us one of the most entertaining questions your characters have entertained?

LOL! I had someone ask Curt Maher who to vote for. Curt gave a very diplomatic response to which the reader commented, “Sounds good. I was going to vote for the one who’s not an idiot.”
Most of the questions are actually serious plot questions. Jörg has answered quite a few good ones about his relationship with Regana and the very first question was a killer. Someone asked Alex Braeden about the scar he got when he was arrested, and he’d been dying to tell me that story.

Given the variety of characters that you have created, where do you find the inspiration for such diverse, realistic people?

I started off using real people as the basis. In Prophecy, every character is based on a real person I know. Most of Gram’s group are based on Navy ladies and gents that served with my husband. Jason is one of the Bobs...grin. Joe is a slightly less perfect version of my husband when he was a young man. Eric started off as Chris, but somewhere along the line, Pat joined in to the amalgam on that one. Gram is my mother-in-law, and Harris was my father-in-law. Kyla’s family is much like a truncated version of my own...not as many siblings, but it’s so close to the original that my step-mother cracks up laughing while she reads the book and actually called my youngest sister Mollie on the phone. Of course, somewhere along the line, they all got uppity and started arguing, “Chris might do that, but I am Eric, and I wouldn’t.”
As time went on, the characters started writing themselves. Since I am character-driven, I have to have a sense of character before I can write more. Unfortunately, that leads to problems sometimes. For instance, I wrote scenes from Keith and Carol’s POV first in TYGERS, and then “Katie” wouldn’t talk to me. Finally, I demanded to know what was wrong with her, and darned if she didn’t tell me, “My name is Katheryn, and anyone with any sense calls me Katheryn.” In other words, Keith and Carol had no common sense and told me to call her Katie.
Having to have a sense of character has slowed me down at times. For example, the final five books of Kegin series are so completely interlocked that I had to write pieces of the last four books just to write the next in the series. I learned my lesson there. Even if the character I am writing is a secondary one, I have to have a good feel for him/her. Colin Hunter from Night Warriors series taught me that. I wrote his portions of Night Warriors, thinking he was fairly straight-forward, mired in duty. It wasn’t until I started writing his portions of Hunter Tales that I realized he wasn’t what I thought at all. That was all a front for what his real reasons were. The man had reasons! He wasn’t supposed to have reasons!
Yes, I argue with my characters. I discuss things with them. I warn them that they are in for a world of hurt if they do certain things, but they never listen to me. Grin... My characters are nearly as real to me as anyone else I interact with, and they listen about as well as a bunch of stir-crazy kids.

Of all the characters you have brought to life, do you have a favorite?

A single favorite? Groan... That is so hard, because it changes based on my mood. When that question is posed, a half dozen characters come rushing through my head, and a dozen more come sauntering through after, winking and giving me a knowing grin. I want to say Jörg, but then I see Ro Ti and Jonas and Curt and Kord and... Then the women start screaming for airtime, and I want to say Kyla, but then I see Katheryn and Juvia and...

You have a wonderfully supportive family. How have they contributed to your writing? Okay you don’t have to tell me the specifics of how Rob has contributed LOL!

Snicker...well, I based the family in Prophecy on them. I based Kyle in TYGERS on my son. My older sister is a great sounding board. Lisa is simply the only person in the world who can claim to have read every story I have published or on its way. As soon as they go into the computer, she gets her copy by e-mail. She is my gut-level interpreter. If it hits her between the eyes, it’s good. My husband supports my writing. He upgrades the computer, makes sure I make it to cons and signings, and kicks me in the butt when I forget to spend time with the family. Last year, while I was at EPICon, he redecorated our bedroom for me.

What else would you like to accomplish in your career?

The usual... I want to write the next great NY book. Seriously, I never want to forget why I love doing this. Of course, I would like to actually win an EPPIE or DREAM REALM award this year.

What can readers expect to see next?

Let’s see. For eXtasy, I have Rites of Mating (Kegin series), Sweet Jacquine (Night Warriors series), The Black Knight (Night Warriors Tarot) and The Blade Chaser’s Son (Night Warriors series) all partially typed in. I am also working on my Pleiades book, Siege, for Triskelion. Fairy Dreams should be releasing from Treble Heart sometime soon, as well.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Is there anything you haven’t asked? Grin... Let’s see. I have a submission in for an anthology at a seventh publisher and should be hearing back soon on it. Keep your fingers crossed. I signed on for two new continuity series at Triskelion, The Garrison and The Elementals at Sister O. I just updated my site with new banner ads for my books and new reviews. Oh, and I have an internet radio interview planned for March 30th at 10pm EST (Jewel’s Way). You can find out more on my site. Hope everyone has a great year!

Thank you so much for stopping by Brenna.

Thanks for having me!

If you have not had a chance to read Brenna’s work, visit her website for more information on her exciting series.






Interviewed by: Amanda