Hi Leigh and welcome to Fallen Angel Reviews. I appreciate you taking time to speak with us.
Your book, Truth or Dare, was just released in December by Phaze. Can you tell us a little about this story?

Truth or Dare is a contemporary erotic romance about a legendary rock musician, Brady Garriston. Brady’s in a slump as the book begins – he hasn’t cut an album in a while, and his girlfriend just dumped him. He’s convinced he can’t find any inspiration in the city, so he decides to assume a different name and hide out in a small Virginia town, Dareville.
In Dareville, schoolteacher Ellie Shaw is bored with her lackluster love life and concerned about her school closing down due to lack of funds. Friends know her cousin is dating Brady Garriston, and they try to get Ellie to get Brady to do a benefit show. Imagine the surprise when Brady shows up in Dareville on his own and runs into Ellie! It isn’t long before they’re making beautiful music together, even though Brady is still incognito – a disguise which Ellie instantly sees through, but she plays along because the sex is too good! (g)

What do you feel are two of your main sources of inspiration?

I couldn’t pinpoint just two, but since I have to I’ll stick with two of the most prominent sources: music and life in general. I like to listen to music when I write, I find that it relaxes me and helps me get the words down faster than I would without any white noise to comfort. Sometimes I’ll hear a lyric that gives me an idea for a plotline or character. Sometimes the sound of a singer’s voice inspires me to create a character who might sound that way.
As for the other source of inspiration...I find inspiration in so many different places. I’ll see an item on the news and I’ll get an idea. I’ll see somebody walking along the street and be inspired to create a similar character. Every day I come up with a new idea, I don’t think I’ll ever get them all written.

When you are writing, does the story flow start to finish or are there certain scenes that just asked to be written first?

I have had that work both ways. With Truth or Dare I wrote the story from start to finish without any difficulty. I was a little slow on the love scenes, but only because I wanted to pay more attention to them, make them read well. With my next book, Muse, I wrote many of the scenes out of order. Muse is a novel within a novel, so to speak, and much of the fictional novel the main character writes was written first, and the rest of the story was written around it.

You also take time to read as well as write. What have been some of the books that have caught your interest lately?

I’ve been reading Chey McCray’s Wonderland Series, The King of Heart and King of Spades so far. Both well-written and very sexy. I don’t think I could write BDSM myself, but I think she does a good enough job of it. (g)

I’m also reading some of Vivian Hart’s works. I like her characters, they are very real and one can easily sympathize with them.

Do you have an all-time favorite book or author?

My all-time favorite book has to be Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. I could read it again and again and never tired of it. I don’t have a favorite author per se, I like to read just about anything.

Your works fall into the erotic romance genre. Do you intend to expand on the types of genres you write?

Yes, I intend to write varying degrees of sensuality in the future. One WIP I have is intended to be even more explicit than Truth or Dare, while another will be heavier on humor and lighter on sex. I’d like also to branch into cross-genres. One of my works in progress is a vampire romance. I hope to finish it this month.

What is your favorite aspect of the writing process?

I like outlining a project, deciding what’s going to happen. Then when I finish I check the outline again and see how far I strayed. (g)

Your work, Muse will be coming soon from Phaze. Can we get a hint about this story?

Muse, as I mentioned earlier, is a novel within a novel. Tania Garber is a romance author with a deadline approaching, and she’s stuck creating a hero. When she meets her downstairs neighbor she is inspired, as he is inspired to pick up a camera again after burning out of his job as a photographer.

Readers will get to read the story of Tania and the "real-life" Boone, her neighbor, while also reading excerpts of her book, so you’re getting twice the romance for your buck.

When can fans expect to see this new story?

No date has been set yet for Muse, but I’m hoping for late spring, before the RT convention. Phaze is going to be represented there, though I won’t be able to go this year.

Are there any other projects in the works for you that fans can look for?

I’m presently working on the sequel to Truth or Dare, called Dare Me. That book will focus on Brady’s best friend, Cal. Also, Julian’s Gift is the vampire story, which will likely be a stand alone novella or part of an anthology another Phaze author is working on.

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

Yes. The Phaze authors (the Phazettes) host monthly chats at the Phaze.com website. Be sure to sign up at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phaze-announcements to get news on our chats. And our discussion list is live at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phaze which is open to readers over the age of 18, as are the chats.

My monthly newsletter, Ellwood if She Could, is available at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/leigh_ellwood. Every month I give away some kind of prize, so check it out!

Thank you so much for stopping by Leigh.

Readers if you have not had an opportunity to read Truth or Dare, visit her website (http://leighellwood.blogspot.com/) and see what the reviews are saying.



Interviewed by: Amanda