Fallen Angel Reviews would like to welcome author, Elizabeth Baten-Carew. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions. We really appreciate the fact that you are willing to share with your readers!

Thank you for giving me the opportunity!

Let me start out by asking you a few questions about yourself. How would you describe yourself? Witty, urbane, talented?

Sure. All of the above. NOT! Actually, I’m rather quiet but learning to come out of my shell. When I attend writers’ meetings or conferences I forget that I’m quiet and bubble over with excitement. I LOVE to meet readers. (Not that I’ve met many yet, but next year at the RT Booklovers’ Convention…)

I’m a little ‘out there’ sometimes, as anyone who’s seen my fuscia, or purple, or burgundy, or… whatever-coloured hair (depends on when you see me) will attest to. My son takes after me in the odd hair department. He’s thirteen and has hair to his waist.

How does it feel to be the mother of teenagers? Is it harder?

I absolutely love it. Hoards of them flock to our house all the time and the regulars call me Mum. Or Mom. Remember I said I was a little ‘out there’? Well, I’m the mum who reads the Tarot cards, sits in on the Ouiji Board sessions, or the séances, and casts the protective spells to keep away negative energy. You know, that normal kind of stuff mum’s do to help their kids. The teens love to see my crystal ball, crystal points and raw crystals. (I’m not Wiccan, in case you’re wondering, though some of my best friends are.)

One of the drawbacks is that some of the teen gals ask about reading my books, but since my books are definitely for those 18 and older, I can’t share my books with them. (I haven’t even told my boys about the steamier side of my books. When the girls ask about reading my books, I just act distracted.)

Is having teenagers harder than younger kids? I used to hate it when my kids were toddlers and people told me it only gets harder. I was exhausted running after two very active boys all the time. They were very curious and into everything. That was hard! No rest for the weary. I don’t find having teenagers harder, but definitely challenging. It’s not physically exhausting, but it can be mentally exhausting. Some of the issues they face can be life-altering. Some of the decisions they make can be critical. I feel it is vital to ensure they know you are there for them no matter what. It’s important to keep up with what’s going on in their lives and know who is influencing them. That’s why I have hoards of teenagers around all the time. I want to know them and I want them to know me.

It’s all welll worth it. I feel younger than I have in years. It’s fun to tap into their world. It brings the world alive in so many ways. Watching their intelligence blossom and their questioning of the universe and everything around them is inspiring.

Now that you’re able to be a full-time writer, do you write on a schedule, or do you go with the flow?

Schedule? Gee, that would be great. My system doesn’t understand schedules. As I’m writing this, it’s 4:57 in the morning and it’s just getting light outside. No, I didn’t get up early to write. I’ve been updating my story from a critique by another author and I want to send it to my editor tomorrow. I sat down to write at about 1:00 this afternoon, knowing I’d have to stop at 2:30 when my oldest son arrived home from school, but he called to ask if he could go to a friend’s house. Bonus! More writing time. When my second son got home at 4:30, he went off to play on his PS2 and, bonus again, more writing time! Today was a veritable gold mine of time. The previous two days – nada.

Schedule. Yes, I keep intending to work to one. Maybe one day I’ll succeed.

Is there any type of a ritual you go through before writing? Is there a certain mood you need set before you begin?

A ritual that really works for me is doing a five minute meditation or five minutes of Chi Kung (or Qi Gong – same thing apparently). With the latter, I do one specific exercise called Wu Chi, which is essentially standing in a specific position. During either of these, I think about an intention, like finishing my current story or working through the plot issues causing me grief.

I’ve only recently started doing this ritual and I forget more often than not because I really want to get on with the writing. I know that sounds silly, but sometimes it’s hard to convince yourself that something really works, even though I see the quality and quantity of my writing increase every time I do it.

Other things I like to do are light candles. I sit in a big easy chair with my notebook computer on my lap when I write and I keep several crystals around me. especially my large, rose quartz sphere, which represents passion, set on a stand of three dragons (which is just fun!) I also play Mozart music because apparently it helps your mind work better. Who can’t benefit from that?

What made you chose romance as your main genre of choice?

Romance chose me. I love the passion, the tears, the laughter, the growth… and, of course, the sex.

How do you feel about a Happily-Ever-After? Do you feel it's necessary to a romantic plot?

Yes. Yes! YES! Are you convinced yet?

I have written stories with unhappy endings, ones that might otherwise have been called romance, and they’re great if you like angst, but in a true romance that happily-ever-after is very important. There are enough scary things that happen in real life. There’s comfort and security in knowing, no matter what happens, it will all work out in the end. Romance stories provide a safe place in which to invest our emotions and that’s why we love them so much.

Do you enjoy writing Sci-Fi vs Fantasy? What is your definition of the difference between SciFi and Fantasy?

Would you believe I took a course in university that covered this? And I was a mathematics major. I took one English course and it was one that covered SciFi and Fantasy works. I don’t remember anything from it now (hey, it’s been 23 years!) except that the difference between SciFi and Fantasy is that SciFi is based on extrapolations of science to explain the happenings and Fantasy requires no explanation of its magical happenings.

I loved it in Babylon V when they introduced techno-mages who used science to perform what looked like magic. That was still SciFi. Ann McAffrey’s dragons on Pern are fully explained, thus SciFi.

Actually, I believe it’s all science because what is commonplace in one era is often considered magic centuries in the past. The only thing that changes is the science and understanding. Thus, in the future when we find that the mind is capable of manipulating matter and manifesting whatever we want, and the scientists explain this ability in terms of the newest developments in quantum physics (or whatever), then what will be left to consider Fantasy?

You mentioned some books in the About Me section on your website, the ones that "The big name publishing companies liked my writing, but my contemporary romances never quite fit within their lines," were you able to find a publisher for them?

Yes. “Masquerade of Love” went to the revision stage with Silhouette. “Undercover Blues” received a two page rejection letter from Harlequin Temptation. Both have been published by New Concepts Publishing and both have received five star reviews.

“Fugitive of Love” received exceptional rejection letters from Mills and Boon (Harlequin in England) and Silhouette, but both felt the last half of the book needed work. I intend to get back to it sometime soon and try again.

Would you like to tell us a bit about your newest release?

“Darkest Nyte” is an urban fantasy. Lucinda is a 300-year-old wizard who offers her magical services on a consulting basis. If someone has cast a spell or curse on you or your family, she’s the one to talk to. In Lucinda’s universe, wizards can be born of human parents or wizard parents. Every wizard born of human parents is assigned a mentor by Fate, a wizard with whom they will form a lifetime love bond.

When a new wizard is born to humans, the mentor wizard receives The Call and they watch over the child from a distance until the change occurs at puberty. Lucinda is blown away when she receives The Call to mentor a new wizard. She was born of human parents so that should never happen. When she follows the magical thread to the source of The Call, she finds a full-grown, and quite naked, man with amnesia. Things become even more perplexing when her own mentor, Rand, tells her the man, whose name is Nyte, is a powerful wizard from the past, and is extremely dangerous.

Could you tell us about your works in progress?

I’m currently working on a series of erotic Sci-Fi romance novellas. Picture it. You’re at a luxury resort and you’re chatting with the other four women who also won this vacation when you find yourself swept away to an alien spacecraft where some deranged, but quite hunky, alien tells you you’re his soul-mate. Once you let down your guard, you find the sex is fabulous, but is it worth giving up your home and everything you know and love. The current series consists of five stories, one for each woman kidnapped.

I’m also working on a book about twin brothers, a heroine who wants her boyfriend to act out her sexual fantasy of making love with a stranger, and a mistaken identity. I’ve finished the second draft of this story and am polishing it.

I have a first draft of two other books. One is a Beauty and the Beast story set in the future where the heroine is the Beast. The other is a Scheherezade story where it is the hero who will be put to death the morning after the wedding night, but instead of telling stories to capture the princess’ interest so she’ll keep him alive another day, our hero uses Tantric sexual techniques.

Is there anything else you'd like to mention?

Yes, thank you. I’ve recently revised my website and I’d like to invite your readers to come take a look. I plan to run some really fun draws, so please check them out by clicking on the contest link. Over the coming months, you’ll see prizes like copies of my books, feather boas, and a great pen that looks like a lipstick!

Thank you again for taking the time to do this interview. If you're interested in reading more about Elizabeth Batten-Carew, you can check out her website at www.ElizabethBC.com. If you'd like to read some of Ms. Batten-Carew's books, you can find them at http://www.newconceptspublishing.com/elizabethbattencarew.htm or through her website.


Interviewed by: Serena