FAR would like to welcome Michael Barnette. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions!

Thank you for inviting me.

Tell your fans something about you they would never guess.

I have the tattoo of a winged cobra on my right biceps.

Since everybody needs a break, even when doing something they love how do you like to spend your time away from writing?

Well, now that's a tricky one because my breaks from my writing are actually still writing. I'm in a few online Role Playing Games that we refer to as 'cooperative storytelling and that's what I do for entertainment.

What is a typical day like for you?

Well the first thing I do every day is stagger downstairs to make coffee. LOL Once I've attained something resembling consciousness I check for important email and then get to work on my newest book. (On Saturday and Sunday I check the Role Playing Games I'm in and post to those.)

Oh, and I feed the cat. If I don't she claws me. She's old, 16, and she's cranky. You know they say having pets lowers your blood pressure, but I don't think the experts meant that pets lowered it by letting your blood out. In her case, that's how she does it. She loves me and wants me to be healthy. She also wants to be fed -now- not after the climactic scene is done, thank you! LOL

What makes a great book to you?

Memorable characters and a tightly plotted storyline. Good descriptions are also important. I really don't care for books where I have to supply too many details of what people look like, or what their surroundings are like. To me reading should be like watching a movie.

In a good book that's exactly the effect you get. A movie in the theater of your mind. In a bad book you are left with what I refer to as 'names on paper syndrome,' where there is nothing to firmly fix the characters into your mind. At that point all they are is a series of names on paper with no more personality or reality in your thoughts than the paper they are on.

And when I find a book that plays like a movie in my head, I usually go out and buy as many books as I can find-- and afford-- by that author because I figure I'll like them too.

I notice you mention Anime. What draws you to Anime?

I like the convoluted story lines, angst, and the over the top action sequences. I also like the art that comes out of the various series. I also collect a fan comics (doujinshi) for those series that I like best, Weiss Kreuz being one of my favorites even though it's badly drawn and has plot holes big enough to drive a planet through. LOL

Why did you choose to delve into erotica?

I saw a call for submissions from Circlet Press and decided to give it a shot. Through Neon Eyes: Zoner was the result. It was just a matter of adding sexual content to what I was already writing so it wasn't too hard to take the step.

What is your favorite part of a book to write?

Fight scenes are my absolute favorite thing to write, with erotic scenes and intensely emotional character interactions a close second and third.

Who is Bells? Why does he drive your stories?

Bells is a character that had his birth in a Role Playing Game a number of years ago. He has evolved over the years. Plaything of a dread goddess, The Dark Lady (a personification of death) and also an Immortal Dragon, he drops through time going from reality to reality and fighting for his life and those of the people around him whenever he goes. While he has no idea why or how this happened, I do and I'm not talking! LOL

He drives a lot of my stories because he is my oldest character. He's also developing a fan following complete with Shrine Maiden Badges in the manner of some of the more popular anime characters.

Ultimately I'd love to do Japanese style comics with him, but finding artists is difficult as most are very busy working on their own projects.

Your book Through Neon Eyes: Zoner is available through eXtasy books, can you tell us a bit about it?

It was the first erotica I ever wrote and was written for a specific book (Wired Hard #3) a gay anthology of Science fiction and fantasy stories from Circlet Press. Bells plays a prominent role in that story, and it was my first professionally published work. It has since been reprinted in the Mondidori Editore title, Idols which was produced by Berbera & Hyde and received a Spectrum Award Nomination in 2003.

Can you tell us a little about your upcoming works?

Well Phaze (www.phaze.com) just released Apocalypse Dance in July. Apocalypse Dance is my first paranormal erotic romance, also featuring Bells. Set in a post apocalyptic world, the heroine, Nikki, and her friends are fleeing from the evil clutches of Roderick the King of the Lone Star Empire. Can her friends keep Nikki safe, and what of the enigmatic blond whom they know only as Bells? What role will he play as their band struggles to survive? And what will they do if Roderick finds them?

The Light in Your Eyes is to be released by Coyote Moon Publications under their Silver Moon Erotic Books imprint in 2006. The sequel to The Light in Your Eyes, Mirror of Your Soul, is being plotted and a third book, When the Devil Sleeps is also in the planning stages. Both of these stories are set in the same work as Through Neon Eyes: Zoner and are works of 'extreme cyberpunk' which includes erotic and fantasy content.

Arcane Web, a gay paranormal erotic romance novel, and Red Lotus, a gay scifi erotica novel co-written with my partner K. Uberti will be released by Yaoi Stories, a division of Silver Moon Erotic books sometime next year. A second Arcane Web book is being planned, and the sequels to Red Lotus are being discussed by myself and K. who is one of my Role Playing Game friends.

All Hellos, a paranormal erotic romance novella has been accepted by Silver Moon Erotic books for inclusion in their anthology "Bitten By Love" which will come out for Halloween 2006. No Bells in this one, though there are two immortals in it, Adrian and Gabriel.

Another gay erotica series, about a visual kei band (Japanese rock with an emphasis on outrageous looks) called Mercykill is being planned with another RPG friend of mine. *waves at Tracy, aka Auburnimp* But it is still in the embryonic stage at this point.

Is there anything you'd like to add?

Well since you asked... I'd like to thank all the devoted fans, especially the following Bells fangirls: Duo-chan, Ummeiko, Auburnimp, Anna Fallon, Ai and Dax, and last but certainly not least Ann Vremont who did the great cover art for Through Neon Eyes: Zoner.

My thanks also goes to Stefani at eXtasy (www.extasybooks.com) for stepping into the alternative erotica ring and accepting Through Neon Eyes: Zoner for publication. And I have to also express my thanks to Coyote at Coyote Moon/Silver Moon/Yaoi Stories (www.coyotemoonpublications.com) for having so much faith in my books and those that my co-authors and I are working on.

I'd also like to thank you again for having me at Fallen Angel Reviews and for the great review of Through Neon Eyes: Zoner. The efforts you all put in on the site are amazing and appreciated! : )

Thank you again for taking the time to answer our questions. If you'd like to find out more about Mr. Barnette, check out his website at: http://www.michaelbarnette.com/index.php.

Interviewed by: Serena