I'd like to welcome Phaze author Mara Kelly. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to answer a few questions for us here at FAR. I'd like to start by asking you a few questions about yourself.

How did you meet your husband?

Believe it or not, we met in elementary school! But we weren't childhood sweethearts or anything like that. In fact, we were as different then as it's possible to be - I was studious and serious, and he was a troublemaker. (Still is, actually.) We met again in our early twenties and hit it off, much to the consternation of anyone who knows us from our school days.

How do you juggle working, being a mom, and writing?

Well, to be honest, there hasn't been as much writing since the baby was born as I would like, though I guess I have a good excuse! Before he was born, it was always a challenge to find time to write while working full-time; now I'm only working part-time and it's even more of a challenge. Writing is one of the few things I do that's entirely mine, so I feel it's important to squeeze it in. It is hard to get a rhythm going when you can only write in short bursts, so I have a tried-and-true method: I escape for an hour to a coffee shop, put my 63-minute CD of writing music on my Discman, and focus on writing for an hour. Even if all I do is daydream for an hour, at least I've done it about writing!

Do you have any spare time? If so, what do you do during your spare time?

Not really! When I do have it, I sleep. You never realize how enjoyable sleep is until you have a baby! :)

You mention being a librarian behind the refence desk, are you specifically a reference librarian, or a general librarian. If you're one or the other, can you tell us the difference?

I work in a public library, and actually I work at both the children's and adult information desks. Any librarian who provides reference service is technically a reference librarian, but the term is most often used to describe librarians who work exclusively in adult information services.

Ok, I gotta ask. Are your home bookshelves alphabetized or Dewey Decimal-ed?

Actually, neither. I have been known to index my videotapes, though, and I am such a library geek that the way I encouraged myself when I was writing my first book was to create a catalog card for it so I could imagine what the Library of Congress cataloging data would look like.

What was the first story you ever wrote and what was it about? How old were you?

The first story I remember was one I wrote when I was about 12. It was going to be a novel about two of my friends. In the novel, they were orphans in an orphanage and they solved mysteries. It didn't have much of a story, but I was fascinated with the characters and the situation. That still tends to be my starting place - plot always comes much much later.

Of all the individuals you have created, do you have a particular favorite? What appeals to you the most about this character?

The unnamed narrator of "The Physician of the Hands" is one of my favorite characters - she just showed up with such force and personality, and told me her story (though not her name; that's part of her personality too). Part of her appeal to me is that she is a professional - a doctor, really, though not in the way we traditionally think of doctors - and she has a certain prickly intellectual pride. Yet she is subject to the same desires as any of us, and she longs to find a man who is not only her equal, but her superior. She's a woman in charge who longs not to be for once. I think that's something that many modern women can relate to, so although the story is set in another time and place, it's something we can connect with emotionally here and now.

How do you write? Are you a seat-of-the-pantser, plotting fanatic, traditional pen and paper, or computer guru?

I do my plotting with pen and paper, and then write on the computer. With my short stories, I usually start with a mood that I want to convey, and the characters and situation gradually reveal themselves to me. Usually I start with several pages of scribbled notes that probably look like the ravings of a schizophrenic. (Lots of dialogue with myself such as "Does he have blond hair? NO! Brown and curly!") Then I write a basic outline in my notebook, and from there I start writing the story. If I've got a good outline in place, writing the story is a snap.

Is there any type of ritual you go through before during and after you write?

Well, mostly I try to find a place out of my normal routine. I find it very difficult to write at home, where I am surrounded by laundry that needs folding, emails that need responding to, etc. I usually write in coffee shops, or even out on the front porch. ("Single-minded" was actually written at my mother-in-law's kitchen table at 5 AM on Christmas morning!) And I always have music playing when I write. New age is my favorite, because it's very peaceful and evokes so many different images.

I saw that you have a collection of stories on Phaze, entitled Under Distant Moons. There are quite a few types of stories in it, from psychics in the king's army to a thief in the night. How do you come up with your ideas?

Many of my erotica stories actually began as germs of ideas from other projects. Both "The Prince's Bride" and "Single-minded", for example, began as sex scenes I would have liked to have included in a young adult novel I was working on. The scenes would have been inappropriate in that book, but I took the basic dynamics of the situations - the put-upon young lady trying to balance her sense of duty with her affair with a prince, the two psychics finally having their wedding night at war's end - and created new characters and settings for them. Other stories got their start from my reading - "The Way of Our Kind", for example, grew out of my fascination with reading about the history of royal mistresses in Eleanor Herman's "Sex With Kings" (a great nonfiction read for erotica lovers, by the way!). "The Exploits of Her Thief" was inspired by a line in the song "Mystery" by the Indigo Girls.

Can you give us a synopsis of Under Distant Moons?

Under Distant Moons contains 11 stories that explore how physical pleasure and pain reflect our deepest desires. Some of the stories, such as "Only Fools Are Sure of Their Way", "Fallen Stars", and "Single-minded", are sweet and romantic; others, such as "The Physician of the Hands", "Initiation", and "Someday My Prince", are downright kinky. You can find a more detailed synopsis of each story on my website at http://www.marakelly.net/books.html.

Do you have anything else in the works right now? Can you give us a sneak peek?

I am working on a follow-up collection called "Distant Moons Rising" (pun intended!). Here's an excerpt from a story called "Festival Day":

Riana turned, either not noticing or not caring that the ties at the front of her dress were still undone. Marcus caught a glimpse of white skin beneath the heavy cotton, and felt his knees go weak. He hadn’t seen her in at least three years, but her time studying in the witch’s cottage had served her well. Gone were the long braids and the awkward stance; now Raina’s hair hung around her face, wild and curly, and she stood tall and straight in the clearing, the parsley and thyme still held loosely in one hand, staring at him with a politely inquisitive _expression. He remembered how she had used to follow him around, giggly and moony, and thought how little he would mind it if she did so now. He realized that his eyes had wandered and lifted them to her face, wondering how he would be able to stave off her girlish crush after having seen her swaying body under the trees.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

I guess just a warning that my writing is not for the faint of heart! I write the kind of erotica I love to read: steamy, sensual, sometimes kinky, and set in a different world but based on historical situations. Character and emotions are always at the heart of my stories. If that sounds good to you, then I hope you find your deepest desires "Under Distant Moons"!

Thank you Serena and FAR for taking the time to interview me, and thank you FAR readers for reading this!

Thank you again for allowing us this peek into your life. If you're interested in finding out more, check out Ms Kelly's website at http://www.marakelly.net/index.html.

Interviewed by: Serena