Fallen Angel Reviews would like to welcome the award-wining author of Invasion of Justice, Justice Incarnate, Seven Year Glitch and Famous Last Words, all available from Echelon Press. Welcome Regan Black.

Thanks for arranging this Serena!

I'd like to start by asking you a little bit about yourself. How would you describe yourself in three words?

Hmmm, that's tough. Wife, mom, author come to mind first. But there are plenty of other options.

Tell your fans something about you they would never guess.

Being the most at-home person in the family I'm the keeper of a small petting zoo, we're so into pets at my house. Neighbors joke that we should charge admission. Three greyhounds are permanent residents and we usually have an additional greyhound fostering with us. We also have one cat (all but my daughter refers to him as the *spawn of satan*), two parakeets, two fish and one guinea pig.

Of all things you have accomplished, is there one accomplishment you are most proud of?

Staying married - and in love (at least most days - lol). It's tough to make a life together, especially with careers, kids and required travel for both of us. I'm very blessed that he's as committed to us and the family as I am to him and that we continue to grow together rather than apart.

What would you like to accomplish with your writing career?

The NYT list - but then what author wouldn't? As far as accomplishments I can control, I strive to create a better book for readers with every new title I get out there.

What is the biggest misconception about being an author?

From family and community perspectives I'd have to say everyone thinks I just have oodles of free time. For myself, the biggest surprise was the effort required to promote and connect with readers. I'm having fun, but it's been an informative and sometimes bumpy adventure.

Do you have any special rituals to help you get in the mood to write?

I light candles. For some books I've used specific fragrances to keep me grounded in the story. (once was cinnamon spice, another was Stargazer Lily) Lately just the brief puttering process of lighting some favorite tealight lamps or houses gets me ready.

How do you know what to name your books or the characters?

It often depends on what they have to accomplish. I like the main character names to reflect key elements or strengths if it's at all possible. For Justice Incarnate's lead female, Jaden, I wanted to infer that she was jaded, but her last name of Michaels I took straight from the reputation of the biblical warrior arch-angel. I did the same for her hero, giving him a last name of Thomas (again biblical because he's doubted her for so long). I got lucky with the first book title, Justice Incarnate, because the publisher thought it was perfect since Jaden literally embodies the justice a really nasty guy's been avoiding for far too long. As for the second book, we kept Justice in the title, Invasion of Justice, for continuity and in that one, the heroine's mind literally is invaded by the evil power she's trying to eliminate.

The Shadows of Justice Series is currently at two books, will there be more? Can you give us an explanation of the series?

I certainly hope there will be more, but every contract depends on sales and reader demand as much as the story quality itself. The series features different characters working to defeat demons with terrible agendas in the late 21st century. We'd loosely based the multi-book proposal on the seven deadly sins countered by the seven heavenly virtues. The stories aren't hard-core religious, the sins/virtue angle is just a framework for me to build the conflict and resolution.

Do you have anything else in the works right now?

Yes! I'm very excited about some short stories featuring supporting characters from the Shadows series as well as some new characters I've been developing who protect and defend unsuspecting citizens in the current day.

Where do you find the most inspiration for your books?

Oh, blips from news articles often spark my imagination and I play what if with technology improvements, science discoveries and human nature in general.

It seems that you enjoy writing the unbelievable into your stories, why is that?

I think it's more fun and my writing seems to flow, evolve and surprise me with fewer constraints. I didn't start out even aiming at the action market, no one was more blown away than me when my writing voice took off in that direction.

There have been an amazing amount of paranormal books out in the market lately and they are being bought, why do you think there's such an appetite for the unusual and unknown?

Good follow up to the previous question! First, philosophically, I think there's much more to the world that we don't, or won't, comprehend. Whatever your beliefs, faith, science, instinct, nature, etc, there are plenty of inexplicable things that happen, lots of choices that we make that have a ripple effect we may never see and authors can express universal truths by taking that a step further into the impossible. Remember Aesop's fables? But at the end of the day, I believe readers read to escape and what better escape than to take a peek under the veil of a world we're fairly sure we'll never have to walk through?

Is there anything you'd like to add?

Just my thanks for your time with this interview! I enjoy these forays into q&a and the opportunity to connect with fans and new readers alike.

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. If you'd like to learn more about Ms. Black you can take a look at her website at: www.reganblack.com.

Interviewed by: Serena