Fallen Angel Reviews would like to welcome multipublished author Janet Miller. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to answer a few of our questions.

I'd like to start by asking you a little about yourself. What is a typical day like for you?

A typical day? Hmm, is there really such a thing? First of all, since I work full time, I have to squeeze writing in where I can. I guess a typical day would start with my crawling out of bed around 6:30 or 7:00 and heading for my office (Dear Daughter’s ex-bedroom) to check email and my favorite yahoo groups before heading into the kitchen for breakfast. Once that’s over, I’ll go back to my office and will write until I have to go to work. While I’m at work I’ll occasionally get a break and will either check on email, or the groups, or I’ll jot down notes about what the next scene in my WIP will be. Once I’m home I’ll get some serious writing done after dinner until Dear Hubby drags me off to watch TV with him.

Weekend days are when I get the bulk of my writing done, mostly during the mornings and sometimes in the afternoon. We get up at the same time on weekends as during the week and that helps a lot.

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

Time off? What’s that? Okay, I’m addicted to electronic solitaire and other kinds of electronic games so when I want to space out, I’ll grab my little palm-pilot PDA and play with it for a while. Or I’ll read. I’ve usually got at least two books going at a time, one electronic on my PDA, and one physical book. Plus I tend to volunteer to judge contests so I’ll be reading entries. I keep busy.

When did you decide to take "pen in hand" and write with the intent to publish?

I’m not quite sure why I decided to write other than I guess it was just time. I’ve made up stories ever since I was a little kid, and would tell them to myself to go to sleep. About six years ago, I finally sat down with my little orange Apple powerbook (it was named Tigger), and I picked one of my favorite “bed time stories” and wrote it down. Took about a month to get it all on disk. I showed it to my daughter who suggested I find a critique group so I could learn what I was doing wrong. They were mostly aspiring authors, with one exception—Robin D. Owens, who had just sold HeartMate.

Robin was an active member of the group and very inspirational. She’d done it—written a book, submitted it, and gotten published! The rest of us shared information about what publishing opportunities existed, contests, and encouraged each other to write, finish the book and submit, submit, submit! As it happens, my first publications came out of that group, as it was there I heard about the Crumbs In The Keyboard project to which I submitted a little essay on writing with teenagers around, called “My Mother Writes WHAT?”

This was also where I learned about writing for Ellora’s Cave when one of the members sold to them and shared what her first check was…low and behold, you could make real money doing this! I sold them Violet Among The Roses four months later.

How has being published changed your life, if at all?

Before I was published I still wrote a lot, but it was all for me and I didn’t think in terms of “owing” a book to anyone. Since then, I now have editors who wait for me to finish my next project and I even sometimes hear from readers who want the next story. It does make for more pressure, but is very rewarding, as much emotionally as financially. I love the feedback I get from writing.

You have six books out under Janet Miller and another ten under Cricket Starr, how would you describe the differences between your two pen names?

Sex. I follow the basic premise of erotic romance, which is a romance story told as much through its love scenes as any other action in the book. Sex scenes don’t just “happen” they are needed to help tell the tale. Cricket Starr stories are erotic romance and the sex is integral to the story.

Janet Miller stories will often also have sex…that is a part of any relationship that I am interested in writing about, but the emphasis in the story will fall more on action, or how the characters interrelate in other ways. Sometimes that’s because for one reason or another, sex can’t play as significant a role in the story.

Most of the books under your Cricket Starr name are series. Is it easier to write a series than a stand alone novel?

Every series will start with one book. I didn’t actually intend to create the Divine Intervention series until I started getting feedback. My editor told me that reviewers were asking about Echo and Nemesis… so I had to write their stories!

Often I’ll write one story and another will suggest itself. I have plans for follow-on stories for many of the books I’ve written, including one for All Night Inn, which is my current WIP.

Your book, All Night Inn, is at Cerridwen Press. Can you tell us about the inspiration for this book and also tell those who haven't read it a little about it?

It was a dream. I had a dream about a woman who wanted a job so bad she let a vampire put his mark on her. Now I was a little insecure at work at the time, so I identified with that poor lady and I decided this was a story I wanted to write. To do so I had to fill in the details of the dream. I came up with who she was and why she was desperate for a job. I also had to invent why the vampire would need to put his mark on her, what it would mean to be a companion and what other kinds of paranormal people would be around. I had to invent the whole world of the parafolk.

It was a lot of work, so of course I decided that this had be a series of books. As an experiment, I’m writing books in the parafolk world both for Ellora’s Cave and Cerridwen. I’ve now done two books as Cricket Starr in a parafolk series I’m calling “Hollywood After Dark”. Fangs For The Memories and Ghosts Of Christmas Past are both part of that series. On the Cerridwen side I’m planning at least one more non-Cricket parafolk book. I enjoy being able to play on both sides of the sensual fence and hopefully the readers will enjoy it as well.

You also have books at New Concepts Publishing under Janet Miller, how is it writing for different publishers?

Given how my time is limited, it can be a bit crazy. I have another NCP book that I want to write, a direct sequel to Beloved Enemy, but finding the time to work on it can be a problem. I do plan to have it done later this year but I’m having to squeeze it in among the EC/CP projects.

Do you have anything in the works right now?

I always have something in progress. For one thing, Liddy Midnight and I have a joint project that is a parafolk story set in the distant future, about a male vampire, a female werewolf, and a male psi. We’re calling it Rogues. The three are brought together when she investigates the male partners for failing to make payments on their ship, but the charges against them turn out to be bogus. Since there is M/M sex, as well as plenty of ménage action, it is definitely destined for Ellora’s Cave under my Cricket name.

I’m also working on the second parafolk book for Cerridwen, which is based on an idea I had a long time ago, about a vampire who falls in love with a woman who writes vampire books. Yes, this is Sebastian, prince of the nightwalkers, from the All Night Inn. It is about half done, and I’m having a lot of fun with it.

After that, there will probably be another Hollywood After Dark book, and maybe a short or two.

One of my short stories did get picked for the Ellora’s Cavemen: Dreams Of The Oasis, a story called Pleasure Maid about a woman who falls in love with a prince being kept a prisoner for trying to kill his brother. But he was falsely accused, and she’s isn’t what she seems to be. Pleasure Maid will be in the third anthology due out September 22.

Other than your websites: www.cricketstarr.com and www.janetlynnmiller.com is there anywhere else that readers can get more information about your upcoming releases?

I’ve just joined a blogging group called RedHotRomance at http://redhotromance.blogspot.com/ along with Karen Tabke, Bella Andre, Rae Monet, Jami Alden, Kate Douglas, BJ McCall, Doreen DeSalvo, Jasmine Haynes, Mardi Ballou, and Rachelle Chase. We’re all wild and crazy Bay Area erotic romance authors, so you should check us out as we talk about life as an author.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Only that it has been a pleasure “talking” with you and I hope that I’ve entertained some of FAR’s readers. I’ve always been so pleased with the care that the FAR reviewers put into their reviews…it is one of my favorite review sites.

Thank you again for spending time with us. If you'd like to learn more about this wonderful author check out her websites at: www.cricketstarr.com and www.janetlynnmiller.com

Interviewed by: Serena