I am delighted to be speaking with Carol Mckenzie today. Thanks for chatting with us today Carol and welcome to FAR!

Thank you Tammy. I'm honored to be one of your guests this month.

Let me start by congratulating you on earning the #1 bestseller for the last quarter of 2005 at Silks Vault for your book Jade’s Star. How did you celebrate the news?

I was shocked and happy all at the same time to hear the good news. I guess I celebrated by treating myself to a movie rental and popping some corn for the evening.

Can you tell us more about Jade’s Star?

Jade is a Rubenesque, vivacious African-American woman who just got out of a bad marriage. Her old high school boyfriend just got out of a bad marriage too and came back to their mutual hometown...from Hollywood. It seems he is a small town kid who succeeded in acting, becoming a heartthrob and is known worldwide. Things steam up when they re-find each other.

What is your favorite type of genre to write?

I enjoy writing historicals set in the 1920s which have a bent toward romance...whether it is erotic or it is just plain sweet romance, I don't care. I like them both.

Why do you think erotic fiction is so popular right now?

I'm not sure, but women are staying at home and enjoying the "company" of sexy fictional heroes of erotic romance. I know I do.

Could you tell us a little a little about your book Winning Opal’s Heart coming out in 2006 from Titan Press?

Written under my second pen name, Karen L. Snyder, Winning Opal's Heart is about a Rubenesque spinster who lives alone with her father in a large house out in the country. A notorious albeit sexy gangster wins all her property in a poker game from her gambling addicted father. Set in the 1920s right smack in the middle of Prohibition, the reader gets a view of what life was like during that sad time in American history. Will she stay with the property and the gangster? Ha Ha. I'll let you read and find out for yourself.

You have books published or to be published by Titan, Venus, Silk’s Vault, Double Dragon, and Oceans Mist. Is it ever hard dealing with so many publishers?

Each publisher is very nice, businesslike and has their own way of doing things, that is for sure. I like them all and don't mind the differences. So far, I have not run into any conflicts of interest.

Where do you get the inspiration for your stories?

I read the newspapers, history books and articles on the World Wide Web to get my inspiration often. Now I am studying and reading ghost stories thinking that I may use what I learn in an erotic romance.

Do you have a character that is especially close to your heart?

I believe Johnny "Legs" Lorran in Winning Opal's Heart that will come out at Titan Press soon, has won my heart as being my most loved character. I have this thing for sexy bad guys, who have a streak of good in them.

If you could go anywhere, be anyone, do anything for 24 hours, what would it be?

Not now, but earlier in the year I would have liked to spend 24 hours after Hurricane Katrina waged war on the Gulf Coast, saving people's stranded pets. I love animals and it broke my heart to hear that some evacuated families could not bring their pets out of the ravaged areas.

I've been seeing a number of discussions on the Yahoo groups about Happily-Ever-After. Do you feel that HEA is necessary to a romance novel?

It's true; some readers prefer their romances to end happily and others like their endings to contain twists and not so happy endings. I like either, I guess. Winning Opal's Heart has a "different" ending, I hope romance readers will like.

Devil’s Temptation is due out soon from Venus Press. Could you tell us more about it and when we can expect to see it?

Set in the 1920s Devil's Temptation is an IR novella about a black woman's experience with a white Prohibition agent of the U.S. Treasury Department. Liza Jane tends a white man's property while he is awaiting a hangman's noose. Times are hard. So, to make ends meet, Liza Jane stills a little bootlegged whiskey on the side and sells it to roadhouses, just as many other people did in that era. The Prohibition agent dreams of her and does not want to arrest her, but he wants to win her as his woman. And wow, does he ever!

What would you like to accomplish with your writing career?

I merely want to create story worlds that readers enjoy at the same time enjoy myself along the way and perhaps make a little pocket money.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Yes, Tammy there is one more thing I would like to say. When I write under the pen name of Karen Snyder, the work is usually non-erotic romance.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions for us today Carol! Readers can learn more about Carol and her books on her website at www.carol-mckenzie.com.

Thank you so much for having me, Tammy. I should mention that I am in the process of moving my web site to http://freewebs.com/carolmckenzie and http://freewebs.com/karensnyder

Interviewed by: Tammy