Hi Susan! Welcome to Fallen Angel Reviews! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit with us. I know that I appreciate this opportunity to visit with you as I am sure that the readers out there do too.

First of all, can you tell us a little about yourself? What is a day in the life of Susan M Sailors like?

I teach English at the college level, so many of my weekdays are spent in the classroom or preparing for class. I do most of my writing in the evening. My husband is a graduate student, so we both have flexible schedules and typically spend at least two or three hours a day just relaxing and watching a movie or having a meal together. Every other spare moment is spent reading, typically.

In your recent release titled Thank the Goddess, you were able to create an emotional tale mixed with a vampire. Where did you come up with the idea before this imaginative tale?

In the opening scene, Moira is talking to her friend Joshua, a priest, and she gets very angry because he has just hung up on her—right after she told him she was a vampire. This idea came to me during a conversation with my friend Joshua, who happens to be a priest. For a long time, this tale was nothing but this opening scene. I thought her anger and frustration—and the absurdity of the situation—were very striking, thus a great way to start a story. Erik, the vampire, is character I created a long time ago, and he finally found a home in this story when I had to give this opening scene a continuation.

Can we be expecting any more stories in the near future from you and Four Girls Publishing?

I have one other erotic fantasy work that should be coming out from Four Girls sometime this year.

Per your website, I see that you have some upcoming releases through Whiskey Creek Press Torrid. In looking at their website, it appears your release is scheduled for August 2006 and entitled Torrid Teaser Volume 9. Can you give us an idea what this story will be about?

My contribution to this volume is an erotic short entitled Welcome to the House of Fun. This one is a paranormal as well. In this story, the heroine finds a strange man in her house looking through her books. When she tries to kick him out, he tells her that he has to find a very special book and he believes she has it. To top off this marvelous first impression, he also tells her that he is from Hell and that he has reason to believe that only she can help him complete his quest to find his brother. After a perplexing and outrageous debate, she agrees to help him and gets swept into a completely surreal world as she tries to help him find the answers he and his people so desperately need.

I have actually had four other stories accepted for this series, and they will be out in October and November of 2006. October will see the release of Shadows over Sea View (a vampire romance) and Midnight in His Garden (a romance set in the faerie/goblin realm). In November, I have two connected stories, Lord of Blackwood and Lord of the Forest, about two best friends who find very interesting love interests—a vampire and a werewolf.

Another fantasy tale entitled The Labyrinth will also be appearing in Whiskey Creek Press Torrid’s Summer Sizzlers anthology in July 2006. And a horror tale, Because I Wanted You, will appear in Whiskey Creek Press’s FEAR anthology in October 2006.

Torrid Teaser Volume 9 has more than one author, what was it like to write a story along with another author? Did you each write a separate story or co-author one?

We each wrote a separate story and were accepted, and then the publisher paired us up, as all Torrid Teasers volume include two stories.

Was there a moment or person that motivated you to send your first story into a publisher?

It’s hard to think of a certain moment. It’s something I’ve known I wanted to do for a long time. I never had time to pursue publication until I finished graduate school, so in some ways my graduation in 2003 was the real starting point.

Can you remember where you were and what you were doing when you received the message that your first story had been contracted by a publisher? How did you celebrate?

I had published several poems and short stories over the years, but I remember very clearly the day I got my contract for Welcome to the House of Fun, which was my first acceptance from a publishing house. I was at school checking email, and I was very tired from a long day of teaching. I was so happy I wished I could call all the professors and friends at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where I graduated from, and tell them all the wonderful news. It was so funny because it was my first semester teaching at the University of Tennessee and I had no one to share my news with.

To date, what has been the most rewarding aspect of your writing?

Having people say they enjoyed my work is the most rewarding part of this experience. I write because I love it, and I’m glad I tell stories that others enjoy.

Do you write on a schedule or as inspiration hits?

I do both. I tend to get more done when I am inspired, but I also try to make myself do something productive every day, whether it’s actually writing or just proofing and editing.

How do you like to spend your free time when not writing?

I love to read and watch movies of every genre. My favorite tv show is Dark Shadows, which I’ve been watching constantly ever since it came out on DVD.

I have learned that many writers are in fact avid readers. Do you have a particular author or style of book that you enjoy? What and who would we find on your bookshelf?

That’s a loaded question. There’s almost no one you couldn’t find on my shelf. I’ve read hundreds of romances and prefer paranormals. I’m a British Romanticist professionally (British literature from 1780-1830), and Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife Mary Shelley are my area. My favorite authors include H.P. Lovecraft, P.G. Wodehouse, Shirley Jackson, and Patricia Highsmith.

I also see that you are also an editor. Do you find it easy to read for pleasure or do you find yourself looking for grammar errors as you read?

I never look for them, but if they are there I do notice them. Grading papers for years has given me a pretty sharp eye. I do find it hard to read and enjoy anything that has not been edited and proofed by a professional.

My desk is littered with post it notes, books, and I am sad to say a few candy bar wrappers. What does your work station look like? Is it neat and tidy or has a tornado hit?

My work station is covered with pictures of men—but not what you’d think. They are all people/characters who inspire me. I have to pictures of Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh and Laurence Olivier), two of Peter Davison as Doctor Who, two of Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West, and pictures of David Selby and Christopher Pennock from Dark Shadows.

Is there a genre of books that you would love to try your hand at that you haven’t yet?

I haven’t really done much science fiction, even though it was my first love as a young reader. I definitely intend to try my hand at a sci fi novel within the next year.

Can we get a teaser for what else you are working on right now? (grin)

Right now I am working on an erotic Christmas tale, a ghost story, and a volume of speculative poetry. To check out more of my work on the web, I am a regular on Justus Roux’s Erotic Tales at www.justusroux.com and I have several poems and stories archived in the webzine Wanderings at www.wanderingsmag.com.

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

I just got a contract for my first full length novel with Whiskey Creek Press. The novel is entitled Night Gardening. It is a fantasy romance. The heroine, Jennifer, winds up meeting Asyan, the king of the Faeries, and finding out that her grandmother had spent half her life protecting a Faerie mound—one that she was about to dig up before he stopped her by casting a spell on her. The major conflict in the story comes from Jennifer adjusting to the new world that Asyan has opened up to her as well as her feelings for him, which are complicated by the fact that she thinks they are too different to make things work.

I am also the editor of “Shadows of the Night,” a horror magazine. Anyone who wants to sign up for my newsletter can visit my Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Susan_Sailors_Shadows/ . There are giveaways at least twice a month, as well as excerpts posted once a week.

Thank you so much for stopping by Susan. It has been a pleasure talking with you and I hope that there are many more stories out there waiting to be told.

Thank you, Jessica. The pleasure was all mine.

Interviewed by: Jessica