Hi Laura! Welcome to Fallen Angel Reviews! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit with us. I have been looking forward to chatting with you.

If you were to describe your new release, Out There in the Night, to someone who has not had the opportunity to read the blurb, how would you?

Out There in the Night is a manlove romance set in the wilderness of isolated Alaska. It brings a 100 year old, spiritual Native American skinwalker, or werewolf together with his predestined mate, a 21st century doctor who was compelled by a sense of undefined restlessness to leave behind his flourishing practice and join the traveling agency of Doctors Without Borders. Once in the isolated territory the young is drawn into an unsatisfying relationship with his boss, and begins to understand he wants more out of life then a rich lover with a wandering eye. The story is about doing the right thing, even if the choice is the hardest thing you’ve ever faced. And there is a lot of hot sex to help the doctor make up his mind.

>From what I have learned on your website, Out There in the Night has a wonderful spin on the shape-shifter genre. I myself love shape-shifters and am dying to learn just what this twist is. Can you give us a little hint?

My shapeshifter is a Native American from the early 1900’s who was blessed by his culture’s spirit world and transformed in a skinwalker. In their culture they believe werewolves are honored spiritual creatures that the sacred Moon has specially chosen to be guardians of the night. My werewolf, Adam Lowell and his tribe/pack are the heroes, protectors of the earth for all mankind, not mindless, bloodthirsty creatures written about in traditional tales.

You have dabbled your writing into more than one genre: sci-fi, horror, shape-shifting, as well as contemporary romances. Do you have any plans on adding more genres to your resume? If so, which ones have you been dying to try and which ones would you definitely not want to write?

I have a vampire collection of short stories out and I’m writing a new one this year titled Entranced. I also have a ghost story planned, Second Soul, an adaptation of a script I wrote a few years back. I think I might try my hand at writing an elf tale next year as well. I just had a thought, maybe I’ll call it Elf Tail, since it will be m/m. LOL! Just kidding. I think I’ll stay away from historians and world building. I’m a fly-by-night kind of storyteller and these require intensive story writing.

What inspired you to write male/male romances as opposed to the traditional female/male romances?

God, I love men. Where one man is great, two men are so hot together. I’ve always loved reading slash fiction but there is very few quality stories out there in the tens of thousands of slash stories on the net. And gay fiction is written for men, not women. Most of it lacks the quality romance I look for. Writing manlove allows the men to be sensitive with out being feminine or weak. They have no desperate heroine to save, they don’t need to be a pillar of strength at all time to save face in front of the women. They are definitely men, both characters, I LOVE strong men, and they have the freedom to act like men and be kind and caring at the same time. Romantic and loving is the way I write my manlove stories. I like committed couple, and only couples, and happy endings. That doesn’t mean they don’t argue or slam out of the house now and then, but they work at resolving their problems and making their relationship stable like every other couple in the world has to do. They face the same problems as heterosexual couples in everyday life and few more as well.

Per your website, you have received rave reviews for more than one book. Do you have a personal favorite among your releases?

I’m writing the sequel to A Bit of Rough right now and revisiting Bram and Jamie. I love these two men because they were my first. They are contemporary and they reflect myself and the world around me. My second favorite would be the bounty hunter and the pirate I wrote for Details of the Hunt, a new release coming from LooseId in a month or two. The alien is possessive and hunky with the brawn to back up his demands, and the pirate is loose-moraled, light-fingered, and sexually uninhibited as well as clueless about living in the future. They are fun and sassy to write.

Do you have a favorite character from one of your books that you might be interested in revisiting for a follow-up book?

Again, I’m currently writing Roughhousing, a sequel to A Bit of Rough, and I plan on several sequels to Details of the Hunt, the pirate/ bounty hunter story, if it is well received.

What do you derive the most inspiration from for your writing?

Buddy movies. We all know what happens when those two guys go home. But I will admit to plotting out a m/m romance when I took my kids to the circus last week. The kids are watching the clowns and I’m eyeing the half-naked trapeze artists flying overhead and grabbing on to each other and my mind is saying, “how about …..”

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

I’m a wife, mom and an emergency trauma nurse. That pretty much takes up what time I’m not sleeping or writing!

How do you keep your ideas fresh and imaginative?

I try not to read other people’s work and just let the story flow on it’s own. If I try and force it, I get stale. A little repetition is going to happen, there are only so many ways the human body can do things, but it’s the characters and their reactions to the events and lovemaking that make it original, not the act.

When you sit down to write a book, do you have the entire idea of a book in your head or just a thought that evolves into something wonderful?

I first write a synopsis, usually 5-6 pages, so I can be sure my adventure makes sense and will flow in the direction I want it to achieve at the end. I use this to make sure any clues or pivotal events are present and then I just let the characters tell their tale. I’m more of storyteller than a professional author.

Per your website, I see you have three upcoming releases. The first one is entitled The Lost Temple of Karttikeya. In this story, your heroes head to India. Have you ever been to India or did you have to do tons of research in order to write a story set in this distant country?

I have never been there, but I did do a ton of research (it soo helps the story tell itself), and I work with people from India and a fellow co-worker is traveling there soon. I’m trying to convince him to bring me back a statue of the Karritkeya and some trinkets to give away for a contest to mark the release of that book!

I know that Mexican Heat has sparked my interest. Two delicious law enforcement officers, sizzling sunshine and warmth near the equator, and the added suspense of danger and passion. You have outdone yourself. What was your favorite part about this pending release?

That one of the main characters is blind. You rarely see romances where one of the main lovers has a disability. I thought it would be a terrific way to explore the tactile side of lovemaking and it lends its own sense of danger and suspense to the story.

Can you give us a little more information on the two characters, Antonio and Gabriel, from Mexican Heat?

My blind lover, Gabriel, is an ex-San Francisco undercover detective blind by cocaine dust that exploded in his face during the sting operation where he meets his future lover, Antonio, who is an undercover FBI agent on the other side of the sting. In effect, he has actually seen his life partner only once in his lifetime. Antonio has a rich Latino accent like the actor Antonio Banderas and the patience of a saint. Gabriel battles everyone around him, including Antonio and himself as he tries to maintain some control over his life in a newly darkened world. The majority of the story takes place 2 years later. It’s not an inspirational tale about accepting a disability, it’s just a story with a blind main character. Lots of touching lovemaking. Antonio is Gabriel’s security and his ranting board.

Let’s not forget about Roughhousing. This title is quite interesting. What can us readers expect with the added twist of James’ older sister?

James has one sister that hasn’t disowned him for his sexual orientation. But she is still a direct link to the memory of the humiliation he experienced over his family finding out about his being gay. She is also very protective of her little brother. She misunderstands something and mistakenly attributes the problem to Bram based on his appearance and James history of picking bad lovers. There is a bit of a clash, putting James in the middle.

Do you have any other works in process that you would like to tell us about?

I am working on a sequel to Details of the Hunt, called Genetic Snare.

Here a little of the synopsis: Talos' older brother Zeban pressures him to bring his new human mate home to meet the rest of the family cache. An urgent message from his father convinces Talos to make the trip home. With the memory of Maymon's recent kidnapping and traumatic brush with death, Talos is unwilling to leave Maymon on the space station. The new couple arrive on Oracan to a flurry of ceremony and a combination of curiosity, acceptance and suspicion. Talos under goes a trial of deadly rituals, meeting challenges to his claim on his new mate and battling prejudice as well as tradition. A warrior society where even the female mates are tested, Maymon is initiated into the family through a ritual of bloodletting and tattooing. During a ritual test of endurance, Maymon finds that not all the family members are as accepting of him and he barely escapes with his life. Through it all, the genetic snare that drew Talos to take Maymon as his mate and that is altering both of their genetic structure to ensure that they remain mates for life becomes even stronger, bringing an overpowering, undeniable element of urgent, aggressive need to their already primal lovemaking.

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

I just returned from the RT convention. After several conversations with people there from readers to NY publishers I found out that there is a misconception by NY that women in their market don’t like to read erotic romances about two men. Harlequin Spice is even accepting f/f romance to market to straight women, but refuses to think about giving women what they love the most- MEN. Kensington representative stated ‘no woman has ever written us that they want m/m romances. The market doesn’t exist in number to support a line.” That’s unfortunate because every woman I talked to about it there was more than receptive to the genre. I think they need to be made aware that we exist, slash readers exist, women who love romances between two hot, sweaty, passionate caring men exist, and that we want quality, professionally written stories. It doesn’t have to be ‘my dirty little secret’ anymore. By the way, I think that would make a great name for a print house to use for marketing manlove romances!

If you feel inclined to write to people who make the decisions out there, check out the emails I have listed on my news page and drop them a note or two every now and then. Let our voices be heard and maybe in a few years manlove with have a place on the shelves in the romance section beside that f/f story Harlequin Spice is now accepting. Personally, I want to read about MEN, not women together, but you all knew that!

Thank you for interviewing me, Jessica. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to tell the readers about what I have planned for the future and I really enjoyed your questions!

Thank you so much for stopping by Laura. Let me just add, readers if you have not had a chance to read some of Laura’s work, stop by her website to see what you are truly missing. From all that I have read, Ms. Baumbach has an amazing ability to pen a fabulous story you won’t want to miss.

Interviewed by: Jessica