Today I’d like to welcome Phillipa Grey-Gerou to Fallen Angel Reviews. Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for us today, Grey!

To start, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I'd be glad to, Tammy! I have the kind of background that really only qualifies a person to being a writer. I was born in New Hampshire, grew up in Rhode Island for two years before moving out to Michigan when my dad, who is a retired minister, took a church out there. I went to college there and got my degree in history and anthropology before moving to Philadelphia where I pursued a Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife Studies. You can just see the money rolling in already, can't you? ;) I've done all kinds of jobs, from office and library work to housekeeping to school bus driving to one memorable summer I spent manually putting the sections of newspapers together. Besides writing and my current office job, I'm busy raising three kids and doing freelance editing work.

Can you tell us about your book The Black River?

Kerri Jackson is a freelance features writer who has travelled to Colombia to research an article on ecotourism. Angel Cordoval is an ardent defender of the rainforest, who sees all tourists as a threat to the delicate ecosystem. Kerri convinces Angel to show her the jungle as he knows it, hoping to get a better story out of it. As he shows her the reality of life on the Río Negro, Kerri finds herself attracted to his passion for this place as well as to his Latin good looks. Attraction turns to passion, and the two consummate their attraction, but Kerri’s stay is short, and after just a few days, she has to return to America. When she returns, will Angel still want her? Or is his only real passion for the jungle he protects?

I wrote this story for Phaze's Samba challenge last spring. It actually had an interesting journey. About halfway through I'd given up on it. I wasn't comfortable with the accuracy or interest of the environmental science in it, and wasn't sure anyone would be interested in reading it, no matter how hot the relationship got. Then one morning on the drive to work, I heard an essay on NPR about the Amazon, going into all the issues I'd addressed and showing me that yes, I actually had managed to get all the science right! I took that as a sign to finish the story, and of course Phaze bought it, bringing us here today! This was also a bit of a risk for me, as this was my first attempt at multiracial characters. I've always been very dodgy about co-opting other people's culture and ethnicity, part of my educational background, but this story just really seemed to demand an African-American woman and a South American Indian man. The two just really seemed to click well with each other.

What are some of your hobbies besides writing?

I'm a huge television junkie, mostly of genre television from both sides of the ocean. Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, and a new British show called Torchwood are my current favorites. I love video games, especially a superhero multi-player game my family is all into, and I love playing with Photoshop to make all kinds of images, from avatars to banners to book covers.

I have found that some authors listen to music while they write. Do you listen to music or is it something that is distracting to you?

Unfortunately, for the most part I can't listen to music when I write, especially not music with lyrics. Writing is a very trance-like state for me, and my brain just won't shut off enough around music because it keeps trying to process it. There have been a couple of times where I have used to music in trying to help set a scene. For example in And a Star to Steer Her By, there is a big party scene, so I put on the soundtrack from Sense and Sensibility to help me with the dancing. Movie soundtracks are great for that sort of work, since they're already designed to help tell a story.

Will you tell us a little about Angels and Deceivers that’s out now with Liquid Silver Books?

Oooh! Speaking of movies, this is my big film homage book. Very film noir.

It’s 1948. The war is over, and Los Angeles is slowly returning to normal. All the glitz, all the glamour, all the intrigue…

Investigating the disappearance of a pretty heiress, detective Aaron Pierce meets the provocative Fay Sexton. Aaron has lost everything that he had ever thought was important to him, leaving him only his personal demons and a private investigator’s job that barely covered the bills. Fay is sultry and seductive and refuses to leave Aaron’s side for a minute. She’s difficult to resist, and Aaron quickly finds himself falling under her spell. But even when attraction explodes into passion, Aaron has suspicions about Fay’s involvement in her best friend’s disappearance. As the evidence unfolds, Aaron has to decide how much to trust the siren sharing his bed before an innocent woman is hurt. Or worse

I love this genre. When I read, it's almost exclusively mysteries. But it's very hard to write, to lay out all the clues and have them follow reasonably without giving the whole story away from the beginning. A&D was the first time I think I was able to pull it off successfully. Plus I scored an absolutely GORGEOUS cover for it!

We all have one, so tell us yours. What is your favorite comfort food?

If it's edible, it's a comfort.

When and where do you get your most creative ideas?

I do most of my plotting while driving. I just gave up my bus driving job this summer to take an office job, so I've lost a lot of my plotting time, which I miss badly.

Who would you like to pen a book with, living or dead?

Living would be either Jim Butcher or Peter David. They both have such a natural sense of characterization and wonderful world-building skills, I would love to be able to learn from them. Dead is a total no-brainer. I would want to write with Jane Austen, although she'd probably be horrified by my choice of genre. She and I seem to have a lot in common, from minister fathers to almost the same birthday (hers is the day before mine). Again, she has such a wonderful knowledge and understanding of character and society, I think I could learn a lot from her.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I think I'm one of the last of the long-hand writers. It's very hard for me to write at the keyboard, so I still prefer writing long-hand. I have to have a certain kind of notebook and a certain kind of pen, but otherwise I think it actually gives me an advantage in that I can write anywhere, waiting for an appointment or even at a long traffic light, and the transcription process gives me an extra chance to edit so I don't feel so pressured to be perfect the first time through.

Do you have any bad writing habits?

Procrastination. Fortunately this interview came on what I had planned as a working day, or who knows when I would have gotten it done!

You have 3 wishes, what are they?

1. My farm. This is standard. My husband and I want a 30-50 acre farm somewhere in upstate Pennsylvania or New York, complete with old barns and fields and lots of trees. We had hoped to have it so our kids could enjoy it, but now it's looking like it might be for the grandkids instead.
2. Enough money that I can write full-time.
3. Um. World peace?

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

If anyone is interested in learning more about my writing and the other authors I hang out with, they can sign up for my newsletter, Passion Oscura, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/passionoscura/. We have all sorts of great stuff there, from reviews and excerpts to recipes, discussions and giveaways.

Thank you so much, Grey, for spending time with us today! If you'd like to read more about Grey, you can visit her website http://www.greygerou.com/

Interviewed by: Tammy