We're lucky today to be chatting with Gabrina Garza author of Hot Phoenix Nights, Adeno, and Sex Between Strangers.

Welcome Ms. Garza, to Fallen Angel Reviews. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule and chatting with us today.

Thanks for having me, Donna and the FAR staff! I love your site and I'm thrilled to be part of it!

I want to tell you that while reading Hot Phoenix Nights, I was struck by the intense chemistry between Josie and Crow. When you started writing this book did you realize how hot they'd be together?

Ha ha! Well, thanks and I'm glad you liked it. While writing it I thought it was a fun book, so the chemistry came easily because they both had sort of a quirky, often comedic relationship. The tension is sort of an undertone throughout most of it.

What is your writing schedule like?

Hectic! I work full time for a hospital lab and I have kids, plus I rescue abandoned and abused dogs from high kill shelters, so there's always lots and lots of distraction around the house. I don't really have a set schedule. I write when I'm not distracted by the internet, my kids, or my doggies. Luckily my husband Mike is good at getting the kids out of my hair so I can devote time to writing.

Who are your favorite authors, and why? Which one would you like to be able to spend a couple hours with to pick their brains?

I absolutely loved fantasy author David Gemmell and I was so sad when he passed. He was an amazing story teller and I only wish I could be as creative and successful as he was as a writer. For romance I absolutely love Kelley St. John. She's a fantastic author and she's just a sweet person who really cheers on fellow writers. Sloane Taylor, Beth Anderson, and Mike Poore are writer friends of mine whom I respect and absolutely adore. This is a dangerous question because I know there are many others I'm leaving out, though it goes without saying that I'd be a cheerleader for everyone at Amber Quill, especially Erica DeQuaya who is in the same situation as me with home, family, and writing.

I've been fortunate to know many great authors and talk to them about writing and story telling. I think that's the same with anything—if you paint, it helps to be around artists, if you're a doctor, you want to discuss medicine, etc.

When you write, do you have a specific order of doing things?

If you knew me you wouldn't bother asking. I'm incredibly disorganized. I'm the sort of person who has her entire life and every receipt from 2006 stuffed into her purse. Writing is sort of a frightful, chaotic, and climatic experience where I start off running and then suddenly realize I haven't tied my shoe laces. But everyone is different—some writers are very organized. I'm not one of them. Please don't tell my editor!

If your family were describing you, what would they say?

"We don't know who she is but she might be that long haired woman always staring into that little silver box with all the bumper stickers on the back and the cat sleeping next to her."

How do you balance your character ideas and plot ideas? Do they sometimes seem to be at odds with each other and what you started out thing the story would be about?

I write character driven stories so it usually turns into a struggle to get them either down the original path or follow behind and see what happens. Normally they lead me into it and that's the way I prefer. If it feels forced to me then the reader will feel the same way.

What do you love most about writing? Hate the most?

Seeing a scene in my mind that started at a traffic light unravel into a full fledged story. I hate that it takes me weeks to write one story and it takes the reader all of two hours to read it! People who don't write have no idea how long it takes to finish a book from the time you get an idea to when you get galleys. Though the finished product is very rewarding!

Do you do all your writing on the computer, or do you do some of it in longhand first?

Computer only. I don't have a long enough attention span for writing it all out by hand.

What is your comfort food and drink?

I don't know if I really have a comfort food (does pizza count?) but I try to only drink water.

If you could be a candy bar, which one would you be and why?

A Snickers bar but I'd try to lick myself. And I'd have nuts, so I think I should talk to Freud about that one.

Is there one thing you're scared of that your readers and fans would find unbelievable about you?

Oh, no, most of my good friends and a large portion of my fan base know aliens scare the crap out of me. I'm actually thinking about starting a petition to end galactic butt probs. Really, is it necessary? You don't beam yourself down and go straight for below the belt. Tact, little green men, tact! Stay away from my heinie!

Oh, and even though I work for a lab I don't like needles or blood. Adeno has some intense scenes in it, which makes it somewhat amusing that I don't like violent movies but I can write a fight scene.

When your first book was published, what was the very first thing you did when you saw it ready for the readers to buy it?

Freaked out because I had *no idea* it came out on Mother’s Day. I told everyone and found out several people knew before me because they'd been checking www.amberheat.com more frequently than me.

A better story is when Adeno won for the Amber Heat contest and I screamed. My dogs got very excited and followed me up the stairs where they trampled Mike, who was sound asleep. Imagine having 7 dogs all over 40 lbs jump on you, barking and wagging their tales. They probably thought treats would be involved at some point but sadly they were not because I was too busy screaming.

What do you do to relax when you're not writing?

I love independent league baseball. There's a team that plays near me called the Gary Southshore Railcats and I'm addicted to seeing them play and going to home and some of the away games. If I'm not at the lab or at home writing, in the summer I'm usually in section 101 (Ralph's section) possibly doing the chicken dance or cheering for Tanner Townsend and Jay Pecci (yes, I named them just so you could google me and I'd be side by side with two of my favorite players!). Being outside all summer recharges me since I'm not really a winter person. Writing (and selling) erotic romance helps me feed my serious baseball addiction.

How hard is it for you to juggle your personal life with your writing life?

It gets harder all of the time because it's not a hobby, it's a job and I have to treat it as a job. I miss hanging out with friends because I need to write, not because I feel like sitting down and writing a scene. It's a job that I love, however, and it's fantastic to write and be able to share it with others. When I was starting out, writing was very personal and in a lot of ways still is, but I write now knowing there's a good chance others will read it. I want to give new fans and people who have read my stories for a while a fun, exciting, and original story.

Please tell us about your works in progress and when they'll be ready for publishing?

I've got a lot of projects coming up, all through Amber Heat right now. I have one romance that's just a straight up contemporary called Countess of Suburbia. There's also a Vampire story, which I never thought I'd write because everything in the genre has been done already and I'm not one for blood (again, irony in the lab…). There's a naughty fairy tale coming out soon called Jax and the Giant's Bean Stalk, and a few stories that are part of a series. Check out my website to see what's been added to the news section because this could change in the next two weeks and I'd have more listed.

Do you get any say in what your covers look like?

Our managing editor at Amber Quill is amazing and makes us awesome covers. Sex Between Strangers is probably my favorite right now. I'm so excited about this book and the cover is gorgeous! Who wouldn't want to do that man?

How can readers find out more about you and your books?

Come visit my website and join my newsletter! If you love animals, hot, sexy men, fun books, creative fantasy, and wasting time at work visit me at www.gabrina.com I run contests, do a terrible job updating my blog, and allow one of my cats to take control and rant about celebs you hate (or by now should hate). I have something like 14 books out in the next year so come check out my site and sign up to win free stuff!

Ms. Garza, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with us today. I know how busy you are and Fallen Angel Reviews very much appreciates the time you took away from your writing.

It was my pleasure, Donna! This was a lot of fun and you asked some questions I've never been asked. Very cool! Go Railcats! Oh, and enter my contest to win some cool prizes! Everyone loves free stuff!

Interviewed by: Donna