Welcome to Maya Banks' Guest Blog

Welcome Ms. Banks to Love Romances and More, thank you for joining us.

Thank you for having me

Did you always want to become a writer?

Yes and no. I started writing full length novels at a very early age, but they were purely for my own enjoyment. It wasn’t until after I had my third child that I gave any serious thought to a career in writing.


What is the most, and the least interesting fact about writing?

The most would be the ability to create from start to finish a story, the characters and all the nuances in between. Breathing life into something that comes from my brain. It’s addictive and very satisfying. The least interesting? Hmm I’m not sure I’d classify any of it as not interesting. Frustrating maybe but not uninteresting.

How did you celebrate your first release? What was it like to see your book in a bookstore? Do you have a special ritual for celebrating a book release?

I’m actually pretty bad about this. I don’t even remember what I did to celebrate. It wasn’t until recently that I made myself start living the moment a little better because I was bad about not stopping to smell the roses. But even now, I don’t really celebrate the release of a book as much as I celebrate the sale of a new book. For me, by the time a book actually comes out, I’ve moved several books beyond it.


How did your family react to fact that you also write romance novels? Have your family read your books?

None of them were surprised. They’ve always known I was a writer at heart and a voracious reader. My family is pretty conservative so they don’t read my erotic romances. My sister has read all my Sharon Long books, though, and she’s very proud of my accomplishments. She loves romance almost as much as I do.

Most authors are also avid readers. Is this the case with you? If so, who are some of your favorites? Have any influenced your writing?

Oh Lord, yes. Reading is probably my biggest passion. Books make me happy. I love surrounding myself with books. I didn’t own a television growing up. Books were my main source of entertainment. To this day, I don’t watch much television.

Some of my absolute favourite authors are Sharon Sala, Julie Garwood and Elizabeth Lowell. Some newer additions to my favourite list (in the last year) are Hannah Howell and Susan Mallery.

Your characters come to life in your books. Do you feel each of your characters live with you as you write? Do their lives sometimes take over a part of your life? Can you name an example? Do you have living role models for your characters?

No living role models. I’m a little weirded out by basing fictional characters on real life people. I’ll borrow yes, maybe a few attributes here and there. All of my characters have some semblance of people I’ve met or know but in a small way. Those little details that add authenticity. The bigger aspects I come up with. It’s more fun that way because I get to play God

And yes, the characters do live in my head. It can be frustrating when I’m trying to sleep and I’m hearing entire passages of dialogue in my head, but that’s the price of being a writer I’m afraid.

Where do you get the inspirations for your books?

I’m asked this a lot and I don’t have an easy, pat answer. Most all of my stories begin as a very small snippet. A flash of a scene, a single scene, in my head and it’ll stay with me. Sometimes I dream a story and it’ll haunt me for a few days until it comes together. There have been many books that have literally been born from a single scene that I couldn’t forget and so I build an entire story around that one scene and how it comes to be.

Do you find it difficult at times to write love/sex scenes?

Yes because for me, emotion plays a big part of any love scene and if the emotion isn’t right then the scene falls flat so it’s very important to get it right.

What is your favorite book from the books that you have written so far? Who are your favorite hero and heroine, and why?

This of course changes from time to time but right now Be With Me, Into the Mist and Long Road Home are my favorite books I’ve written. These books also have my favorite characters. Tyana and Eli are probably my favorite hero and heroine but the others in the above mentioned stories are close seconds. I can’t really say why other than they are the most real to me.

Which book was the hardest to write and which the easiest?

Be With Me was probably the easiest book to write. It just came together and I loved writing it so much. I’ve had a few books that were really hard to write. Into the Lair was especially difficult.


If you could change places with one character from your books, who would it be and why?

I know I’ll sound boring (I am) but I have no wish to switch place with any of my characters. I’m too hard on them. It’s fun to write their difficulties and I love reading angst and emotion and all the drama that ensues but in real life, I embrace my very predictable existence


If you could travel through time to visit a special time period or famous person, what or who would it be and why?

I’d love to be able to see the American West through the eyes of Lewis and Clark

Do you listen to music while you are writing and if so what music is it?

I usually prefer quiet. If I do listen, it ranges from Tim McGraw to Erasure.

If you could choose of your books for a movie, which one would it be and who would you as the cast?

I’m not big on movies, but I think Her Majesty, My Love or Beyond the Night could be cool movies. Nooo idea on cast because I’m movie star stupid.

Are you working on anything right now, and can you tell us a teaser about these projects?

I currently have four projects lined up in the short term. I’m working on Amber Eyes, the sequel to Golden Eyes, featuring Aliyah’s “lost sister” Kaya. I also have the first Kelly book, Ethan and Rachel’s story, The Darkest Hour in the pipeline as well as my third Silhouette Desire (Piers Anetakis’ story) and then I’ll knock out Nathan Tucker’s story, Sweet Seduction for Berkley HEAT. (Yes, I’m busy lol)

AFTER all that, I’ll have Micah Hudson’s story in Sweet Temptation and the next two Kelly books featuring Sam and Garrett. And who knows what else I’ll have gotten into by then

Big congrats to your terrific November release BE WITH ME



Here is the covertext:

Three men. One woman.

Hutch Bishop, Cam Douglas, and Sawyer Pritchard were juvenile delinquents with a reckless and wildly sexy side. But they had more in common than that. They had Regina Fallon, a wealthy but lonely girl from the right side of the tracks who formed an unusual friendship with the boys. She felt protected. She felt needed. She felt loved... for the first time in her life. By all three.

So much closer than just friends.

Today, she's a police officer, dedicated to her badge, and wary of reigniting her relationship with the hot trio after one night of passion left her confused—and stunned—by what they wanted from her. But when a mysterious attempt is made on her life, Hutch, Cam, and Sawyer jump in to protect her again. Now, Regina and her three lovers are forming an all-new bond. It's more exciting, more intense, and—as a killer looms in the shadows—more dangerous than ever before.

Here you can find a few reviews of Ms. Banks' books:

Be with me

Brazen

Colter's Woman

Golden Eyes

Overhead

Reckless

Undenied