Welcome to Cynthia Eden's guest blog

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

Thank you very much for inviting me over! Glad to be here!

Did you always want to become a writer?

Well, I knew I wanted to write pretty much as soon as I learned to read. I’ve always loved books—and wanting to write my own book has been an old dream for me.

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

Most interesting? Getting to create the characters. Since I write paranormals, I have the best time with my characters. I love creating my demons and vampires and shifters—and then turning them loose on the world. There’s no limit to the imagination when you write paranormals. Anything literally goes. And it is so much fun!

Now, the least interesting fact...writing is a very solitary life. Lots of time just by yourself, with the laptop. Long, quiet hours.

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 celebrated my first release with chocolate and wine—the way I celebrate them all! The first time I saw one of my books in a store, my jaw dropped. I started snapping pictures like a crazy woman. Seriously, the clerks at the store looked at me like I was crazy. All the while, I was saying, “That’s mine!” They gave me a look that said, “Um, yeah, when you buy it, weirdo.”

I guess having my chocolate is my book release ritual. Honestly, I am so nervous whenever a new book comes out. I go to the stores, try not to scare the clerks, and I snap my pictures. (Yep, I still do that.)

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

My family is amazingly supportive. My husband has read my books, so has my mom and my sister. My mom is great at PR—she takes bookmarks up to her beauty salon so all her friends can purchase my books when they hit the shelves. Gotta love a family that supports your dream!

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?

I’m definitely an avid reader. If I go too long without reading a romance, I feel like I start to go through withdrawal. My favorite authors are Christine Feehan, Jayne Ann Krentz, Angela Knight, Lora Leigh, Linda Howard, Julie Garwood—oh, I could really just list dozens. My keeper shelves are exploding and I’m planning another trip to the bookstore very, very soon. I think all of the writers I listed have influenced my writing. Their stories are so great, their characters so real...they inspire me to be a better writer.

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?

Uh, oh. This is embarrassing, but, yes, I do feel like some of the characters live with me. One of my recent books (it’s a paranormal bounty hunter book I wrote for Kensington Brava) featured a white tiger shifter hero, Jude. I really started to enjoy Jude. So much so...I would insert the man into conversations. Ex. “Well, Jude would never say that...” and “If Jude were here, he’d think that was hilarious...” I was having such a great time writing his character that I kept thinking about what he would do in real-life situations. Yeah—that stopped when my husband looked at me one day and said, “You know he’s not real, right?”

Right.

I don’t generally have living role models for my characters, but I do find myself borrowing character traits from folks. Mixing and matching until I get the hero or heroine that I want.

Where do you get the inspirations for your books?

Everywhere. The ideas come to me all the time—and often from completely out of the blue. I have an Idea File that I use. When an idea comes to me, I type it in the file and save it for later. This is my fix to prevent writer’s block. So far, it’s working.


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

Yes, I think love scenes can often be the most challenging part of the book. The writer has to delicately balance the sensuality with the characters’ emotions. A tricky balance!

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

I don’t know if I have a favorite. When I’m writing, that book is the favorite. I love the characters. Love the plot. It gets that favored status in my mind. But, then I start another book, and it becomes the favorite...and the cycle continues.

Since MIDNIGHT SINS is my current release, those characters are uppermost in my mind, so I’ll say the hero, Todd Brooks, and the heroine, Cara Maloan, are my favorites. I liked Todd because he is such a completely normal guy. No super powers, just a cop. He’s trying to do his job, but he winds up falling for his chief suspect in a murder investigation. The woman he falls for? Well, she turns out to be a succubus. And Cara—she was just fun to write. Pretty much immortal, very powerful, but the woman is weak when it comes to love.

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

The hardest book I wrote was MIDNIGHT’S MASTER (due out 07/09 from Kensington Brava). This book is about Niol, the demon introduced in HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT. This story was a challenge because, Niol, well, he’s evil. His character just gets darker in MIDNIGHT SINS. I had to redeem him enough to make him a worthy hero for his heroine in MIDNIGHT’S MASTER, and that proved a bit tricky. Sometimes, it’s hard to redeem a guy when he doesn’t want to be redeemed.

And the easiest story? IMMORTAL DANGER (04/09, again from Kensington Brava). This is my dragon shifter story. I’d wanted to write a dragon story for years—and this was my chance. I think I smiled the entire time I wrote this book. The heroine is a tough, ex-cop turned vampire, and my hero, Adam, ah, the guy is smoking hot. Literally.


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

I think I would want to be Cara Maloan from MIDNIGHT SINS. For just a day, I’d like to see what it’s like to be a succubus. To be able to sneak into someone’s dreams and to control thoughts—handy, but dangerous.

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 like to go back to the summer of 1816 and visit with Mary Shelley. I’d love to know more about her ideas for Frankenstein.

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

No music for me. I usually write best when the house is nice and quiet.

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

I’d pick HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT. I’d choose Kate Beckinsale as Emily Drake, my monster doctor, and Gerard Butler as my wolf shifter hero, Colin. Such a good dream...

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

I’m finishing up the second book in my paranormal bounty hunter series. The heroine is a vampire hunter with a serious thirst for revenge and the hero is a vampire with a thirst for, well, her.

Big congrats to your newest release “Midnight Sins”, can you tell us something more about the book?

Thank you for the congrats! MIDNIGHT SINS is the second book in my Midnight trilogy and it picks up a few weeks after the close of HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT. Todd Brooks (Colin’s partner from HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT) faces a world unlike any he’s imagined. The blinders are off for him, and he’s about to come face to face with vampires and demons. And one demon in particular, Cara Maloan, will work her way right under his skin.


Thank you very much for taking the time to interview me! It was a pleasure!





Blurb of MIDNIGHT SINS:

Cara Maloan doesn’t look like a monster. In fact, the gorgeous blond nightclub singer possesses heavenly attributes that make Atlanta detective Todd Brooks sure there’s a higher power somewhere. But a twisted killer is leaving a trail of bodies in seedy hotel rooms across town. The male victims show no wounds–it’s as if the life was simply drained from them. And right now, mysterious Cara is Todd’s only suspect.

Cara knows it’s foolish to be so drawn to a man who thinks she’s a murderer. She also knows Detective Brooks would find the truth even harder to swallow. Cara is one of the Other, a race of powerful, paranormal creatures who live among humans. Cara’s particular abilities make men putty in her hands–all except this rugged, sexy-as-hell detective. But now someone, or something, has singled Cara out for serious payback…

As uneasy trust gives way to mind-blowing desire, Cara and Todd will go head-to-head with a killer whose mission is deeply personal, and who’s determined to serve up revenge that’s hotter than hellfire, and just as deadly…




Excerpt from MIDNIGHT SINS:
“Why do you do it?” Brooks asked, leaning toward her. He drew a ragged breath, as if inhaling her scent, then muttered, “You’re so damn beautiful, I bet it’s like fucking child’s play for you to lure those men to you.”
It always had been easy. She’d been born as a lure. Since his words were a bitter truth, Cara stayed silent. Reeling the men to her, no that had never been a problem.
None of the men had ever cared enough to stay with her.
An eternity of pleasure but a life lived alone. That was her lot in this world. The lot for all the succubi. She was just the only one not loving the deal.
“Do you get off on it?” Brooks asked, voice silky smooth. “Do you like the power? Like the control in bed?”
She swallowed. Sometimes, she wanted to lose control. To be taken.
His hand lifted, brushed across her cheek in a caress that lanced her flesh with its heat. “And at the end,” he said, pressing in even closer, so close that for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her, “when the pleasure is pounding through you, how does it feel to kill your lovers?”
What? “No, listen, I’ve never—”
He grabbed her hands, yanked them up and held her tight. Not hurting her. Trapping her. “How do you do it? Drugs? An injection?”
She twisted her hands, trying to break free. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” A lie. Killing a lover was so easy.
But not her way.
“Right, princess.”
Her eyes narrowed at the mocking tone.
“You don’t have any idea why we’re here. You don’t know Michael House, and you have no idea how your ID came to be at our scene.”
“Wh-what—” She broke off, struggling to clear her throat. “What happened to Michael?” A murder scene, he’d said he found her bag at—
His lips tightened. “I thought you didn’t know him.”
“What happened?” She wrenched her hands away from him.
“Come down to the station, and I’ll be glad to tell you.”
She hurried back a few steps, and stumbled into the other guy—the shifter. Dammit, how had he moved so fast? When had the jerk circled behind her? “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
One dark brow lifted. “Wanna bet on that?”
Not particularly.
The shifter’s hands landed heavily on her shoulders. She jumped at the contact. His touch was cold to her skin, where Brooks had felt burning hot.
Brooks held her gaze. “You can do this the easy way and come with us willingly—”
“Or you can fight,” the shifter growled in her ear, “and still wind up finding your ass downtown.”
Oh, she didn’t like him. Didn’t like either of them. Her skin began to prickle as rage and power swept through her.
“Easy.” The whisper was so soft she might have imagined it. The shifter’s voice. Barely breathing in her ear.
She drew in a ragged gasp of air at the sound, drawing the cold oxygen deep into her lungs. Control. She couldn’t shatter in front of them. They were cops.
Cops who were suspecting her of—what? Assault? Murder?
If she put up a fight, and used her power, she’d never be safe in Atlanta again. She’d have to run, and she wouldn’t be able to stop running for a long, long time.
She wasn’t the type to run. Never had been.
Her chin lifted as she made her decision. “I’ll do it the easy way.”
The human’s lips began to curl.
“For now.”
That wiped the smug smile right off his handsome face.

Reviews of Cynthia Eden's books:

Hotter after midnight

CONTEST:

Cynthia Eden is giving away a copy of her newest release MIDNIGHT SINS or the winners choice of her backlist to one lucky winner. So leave a comment to enter the drawing. The winner will be announced tomorrow morning.