Interview with Renee Wildes

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

Did you always want to become a writer?

I really don’t think there was a “want” to it. I always HAVE been a writer. My Grandma Jeanne called by a writer when I was six and writing horse stories (ala C.W. Anderson). I was the only fourth grader with a MAXIMUM word count. Even my college term papers had drama in them. I’m a certified vet tech, and my opening sentence for a paper on laminitis (which is what ultimately killed Secretariat) was “The king is dead.”

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

You get to research the oddest things! I love when my in-laws come over and see a bookshelf full of druidism, shamanism, pagan gods, Nordic mythology, witchcraft, magical creatures, Dark Age weaponry, and oh yeah – poisons. Their eyes get REALLY big. I keep expecting them to call an exorcist any day now, but they haven’t called a priest yet. (But they don’t buy me candles, either!)

The least interesting is coming home after a hard day at your day job and after the kids are in bed knowing you have to sit your butt in that chair until your eyes cross and you can’t see straight. My neighbors never see me. I never go out on weekends. I’m the most boring person on the block. My kids’ friends doubt my existence. So did their teachers, but I DO go to holiday concerts and parent/teacher conferences. (I’m the really vampire-pale parent with bags under her eyes!)

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 still epubbed until August, so haven’t seen the books on a shelf yet. But I HAVE scoped out where they’ll go on the shelf in every bookstore I’ve been in! I worked for B&N for 10 years, so I have book signings informally lined up at every store I ever worked at and every store in a town where I have a relative! I’m doing a book signing at Borders in Brunswick Maine in September 2009 even though I live in Wisconsin.

We have a local restaurant, 2510, that we go to celebrate. We celebrated the contracts, the covers, the reviews, the releases, the Top Ten sales, the first royalty check. A bottle of champagne and decadent chocolate Celebration Cake (a 2510 specialty). The whole staff knows me by now! When I took my first check to the bank, the teller Dawn photocopied it and told me to frame it.

Did I mention I live in a VERY small town??? (LOL)

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

Family’s been really supportive. I couldn’t write if my husband didn’t pick up a lot of the housework slack. My kids have told all their teachers (my kids write, too). My sisters bought & read Duality. I had to print a copy for my grandma – she can’t use a computer b/c of her hands. My mom read it (but told me she skipped the “sexy” parts).

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?

The book that was my biggest influence is “The Ladies of Mandrigyn” by Barbara Hambly. I’ve read all of Mercedes Lackey’s books, and I’m told my voice is very similar. For reading I also enjoy Sarah Zettel, Gail Dayton, Joy Nash, Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyan, and Angela Knight. For a non-paranormal break I love Suzanne Brockmann, Merline Lovelace and Lori Foster.

Your characters come to life in your books.Do you feel each of your characters live with you as you write?

Yes

Do their lives sometimes take over a part of your life?

Yes

Can you name an example?

I’m never NOT writing or thinking about writing. I even hear snippets of dialogue while I’m at work and have to write them down. Cianan, my hero in Hedda’s Sword, was the biggest pest. He was notorious for playing havoc with my synopsis, rearranging scenes and coming in too early. He never wanted to wait!

Do you have living role models for your characters?

If you’re asking to I have images for what the look like, yes. I scrapbook, and every book has a framed page hanging on the wall. For Duality it was Haldir for Loren and Cara (Dinah Meyer in Dragonheart) for Dara. For Hedda’s Sword it was a younger Brigitte Nielsen for Maleta and Rob Ashton for Cianan. For my current WIP, Lycan Tides, it’s Trystan (Mads Mikkelsen in King Arthur) for Trystan and Zereta (Karina Lombard in Kull) for Finora. My hero for the next one, Riever’s Heart, is definitely Michael Fassbender (Stelios in 300) but I don’t have a heroine for that one yet. It’s Verdeen, Dara’s lady’s maid in Duality – I just haven’t found the right picture yet. Try to find wide-eyed innocence and a sense of mischief in a picture of anyone OVER the age of twelve these days!

Where do you get the inspirations for your books?

People ask me that all the time and I honestly don’t know. I think I’ve read and watched fantasy/sword & sorcery for so long it just lives in the back of my brain, percolating nonstop. Images/scenes/characters pop into my head at the oddest times. Duality started with an image of a red-haired woman kneeling in a burning room. When I realized she SET the fire, it got really interesting!

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

That’s the only part of a book I HAVE to write longhand first and then transfer it to the computer – computers just aren’t sexy. (I can’t write around the kids either.) I grab a glass of wine, go up to my room, put either Enya or Kate Price on the CD player and burn cinnamon candles.

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

I love Duality – it’s my firstborn, so to speak. But if I have to pick a favorite child – and it KILLS me to do it – it would have to be the sequel Hedda’s Sword. The heroine Maleta is very special and touches my heart. She was raped as a teenager and hates/fears men. She locked her emotions away and is an icy assassin nun for Hedda, the Grey Goddess of Vengeance. Cianan is the ultimate ladies man, but knows enough about women to be able to teach her to trust and love again.

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

Duality was the easiest, because it came first. There was nothing to hold it up against. Lycan Tides is proving tricky, because it’s not my normal action/adventure fantasy. It’s more of a lyrical, sensual character piece, which is forcing me to reach and stretch more as a writer.

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

I don’t know – none of my characters have had a very easy time of it! I’m a MEAN writer. I really like the gypsy culture I created in Hedda’s Sword. I think it would be interesting to wander around with the Shamaru for a bit. I loved writing Tzigana and her little sister Jana! There’s a certain freedom in just living, just being, following the seasons, that’s very appealing to me.

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

I love the Dark Ages. Things were simpler and family and clan were everything. I would LOVE to hang out with Boudicca – she was such a strong fierce woman with fire and passion, who really BELIEVED. I know what it is to be willing to do ANYTHING for my kids, and I know what it is to hate something with every fiber of my soul. I think she and I would have a lot in common.

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

All of my books have soundtracks if you will, and I listen to music for world-building. You already know I listen to Enya & Kate Price for love scenes. I listen to Axel Rudi Pell and Warlock for battle scenes, Nightwish for a dark/gothic feel, and then each book has a core sound:
Duality is Medaeival Baebes
Hedda’s Sword is Nordic (Varttina, Hedningarna, and Garmarna)
Lycan Tides is Celtic (Lunasa, Danu & Leahy)
Riever’s Heart is Native American/Nordic Laplander (Spirit Nation & Wimme)
I also did a novella for TWRP Got Wolf? Contest anthology called “Marek’s New World” that was Native American flute (R. Carlos Nakai “Canyon Trilogy”)

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

Duality’s probably the most visual & action-oriented
Dara – Dinah Meyer (played Cara is Dragonheart)
Loren – Craig Parker (played Haldir in LOTR)
Cianan – probably Gerard Butler w/a wig b/c I love his sense of humor and the understated way he plays his roles, even though he doesn’t look anything like Rob Ashton
Voice of Hani`ena – Judy Densch is an absolute MUST here!
Hengist – Kevin Sorbo
Moira – Keira Knightley
Trystan – Mads Mikkelsen
Cedric – Hugo Weaving
Alani – Liv Tyler (love to see her play a villainess!)

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

Lycan Tides is almost done. Trystan goes on a quest to find out where the dragon guardians who abandoned his people went. He’s shipwrecked and rescued by a selkie who’s lost her skin and is trapped on land. Finora is a single mom who’s torn between needing to go back to the sea and worrying about what will happen to her children if she does find her skin. The dragons are closer than either of them even thought and there’s nothing guardian about them.

Riever’s Heart is next. For those who read Duality and know Dara’s maid Verdeen wanted more than anything to enter the military academy, she got in. First female to do so. When she graduates top of her class, she wins a position as Loren’s Right Hand of the King. Prince Arik is one of the leaders of the northern rievers that have given everyone grief for centuries. He has a bigger vision for his people, but needs help uniting them. He goes to Shamar for help, and is referred to Loren. Loren gives him a bodyguard (and a spy) – the best. Arik’s appalled to discover it’s a woman. Verdeen has a lot to prove – to Arik, to Loren and most of all to herself.


Reviews of Renee Wildes' books:

Duality