Welcome to Gena Showalter's guest blog

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


Thanks so much for having me!

Did you always want to become a writer?

Yes and no. For a long time, it just didn’t occur to me that such a career could be an option for someone like me. Not the greatest student, unable to finish anything I started, voted Worst Employee Ever by my own mother. But I loved to read, always had stories of my own floating around in my head, and decided to write something just for me. Except, I realized the process was H.A.R.D. and quickly gave up. Then, in my early twenties, I tried again. It was still hard but this time I was determined and pushed through. And when I held that finished manuscript in my hands . . . Oh, the joy. I was hooked. Finishing the next – and the next -- became an obsession.

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

The most interesting thing is the friendships I’ve made with other writers. Jill Monroe, Kresley Cole, PC Cast, Deidre Knight and so many others. I love them like family. The least interesting thing is probably that the girl everyone sees on the website and at book signings is not the girl I really am. At home I only wear swear pants, hate to put on make up and I am truly very shy. My brother-in-law once told me I have a tendency to go in public and close up shop. Putting myself out there and meeting new people is very hard.

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?


With my first book, my husband and I went to dinner. I probably said, “Do you realize you’re sitting next to a published author” a million times with a huge grin on my face. I still float on the clouds each time I see a new book in bookstores. It’s such a thrill to see the culmination of all the blood, sweat and tears.

No special ritual. Usually I’m working on something else.

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

Only a few of them read my books but all of them are beyond proud of me.


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 a big, big reader. In fact, I drooled on most of my writer friends the first time I met them. Like Jill Monroe, Kresley Cole, PC Cast, and Deidre Knight – as I mentioned – but also Karen Moning, Nalini Singh, Meljean Brook, and so many others!


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?

The characters and story do live with me as I write a rough draft. I fall asleep thinking about them, wake up in the middle of the night thinking about them, and then think about them all day long. I’ve even accidentally called family members by character names. Bits and pieces of my characters do come from the people in my life. I’ll never tell which bits and pieces, though LOL


Where do you get the inspirations for your books?

Inspiration is everywhere. Something I see, hear or read will spark an idea and an entire novel will grow from there. With the Lords of the Underworld, I didn’t like how one curious female was always blamed for the world’s misery. So I decided to rewrite the legend and blame men.. With my Atlantis books, I wanted a place where the gods hid all the mistakes – the vampires, dragon shape-shifters, demons, nymphs – and the mysterious Atlantis seemed perfect.

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

Not really. The characters are usually so ready for the act to happen that they finally cooperate with me and the pages really flow.

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

My three favorite books happen to be my upcoming three. (And I swear I’m not saying that just to plug them. They really are.) Book one: Seduce the Darkness features a womanizing hero and watching him fall in love was both amusing and shiver-inducing for me. Book two: The Darkest Whisper. I dreamed the heroine and simply had to tell her story. She’s paired with Sabin, an immortal warrior possessed by the demon of Doubt. And book three: Intertwined. This book nearly killed me. Writing it was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done but it was one of those stories that sunk its claws in me and refused to let go. I played with it for a year before I sold it. It features a sixteen-year old boy who has always been a magnet for the supernatural and that’s why he has four human souls trapped inside his head..


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

Intertwined was the most difficult, no question. Staying true to that younger voice, breathing life into the human souls trapped inside Aden’s head, as well as Aden himself, and then introducing a vampire princess, a werewolf shapeshifter bodyguard and a girl who is Aden’s exact opposite – a repellent to the supernatural – and then weaving them all together. . . challenging to say the least.

The easiest to write was probably The Darkest Whisper. Everything just flowed. I had only to write down the scenes as they played through my head. I could barely keep up.

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

I would want to be Bride from Seduce the Darkness. The abilities that woman has. . . oh, yes. Me want. And I love her relationship with Devyn, the hero of the novel. Being the one girl in the world who that bad boy can’t resist . . . Shiver!

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 actually love to travel inside Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark world. I’m fascinated with the characters, the setting, and well, everything. It’s brilliant!

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

I do listen to music. Mostly contemporary Christian, some pop, some rock, a few sountracks.

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

Its a tie between Intertwined, Catch A Mate, and Playing With Fire. I’m open to suggestions for the cast :)


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

I’m currently working on a short story for the Lords of the Underworld series, tentatively called The Darkest Heaven. You will meet the heroine — the girl I dreamed -- in the upcoming The Darkest Whisper. I am redoing the myth of the Harpies.

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