Wildfire would like to welcome authors Natasha Moore and Michelle Houston.

Natasha Moore

Julie: How long have you been writing? What inspired you to pick the pen up one day and create characters that capture the imagination?

Natasha: I've honestly been writing since I was in grade school. I even wrote fan-fic before the term was ever coined, writing stories about my favorite TV shows and passing them around to my classmates. I was inspired by all the great books I got from the library and devoured growing up.

Julie: What is your writing process? Do you outline, fly by the seat of your pants, or a combination of both?

Natasha:  I can't make detailed outlines. I try to have a few turning points and the dark moment in mind, but then I fly by the seat of my pants. I'm always so amazed at the things that appear on the page that I never could have thought of ahead of time.

Julie: What influenced you to get published? How long did it take for your first book to get published?

Natasha: I've always wanted to see my books on the shelves, I think most writers do. My road to publication was a roller coaster ride, and a long one at that, but it's been well worth the effort.

Julie: When you write, is atmosphere important? For example, do you use mood music or candles? Do you need complete quiet to concentrate?

Natasha: I rarely worry about atmosphere when I'm writing. I grab any time I can get to write, and can't always wait until the setting is just right. I like to have music playing in the background. It seems to be a writing trigger for me.

Julie: What's next for you?                                                                                           

Natasha: I've started a single title length erotic romance, but will continue writing novellas and short stories because I love to focus on my hero and heroine and their relationship.

Julie: Most people envision an author's life as being really glamorous. What's the most unglamorous thing that you've done in the past week?

Natasha: My husband and I just got back from a vacation in our RV. This past weekend I was standing out in the pouring rain as we tore down camp to come home.

Julie: Out of all of the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?

Natasha: Wow, that's tough. That's like asking which of my children is my favorite. But…I'd have to say I have a special place in my heart for Dean Bastian, the hero in The Ride of Her Life. He's a reformed bad boy who does everything in his power to make the heroine happy.

Julie: Describe the space where you write.

Natasha: I love my laptop. I can write just about anywhere. I do have an office in my house with a window that has a peeking-through-the-tree-branches lake view and bookshelves stuffed with books. But I often write at the dining room table. Or the back deck. Or in the RV.

Julie: The editing process is so critical. In your opinion, what are the most important aspects of the editor/author relationship?

Natasha: Trust and an open mind. I have to be professional and be willing to listen to someone else's opinions on my stories. I trust my editors' opinions. All of their comments have helped make my stories the best they can be.

Julie: If you weren't writing romance, what would you be writing?

Natasha: I'd probably be writing mysteries. I grew up with Phyllis A Whitney and have always loved mysteries. But I'd probably have to add a little bit of romance to them.

Natasha Moore fell in love with the written word as soon as she could read. As she grew up, she discovered romance and now enjoys the chance to add some extra sizzle to her stories. She writes sexy contemporary romance for Samhain and erotic romance for Ellora's Cave and Red Sage. She lives in New York State with her real life hero who is happy to tell everyone that he's her inspiration. They travel in their RV whenever possible. The great thing about writing is she can take it anywhere. 

Backlist:
Nothing To Fear, Ellora's Cave
The Ride of Her Life, Samhain Publishing
Taste of Honey in Seasons of Seduction IV, Ellora's Cave
Quinn's Curse, Red Sage

Coming soon:
Sunrise in Jewels of the Nile II, Ellora's Cave
The Passion-Minded Professor, Samhain Publishing
Bad to the Bone in Secrets Vol 24, Red Sage
Up to No Good in Secrets Vol 25, Red Sage

Links:
Website
Blog
MySpace

Michelle Houston

Julie: How long have you been writing? What inspired you to pick the pen up one day and create characters that capture the imagination?

Michelle:  I've been writing for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are of winning awards in school for my essays and poems. In third grade, we had a unit on poetry, and I still have one of the poems I wrote then. I started seriously writing about age 18 though. Before that, it was mainly the typical angst ridden poetry of a hormonal teenager, but around age 18 my fiancé (we're married now, just passed ten years) encouraged me to start putting ideas down on paper. He had been writing since his early teens, and knew what it was to have a story within demanding to be let out.

Julie: What influenced you to get published? How long did it take for your first book to get published?

Michelle:  It was about the time I realized that I was writing all of these stories, sharing them freely on the internet, spending all of my free time writing with nothing to show for it. With a young child at home, dreams of going to college, and not a lot of money it just made sense to see if I was good enough to actually interest people in buying my work.

My first book was a collection of short erotic stories, and it was accepted and published within six months of when I submitted it.

Julie: What are the elements of a great romance for you?

Michelle:  A strong dynamic between the characters, whatever the sexuality, whatever the setting. For it to be a romance, there has to be some sizzle between the characters, but there also has to be more than that. They have to be somewhat likable to the reader.

Julie: What do you do when characters stop talking to you when writing?

Michelle:  Cuss, complain to my husband, and generally get frustrated. Then I set the story aside and work on something else until the characters are ready for me to intrude into their lives again.

Julie: How much does reader reaction mean to you as an author?

Michelle:  I write because I have to write. It's something inside of me that is part of who I am. I publish my works because I want the readers to share the world that comes from the string of words that I put together.

I write first for myself, to get the story put to paper. Then, if it is something I feel worth sharing, the reaction of readers is everything. I want them to feel every heartache I did while writing, to laugh, to cry, to rail at the fates jerking my characters around, to feel satisfied when it all works out in the end. If it is a story I worked to publish to share with others, I want them to feel that the hard-earned money they paid for it was well spent.

Julie: What do you hope readers get from your books?

Michelle:  Escape. I want them to be able to drown in my story, to let it wrap around them and take them away, from whatever is troubling them, for just a few hours. Life is sometimes hard, and we need to drift away at times, to remain sane. A good book allows us to do that.

Julie: What is your writing process? Do you outline, fly by the seat of your pants, or a combination of both?

Michelle:  I wing it completely. I have found the hard way if I try and outline too much, I lose the story. Instead, I have to let myself drift, motivated by a line from the story, a whisper in my ear, or a scene that springs to mind, and craft the rest around that. Some of my best stories started as a line of internal dialog a character was having, without me knowing anything else.

Julie: What do you feel is the most important thing that first-time authors should know?

Michelle:  If a character is whispering in your ear, listen. If a concept comes to you, and you know you could make something kick-ass of it, go for it. But understand, writing is only like breathing to some talented few. The rest of us have to work at it, to slowly get better. The first draft of anything is likely to be shit. What you make of that first draft will mold you into an author. You have to be willing to listen to your characters, and to trust yourself, but you also have to be willing to work hard.

Julie: Any advice for aspiring authors?

Michelle:  Write because you love writing, because you can't imagine a world without you putting your ideas to paper. Share them (ie publish) for whatever reason there is motivating you—but write because you have to. If you are writing for the money, consider freelance articles and other non-fiction. Don't let the pressure of sales corrupt the purity of the connection between you and your characters. Write simply because it is part of you to do so, and let the rest happen as it will.

Julie: What's next for you?

Michelle:  In the next few months I have four titles coming out. The first is Blood Slave, a gay vampire duet of erotic stories, set in the near future, in a world where vampires have been found to exist and have been hunted down and systematically infected with a virus that causes them to lose their sight. But they have found a way around it, through the use of blood slaves. It's rather hardcore BDSM D/s. That's coming in July from Phaze.

Then in August I have another Phaze title called A Change of Pace. It's a very soft-core second chance erotic romance about a woman who is frustrated with the emptiness of her life and when a chance meeting with an object of her affection from the past ends with an invitation to his house for dinner, and whatever may come, she decides to take a chance and live a little.

After that in September is a collection of four stories involving humans, vampires, and shifters from Whiskey Creek Press Torrid. Fangs and Fur is about four couples that come together while trying to protect their races from the experiments of an evil scientist.

And finally in October is another release from Phaze called Playing for Keeps. This one is my second in a series of modern mythology tales centered around Greco-Roman deities. Both tales of ménage a trios, one MMF without interaction between the men, and the other is MFF with interaction between the females.

Information about all of them can be found on my coming soon page of my website www.michellehouston.com

Julie: What are you working on now?

Michelle:  Right now I have about a dozen stories going, ranging from sequels to my alternate reality story and my modern myths, to another second chance tale, to some kinky shifters,

Julie: Dealing with writing deadlines can be a challenge. What do you do to cope with the stress?

Michelle:  I have been lucky so far in that I don't deal too much with deadlines. Occasionally I will see a Calls For Submission that interests me, which will put me under a deadline if I want to submit something for it, but other than that I don't have deadlines. My publishers understand that I am a non-traditional college student with a family, a job, and about a dozen other commitments that come before my writings. I never know when I will be able to sit down to write, and when I do, I have yet to master the art of selecting which character I want to talk to me. I just sit down and write, letting what flows to the page happen. So when I finish off a story and submit it, that's when the publisher expects it. I don't submit proposals and half finished works, and I don't have contracts that call for a book before it is written. Some of my writing buddies can do that, but I just haven't figured out how yet.

Julie: If someone hasn't read any of your work, what book would you recommend that they start with and why?

Michelle:  I'd have to say Diggin' Up Bones, which is available from Phaze. It's quite simply what I feel is my best work to date. It was the first story (that was worth anything) to reach the 5K mark, then the first (again worth anything) to reach 10K+. It's a true love story, and deals with a heart aching trauma all too many women have faced, and the slow recovery from it. Alisa is strong and a survivor. Zach is compassionate, sexy, and a real gentleman. I just love the characters. It's also one of those stories that started as a line of internal dialog: "Zach Bradford, part time archeologist, full time pain in the ass."

Born to ride on the back of dragons, to journey among the stars in a ship traveling faster than light, or to dance the night away in the arms of a mysterious vampire, Michelle Houston willingly shares the worlds in her mind in an effort to bring them to life.

Writing everything from short and sweet stories, to hot and spicy tales of kink, from contemporary tales of romance to erotic romances featuring Greek Gods, vampires and were-creatures, she has crossed sexualities and has gone wherever her mental muse has guided her. A journey she has never regretted.

With stories either out, or coming out soon, from Renaissance E Books, Phaze, Whiskey Creek Press Torrid, Cleis Press, Alyson Books, and Pretty Things Press, to name a few, she has many more stories just waiting for their chance to be told.

Beyond that, she has a love of the natural world around us (except for insects, spiders, snakes, scorpions, and she reserves the right to add more at any time) and hopes to share the enjoyment of the Earth with her students once she finally earns her degree in secondary Biology/Earth Science Education.

She's married to a wonderful man who supports all her writing endeavors (even when her characters scare him just a wee bit), and is the reason she is even published at all. Her daughter is too young to know just what mommy writes, but she knows she wants to write too when she grows up, and already has a good start on it.

In other words, she is an ordinary woman, with an imagination that is only held in bounds by how fast she can type.  

Backlist:
Enslaving Heaven, Phaze
Parallel Attraction, Phaze
Celtic Love Knots Volume 8, Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
Fated To Be, Phaze
Samhain Scorchers, Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
Diggin' Up Bones, Phaze
413 Remembrance Lane: Diary of a House, Phaze
Kinky Girls Do, Phaze
Unleashed, Renaissance E Books
Summer Solstice Scorchers, Renaissance E Books
Erotic Moments, Renaissance E Books
Maidens & Myths, Renaissance E Books
Sensual Intimacies, Renaissance E Books
Naughty Whispers, Renaissance E Books
Bedtime Tales, Renaissance E Books
Sapphic Visions, Renaissance E Books
Bi & Sensual, Renaissance E Books
Bi Sexual, Renaissance E Books
Celestial Bodies, Renaissance E Books

Coming soon:
Blood Slave, Phaze
A Change of Pace, Phaze
Fangs & Fur, Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
Playing For Keeps, Phaze

Links:
Website  
 Blog     
 Newsletter    

If you would like to request an interview, please send a query to info@allromanceebooks.com

Until next time!

Julie Cummings
Wildfire Interview Coordinator
All Romance eBooks

Blitz by Charlie Cochrane
This story is rated 2 flames. Some love scenes. These are more sensual then graphic.

The beer tasted bloody good. Plenty of people were saying that ale now didn't taste like it had pre-war, that everything had gone downhill, but Adam Jackson couldn't agree. There was too much looking back with rose tinted spectacles going on. He couldn't deny the fact that things they'd taken so much for granted were now luxuries (if you could get them at all), but these were small sacrifices compared to those that some people were making.

He looked at the two men at the bar, the short flying jackets they wore making their roles in this great pageant unmistakable. A frisson of jealousy slid down Adam's spine. It was the role he'd have chosen above all others, but no-one was going to sign up a man who was liable to have a fit flying a thousand feet over Kent. Temporal lobe epilepsy they called it and it was a bloody nuisance. He knew that the job he was doing, acting as liaison between the intelligence agencies and the War Cabinet, was valuable. Some people would say his role was more important than Jonny-in-the-air, but it hardly had the glamour or the prestige, did it?

A familiar face poked its nose around the door, seemed to hesitate, then entered the pub. Dr Scarborough was one of the decoders who dealt with Churchill's incoming and outgoing signals, and everyone thought very highly of him. Office gossip said he was a bit of a loner, living on his own in a flat up Highgate way, and that he'd such a fierce intellect he'd even been down to Bletchley on occasions to give them advice.

Scarborough made a gesture of recognition and seemed pleased when Adam beckoned him over. They'd had a pint together once or twice before and always enjoyed each other's company, with perhaps a spark of something else in the background. They chatted happily now over their beer, until the violent backfiring of a car in the street made Scarborough start.

"Are you all right, old man?" Adam was genuinely concerned. He knew exactly what it was to be on edge, now that the air raids were becoming a nightly occurrence.

"I'm sorry. It's just that the house along the road copped it two nights ago and then the one over the way was hit last night. It feels like they're making a bee-line for me."

"You can come and stay with us." Jackson made the offer out of the blue, having no idea why he was being so bold. It was true that his family had room to spare, as his brothers had enlisted and many of the staff had done the same. But he'd never invited anyone to share the delights of his home, not since he was a lad and had asked his schoolmates back to visit. Since he'd become a man and discovered a man's pleasures, he'd enjoyed them away from the nest. "Stay—just until the worst of this is over. It can't go on forever."

"Can't it? I sometimes think that there'll never be an end." Scarborough drained his pint. "Are you quite serious about that offer? Wouldn't I be in the way?"

"Mother would be pleased to have someone to fuss over. There's only me at home now and she feels at a bit of a loose end, despite being up to her eyes in WRVS work. She'll be off there tonight. We can make do, you don't need to fetch your stuff until tomorrow." Jackson could feel himself nattering on nervously; the idea thrilled him for a particular reason, one he didn't want to acknowledge at present in case he was presuming too much.

"I would appreciate coming to stay." Scarborough smiled. "It gets very lonely down in the Anderson shelter. Somehow the closeness of strangers is worse than being entirely on one's own."

Adam studied this quiet young man for a moment. He'd never known him to make such a personal confession. Scarborough was always reserved, some even said standoffish, although Jackson had never found him so. "Shall we toddle off home, then—perhaps grab some chips on the way?"

They never reached the fish and chip shop, the siren sounding before they'd turned the corner. The pair were forced to join the mass of humanity heading for a nearby underground station. Neither man had taken refuge in one before and the sheer mass of unfamiliar, frightened humanity distressed Scarborough immensely.

They ended up sitting together, watching and waiting, sharing the odd word or a wan smile, both trying to be brave and gallant; not just in front of the families that huddled around them but in front of each other. Gradually they drew nearer, until they were thigh to thigh, arm to arm, and the unease of being underground as the bombers strafed the streets was replaced with the excitement of close physical contact with someone you fancied and daren't tell—not here, anyway.

"Dr Scarborough…" Adam tried to control the emotion in his voice.

"My name is Hugh, please use it."

"Hugh. Didn't you ever wish you were on active service?"

"I wanted to join the navy but my university tutor put me into this line. He said that any fool could sail a frigate, but men with brains—his words, not mine—were a rare commodity. I know that the work we do is vital, but…" Scarborough's voice petered out, his uncertainty making itself clear. The closeness of the other man's body must have been distracting his train of thought.

"I know." Adam sighed. He also couldn't be sure of much at present, except he wanted to take Hugh to his bed. He'd felt that since he'd first set eyes on the man but he needed to make sure he had a chance. "You'd rather be doing something with a uniform to wear and a bit of glamour—and have two land girls hanging off your arm."

"Something like that. Except for the land girls," Hugh added, in a voice barely above a whisper and full, to Adam's ears, of hidden meaning.

Jackson surreptitiously sneaked his hand between their bodies, found Hugh's, squeezed the fingers. "Prefer someone with a bit more class, then? Mama and Papa with a title?" He measured each word with care. He wanted to speak freely, let anybody hear, while leaving the one person who mattered in no doubt about what he was implying. Being so close to Hugh, even among the press of people, was exciting. Perhaps more exciting because of the public place, the disgrace that might follow if they were caught.

"Absolutely. That's what I've always wanted." Scarborough moved closer, keeping their hands tightly clasped and doubtless hoping that no-one would notice. A huge explosion outside provoked an outbreak of screaming, then bitter sobbing. Hugh could feel Adam tense and quiver; he rubbed the man's hand tenderly. "It's alright. Didn't get us."

"But it hit some poor sod, Hugh." Jackson lowered his voice, conscious of children nearby him. His eyes were blue and cold with fear and anger. "Some family perhaps. It's so desperately unfair that London should be copping it—that innocent people get killed." And it seemed desperately unfair to want so much to kiss someone and be denied by circumstance. If Hugh had been one of the office typists, there would have been no problem, even here.

"Of course it's unfair, but that's war. And I always understood it was to save innocent people from suffering that we took up the attack anyway. We'll talk about this more in the morning, it'll all seem better then." He smiled. "Everything will be better then."

Before long the siren sounded the all clear and the relief in the subterranean hideaway was tangible. Jackson rose, reluctantly drew apart from his friend. "Let's get home."

***

They were still hungry, so Adam suggested they raid the larder and take the swag up to his study. "Got everything you need?" Jackson balanced a glass of wine in one hand and a plate of food in the other. In the midst of the desert of uncertainties, he'd found an oasis of peace and pleasure, not least in getting Scarborough alone in a place where a kiss or two became not just possible but almost compulsory.

"Almost. This is fine," Hugh indicated his own plate, "the rest can wait."

They ate and drank, chatted some more, huddled on the rug in front of the fire. "So what is the rest that you need, then? A glass of port?" Jackson was trembling with pent up excitement, in case the answer wasn't the one he secretly hoped for and did turn out to be just a glass of port.

"No. Something much richer." Hugh drew Adam closer, let his lips graze the man's cheeks, then drew them down his face, finding his mouth and kissing it tenderly. It made a wonderful end to what had been such a dismal evening. "Wanted to do that ever since I first met you. Shame it took a bloody Heinkel or two to make it happen."

"It might have happened at some point, blitz or not, Hugh—assuming we'd got around to meeting." Adam held Scarborough's body tightly to him, savoring the tautness of his muscles, the trembling of his hands. "Mama always says that there's good comes out of the worst things." They kissed again, temporarily forgetting the bombs and luxuriating in the slick taste of tongues and lips that were sweet with wine.  

"What I hate," Scarborough whispered against Adam's cheek, "is the continual thought that tonight your number might come up. That your house will get it or you won't make it to the shelter or…" He pressed closer to his friend, and they took comfort from each other's embraces.

Jackson caressed Hugh's back, as if soothing a child. "I know. It makes us all a bit mad." He drew his hands up to Scarborough's neck, stroking the nape and making the skin tremble.

"And is this madness?" Hugh clung tighter, his fingers winding themselves in the tail of Adam's shirt. "Please don't say that this is just some fling you're indulging in because today could be your last day alive."

Adam sighed. War made you desperate, fear made you act in outrageous ways, but he would never compromise affection for the sake of an hour or two of fun. "Believe me Hugh, I'd kiss you even if it were eternal summer and the skies outside were filled with nothing more threatening than bees and goshawks." He began tentatively to undo the buttons of his friend's shirt, was relieved that he wasn't rebuffed. "Come on—there's my bedroom next door. If you're serious."

"When am I ever not serious? I'd like nothing more than to use a nice, soft bed with my nice, soft friend." Hugh slipped his fingers under Adam's shirt, stroking the soft skin and making the man squirm in delight.

"At least the war can't take away this pleasure." Adam's fingers caressed Hugh's chest, feeling his tension ease away and pleasurable anticipation begin to build. "And I won't ration it tonight."

"If your body was on the ration, there'd be such a demand you'd have to go on the black market." Scarborough began to undo Jackson's shirt, appearing to be in such a tearing rush that at least one button was going to be lost.

"Just as well I'll give it to you without the need of coupons, then. It's all yours, Hugh—free and gratis." Adam drew his friend towards his big, soft bed, moaning with delight at every kiss they shared. By morning he'd know Hugh intimately, what made the man lose control, how he looked when he was in ecstasy. For once the War seemed a million miles away and the fiery glow in the sky over the East End had become meaningless. The only explosion which mattered was the one that would happen between the two of them.

Charlie Cochrane's ideal day would be a morning walking along a beach, an afternoon spent watching rugby and a church service in the evening; with her husband and daughters tagging along, naturally. She loves reading, theatre, eating good food and watching sport.

She started writing relatively late in life but draws on all the experiences she's hoarded up to try to give a depth and richness to her stories.

Coming Soon:
Aftermath, Speak Its Name, Linden Bay Romance
St Bride's, Linden Bay Romance

Links:
Blog       

Submissions to The Weekly Sizzle should be sent to Sizzle@allromanceebooks.com. We are looking for original short stories, 1-5 flames, 200-2000 words.

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