Justus Roux

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

Justus: I have been writing for some time now. I was sixteen when I wrote my first story. But I didn't really get into it until I started writing bedtime stories for my children.

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

Justus: I write the general idea for a story, then I create the characters, then I start writing. Sometimes I follow the outline, sometimes I will stray from it. I never know where the characters are going to take the story

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

Justus: I can write in pretty much any circumstance. However, I do like to write in my office. It's quieter back there.

Julie: What's next for you?

Justus: I'm looking to get signed on by a bigger publisher. Plus I have a new series I am busy developing.

Julie: Do you work with an agent?

Justus: No, but I'm thinking about getting one.

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

Justus: I love all my characters. But if I had to choose it would be Master Drake. My Master is the first book I ever released so this is why Drake is my favorite.

Julie: Describe the space where you write.

Justus: I have a small office right off my bedroom. I often change the décor of the room. Right now it's a midnight blue color. I have draped a cloth over the ceiling to give it a more romantic feel. I have my book covers hanging on the walls, along with my story board, bookshelf, and of course my computer desk.

Julie: What do you do when you aren't writing? Any hobbies or special interests that you can tell us about?

Justus: I love going for walks, spending time with my children, I love exploring new interests; there are so many things I like to do, it would be hard to list them all.

Julie: Do you ever experience writer's block? If you do, how do you cope with it?

Justus: I have thankfully never experienced writer's block. I have had times when I can't get time to write, this will sometimes throw me off a little.

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

Justus: Children's fantasy books

The founder of Erotic Tales Publications and established writer of erotica, Justus Roux has been writing pretty much her whole life. Not wanting to stay within one genre, she has written paranormal, contemporary, and sci-fi/fantasy erotic romance novels. Her website Justus Roux's Erotic Tales (www.justusroux.com) showcases her work. She lives in the beautiful state of Michigan with her husband and three children. Justus loves to hear from readers and replies to all email sent. You can email her at storyteller36@msn.com

Backlist
Master Series:
My Master, Erotictales Publications
Master's Ecstasy, Erotictales Publications
Obey! , Erotictales Publications
Sweet Rapture, Erotictales Publications
Erotic Shivers Volume I (Has novellas:  Yes Master Dante, Wrath's Story, Ecstasy's Story), Erotictales Publications
Mistress Angelique, Erotictales Publications
Wrath's Lust, Erotictales Publications
Breathless (Has novella: Master Drake), Erotictales Publications
Love Thy Master, Erotictales Publications
Master Nikolai, Erotictales Publications
Dante and Angelique, Erotictales Publications
Kiss the Moment, Erotictales Publications
The Demon Hunter Series:
Keeper of My Soul, Erotictales Publications
Heavenly Surrender, Erotictales Publications
Breathless (Has novella: Forever, Demon Hunter Ryo's story), Erotictales Publications
Ayden's Awakening, Erotictales Publications
Barbarians of Malka Series:
Protector of My Heart, Erotictales Publications
A Warrior's Will, Erotictales Publications
A Song for my Warrior, Erotictales Publications
The Warrior's Heart, Erotictales Publications

Anthologies edited by Justus Roux, in the order they came out.
Erotic Tales, Erotictales Publications
Erotic Fantasy: Tales of the Paranormal, Erotictales Publications
Who's Your Daddy? , Erotictales Publications
Bosslady, Erotictales Publications
Erotic Tales 2, Erotictales Publications

Single titles in the order they came out
Paradise, Erotictales Publications
With These Chains, Erotictales Publications

Coming soon
A Master's Love, Erotictales Publications

Links:
Website

Summer Jordan

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

Summer:If a tree falls in the forest and no one is present, it's been said there's no sound. I'm an avid reader who wanted to write a book for others to enjoy. I love the process of creating people and places and bringing them to life, but if no one reads my words, it's like that tree falling into silence. My first romance book took three years to get published. My first erotic romance took only a few months.

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

Summer: I start with an idea and the characters come next. What kind of hero and heroine does this story need? Characterization is the most important element, in my opinion. After jotting down a barebones plan, I write a couple of chapters. Then I try to develop my plot. As the characters evolve and take over, things change. So, I'd guess you'd say I'm a combination of both.

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

Summer: Reader reaction is extremely important to me. I want readers to identify with my hero and heroine and be swept along in their lives. I want them to hate the bad guys and root for the good ones. I want people to love my books and take away from them something that resonates within themselves.

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

Summer: I do love music while I write but I don't burn candles. I'd rather look out the window of my Florida home into bright sunlight and look at the flowering bushes and swaying palm trees. I become so engrossed in my characters' lovemaking that I'm able to shut out distractions.

Julie: What's next for you?

Summer: I'm currently writing the third book in my Wives-R-Us series for Total-E-Bound. This series is about three divorced women who put their skills at entertaining, acquired during marriages to successful businessmen, to use by starting their own company. They shop, give dinner parties, and do interior decorating for men who live alone. The first book, Let Me Entertain You, was Leanne's story. The second was Margo's. I'm currently writing the last, which is about Erin.

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?

Summer:I cleaned the burners on our gas range. I hate taking the burners all apart and using scouring pads on them. It's so icky.

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

Summer:Passion, optimism, enjoyment, and a renewed zest for life and love. I want them to find something in my books that they can relate to their own thoughts and dreams.

Julie: Describe the space where you write.

Summer:My oak desk has cabinets on either side with bookshelves rising from them. To my left is a window that looks out onto our front walk and driveway and our tropical landscaping.  My writing awards and my published books are on display on the shelves along with favorite reads.

Julie: Do you ever experience writer's block? If you do, how do you cope with it?

Summer: I sometimes find myself struggling with a scene and when I can't figure out what's wrong, I take a walk and try to think out the problem. Am I writing it from the wrong POV? Is my pacing wrong? If I can't pinpoint the problem, I try to get away from it for a while by doing something that totally involves my mind in another way. If I'm under deadline, I go to another spot in the story and come back to it later.

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

Summer:Open communication and a willingness to see the other's side. Of the two editors that I've had at Total-E-Bound, both are wonderful to work with. I appreciate the editor's ability to point out places where something is unclear, a goof-up in the timeline, etc. The writer becomes so close to the story, careful editing is vital to the book's success.

 
Summer Jordan has been published in various genres under another name. Her current titles are contemporary erotic romance stories. In 2006, she moved from the Midwest to Florida where she lives with her husband of thirty-one years. She loves writing, reading, and spending time outside. She invites you to sign up for her newsletter (you must be 18 or over) by sending an e-mail to summerjordan_newsletter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. You can read about her current contest there or at her website.

Backlist
Let Me Entertain You, Total-E-Bound (Book 1 in Wives-R-Us series)
Breaking the Rules, Total-E-Bound (Book 2 in Wives-R-Us series)
Fantasy Man, Total-E-Bound (Short Christmas story)
 
Coming soon
Erin's Story, Total-E-Bound (Book 3 in Wives-R-Us series)

Links:
Website
Books We Love
Bebo

Lynn Crain

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

Lynn: Since I was twelve. I wrote a poem for a Sunday school class and the teacher managed to get it into a magazine. I've been hooked ever since.

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

Lynn: For me, it's a combination of both and it depends upon the story. If I'm writing an epic fantasy, I have to be anal and plan it to the smallest detail. On a lot of my contemporaries I can just sit down and write.

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

Lynn: Well, it depends. I read every comment a reader sends to me. Sometimes people vent, love, hate it or a combination of both. If I get the same comment from several people, I know I have an issue and will revisit the topic.

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

Lynn: There are days my house is total chaos. My youngest is 15 and when he has friends over, the game room is very loud so I've learned to write no matter where I am or what the situation. My ideal is to have a quite room with some music going on.

Julie: What's next for you?

Lynn: Right now I'm working on two sci-fi romances and two contemporaries.

Julie: What do you hope for your writing career in the next few years? Any goals that you have yet to obtain that you have set for yourself?

Lynn: There are a couple. I had an agent last year but lost her in a downsizing effort. I hope to get another agent and I really would like to sell to NYC. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that I'm selling well in ebooks and it will always be a top priority for me. After all, ebooks have benefits that once all those NYC authors know about, it will be a lot tougher for a lot of us.

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?

Lynn: You mean besides the laundry and cleaning the bathrooms? LOL! Every time I get a fan coming up to me and commenting on this and that, I always remember the line Julia Robert's character said to Hugh Grant in Notting Hill…You know, the fame thing, it isn't real?...it puts so much into perspective.

Julie: There are so many publishers out there, how do you decide who to submit your work to?

Lynn: My first publisher, Tina Haveman from eXtasy Books, I met online. We talked for months before I submitted. A friend of mine had "dared" me to write one of these "sexy novels" as she put it. Another had asked me to submit it to a new house they were working for at the time. It was rejected with a nasty letter on everything that was supposedly wrong with it. Tina urged me to submit it to her and she accepted it within 24 hours. My other two publishers, Whiskey Creek Press and Loose Id, I had met at conferences and was very impressed with them both.

Julie: Describe the space where you write.

Lynn: I have a great customized office that my husband built for me. I'm surrounded by books and it has a huge picture window in it so I get a lot of light. It's at the front of the house and right now I can see the Christmas lights still on as we just got back from visiting relatives in Idaho.

Julie: What do you do when you aren't writing? Any hobbies or special interests that you can tell us about?

Lynn: I'm a creative person by nature and always have my fingers into some creative project. A few years ago, I handmade all my Christmas cards because I thought it would be fun. Right now I've been taking an hour or so a day because I'm doing bracelets for my giveaways at RT.

Julie: Do you ever experience writer's block? If you do, how do you cope with it?

Lynn: I am blessed in this area and very rarely do I have writer's block. Most of the time the ideas are coming at me a mile a minute which made me years ago start a file folder full of ideas. Right now, I have 180 ideas in the folder. I also have a name file and a title file there too.

Julie: Are there any absolutely-must-have characteristics for your heroes or heroines?

Lynn: My main characteristic that I try to give them are that they must be real to the reader. I want them to be flawed yet lovable. I don't have any set looks nor do I have any one thing which they are except maybe for one…the heroines can't be screamers…and the men can't be wusses. I like strong characters, you know the Ripley in Alien type or Carter in SG1. For guys, I love Ronin in Stargate Atlantis or Mal Reynolds in Firefly. I just don't like the typical characters.

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

Lynn: Again, I'm going to go back to a movie line…Never give up, never surrender…from Galaxy Quest. There are a lot of things out there that people will tell you, if you are true to yourself and listen to your inner voice, you can overcome anything. Never ever give up your dream for your writing career.

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

Lynn: For me, deadlines are something that I schedule like any other appointment. I ask what they are and put it in my calendar so I know when I have something due. They aren't very stressful to me because I used to work in ICU and once you are looking at life-and-death situations daily, your perspective changes. The only real time I ever worry about deadlines are when I've scheduled one for myself everyday, and it happens occasionally, or my computer isn't cooperating which happens too. Both things often have me wondering just what the heck I've gotten myself into. LOL!

Julie: Do you remember the first romance novel that you read?

Lynn: Yes, it was something considered very racy when I was growing up and it was by Kathleen Woodiwiss. It was The Flame and the Flower. My next book was a lot tamer and it was a Harlequin romance called Castles in Spain by Rebecca Stratton. I was fifteen when I read both of those books and I still have them. Once I read them, I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up.

Lynn Crain realized at an early age she wanted to weave fantastic tales as a career. She took the long way to that goal by doing a variety of things like nursing, geologist, technical writer, and computer manager. Lynn studied natural medicine and remedies for years and is currently getting her Ph.D. in natural medicine with an emphasis on modern and historical medicine which she uses in many of her books. During her free time she writes hot to erotic fantasy, futuristic and paranormal tales for various publishers. She lives in the very hot southwest with her husband, son, one dog, three cats, and three snakes, one which she named Psycho. You can visit her at www.lynncrain.com and she loves hearing from her readers at lynncrain@cox.net.

Backlist
Captive Illusions: Iain and Kelsey, eXtasy Books
 Santa's Elves series
The View from Santa's Sleigh (Book 1), eXtasy Books
The Thing About Elves (Book 2), eXtasy Books
An Elf's Desire (Book 3), eXtasy Books
Fluke, eXtasy Books
Shopping Spree, eXtasy Books
Violet Visions, eXtasy Books
Summer Solstice, Whiskey Creek Books
Night of the Blue Moon (Blue Moon Magic Book 4), Loose Id
BMM4 is an EPPIE finalist
 
Coming soon
The Haunting of Maggie Grey, eXtasy Books
A Healing Touch, eXtasy Books
Atlantis Allure, eXtasy Books

Links:
Website
MySpace

The Way to a Man's Heart by Jana Richards
This story is rated 1 flame. Love scenes are not consummated, or if the love scenes are consummated details are not given.

That was the oddest thing. Rob and I had known each other since diaperhood. Our mothers have been best friends forever and we were born within six months of each other. There are embarrassing pictures of us wearing coordinating outfits, one in pink and one in blue. We grew up playing together, going to the same schools, and eventually attending the same university. Rob was always a presence in my life, like the sun in summer or the snow in winter. He was just there. I guess I expected our relationship to always remain the same.

But after that night, things were different. I started looking at him differently, noticing things about him I'd overlooked before. I'd always known he was a good person and great friend. Rob was the kind of guy who helped his friends move without asking for any compensation, except maybe a cold beer at the end of the day. More than once he'd driven across town in the middle of the night to pick up a friend who'd had too much to drink. He was smart too. He'd graduated at the top of his engineering class and had just landed a job at a firm that specialized in building bridges.

Now, I suddenly realized what a handsome man he'd become. He had dark curly hair that fell over his forehead in a boyishly charming way, and dark brown eyes framed by thick lashes that a woman could get lost in. It irritated me that other women were trying to get lost in those eyes on a regular basis. I wanted to hang a sign around his neck saying "Hand's Off, He's Mine" to ward off the unwanted attention. But how could I? Rob and I were just friends. I had no claim on him.

That was the frustrating part, and the scariest. What if I confessed my feelings to him and he didn't feel the same way? Our friendship might not end, but it would be irrevocably changed. I couldn't bear the thought of losing the special relationship we'd had since infancy.

So I concocted a crazy scheme to win his heart. The advantage of knowing Rob so well for so long was that I knew all his weaknesses. And one thing I knew about Rob was that he liked to eat. His appetite and love of food were legendary among our family members and circle of friends. We often joked about his "hollow leg"; how else did you explain how he could pack away the calories and still remain so lean? I reasoned that if I fed him his favorite foods, he'd keep coming back for more. And soon he'd realize that I was the one for him. 

Torture was too mild a word for what I did to food. Criminal seemed a more apt term. Just as Rob's appetite was legendary, so were my efforts in the kitchen. Forget complex recipes; I had trouble with Kraft Dinner. I'd once messed up a box of Jell-O. Who can't get Jell-O to work?  

I remember eating Elise's chocolate cake as a kid. The light texture melted on the tongue, the rich chocolate causing a riot on the taste buds. Even with all the chocolate and frosting it managed not to be too sweet. It was, in a word, perfect.

In my enthusiasm I invited Rob to my apartment for dinner. He hesitated, until I promised that I was buying take out chicken and ribs from our favorite place. It irked me that he was afraid I might try cooking, but with my history in the kitchen I guess I couldn't blame him. When I fed him my version of his mother's special chocolate cake, he'd change his tune. He'd look at me differently, just as I now looked at him differently. I couldn't wait.

The day of the dinner party, I assembled all my tools and ingredients, lining them up carefully on my kitchen counter. I followed Elise's directions, beating and folding and mixing until I had the batter in the pan. I baked the cake in my pre-heated oven as per Elise's recipe, testing the middle with a toothpick to ensure it was properly baked. When it cooled sufficiently I spread a can of store-bought frosting on it. Next time I'd get Elise to teach me how to make her frosting, but for now it was baby steps.

I knew something was wrong the moment the cake hit my mouth. Instead of the sweet concoction I'd expected, bitterness assaulted my tongue. What was worse was the look on Rob's face. I thought he was going to throw up.

"Katie," he said gently, after washing down the mess with a glass of water. "I think you might have forgotten the sugar."

The next thing I knew Rob pulled me into his arms and held me tightly. 

"You were trying to win my heart?" he asked.

Oh oh. Had I said those things out loud?

"It's okay, Katie," he murmured. "I don't care if we spend the rest of our lives eating out. I'm just glad you finally see me as more than your friend. I've been waiting for you to come around for a long time."

I was so surprised I stopped crying in mid-hiccup. "You were waiting for me?"

Both of us are taking cooking lessons from Elise. It turns out that Rob has inherited his mother's skills as a culinary whiz. It looks like I don't have to worry about cooking ever again. 

Is that a happy ending or what?
 

When not writing up a storm, working at her day job as an Office Administrator/accountant, or dealing with ever present mountains of laundry, Jana can be found on the golf course pursuing her newest hobby. 

Jana lives in Western Canada with her husband Warren, along with two university aged daughters and a highly spoiled Pug/Terrier cross named Lou.  

Coming Soon
A Long Way From Eden, Uncial Press
Till September, Awe Struck

 
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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