Alice Gaines  
home.pacbell.net/halice/
Child of Balance

Tell us about your most romantic fantasy. If you could have a 24-hour romantic fling with anyone you wanted, anywhere you wanted, where would you go, what would you do and with whom would you do it?

     Oh, la, la. I'm going to date myself here. I always told my husband there was only one man I'd leave home for. His name is Sherrill Milnes (yes, Sherrill). He was the absolutely top Verdi baritone for decades. As well as being tall and handsome, he had a voice that could melt my bones. He's retired now, but I still have him on CD and on videotape.

     I used to imagine riding in an ice sail boat, snuggled up to his chest and surrounded by furs, as we sailed over a frozen lake under the moonlight. He'd sing all my favorite arias to me. There's one from “Don Giovanni” and another from “Traviata” ... ooooh ... where was I?

     Well, that takes care of the end of the day. For the morning, I'd wake up in his bed. The rest of the day would involve great food and wine, loafing around and reading, chocolate and Champagne.

Tell us about CHILD OF BALANCE and what you hope readers will enjoy about it.

     CHILD OF BALANCE is my first fantasy. In fact, it's the first book I've written that isn't a romance and doesn't have any explicit sex in it. I've always enjoyed stories that take place in worlds that don't actually exist. The impetus was a very vivid dream I had of the birth of an extraordinary child. That child became Ona, the child of the title. The main character, Arine, is me.

     I hope readers will get swept up in my world. That's the point of fantasy, isn't it? I also hope they enjoy Arine's journey and the reward she receives for a job well done.

What’s your writing space like?

      I write on an Alpha Smart—a small, electronic keyboard. During good weather, I take my Alphie outside to my back yard. My gardening isn't what it should be because of the time I spend writing, but I usually have flowers and vegetables. So while I write, I'm near my tomatoes, beans, squashes, and peppers and also the enormous rose that came with the house. The cat usually curls up at my feet, when she isn't begging for food, and the mocking birds serenade me. At the end of my writing day, I get into my hammock and read. Ahhh, is it summer yet?

What do you like about where you live?

     I love Oaktown, a.k.a. Bump City, a.k.a. Oakland, California. We're an extremely diverse city, with no one ethnic group constituting a majority. Per capita, Oakland is second only to New York City in the US for the number of artists in residence. We have amazing music, from the Oakland/East Bay Symphony to Tower of Power to all kinds of local groups. The food is incredibly varied. The inspiration for Disneyland (Children's Fairy Land) sits right next to the first wildlife refuge in the US (Lake Merritt). Lake Merritt even has gondolas! We have a wonderful, colorful history, including being the real western terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad and the first home of the University of California.

     The climate here is to die for. It seldom goes below freezing or above 90 (0 and 32 for the folks who use C). Although it rains all winter, we have virtually no rain from May until October.
We have terrible problems with crime, including in my neighborhood, but I have faith that Oakland will survive that and come out all the stronger.

If you could have one special super or magical power, what would it be?

      I'd like to be able to travel back and forth in time. There are several historical characters I'd like to meet, like Beethoven, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Shakespeare. I wouldn't want to change history because I wouldn't be able to anticipate the consequences. I doubt I could, anyway.

     Plus, I could go back in my own life to age 30 and then re-return there when I got old again. That'd be pretty nice.

What’s your favorite smell?

      No contest. Roses.

What else do you want readers to know about you or your work?

      In CHILD OF BALANCE, I really don't want any of the people who've already read me to expect the same sort of work I usually do. If they're looking for hot, hot sex, they're going to be very disappointed.

     In general, I don't find the real world big or colorful or wonderful enough, so even if I write something contemporary, it will usually have some element of fantasy in it. Other historical eras are foreign enough to make them fantastical, so I'm more likely to write a "straight" historical than a "straight" contemporary. My Ellora's Cave Naughty Nuptials (out in June 2007) doesn't have anything paranormal in it, but a woman does get to enjoy two men at once. That's fantasy, sadly. lol

Carolynn Carey 
www.carolynncarey.com
Compromising Situations

Tell us about your most romantic fantasy. If you could have a 24-hour romantic fling with anyone you wanted, anywhere you wanted, where would you go, what would you do and with whom would you do it?

     Picture a duke. (I do write Regencies, after all.) A tall duke, handsome of course, and just a bit arrogant. The year is 1816, and we've met for the first time at the most exclusive ball of the Season. The attraction between us is immediate and mutually astounding, and we soon scandalize the town by waltzing together three times in a row. As the last dance ends, he leans close and whispers an invitation that I know will ruin me forever. Will I join him in his magnificent traveling coach for the short trip to his country estate, where we'll spend the next 24 hours lost in each other's arms? I weigh the consequences. Do I risk my good name for the rest of my life in exchange for 24 hours with the man who promises me nothing but a night and a day of ecstasy? The choice is simple. I meet his gaze, smile, and nod. After all, this is a man who can assure me that 24 hours with him will provide me with a lifetime of memories.

Tell us about COMPROMISING SITUATIONS and what you hope readers will enjoy about it.

      In COMPROMISING SITUATIONS, the ever-practical Beatrice Crowell has carefully planned her entire future. Rather than marry, she will stay on her father's country estate to care for her ailing mother, to manage the estate while her father searches far and wide for a doctor who can cure his wife, and to watch over her extremely intelligent fraternal twin, Chloe, who possesses every admirable attribute except common sense. The one thing Beatrice hadn't planned on was a Season in London, but when her and Chloe's godmother, the Marchioness of Thayne, offers to sponsor the girls, Beatrice realizes that if she refuses, she will break her mother's heart.

     So off to London the twin sisters go, where Beatrice is immediately both attracted to and infuriated by her hostess' son, who gives every indication of being prejudiced against dear little Chloe, who had once loved this man's best friend. Romantic entanglements are bad enough, but when Chloe and Beatrice become involved in helping uncover a plot against England, their good intentions land them in compromising situations with the men they love. They then must discover whether the men's proposals are based on love or on honor.

     When I write, I enjoy getting to know my characters. I especially like the characters in COMPROMISING SITUATIONS, and I hope my readers will like them too.

What’s your writing space like?

      I've turned a bedroom into an office, and I have a roll-top computer desk that I adore. I'd love to have more bookcases, however, and I hope to add more of those to my space in the future.

     What do you like about where you live?

     The climate is one of the greatest benefits of living in Tennessee. I enjoy the change of seasons and appreciate the fact that winters are usually mild. But what I like best about living in this area is the fact that the people are so wonderful. They are friendly, generous, and always eager to lend a helping hand. In other words, the values of the Volunteer State are still alive and well.

If you could have one special super or magical power, what would it be?

      I'd dearly love to have a magic wand that I could wave to do my housework, wash the dishes, de-clutter my desk, do the laundry. Well, you get the picture. Just think how much time I'd have left over for writing and reading, two of my favorite activities.

What’s your favorite smell?

      Citrus. For some reason, I find that to be a very relaxing scent.

What else do you want readers to know about you or your work?

      I'd like readers to know that I'm one of them. Reading is one of my all-time favorite activities, and thus, as a writer, I strive to create complex characters faced with challenging situations, combined with at least a touch of humor. In other words, I hope readers are able to lose themselves in my stories.

Jean Stewart 
www.jeanhartstewart.com
Druid's Daughter

Tell us about your most romantic fantasy. If you could have a 24-hour romantic fling with anyone you wanted, anywhere you wanted, where would you go, what would you do and with whom would you do it?

     I’m a Druid and a priestess in training. The Druid festival at Beltane, the fire festival, was a time when almost anything was permitted and even encouraged. Young priestesses-to-be were often commanded to surrender to an unknown lover, sometimes a visiting prince who had proved his prowess in battle, sometimes a priest. Virgin or not, she spent the night with him. Just imagine, an unknown and sexy lover and no moral repercussions. You’re commanded to do it! If a child resulted, it was honored and welcomed. My secret lover is handsome and virile, probably a visiting prince. What a dream-come-true situation!

Tell us about DRUID’S DAUGHTER and what you hope readers will enjoy about it.

      This book tells the story of Morgan, the daughter of a Druid priestess who knows she’s inherited a few of her mother’s powers, but doesn’t realize how much she can really do. The year is 1898 and her abilities are scorned by Lord Lance Dellafield, a London chief of detectives. As he is forced to acknowledge her abilities, she becomes threatened by a killer he’s investigating. I think readers will enjoy the romance they both fight against, and seeing how Lance is forced to finally believe in her developing powers and save her from the killer.

What’s your writing space like?

  My main writing space is the most comfortable chair in the living room, with a small table holding my lap-top. I can send what I write to the printer in my office corner of the guest bedroom, but can look out at the patio and a magnolia tree. Ideal, and a very contented feeling. Good thing since I spend so much time there.

What do you like about where you live?

      I love California and its easy weather. We’re six miles from the ocean, and enough inland to miss most of the fog. We moved here from upper New York and I don’t miss the snow and ice at all.

If you could have one special super or magical power, what would it be?

      Druids accepted gods of all religions on an equal basis. I wish I could magically bring that tolerant belief to everyone on Earth today. Think of the wars we’d be spared.

What’s your favorite smell?

      Lilacs. We had a hedge of them in New York. White, purple and lavender. I loved to them all. Next would be the fresh air on a spring day when you can feel summer is coming. Must be the Druid in me. Druids revered everything living and in nature.

What else do you want readers to know about you or your work?

      Book I is about Morgan and Lance. Books II and III in the Garland of Druid series are about their daughters and how each finds her own Druid powers. Book IV is about the man who lost the heroine in Book II and how he develops his latent Druid abilities and finds himself in the process. I always like my last hero the best and Stephen holds my heart right now. However, I’ve started book V on one of Morgan’s sons and I’m growing very fond of Devon.

Jeannette Ward
www.jeanettewardbooks.com
Angels Among Us

Tell us about your most romantic fantasy. If you could have a 24-hour romantic fling with anyone you wanted, anywhere you wanted, where would you go, what would you do and with whom would you do it?

     This may not be what readers want to hear since everyone talks about movie stars, etc, but I would choose my husband. Why? Because he is, bar none, the most romantic man I know. At one time or another, we all have romantic fantasies about people we don't know, and if we were ever able to actually meet those people, to say we might be disappointed might be an understatement. But when I have the chance to do something, anything, with my husband, I am never disappointed. He puts his heart into making me believe in the power of love, and who could want anything more? So, if we could have 24 hours to be together and do anything, go anywhere, I would have to say it would be to the beaches of Florida, where he has gone, but I have not. I have never seen the ocean, made love in the sand, or walked hand and hand with my soulmate along the beach under the smile of the moon. There is no doubt, that is what I would do.

Tell us about ANGELS AMONG US and what you hope readers will enjoy about it.

      Well, there's no denying the fact that Gabe is HOT and Braelynn is one lucky woman! But more importantly Angels is a story that questions what we believe and looks at the lives of two people and the elements at play that shaped them into the people they were when they met. Each of us is a composite of the experiences in our lives. Any number of experiences are things we have in common with millions of other people. What makes us each different, is how we interpret and react to these experiences. In ANGELS AMONG US, the hero and heroine have similar experiences—angels intervene and take away someone they love dearly, leaving them to cope with survivor's guilt. It’s the choices they each make about these experiences that prepare them for love when they finally meet. Rather than regret the events in their lives, they must learn to accept them—and use them—to go on. There are many elements of this story I believe readers may find paralleled in their own lives. I would hope that Gabe and Braelynn's story might help them in some way, just as it helped me when I wrote it.

What’s your writing space like?

      I have an awesome writing space! But I need it to be "just so" in order to shut out the world and open my imagination. I actually use my living room, where the furniture is deep, steel blue, and soft shades of gray. There are green plants scattered about, offset by the stark simplicity of a number of Ansel Adams prints. I'm surrounded by the numerous collectibles my husband and I have accumulated since we were married, which gives me an incredible sense of pride and belonging. It's quiet except for the music I add, and there must be candles lit. Lots of candles. Oh...and did I mention the random, drive-by kisses from my husband?!

What do you like about where you live?

      Life is fairly simple here in the Midwest. You can drive 10 minutes and be in the country, where you're reminded of those people from your pasts that settled here. Where your roots came from. What life must have been like for them. That's powerful. The landscape is gorgeous, although many people would disagree there's really nothing interesting in Kansas. You have to look for it, and when you do...it will take your breath away.
If you could have one special super or magical power, what would it be?
I think it would be ability to, at will, create my very own Groundhog Day like in the movie, so when I had a particularly "great" day, I could repeat it until I tired of it and was ready to move on to the next awesome experience!

What’s your favorite smell?

      CZAR cologne!!!!

What else do you want readers to know about you or your work?

      That I am constantly writing, and am currently working on a new book I hope to have available soon. I invite readers to check out my website to learn more details, as well as watch for a follow-up to ANGELS AMONG US on the CerridwenPress website someday soon.

Eilis Flynn
www.eilisflynn.com
The Sleeper Awakes

Tell us about your most romantic fantasy. If you could have a 24-hour romantic fling with anyone you wanted, anywhere you wanted, where would you go, what would you do and with whom would you do it?

     I would have to say in Superman's Fortress of Solitude, snuggling with my husband. SO romantic! But it would be the Fortress of Solitude from DC Comics back in the 1960s and 1970s, because we're both comic geeks. Wrapped in Superman's cape (because we'd get frostbite pretty darn fast otherwise), checking out the devices that kept track of the world situation. SO cool! (Actually, freezing, but that's another subject.)

Tell us about THE SLEEPER AWAKES and what you hope readers will enjoy about it.

      Unlucky in love and life, now Cat Deveney is dying from an inoperable tumor. But when she finds herself in another world after a massive earthquake, she finds that she may have a chance to make her life worth something when she is told she may be the key to stopping a bloody civil war and halting a destructive weather phenomenon. Aiding her in her efforts is Strian of Kurit, who doesn't believe her outlandish story at first. I hope readers will enjoy how Cat, so tired and defeated at the beginning of the story, grows stronger and finds love as she realizes what she's really wanted all her life.

What's your writing space like?

      It's a health hazard, frankly, with dust bunnies having established entire civilizations and governments. I'm afraid that one of these days Prez Dustbunny is going to call for my impeachment. On that day, I regret to say that the vacuum cleaner will mow down that society. Until then, however, we live in a neutral atmosphere of benign neglect.

What do you like about where you live?

     Pretty much any direction I turn, I can see snow-capped mountains and/or water, which is beautiful during the summer and breathtaking during the winter!

If you could have one special super or magical power, what would it be?

      I would want the power to create solid form out of sound (like the character in another upcoming book of mine from Cerridwen Press, INTRODUCING SONIKA!)

What's your favorite smell?

      The smell of roasting sweet potato being cooked over an open fire on a cold winter's morning. The contrast of the chill of the day and the warmth of the fire is wonderful, and the sweet scent of the potato bursting open.

What else do you want readers to know about you or your work?

      My slogan is "The reality beyond," and I think the readers will find themselves being swept away with the fantasy and memorable characters of my stories.

Jeannie James
www.jeanniejames.com
The Game of Love

Tell us about your most romantic fantasy. If you could have a 24-hour romantic fling with anyone you wanted, anywhere you wanted, where would you go, what would you do and with whom would you do it?

     Only 24 hours? Oh, no! I would love to be aboard a sailboat, anchored near a resort island in the South Pacific, with my fabulous husband of 20 years. Maybe a 60-foot classic wooden sloop, with a couple of handsome, young sailors to run the boat. I love balmy tropical weather, warm breezes, with the sky full of stars. Snorkeling in the reefs, making love under the palm trees on the shores of the lagoon. Eating in the resort without gaining weight!

Tell us about THE GAME OF LOVE and what you hope readers will enjoy about it.

      Impetuous and adventurous, Micki is in Seattle for only four more months before she moves on to another town, and another job. Adam, carefree and debonair, doesn't believe in forming long-term attachments. But a brief, passionate affair with intriguing and elusive Micki Vaughn is too tempting to resist. By Micki’s reckoning, the timing is ideal. They’d have a few weeks getting to know each other. A few weeks of passion. A few weeks getting bored. He’d lose interest and they could part with no tears shed. It was going to be the perfect affair for both of them. Until the past Micki is running from catches up to her. And Adam learns she is lying. Micki knows she can’t face the truth. Now she only hopes she can keep Adam at bay until it’s time to disappear again.

     I hope readers enjoy the banter, the developing relationship between Micki and Adam, and watching Micki’s journey as she struggles to face her past.

What's your writing space like?

      I write in the office at home, looking out over the forest to the pastures down in the valley. Normally, I have a cat on my lap, and our dog napping under the desk with his head on my foot. On a good day, there are no other papers on the desk except my manuscript, and I can lean back, focus, and let my daydreams magically morph into words on a page.

What do you like about where you live?

      I really love the wild nature of coastal Washington. Our house is set deep in the fir trees, and I love the sun shining in through the boughs, and the fog shrouding the treetops in the winter. On a good day, we get a solid dose of sun on the back deck, overlooking the forests and the valley. The Pacific beach and the shores of Willapa Bay are close by for running our dogs, or going out in our boat. There’s so much energy to be found in trees and the ocean.

If you could have one special super or magical power, what would it be?

      I noticed a lot of fun answers to a question just like this in a previous newsletter. Barbara Goodwin, in particular, mentioned wanting to be able to have conversations with dogs. I’m not sure how I could come up with anything better than that. Maybe a way to connect to everyone? A superpower that lets me see the how and the why people are the way they are, so I can make sense out of what is happening in the world, and more importantly, what we can do to help?

What's your favorite smell?

      I love the smell in the fir trees after a good rain has washed them clean. They smell wild and alive.

What else do you want readers to know about you or your work?

      I want them to know that I love my characters, that I can sit and type with my head turned up toward the ceiling, just envisioning their actions, and hearing their conversations. I love my characters.