Today we welcome Susan Hayes to the Hot Seat, her current release is Guarding Valentina out through Siren Publishing. Let's see how Susan answered our tricky questions and then after the interview why not take a sneak peak at Guarding Valentina and see how you can win a copy for yourself.
About your writing:
How did you
get started as a writer?
I've always loved
to write, but I didn't get serious about actually writing things for other
people to actually read until I lost my little brother suddenly. His death made
me realize we’re only here for a little while, so if this was something I
wanted to do, I had better get on with it!
Why do you write?
I write because I
love to create my own worlds and tell the stories of the characters who live
there. And quite honestly I write because my muse gets incredibly cranky if I
don’t. I stopped for a few years when things were tough in my life, and I
realized later that not writing actually made things worse. It’s just part of
who I am.
Have you ever had a day you wanted to quit and never write again?
There are days I
wanted to toss my computer out the window or set fire to a manuscript that wasn't working, but I have never considered stopping writing forever. I couldn't do it.
Do you feel lucky to be doing what you are doing?
I feel absolutely
blessed. Siren Publishing accepted a manuscript that had already seen several
rejections and gave me the opportunity to develop a reader base and hone my
craft. I will always be grateful to both my publisher and my readers for their
support.
Tell me how
you got to where you are today?
I actually
started out writing comedy articles for some internet-based humor sites. One of
them has an open door policy for submissions, and once I learned enough to get
my first article published, I was hooked. After two years of freelance writing
I decided to try my hand at longer works and switched to fiction, specifically
erotic romances because that’s what I enjoy reading.
How do your
family/spouses react to your work as an author? Do they know what you write?
I’m single, and I
have learned the hard way that telling a prospective date what I write is a
tricky thing. I usually don’t mention it until I am sure there’s not going to
be an adverse reaction, or worse, an assumption that I have done/tried/lived
the lives of my heroines! (If I did, I certainly wouldn't be single.) My
parents are very proud of me, and my mum has no trouble telling people I write
smut. (Her word) My dad knows what I
write, but for his own sake my mum banned him from every actually reading it.
About you:
What are you
passionate about in life?
My friends, my
writing, and chocolate ice cream.
If you had to give a thank-you speech at the Oscars, who would you thank and what would you say?
I’d have to start
by thanking my parents for teaching me that anything is achievable if you work
hard enough at it, and for loving me even when they were quite sure I’d lost my
mind. My best friend would get a big thank you too, for not only being the one
who taught me to write erotic romances, but for being my sounding board, my
cheerleader, and putting up with me talking about the characters in my head
instead of reality some days.
What are the three most important life lessons you've learned that might make life easier for others?
Don’t let
negative or needy people steal your energy or your dreams. If they aren't encouraging you to go forward, then they are holding you back. Let them go.
Life’s shorter
than we think it is and sometimes tomorrow never comes. If there’s something
you really want to do before you die, find a way to make it happen now. You can always come up with a new
goal after this one is met.
The voices in
your head, the ones that whisper you can’t do something because you’re not good
enough, or strong enough, or pretty enough? They’re always wrong.
If you could trade places
with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or
fictional. Whom would it be and why?
I’d want to spend a week as one of my heroines, so that just once I could
experience what it feels like to live in a world where no one leaves the toilet
seat up, there are no fights over whose turn it is to do the dishes, and nobody
snores.
What's the worst thing you did
as a kid?
My dad is over six feet tall and
was a cop for 30 years. I had too much self-preservation to get into much
trouble! I did get into a Roman candle
battle with a group of friends one Halloween…and we managed to set a
neighbour’s field on fire. Oops.
What
do you do to have fun?
Rock Band night with friends ranks
high on the “fun” list. I do a wicked Bon Jovi impression.
Share a funny incident in your
life.
Several careers ago I worked in
the tourist industry, selling souvenirs to guests at a local seaquarium. It was
a regular occurrence to be approached by a panicky non-local who would flap and
gesture while breathlessly explaining that our seals had “escaped.” I would
have to calm down the patron and reassure them that those were wild seals. And
then, invariably they would argue with me. “No no, they can’t be!” Already knowing the answer, I’d ask how they
could be sure. “My child waved at them coming down the ramp, and the seals waved
back!”
And that is why the aquarium
trainers were all given corporate memos instructing them to stop teaching the
wild seals that inhabited the marina to wave in exchange for fish treats.
Fun Stuff:
If Hollywood
I’m pretty sure Hollywood
actresses don’t come in my height/weight ratio… but Charisma Carpenter would
get my vote. Why? Because she was in Buffy!
If you were a type of food, what type of food would you be?
Hagen Daz ice cream, Mayan chocolate flavor. Smooth, tasty and with just a hint of heat.
What is your favorite color- food- song- movie?
Color: Purple. Song: The Rose
Movie: The Princess Bride
What's the funniest pick up
line ever used on you?
“What is a cute little heifer like
you doin’ in a cow shed like this.” Used
by a Texan hottie, in a bar in Australia .
I’m sure it worked better on the natives…I just couldn’t stop laughing.
What's the one thing you can't
live without?
Laughter. What would life be
without it?
And finally:
You
are driving along in your car on a wild, stormy night, it's raining heavily,
when suddenly you pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for a
bus:
-An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
-An old friend who once saved your life.
-The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.
You can only fit one person in your car, who would you choose to offer a ride to?
-An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
-An old friend who once saved your life.
-The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.
You can only fit one person in your car, who would you choose to offer a ride to?
Leave a comment on this post to go in the random draw to win an ebook copy of Guarding Valentina. Don't forget to leave your email address so we can contact you if you win. Good luck everyone.
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Sometimes
everything has to go wrong so fate can make it right.
Valentina
Farro is used to being the hunter, not the hunted, but when a vampire marks her
for death, everything changes. Now one of Paladin’s fiercest warriors is
fighting for her life and the lives of her Paladin family.
It
should have just been another assignment, but nothing goes according to plan
when the vampire Aedan Doyle is hunting leads him around the world and into
Valentina’s life. Determined to keep Val safe from the vampire’s vengeance,
Aedan appoints himself as Val’s personal bodyguard. Then he makes sure he’s
guarding her beautiful body up close and personal, every chance he gets.
As
the body count rises, Valentina and Aedan’s new bond is tested to the breaking
point. Trusting each other with their lives is one thing, but can two solitary
warriors find the courage to trust each other with their hearts?
Excerpt:
“You’re
going to need to put some pressure on that.” Another voice came out of the
darkness, and Val acted out of instinct, her gun trained on the new arrival
before she remembered she was in the middle of Seattle
“How
the hell is everyone managing to sneak up on me tonight?” she muttered in
frustration as she got to her feet, still feeling slightly unsteady but determined
not to show it.
“You
can put the gun down, luv. I’m one of the good guys.” The stranger’s voice was
gentle, and there was an almost musical lilt to his words as he held his hands
up, showing he was unarmed.
“Forgive
me if I don’t take your word on that.”
He
reached up slowly and swept a sodden tumble of auburn curls out of his eyes so
she could see his face. “Those holes in your neck are going to keep bleeding
unless I treat them. It’s a charming little trick they have, something in the
saliva that stops the blood from clotting properly.” He took a step forward.
“My name is Aedan, and I’m sorry I didn’t get here in time to save your friend.
You must be a member of the Paladin Protection Agency.”
Val
lowered the gun, though she didn’t take her finger off the trigger. “Did
Remington take out a front page ad or something? How is it everyone I’ve met
tonight knows who I am and who I work for?” She raised her free hand and
clamped it down on the wound on her neck, hissing slightly in pain as she pressed
hard to slow the bleeding.
“Your
organization seems to have run afoul of a very nasty vampire, luv.”
“Stop
calling me that,” Val snapped.
Aedan
grinned and took another step toward her. “I’d use your name, but first you
need to tell me what it is.”
“It’s
Val,” she offered and lowered her gun the rest of the way. “And I’ve decided
I’m going to trust you, for now.” As he moved close enough that she could see
him properly, Val realized he was probably used to being trusted on sight. Or
being flirted with on sight, she mentally added as she took in his appearance.
His eyes were hazel, and even in the dim light of the street she could make out
the smattering of freckles that dusted his chiseled features. Even soaking wet
and half in shadow, the man was definitely easy on the eyes.
“I’m
pleased to meet you, Val. Though I will admit I wish it were under more
cheerful circumstances.” Aedan reached into his pocket, and Val lifted the gun
slightly in warning. “Easy now, I’ve got something that’ll help with the bleeding.
No need to shoot the man offering to help.” He dug deeper and withdrew what
looked like a small, plastic squeeze bottle full of water.
“What
is it?” She eyed the bottle with distrust. The wound on her neck hurt like
hell, and the bleeding hadn’t stopped yet, but she’d rather deal with the
discomfort than let a stranger dose her with god knew what. “And for that
matter, how do you know about Paladin? Or vampires?”
Aedan
chuckled. “Is this what you call trusting someone? I’d hate to see how you react
to someone you don’t trust if this is the warm and fuzzy version.” He tipped
the bottle over and squeezed a bit of the liquid onto his hand, where it
blended with the rain. “It’s holy water, that’s all. It’ll help. And as for how
I know about Christoph and his kind, I’m a hunter.”
“Oh,
that clears it up nicely,” Val shot back and arched a brow at him in
irritation. “What the hell do you hunt? Deer? Criminals? Unicorns?”
“Vampires,
actually,” Aedan answered in a matter-of-fact tone as he nodded toward her
injury. “Will you permit me to fix that for you, or are you going to just keep
bleeding until your friends arrive?”
It
was at times like these Val envied her teammate Tara
her empathic abilities. It would have made it so much easier to know if she
could trust this charming man, or if she was about to fall victim to her
infamously bad sense of character judgment yet again.
“Go
ahead.” She lifted her fingers away and frowned when she saw that she was still
bleeding heavily. “And uh, thanks.”
“This
might sting a bit,” he warned her.
“It’s
only water. How much could it—yeow!” She yelped in surprise at the burning
sensation that flared up and then faded as quickly as it had come. “I thought
you said that was just water?”
“Holy
water. Father Patrick’s special blend, in point of fact. It has the power to
purify that which has been tainted by the undead.”
“So
that hurt because your friend Christoph left me with a neck full of vamp
venom?”
“Something
like that, yes. But let’s be clear here, Christoph is no friend of mine. He’s
more like my current assignment. Forgive me for saying so, but you don’t seem
too well informed for a group that managed to kill off an entire nest of
Christoph’s fledglings. I’m going to guess you’re new to this sort of thing.”
Before
she could answer him, several sets of headlights appeared on the road, heading
toward them at high speed.
“It
would appear your friends have arrived.”
Before
she could say a word, he brushed a quick kiss to her lips, and then his voice
whispered in her ear, “I’ll see you again soon, luv.” Then he was gone. Between
one heartbeat and the next, he vanished. Her lips still tingled from the kiss
he’d given her before he had disappeared, the only proof he’d ever been there
at all.
Buy Links:
The Paladin Protection Agency Series:
Saved by Sin – Book One: http://www.bookstrand.com/saved-by-sin
On Jason’s Watch – Book Two: http://www.bookstrand.com/on-jasons-watch
Guarding Valentina – Book Three: http://www.bookstrand.com/guarding-valentina
Whispers in the Dark – http://www.bookstrand.com/whispers-in-the-dark
Where to find Susan
on the web:
Blog: http://www.susanhayes.ca
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