I'm so excited to welcome Rie McGaha to
Simply Sexy Stories as the first of many guest author interviews to come! Rie encouraged me to submit my debut release
The Enchanted Flute. She's
offered support and answered many questions I've had as a newbie author. Having her on today is an honor and joy!
NG: Rie, when did you realize you wanted to become an author?
RM: I’ve wanted to write a book since I was old enough to make the letter “A”. I’ve written stories since I was a child, but it took a very long time for me to become a published author.
NG: What genre do you write and why?
RM: LOL That’s a hard question for me to answer, Nichelle, because I tend to cross genre lines so often, and usually in the same story! Generally, I write romance that can go a few different ways.
Calen-My Soul To Keep Trilogy is an adventure/paranormal;
Blood Line is a shape shifter/paranormal, in
Two For Hire it’s plain old erotic romance, and in
Grounded it’s erotic romance/paranormal that’s just plain fun!
Deadly Dreams is suspense/mystery/paranormal/erotic/romance. I guess it just depends on what the voices in my head feel like having me write!
NG: How long did it take for you to become published and how did you deal with the challenges?
RM: I didn’t get published until 2008, although I had kind of a rough ride with another publishing house before
Noble Romance published
Deadly Dreams. In the beginning I was devastated by rejections, but now I just expect them, so they’re no big deal! It’s a fact of the writing life. There are only so many books that can be published and there are many more writers than there are publishers, so the odds are against being accepted from the start. But rejection teaches a person patience and perseverance and also lets you know if writing is really what you want to do.
NG: You said you enjoy writing across genres and that's definitely true with your new release
Ancient Blood, a paranormal/shape shifter/erotic romance/adventure! Tell me more!
RM: This is the sequel to
Blood Line, which received great reviews and I’m happy to say, readers have been waiting for this sequel!
Ancient Blood picks up where
Blood Line left off with Ganda on her way back to Ireland to say good-bye to her long, lost love, Colin, so she can put the past behind her and start a new life.
NG: Congratulations on creating characters readers can’t get enough of! I know your fans are in for a fast-paced sexy read with this sizzling sequel. What inspired this multi-genre story?
RM:
Blood Line came from a dream my husband had while on the road. He’s a huge sci-fi fan and dreamed a werewolf attacked him. Of course I laughed at him, but later started thinking, wow, this could be a great book. The voices in my head began filling in the blanks and a dream became a book. The characters in
Blood Line are very vivid and alive, so the natural course was to tell the rest of the story. Ganda seems to be everyone’s favorite and being the only half-witch/half-wolf character in the book, her story came next in
Ancient Blood. And I hear the voices screaming at me for a third installment to give Garan his story! No word yet on that title!
NG: You currently have 5 published books. Do you have a personal favorite?
RM: I do have a personal favorite, but it’s not among my published works yet. It’s called
Cross The Line and is currently in the hands of a publisher whom I’m waiting to hear back from. This story is set just after the Civil War during the Indian Wars, and tells the story of the daughter of a former plantation owner and a runaway slave. It’s an epic tale and takes the reader through some of the history of our country as it brings two people together who probably wouldn’t have met under any other circumstance. Although this book is a historical, it does jump to the present for a surprise ending.
NG: You’ve found a time machine that would allow you to pick one author from our literary past to have lunch and talk shop. Who would it be and why?
RM: Wow, so many to choose from for so many reasons. I guess F. Scott Fitzgerald. I just love his style and his characters are real. Or John Steinbeck. No, maybe Paul Theroux. No wait, Hemmingway…no, I’ll get back to you on this one!
NG: You’ve been invited to lunch to talk shop with your favorite author of today. Who would it be and why?
RM: Hands down, James Patterson. He’s my favorite author. I fell in love with Alex
Cross and I haven’t missed a book yet! I love Mr. Patterson’s style of writing in
the first and third person in the same book. That takes real talent to pull it off the way he does.
NG: Tell me one thing your readers would be surprised to know about you!
RM: Oh, there’s many things about me that would surprise my readers, so let’s just keep them guessing, shall we?
NG: LOL! A lady of mystery . . . I like it! Do you have a favorite food or ritual to get you in the zone to write?
RM: Ha! Nope, as long as the voices are screaming, I’m in the write zone!
NG: What's the one thing you’d like to share with aspiring authors that you wished someone had shared with you?
RM: Learn everything about your craft, not just the mechanics of writing, but how to promote yourself, how to edit and especially how to read your own work with a critical eye, and learn as much as you can about the publishing world. I just wanted to write and had no idea I had to be a publicist, editor and everything else that goes along with the publishing industry. I’ve learned a lot but wish I had known all of this before I ever attempted to get published.
NG: That's great advice Rie! I can't let you leave without asking...what do you think is sexy?
RM: What do I think is sexy? Hmmmmmmm......as far as reading, I think sensuality is much sexier than blatant sex scenes (which is why I really don't enjoy writing erotica so much), I think leaving something to the imagination is much sexier for the reader than full on porn. I like to think my readers are intelligent enough and creative enough to want to imagine the rest of the scene in their own minds and not be told about it. Fiona Jayde is one of the best writers of sensual scenes. She can make the reader feel as if they are being caressed with unseen fingers and feel the breath from unseen lips upon their skin. That's sexy!
As far as nudity, I think clothing, or at least some clothing is far sexier than nakedness. High heels, stockings, garters, that kind of thing is sexy. And round butts in tight jeans...those Wrangler butts drive me nuts! :)
NG: Mmm...round...tight....opps, sorry I was fantasizing! Rie, thank you so much for stopping by
Simply Sexy Stories! I'm really enjoying
Blood Line and I can't wait to pick up
Ancient Blood! I wish you all the best with this scorching new release and those to follow!
