Interview with Dee Carney

Jen: This weekend we welcome Dee Carney to the blog. Dee, will you please share a short bio with us?
Dee: Best selling and award winning author Dee Carney writes erotic romances in the paranormal, urban fantasy and contemporary interracial genres. If you’re looking for something a little spicier, don’t forget Morgan Sierra, Dee’s alter ego. Both sides of Dee’s personality were raised in the South, where she still lives with her husband, two dogs and a cat. When not writing, Dee is curled up with a great book!

Jen: Tell us about Illicit Hunger and where it's available.
Dee: Illicit Hunger is available from Liquid Silver Books. It is the first book in a series of stand-alone novellas about a world where vampires rule and werewolves are vilified. I’m working on the second book in this world right now. As for Illicit Hunger, for the first time ever, a lowly werewolf and a member of the ruling class of vampires dare to defy tradition for love. Here’s the official blurb:

Up until now, almost every part of her life has been dictated to her. When Lia Hampton, vampire prima lux, goes clubbing with her best friend, it's the last bit of rebellion against her arranged marriage she can muster. An attempt on her life was not part of that plan.

Jericho Taylor is placed in the enviable role of protecting the vampire community’s first daughter. In a world where the werewolf is considered tainted, interaction with them almost forbidden, Lia must do the unthinkable—feed from Jericho—to save her own life.

What happens when she bites him sparks a whirlwind of events which threaten to rip their lives, community, and a growing love, apart.

Jen: At what age did you discover writing and when were you first published? Tell us your call story.
Dee: I started officially writing about two years ago. I challenged myself to write a 25K word novella in preparation for that year’s NaNoWriMo (where you strive to write a 50K word novel in a month). I wish I had nobler aspirations, but boredom drove me to NaNo. lol

When I was done with the novella, on a whim, I sent it to an epublisher. Imagine my surprise when a month later they offered a contract. I was working a shift as a nurse on Christmas Day when I opened my email to pass the time. I think I forwarded that email to just about everyone I knew!

Soldier released from Cobblestone Press in April of 2008. I’ve been writing and learning and growing since then.

Jen: Describe your writing in three words.
Dee: Good gravy, this one’s hard! Heh. There are three words right there… Anyway: Hot. Evocative. Catchy. (Those words courtesy of my reviews.)

Jen: How do you approach your writing? Do you plot or go with the flow?
Dee: It really depends. If it’s a short story, I’ll just plow right through it with barely a plan in place. Longer stories I try to plot out in advance and most times manage to stick to it.

Jen: What kind of research did you do for this book?
Dee: Long walks with my two dogs, daydreaming while laying in bed on a Saturday morning, long commutes to work. That sort of thing. The reason I love urban fantasy the best is that you create a world with your imagination and let whatever you want to happen, happen!

Jen: What’s the most challenging aspect of writing? Easiest?
Dee: The challenging part is being disciplined enough to sit your butt in the chair and do it despite the many distractions of the real world. Believe me, when my nose is running, I’m wearing sweats, socks and ratty slippers, have a banana clip holding my uncombed hair in place and the cat is yarfing on the carpet next to me, the last thing in the world I want to do is write about sex.

I don’t think there’s an easy part to writing. (See above. Lol)

Jen: What’s the most rewarding aspect?
Dee: The absolute most rewarding aspect that I *live* for is hearing from readers. Receiving a bad review is tough on the ego, but at the end of the day, I don’t mind them because I didn’t write any book with a potential review in mind. I wrote it because people tell me they like my stories. That they love a particular hero. Hate a particular heroine. Whatever. I crave that feedback, like most authors, I think.

Jen: How do you pick the character’s names?
Dee: babynames.com. I’m a very instinctual person, so I’ll think about my character’s personality and pick a letter of the alphabet that feels right for him/her. Then I go to that web site and cruise through that letter until a name speaks to me. Pretty simple.

Jen: Do you feel as if the characters live with you as you write? Do they haunt your dreams?
Dee: There’s a joke that says something about writing being socially acceptable schizophrenia. Yeah. My characters will give me great one-liners if my mind is too zen for a minute. I won’t say that they haunt my dreams, but certainly make me take notice by mentioning a great plot device or pointing out a dreaded plot hole during quiet moments.

Jen: If Illicit Hunger was made into a movie, which actors would you choose to play the hero and heroine?
Dee: Oh! What a fabulous question!! Because I already adore her in the vampire role, I’ll go with Kate Beckinsale for Lia and hmmm….Dominic Purcell would make a very, very sexy werewolf. Oh yeah. (Don’t mind my drool. It’ll dry.)

Jen: Most people only dream of becoming a published writer. Now that you’ve accomplished that goal, is there anything else you dream of doing?
Dee: I’m not much of a dreamer, truth be told. If I want something, I just *do* it. I’ve got a great family, great day job, great everything! I really can’t think of anything else that I’d want that I don’t already have. If anything, I just want to get better at the things I am doing.

Jen: What's next for you?
Dee: I’m slowly but surely working my way up to writing novel-length stories. I’m about 2/3 of the way there. Once I do that, just maybe I might start looking toward publishing with New York, but I’m in no rush whatsoever. There’s also one particular epublisher I want to get in with before I’ll consider myself accomplished. After that, the sky’s the limit…

Jen: Where can you be found on the web?
Dee: From mid-Friday through Sunday night, I’m on instant messenger with the best group of romance authors out there. I hang with L. Shannon, Moira Reid, Eliza Gayle, Lex Valentine and Kris Eton for word wars where we write together. The rest of the time, I’m a twitter addict. Readers can always read what I’m tweeting about or working on by finding me at my web site, http://www.deecarney.com

Jen: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Dee: Uh yeah…would you mind sending me a recipe for the world’s best chocolate chip cookies? I’m a self-proclaimed cookie monster and after more than twenty years of researching, the perfect recipe still eludes me. I’m close, but not quite there yet.

Jen: Thank you Dee for stopping by the blog this weekend. Readers, Dee is giving a winner an ecopy of Illicit Hunger or any single title from my bookshelf if they have that one already. The winner must be over the age of 18 due to content of Dee's books. To enter the contest, leave a comment or question (or cookie recipe) for Dee. And to finish off your entry, leave your email address in the post or send a message to contests.bookblog@gmail.com with Dee Carney in the subject. The winner will be chosen on Friday, October 16.