Interview with Tamela Quijas

Jen: This weekend we welcome Tamela Quijas to Book Talk. Tamela, will you please share a short bio with us?
Tamela: I was born in the USA, raised in Germany and have lived in the Southwest for nearly 30 years. I am happily married and the proud mother of 5 children, 2 stepchildren, and grandmother to 2 wonderful grandchildren.

Jen: Tell us about Blood of the Beast and where it's available.
Tamela: Blood of the Beast is a paranormal romance novel set in modern times. It is the story of a detective, Valentina Kureyev, who has been assigned to one of the worst cases of the century. A serial killer is roaming the streets of her town, gruesomely depositing bloodless corpses. She joins ranks with an intriguing Professor of Russian Antiquities, who has a few secrets of his own.

Blood of the Beast can be purchased at Amazon:
Kindle Format: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002GP7YMY/
Paperback Format: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Beast-Tamela-Quijas/dp/1442173351

Jen: At what age did you discover writing and when were you first published? Tell us your call story.
Tamela: I was a teenager that loved to scribble down every thought that came to mind. I was first published in 2007. Would you believe it was a Southwestern inspired cookbook? From that point on, I never looked back.

Jen: Are there any other writers, published or not, in your family?
Tamela: No, just me. There is a lot of voracious readers, though.

Jen: How do you approach your writing? Do you plot or go with the flow?
Tamela: It's a little of both. Blood of the Beast literally spewed from me, 20,000 words in about a week. It seemed that Demetri was desperate to get his story out. At that point, I wrote the entire novel, then went back to fill it out.

Jen: Do you have a specific time or place that you write?
Tamela: Early in the morning and I mean really early! Usually, I begin writing about 4 am and let the creativity flow until 630 am.

Jen: How do you shut out disruptions?
Tamela: That's why I write so early in the morning—it's quiet

Jen: Do you do anything special to celebrate a sale, new contract, or release?
Tamela: Don't laugh...I do the 'snoopy dance' around the house for about an hour then get back to work

Jen: Is there a genre that you’d like to write? Is there a genre you’ll probably stay away from and why?
Tamela: I love writing paranormal romances set in modern times. I don't like and would, probably, never write anything that involves outerspace.

Jen: Who has inspired you as an author?
Tamela: Jude Deveraux and Johanna Lindsey were my inspirations with a little bit of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Jules Verne.

Jen: If your book was made into a movie, which actors would you choose to play the hero and heroine?
Tamela: If Blood of the Beast was made into a movie, I would be at my wit's end. I know it's a stretch of the imagination, but I think Dolph Lundgren or Alex O'Loughlin would play a fantastic Demetri and Kate Bekinsale as Valentina Kureyev.

Jen: What do you do in your free time?
Tamela: I am addicted to movies. All genres, all stories.

Jen: What's next for you?
Tamela: I' just finished My Lord Raven, after months of rewrites. It's a contemporary romance that just became available on Amazon

Jen: Where can you be found on the web?
Tamela: I can be found at http://tamelaquijas.wordpress.com and at http://www.myspace.com/tamelaquijas

Jen: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Tamela: What intrigues a reader with the paranormal? Are there any particular types of paranormal characters that they look for in a novel?

Jen: Are you doing a giveaway, if so, what’s the prize?
Tamela: For every comment that I receive, I will place the commentators name in a drawing. One luck winner will receive a free PDF copy of Blood of the Beast.

Jen: The contest for the PDF of Blood of the Beast will end on Thursday, October 29. Be sure to leave your email address in your post or stop back here to see if you're the winner.