Interview and Contest with New York Times Bestselling Author Bertrice Small

CONTEST: NY Times Bestselling author Bertrice Small will pick one lucky commenter to win a copy of "Dangerous P{leasures". To enter leave a comment with your rmail so Bertrice can contact the winner. Good Luck!

Dangerous Pleasures
Bertrice Small
NAL Trade
Contemporary Erotica
Print

Book Description:
Annie Miller, a widow with five kids, didn't have any fantasies. She didn't have the time or the money. But then her younger sister enters her in a contest. Annie wins, and suddenly her life falls into place. Whisked off to The Spa at Egret Pointe Annie discovers The Channel for the first time. And after her week of pampering she's offered a job at the spa. Wanting to have the wherewithall to help her children have a few small luxuries Annie finds she has a talent for business, and climbing the corporate ladder is more fun than she ever anticipated. But Dangerous Pleasures may cost Annie everything she holds dear. Still, it is really all for the children. Isn't it?

In depth interview with New York Times Best Selling Author Bertrice Small


CSM: Please help me welcome Award Winning Author, Bertrice Small to Erotic Romance Junkies. Bertrice, my readers and I are so psyched that one of my go-to authors has dropped by to spend time with us.

Thanks so much!

CSM: Tell us more about yourself. Readers love learning new and interesting things about an author, and this would give you a chance to make them feel close.

Actually I'm not a very interesting person. My life consists of my work and my family. I have lived on the North Fork of the East End of Long Island for almost 34 years. Before that I came from the Upper East Side of New York City. I was born in Manhattan as were my parents. I lived there until I was 7. We then moved to Cleveland, OH for 11 months, and then Albany, NY for 3 and a half years, then back to NYC. My dad was building his career then. I went to boarding school in Peekskill, NY, and then out to Ohio to college for 3 years, then back to Manhattan where I went to Secretarial School, and then to work. The ordinary life of a middle class girl in the 1950s and 60s. If any of you watches "Mad Men" on AMC, that was my time, and work experience. I married in 1963. We have a son, and 4 grandkids.
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CSM: If you have 2 hours free time tonight, what would you rather do? Why?

I'm a television watcher so once I get my husband settled for the evening - he is 15 years my senior, and infirm now - I just want to watch television. I find it relaxing. My dad found driving a car a couple of hundred miles relaxing. For me it's television. I enjoy the good writing on some of the shows, the acting on others, and I'm a big "Dancing With The Stars"
fan. I have 2 left feet myself.

CSM: What kind of books do you love to read? Why?

I've been doing 3 books a year for my various publishers over the last 10 years, and so I have had little time to read for pleasure. I read history, and when I actually get a moment for myself I enjoy Sherrilyn Kenyon's "Dark Hunter" series.

CSM: What type of music do you relax to?

I like Sinatra, music of the '30s, '40s, 50s. I like music from certain Broadway musicals, I like Mozart, Baroque, Chopin and Tchaichovsky. And of course the Beatles, the Beach Boys and Sting.

CSM: Besides being a total book junkie I’m also a music junkie. Whe n I’m wri ting I have a sound track playing either in my mind or in my cd player. What’s your sound track? What type of music is on it?

I want silence when I work. If it isn't quiet I can't hear my characters.

CSM: What is your favorite stress reliever?

Chocolate. Wine. Glenfiddich Scotch Whiskey

CSM: What is your favorite food?

Very rare beef, August tomatoes, cheese

CSM: Describe yourself in one word?

Impossible! I am a crystal with many facets.

CSM: What’s your biggest regret in life?

There is never enough time.

CSM: What is the adventurous thing you’ve ever done?

I'm not adventurous. My heroines are adventurous.

CSM: How would readers find out more about you?

Visit my website at http://www.bertricesmall.com/ and read my bio, and join my message board.

CSM: When did you write your first book?

When I was 13. But I sold my first book when I was 35.

CSM: How long did it take you to write it?

The first real book took about 2 years because I was researching, and feeling my way. You have to remember I'm one of the original Avon Ladies who began this whole Romance Revival in literature back in the 1970s. There was no RWA, or anyone else to help an aspiring author on her way at that point in time. That's why last year RT Book Reviews gave me and a group of us early birds a Pioneer of Romance award. We forged the way for all of the new young writers coming up today.

CSM: Did you encounter any obstacles in20writing?

No, I've had a very fortunate career, thank goodness.

CSM: What do you think about editing?

I'm all for a good editor. You can learn so much from a good editor, and I have been fortunate to have some wonderful editors over the years..

CSM: Where and when do you write?

I write 6 days a week all year. I have an office in my house where I work. Writing is a business, and has to be treated as such. Especially when you support a family as I do.

CSM: What books would you recommend to aspiring writers to improve on style, character development, plot structuring, dialogue, etc?

This is a tough question. First of all you have to be able to write which means you learn to spell and punctuate. Then you have to have the ability to translate your ideas onto paper.
If you don't have that knack then no book can give it to you. However I believe that reading in the genre in which you want to write is the best teacher of all. When I was growing up I read Jan Westcott, Sergeanne Golon, Anya Seton, Thomas Costain, Frank Yerby, Samuel Shellenbarker among others. I absorbed more about writing reading these authors than an yone could have taught me. There are no 3 magic steps to this business.

CSM: What is your must-have book for writing?

Name books so my characters have the correct name for the time and place. I have several of them. And a book of synonyms so I don't keep using the same word over and over.

CSM: What is your advice for aspiring writers?

Forget about "the market". Write what you write best. Hang in, and eventually you will sell.
And remember that as long as you have a kick-ass Guardian Angel, the luck of the Devil, and the hide of a rhino nothing can stop you.

CSM: What genre(s) do you write?

Historical where I made my reputation. Fantasy, which I love because it lets me play God,
and Erotic Contemporary, my least favorite, but the readers seem to like it.

CSM: Among that you’ve written which is your favorite book and why?

No favorite book. That's like asking a mother who her favorite child is.

CSM: Where do you get your ideas? Do you jot them down in a notebook in case you forget?

I read history. I have a good imagination. I keep notebooks for the series to keep everything straight like family, customs, etc.

CSM: Which of your books feature your family/friends, etc? What characters are modeled after them? Why ?

None. None. Why? Because!

CSM: Which of your heroes/heroines is most similar to you?

Probably Janet Leslie/Cyra of THE KADIN.

CSM: Who is your strongest/sexiest/most lovable/hottest hero/heroine? Why?

Heroines are probably Cyra, Cat Leslie, Skye, Lara and Jasmine. Because they are family oriented, and look after everyone. Heros? Francis Stewart-Hepburn, Adam de Marisco, Madoc of Powys, Prince Kaliq. Because they actually understand their women.

CSM: Have you ever wanted to write your book in one direction but your characters wanted to go in another direction. What did you do in such a situation?

If you listen your characters always tell you what they want. I meant for Francis Stewart-Hepburn, the 6th earl of Bothwell to be a minor character in LOVE WILD AND FAIR. He turned out to be the hero, and he wasn't going to be denied. Go figure. What did I do? I followed his lead, and the book was a huge success.

CSM : Tell us more about your latest contemporary erotic romance title release by NAL “DANGEROUS PLEASURES”.

DANGEROUS PLEASURES is the 4th book in a series about The Channel, which is an inter-active television network known only to women. It allows women to live out their wildest fantasies. The stories are all set in a small town called Egret Pointe, and so some of the characters from one book may show up in another. In this particular tale a widow with 5 kids just getting by gets a too good to be true opportunity to change her life. But you want to always be careful for what you wish. The other books in the series are PRIVATE PLEASURES, FORBIDDEN PLEASURES, SUDDEN PLEASURES and next summer - August 2010 - NAL will bring my readers PASSIONATE PLEASURES about Egret Pointe librarian.

CSM: Any new projects, works in progress?

2 books currently in production for next year, and I'm about to start a historical.

CSM: I want to take this time to thank you Bertrice for stopping by and sharing with my readers and myself a little bit about you. This sure has been loads of fun. I hope you enjoyed being here as much as we enjoyed having you.

It's been fun, and I thank you for asking me, Christine.