A little something different on my blog to-day. I have a guest. Please greet Delilah Marvelle. I am impressed by her dedication to her career as an author. Read on to learn how she plans her writing hours and where she gets her inspirations.
I'm asking the Questions.
Q. How long have you been writing fiction? Did you write stories when you were a child?
I have been writing stories ever since I was about nine. They started off as snippets of fairy tales I created and snowballed into bigger and bigger stories as I experienced the good and bad in life and read more.
Q. Do you write with music playing in the background or in a quiet room?
I would say my writing habits are very odd. I not only have to have quiet, I can't have ANYONE in the house. I feel like their energy and their vibes are interfering with the world I'm trying to create, that, and the fact that when I write, I actually verbalize what I write. So if anyone was around, they would hear me interacting with my characters in a fake British accent (since my stories take place in London, England 1830)
Q. Who is your writing day like?
Summers are different from the rest of the year because my children have the summer off. So during the summer, I get up early (about 4-5 a.m.) and write until they kids get up, which is about 8-9 a.m. I don't feel the same about my writing during the summer as I do during the fall, winter and spring. Mostly because there are people around me and so I feel as if I'm not really entering the world I need to enter into. During the rest of the year I write from 4-6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and sometimes in the evening. I don't answer phones, or do e-mail or anything that interrupts my writing. I don't even eat or go to the bathroom, LOL. I just write. It always takes an hour or two before I get warmed up at the computer, which is another reason why I don't let anything interrupt me. My writing time is short.
Q. Where do you get your story ideas? An overheard fragment of conversation? A scene on the street? A memory?
Because I write historical romance, most of my ideas are based from history itself. I own a lot of research books, out of print and first edition books that I read whenever I can and that inspire me to find glimmers of inspiration.
Q. Do you plot your books or do you get an idea and start writing to see where the story takes you?
I am definitely a panster. Meaning, I write by the seat of my pants. If I plot the story out too much, then I get bored of it and feel like there's no point in writing a story I already know everything about. I like to be surprised by my own characters, and therefore can predict how my own readers will react. I always start with a premise and the hero and heroine, then let everything fall into place. To me, they're like people. You can't get to know them until you spend a lot of time with them. And not time plotting, but writing.
Q. How do you feel when you finish a book and have to say good-bye to your characters?
Finishing a book is divine. Saying good-bye to my characters not so divine. I think that's why I love writing series. Because I don't have to say good-bye to those characters. I can visit with them whenever I want to. And it really adds depth to the other books because I know the characters so well.
Q. What can you tell me about your book to be released in August?
LORD OF PLEASURE is book 2 in the School of Gallantry Series. The School of Gallantry is a school that educates men on the topic of love and seduction. The headmistress is an elderly retired courtesan who uses her experience to educate men on what she feels they lack. It's very funny and VERY hot. Almost bordering on erotic. Because you can't very well touch on a subject about teaching men and love and seduction without fully opening the doors.
What I love most about this series is because they all take place at the same exact time, you can read them in any order and not feel confused or lost. Which was always my frustration when reading series. Feeling like I was missing out because I picked up the wrong book. LORD OF PLEASURE is about Lord Hawksford. He was brought up in a very usual household in which his parents were prim and proper before the ton during the day and played Adam and Eve at night. His upbringing makes him very playful and sexually aware, but when his father dies, leaving him with five overzealous sisters and a not so proper mother, he finds himself torn between what society expects him to be and what he wants to be. How does Lord Hawksford, being so experienced and all, get involved in the School of Gallantry? Read the book and find out. Wink.
Lord of Pleasure will be released in early August 2009
Delilah is published by Kensington Publishing. To find out more about Delilah, go to her web site: www.DelilahMarvelle.com
Thanks for taking time to answer my questions, Delilah. I enjoyed meeting you and your heroes in The School of Gallantry.
Anita Birt
www.anitabirt.com
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