An Author's Influence

I was asked to jot down a bit about what author or event impacted my writing the most. While I pondered this for a while my mind travelled back to all the great books I've read. I love them all. After I read a book it seems to become a part of me, well written books as well as not so well written. I keep them forever and miss the ones that I was forced to part with. But it wasn't Dumas, Stoker, Irving, Shakespeare, or even my beloved Spencer that had the greatest impact. It was my father.
Before you ask, no my father wasn't a writer. My father was a great man. Not great politically, socially, or even intellectually. Don't get me wrong, he was usually friendly, had political beliefs, and could read and write. My father was a great man because of what he did for me. He supported me throughout my childhood, educated me, and loved me right up until the time he died.
So, it wasn't a writer that had the greatest impact on my writing. It was an event. The death of my father. The lingering death he suffered at the hands of Diabetes, the amputation of both his legs, the triple bypass surgery, the weakening of his body and spirit. Those are the things that taught me the lessons I focus on in all my romance books. Lessons like love is eternal, the body is the weak part of us, and that our dreams are important.
Read my stories and I promise you will see the influence of my father's death. Ellora's Cave is now considering a story with a character by the name of Gene. Guess what my father's name was. That's it. Gene. Guess why my characters swear eternal love at the end of a story. Again, you're right. I have to believe that love is forever. To believe otherwise is to think that my father's love for me died with him. Now let's read a happily ever after.

Introduction part 3
"Tell me about your first book." He lowered his eyes to the paper before him, but the cameraman peered out from behind his lense and then moved his camera in closer.

"To Stay Forever is a Romp."

Lucas lifted his head and stared at her.

"That's a short story, single title at Midnight Showcase. It's about a cursed knight and a geneologist. The Templar Knight is cursed to live forever, and really doesn't want the geneologist nosing around his family tree."

"Does this book fall into any other category?"

"You mean other than short story?"

He nodded.

"Several. It's paranormal. Oh yeah, it's..." she leaned closer to him and smiled. "It's erotic."

He sat up straighter. "Erotic?"

"You know what that means right?"

"It's porn?" His mouth dropped open again.

"Absolutely not. Sex is fully described, but romance is the objective. No haphazard sex scenes in my book. And I love happily ever after, so nearly all of my books will end that way."

"Happily ever after doesn't exist." He lowered his paper to the table.

"Sad that you think that. I do not. True, it's hard to come by, but it exists."

"Your species is hung up on romantic dreams and notions. Try living like my kind for once. We're independent and come together only to mate, raise our young, and then go our seperate ways." He seemed to ponder that. "Write a story about that. It really is the best way to live."

"Plenty of erotic romance novelists write about the happy for now way of life. I like the more traditional. I want to believe that love can last forever, passion doesn't have to die, and the bad guys do get what they deserve."

Lucas laughed. "You sound like a romance novelist."

"I am a romance novelist."

"Is your life like a romance novel?"

She looked down. "Real life has its problems. I choose to leave those out of my books. Who needs to be reminded of the day to day problems we all face? I want my fantasies to exist, if only for the duration of a book."

"So you admit it. Romance doesn't really exist."

Luna snapped her eyes back up. "It does. But sometimes you have to go looking for it. I want to make that search just a little easier for my readers."

"You mean you want them to pretend." The smug look on her face really pissed her off.

"Pretend for now, but not to stop looking. I don't want them to stop believing that real life can be wonderful and strive to achieve that state."

Lucas reached into his pocket and pulled out a stamp. Taking the folder from her hands he slapped the stamp on a document from inside. He tossed her the document.

"Your license, romance novelist."

Luna looked down at the swirly caligraphy and finally the surprisingly stylish handwriting of her interviewer. She couldn't believe that he actually gave her the license.

"I may not understand you." She looked back up at Lucas as he spoke. "And I sure as hell don't read romance novels, but you seem to like writing it. Not only that, you got good reviews on To Stay Forever."

"Thank you, Lucas." She stood, causing the serpentine to do the same. "You surprise me."

He chuckled. "Told you that I like you."

"Yeah, I remember that." She smiled and lowered her eyes.

"I may not like romance novels, but I like seeing the look you get in your eyes when you talk about it."

She felt her heart skip a beat. Looking back up she noticed a little more heat to his strange eyes. Who would have thought that a cold blooded animal could create so much heat? "Are you saying that you may become a fan of mine?"

He nodded. "I might buy your book."

"Stop by sometime. I may autograph it for you..." she smiled and turned to leave the room. She paused and looked back at him. With his powerful form, and dangerous appearance he might just find himself in one of her books. "if you like."

"Saturday?"

She smiled. "Saturday." She gripped her new licence tight in her hand and left with a new wicked grin.

"Question one..." He repeated the que.

She rolled her eyes and read the question aloud. "Are you published?"

"Answer." He tapped the back of the paper in his hand.

"Can't you ask the questions like any normal cop?"

He narrowed his eyes. The yellow color becoming slits. "But I'm not a normal cop. I'm a licensing cop."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"But I like you, Luna. Always have." He grinned, exposing his sharp teeth. "I'll ask the questions."

"Thanks." Her sarcasm was just the right amount, if she did think so herself.

"Are you published?"

"Yes." She answered with one word and looked back at the paper before her.

"This could go easier if you logically answer with complete information. We could be done in no time at all." He stood and walked to sit in the chair beside her.

"Don't try the nice cop thing on me. I know you for what you are, Lucas."

He chuckled and leaned back, indicating that the cameraman behind him should move to get a better shot of Luna. "Let's finish our polite interview before moving on to more personal matters, shall we?"

She snorted. "Yeah, right. I am published at Midnight Showcase." She looked to the cameraman. "That's www.midnightshowcase.com".

"How many books do you have published?" He looked at her over his paper.

"One. To Stay Forever is the title." She pulled her eyes away from his and looked to her own paper.

"Is that it? Sounds pretty pathetic to me." He sighed as if she was taking up his time now.

"It's the only one released. I have three contracted and I'm in the process of working out the details for contract number four for 2007."

He lifted his brows and nodded with a smile. "That's more like it. I'd hate to think of you as a disappointment, Luna."

"I never disappoint, Lucas. Not unless it's my intention to do so."

She drug her fingertips down the front of her blouse barely opening the v of her neckline. Her eyes held his as she licked her lips.

His lower lip dropped open, then snapped shut as he cleared his throat. "Yes, well, be that as it may, let's move to the next question."

Luna smiled. Turning the tables on an interview was an art. Humans were more difficult, but the beasties, well, they operated on natural instinct. Easy to mislead.

Introduction
The room was dark, the only light stemming from one single white light hanging low over the table. Luna couldn't see the outer rims of the room, but then she wasn't sure she wanted to.

Moving to sit at the table she waitd. Strings of white smoke pushed through the air past her in long, skinny waves. She recognized the smoke, smelled the odor.

"Luna Carrol." His low raspy voice caused her to bite down hard on her molars. It was that or swear aloud.

"Lucas." I recognized your odor.

The serpentine sat across from her. His yellow eyes broken only by the narrow, black slit that served as pupils. His green complexion and sharp teeth further attested to why his race was called serpentine.

"I see you are doing rather well for yourself, Luna." He moved his green hand up and down to indicate her finely tailored suit.

The high collar of her brigt blue blouse, to the tips of her high heels were exactly the image she wanted to portray.

"I do what I can." She draped one arm over the back of her chair. "What do you want, Lucas?"

His eyebrows raised as a smile tugged the corner of his lips. "You know what. You're here to answer some questions. Questions that the Council deems necessary." He leaned forward and chuckled. "We can't have writers wandering around and know nothing about them, can we?"

She stretched a tight-lipped smile and chuckled sarcastically. "No room for creative license, I suppose."

"Oh, I'll give you your license." He leaned back out of the circle of light. A folder dropped to the table. "I'll give you one if you answer my questions...and I like the answers."

She inhaled and released the air with a gush. "Of course. If you like them, that's the clincher, isn't it?"

He shrugged, difficult to see now that he was out of the light, but his race couldn't tolerate intense light directed at their eyes. Cold blooded, sons of bitches, they actually preferred the dark or an even amount of light such as the sun.

She reached out and grabbed the folder, noticing yet another broken nail. Beautiful nails were something she just couldn't hold on to. She opened the folder while leaning back in her seat.

Her mouth fell open. "You want me to answer these?"

He chuckled and held his hand out for some thug on the sidelines to hand him another piece of paper. "I have my own copy of the questions. Just to make sure you don't miss any. Oh," he stopped her train of thought, "one of my men will be recording this. That's cassette and video, just so you know."

"Just so I know?" She laughed with disgust. "The Council's own law decrees that everything you assholes do is recorded."

He growled low in his throat. "Question number one..."

To Stay Forever gets great review!! Visit following link and read for yourself!
http://www.enchantedramblings.net/reviews/review0396.html

Luna Carrol's first published book. It's my first, but I have four more being released next year so get a jump on your Luna Library!! Go to www.midnightshowcase.com

To Stay Forever

Emily Hertford just moved to England to get to know her mother’s roots and study the history of names. That’s what she did. She studied names and sold the information to others interested. She wasn’t planning on falling for someone so arrogant that he insisted no one could be related to him, but from the moment she met him all she wanted was to know more about him.
Derek Crosse was a cursed man. Cursed to live beyond his life as a Templar Knight on the lands where he watched his wife die in his arms. When Emily stepped into his life asking questions about his family he had to distract her. To allow her to know the truth was to jeopardize her soul, or at the very least her life.
It must have been the curse uttered by Robert Ab-Owen as he died upon Derek’s sword. He had been a fellow knight until the Order was dissolved and lashed out against any Templar fortunate enough to have found happiness. The curse he uttered with his dying breath bound Derek to Crosse Hills forever. He would not rest until Derek had suffered an eternity, even if that meant killing his new love, Emily.