Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome Stephanie Rowe back to the blog today to chat about her newest release.

Stephanie, can you please share with us a little about yourself

On the writing side, I’m a lifelong reader who, as a child, won a blue ribbon at my town library for reading the most books over the summer. My love for books never faded, and I started telling stories to kids while I worked at day camp during college. Eventually that turned into writing the stories down, and everything evolved from there. I love to write, I love to read, and I love the magic that can happen when an author lets her passion and imagination run free. When I’m not writing, I’m a mom, I play tennis with my pals, and I am working hard training my new rescue dog, who is just the sweetest boy ever.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

I was always a reader and a storyteller, but it didn’t occur to be to be an author until I was in my thirties. I had been working at Nike for a while, and although I loved my job, it wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. I had been investigating assorted career opportunities for a while, and then I received an alumni magazine in the mail from my college. The cover article was about two graduates who had written a thriller that had been optioned into a movie. As I read that article, I suddenly knew that was what I wanted to do. I didn’t have a computer at home, so I would go into work at four in the morning and write until the day began, and then stay late to write, and come in on weekends. Everyone thought I was being a rockstar employee, but little did they know… After I finished my first book, I was hooked and I bought a computer for myself. 18 books later, I sold my first book!

Can you share with us your typical writing day.  Is there anything you have to have while writing?

There is no typical writing day, but one of the “more” typical ones involves dropping my daughter off at school, going for a walk/training session (the training never ends when you adopt a young-adult rescue dog) with my dog, and then parking myself at the computer either until pick up, or until workout time, or until the dog demands an outing. I like to get my word count done first, and then do other things like email, FB, taxes etc afterwards. I often work at night, but usually it’s not actual writing, because my brain is just too tired.

Most challenging or rewarding part of writing?

The best feeling is when a book gets published and you feel the triumph of all that agony and hard work come to life. With the advent of self-publishing, when you can track your sales minute-to-minute, I love seeing that very first sale on a new book. It’s really an amazing feeling! It’s also really good when I’m editing or writing a book and I get so caught up in the story that I literally lose track of real life and I become completely immersed in that imaginary world. I always set my alarm for when I have to leave to pick up my daughter, because if a book is going well, I will have no idea what time it is. Other days are arduous torture to get the words written, but I am learning not to get as stressed out and panicked by those days.

Can you please tell us about your latest book?

Darkness Arisen (Order of the Blade, Book Six) is the story of Ian Fitzgerald, a warrior we met in the first book. His story was introduced in more depth in his novella, FOREVER IN DARKNESS, and we finally get his full story in DARKNESS ARISEN.  It’s sexy, passionate, dangerous and wickedly intense. Readers will meet new characters and explore an entirely new world from what they’ve seen in previous Order of the Blade books, but will still get plenty of their hot, tormented warriors. Here is the official blurb for the book:

Darkness Hunts Him.

Calydon warrior Ian Fitzgerald refuses to die. Cursed by black magic, he has stayed alive through sheer force of will and unyielding commitment to a mission he is sworn to complete. There is only one thing that can defeat him…and she has just found him.

Desire Torments Her.
Ravaged by her own passions, tarnished angel Alice Shaw is fighting desperately for salvation before all she cares about is lost forever. Her sensual allure, and the forbidden power buried inside her, are outshone only by the burning need she awakens in Ian.

Fierce Passion Ignites.
Raging desire explodes between Ian and Alice, pushing them to the brink of destruction. They cannot afford to succumb, but the cord that binds them will never let them go…not until their most dreaded nightmares come true. Together, they are destined to fail. Together, they will fight to survive the impossible.

How did you come with the idea for this story?

From earlier books, I knew that Ian had really suffered when his soulmate had died, so I decided that the worst possible thing for him to face would be a soulmate who would die repeatedly on him, forcing him to face his worst nightmare until he figured out how to handle it. The angel of life seemed to be the perfect foil for him: a woman who could come back to life after being killed, so she could keep sending them both through that same hell until they found a way to break the cycle. Sometimes, the only way to heal is to face your nightmares until you defeat them.

Can you share with us your current work in progress?

Now that Darkness Arisen is finished, I will be starting on three projects (as soon as I finish my taxes!):

PRINCE CHARMING CAN WAIT, which is the next EVER AFTER book,

GUARDIAN OF THE HIDDEN, which is the launch book for my new dark paranormal series, THE RUINED LORDS, and

DARKNESS UNLEASED, which is Ryland’s book, the seventh in the Order of the Blade series.

I am currently brainstorming all three of them, and whichever one comes together first will be the next one that I start writing. All three of them will be coming out in 2013.  Also, in a very strange turn of events, I was just taking a nap (completely exhausted from the push of getting Darkness Arisen to market!) and I had a dream that my daughter and I found a DVD on the grass. We started to watch it (no DVD player, just watching it in our hands) and it was this most intense, incredible movie. It played out scene by scene and I was so into it, and then it ended right in the middle. We were both like, “WHAT?” and then, in my dream, I realized that the movie hadn’t been written yet, and that I was supposed to write that story. It was so incredible vivid that, after I finish this interview, I am going to go write down what happened, and I think I might take a couple days and write up the part of the movie that played out in my dream. Totally bizarre, but I think I’m going to go with it…

Who are some of your favorite authors?

Marie Force, because she is absolutely brilliant with what she has done with her career, and I would love to pick her brain.

J.K. Rowling, because she is the quintessential example of someone who hit rock bottom and emerged into brilliance.

J.R. Martinez, because he is so inspiring.

Do you feel that any of your favorite authors have inspired your writing style? 

There are a few authors who have really affected my writing style. A long time ago, when I was still unpublished, I was readying a Harlequin Flipside (remember those books?) by Cathy Linz. I was reading the most entertaining bit of dialogue between two parties, and all of a sudden, I realized what she was doing to make that story so compelling. I almost fell off my chair with excitement  because that was the moment I finally understood the concept of “voice.” That changed my writing forever, and was the first step to getting published. The other author who affected me was Lisa Kleypas. I was going through a really difficult personal time in my life when I picked up Mine ‘Til Midnight. It was such a beautiful romance that touched me deeply, and it was what helped me realize the importance of emotional depth and truth in a story. Prior to that, I had spent a lot of time on plot and character when writing, but I had not opened myself emotionally to the experiences of the characters. Once I started doing that, my writing finally started to come alive. Now, when I write an emotional scene, I will often be crying so hard that I can barely see the screen, because I am literally living every emotion my characters feel. That has been a real area of growth for me.

Open your book to a random page and tell us what’s happening.

I just opened Darkness Arisen, and the heroine and hero on an algae-covered dingy being towed by dolphins across the open ocean. They are on their way to a battle which could kill them both, and they’re trying to figure out how to increase the odds of their survival.

What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

I have Marie Force’s newest book, Waiting for Love, on my kindle. I’m psyched for J.R. Ward’s new book, Lover at Last, and I saw a new Lisa Kleypas in the grocery store which I MUST get my hands on. But first, I have to finish my taxes and write up the dream I had earlier. Oh, and Wait for Me by Elisabeth Naughton, which caught on fire recently with sales, and I’m dying to read and see what magic she has woven.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thank you so much for having me! This was a great interview! I do have a question for readers: have you ever had a dream that impacted you in some way? If so, what happened?

My website is www.stephanierowe.com; my Twitter handle is @stephanierowe2, and my Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/StephanieRoweAuthor

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Stephanie is giving away winners choice of an eBook from either the ORDER OF THE BLADE, EVER AFTER or ALASKA HEAT series.

a Rafflecopter giveaway