Interview and Giveaway with author Stephanie Julian!

Hello Maidens! Today on Under the Covers we have Stephanie Julian with us, answering our nosey questions! Stephanie is the author of the Paranormal/Erotic series Lucani Lovers and Magical Seduction and now the brand new Forgotten Goddesses series, of which the first book What a Goddess Wants is out the 1st July! For more information on Stephanie Julian, please visit her website here:

Here's the blurb for WHAT A GODDESS WANTS:

It's OK no one remembers Etruscan Sun goddess Tessa. But when a demon threatens her life, she must turn to mythology's darkest warrior for protection...
 
Caligo of the Cimmerians has never met a woman as warm, sunny and inviting as Tessa. Their sizzling mutual attraction quickly sweeps the two of them into a love story that's worthy of the gods...

UTC: Thank you for joining us today, Stephanie! We are thrilled to have you! Let's get started...What has been your favourite paranormal creature to write about? And if you could be one of them which would it be?

SJ: Sal the salbinelli has been my favorite creature. He’s got the lower body of a goat and the upper body of a man and tiny black horns on his head. If you’ve ever been to Pompeii, there’s a statue of Sal in a courtyard. The textbooks call it a faun but really, that’s Sal. And don’t ever dare call him Pan. No one’s really sure how long Sal’s been around and he’s not talking. Right now, he lives in Reading, Pennsylvania, and he runs a safe house for the Etruscans. Sal showed up in the very first published story of the Etruscans, SEDUCED BY MAGIC and he continues to play a role in the Forgotten Goddesses series, starting with WHAT A GODDESS WANTS.

If I could be any paranormal creature, I would want to be a fairy. I mean, who wouldn’t want wings and be able to fly?

UTC: Let's talk about writing in general. What got you started writing PNR/erotica?

 SJ: I love reading it! I cut my teeth on Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Richard Matheson and HP Lovecraft as a young teenager. And when I found my mom’s copy of Kathleen Woodiwiss’ THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER, I discovered romance. By the time Anne Rice released INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, I was consciously looking for paranormal books with a love story. Then I read Maggie Shayne’s WINGS IN THE NIGHT series and I never looked back.

UTC: What or who inspires you to write?

SJ: Great books inspire me to write. When I read a wonderful story, that makes me want to be a better writer so I can provide that same experience to a reader.

UTC: Do you have any favourite books or series that you read over and over again, if so what are they?

SJ: My keeper shelf is actually a bookcase that sits by my bed. Some of the books on those shelves include the first three books in Tara Janzen’s Steele Street series (I’d have to pick CRAZY COOL and CRAZY LOVE as my favorite), Lora Leigh’s DAWN’S AWAKENING and COYOTE’S MATE, JR Ward’s first five Black Dagger Brotherhood books and Meljean Brooks’ THE IRON DUKE. I also have a keeper page on my Nook, which includes Cherrie Lynn’s ROCK ME and Nalini Singh’s KISS OF SNOW. There are a lot more but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

UTC: We are huge fans of J.R. Ward and Nalini Singh. ROCK ME is a fantastic erotica read by Cherrie Lynn too!  If you could pick any of your characters to spend the day with who would it be and what would you do?

SJ: I would love to be a fly on the wall if Cal from WHAT A GODDESS WANTS and Kyle from KISS OF MOONLIGHT ever meet up. These two alpha males might not have much to say but put them side-by-side in a fight and they would be poetry in motion.

UTC: That would be interesting! Your books are centred around Italian folk lore, what made you decide to use Etruscan myths and legends?

SJ: My dad is first-generation Italian and when I decided I wanted to write magical stories, I wanted to find something that would tie into my heritage. But I wanted a magical tradition I could play with, that wasn’t over-used, so I found the Etruscans. There’s so much already known about the Romans that I knew I wanted to stay away from most of that, but the Etruscans I knew I could play with. The first book I bought for research was ETRUSCAN ROMAN REMAINS by Charles Godfrey Leland. Fabulous source of information, I pull it out every couple of weeks and page through it, looking for bits and pieces to add to my stories.

UTC: Alright, what's sexier, wings or fangs?

SJ: Wings, absolutely. Fangs are pointy and there’s usually blood involved (that’s not to say I don’t love a good vampire). Wings are fluttery and pretty and when you have sex with someone who has wings, there are all sorts of gravity defying feats you can do with wings…

UTC: If you could cast the characters from your new book What a Goddess Wants who would they be?

SJ: Jensen Ackles from Supernatural is Cal. He’s who I had in mind the entire time and his picture hangs on the board in front of my desk. Tessa is based on a couple of girls of mine who shall remain nameless. But if I were picking an actress, it would be Reese Witherspoon. Actually, the model on the cover is perfect. I wonder if she can act… Sal would be a tough one because Sal is so totally in my head. Think hot Italian guy (which would leave out all of the “Jersey Shore” guys).

UTC: *shudders* Jersey Shore. Tell us, what is next for you?

SJ: I’m hoping the next book in the Lucani Lovers series, GRACE IN MOONLIGHT, will be released before the end of the summer. Still waiting to hear from my editor on that one. The next book in the Forgotten Goddesses, HOW TO WORSHIP A GODDESS, releases in December, and I’m writing the third book, GODDESS IN THE MIDDLE, right now. I’ll also have a sexy contemporary release from Carina Press in January, SEX, LIES & SURVEILLANCE. And I’m playing with the second book in the Fringe series.

UTC: Thanks for joining us today Stephanie!

SJ: Thank you so much for having me here today!

Stephanie Julian will be giving away TWO PRINT COPIES of WHAT A GODDESS WANTS to US and CANADA ONLY. Giveaway runs from June 27-29. Winner will be announced on June 30.

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