Interview and Giveaway with Gena Showalter!

The month of August will be dedicated to New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Gena Showalter. We are all big fans of Showalter's books, so it wasn't hard for us to decide who was going to be the next author of the month! Showalter does it all! She writes paranormal romance about Lords possessed by demons, sexy aliens, and even a great YA series! We are also thrilled to announce that Gena will be celebrating with us for reaching 600 followers! Yay! For more information of Gena Showalter, please visit her website here.

Now, let's get started!

UTC: Hi Gena! Thank you so much for being our Author of the Month! We're such big fans! We here at UTC like to say that you are a writing machine! With several series in paranormal romance and young adult, how do you find the time to write so many books?

OCD! Seriously, once I start writing a book it’s all I can think about until it’s done. That means I write eight days a week and twenty-five hours a day (or so it seems).

UTC: The OCD may be a good thing for our fans, we get more books! Of all your sexy heroes, who would you say was your favorite to write so far?

William is number one on my Must Do list. He is as bad as a boy can be, thinks nothing of torturing his enemies, is positive there’s no line he won’t cross (he’s right), has a smart- ass mouth, and yes, he is a womanizer. BUT. There’s always a “but” with these super strong alpha warriors <g> When this prince of darkness falls in love, it will be with all that he is. He will never stray. He will protect his woman even if it means dying/suffering a little torturing himself, and he will continue to piss off everyone around him with his brilliant observations. (He made me add that last one)

UTC: Ah, William. We should have known. And I don't blame ya. *winks* What's your favorite series to write?

I love them all for different reasons. With the young adults, I get to explore all of the “firsts.” First crush, first kiss, first time. With the Lords of the Underworld, I get to play with the line between good and evil. (To give you a little tidbit about the upcoming angel spin-off, I’ll be exploring that line a whole lot more!) With the Alien Huntress novels, I get to indulge my love of cool weapons and characters who know how to use them.

UTC: For your Lords of the Underworld heroes, do you have specific actors or models in mind as you write them?

Right now I’m totally in love with Jason Momoa from Game of Thrones. What that means to my writing process is that his face now belongs to every Lord.

UTC: OooooooHhhh! Jason Momoa!!! You, girl, have amazing taste. I wouldn't mind his face on my favorite Lord. Speaking of my favorite Lord, I LOVE TORIN! What can you tell us about his book without spilling any secrets? I'm the heroine, right?

I’m so sorry to admit this, but Torin’s book isn’t even a blip on my radar right now. I just turned in Paris’s book, and let me tell you, that one totally wiped me out! Torin undergoes some changes in it, but the main side-story belongs to Kane. So Kane’s the Lord currently taking up space at the front of my mind. Plus, I’m now writing the first book in the new angel spin off, so I’m consumed by feathered wings, swords of fire (that’s not a euphemism, I swear) and my most tortured heroes by far! That’s not to say Torin won’t get his day in court. He will, I just have a few other things to work out first.  

UTC: What made you write about demons?

I’ve always preferred bad boys in fiction, and nothing skirts the edge of dark and dangerous more than evil fiends from hell.

UTC: Which of your heroines is most like you?

Let’s see, let’s see. Well, none of them would curl into a weeping ball of shame at the first sign of trouble, so I have to go with . . . none. I think I write the heroines the way I ~want~ to be, rather than the way I am, and for that reason, Anya is probably my favorite. I adore that girl.

UTC: A lot of your heroes are deliciously tattooed. What’s the sexiest tat on a man in your opinion, and do you prefer tats to piercings?

I do love tats, and I do love piercings. Tats are probably my favorite, though. And my fave tat of all time? My name on my husband’s arm <g>. One of my husband’s arms is actually sleeved and that was the inspiration for the tats on Hector Dean’s arms in Dark Taste of Rapture. Or rather, what his arms look like by the end of his book.

UTC: Let's talk about your upcoming release Lord of the Vampires. This is the first book in the Royal House of Shadows series. I think the idea of a series where a different author writes a book is excellent. Who came up with this? Did you all have a say of what the series will be about and where the story would go? How did you decide who got to write which sibling?

HQ Nocturne came to the four of us (me, Jill Monroe, Jessica Andersen, and Nalini Singh) with the idea of writing a series together, and we came up with the rest. We emailed back and forth, sharing our ideas—the main one: to retell fairytales—building off each other, until the world and the characters were created. I had such a blast!

UTC: You also have a new book coming out in your Alien Huntress series, Dark Taste of Rapture. I LOVE your take on aliens! I know some people might be put off by reading about them, but you did an excellent job at making them so hot! How did you come up with the concept?

I knew I wanted to write about (sexy!) humans who policed (equally sexy!) predatory otherworlders. I also wanted to make my otherworlders more humanoid with supernatural abilities rather than straight up science fiction aliens. But the only way I could work out the logistics in my mind was to create an alternate earth, where these otherworlders had walked among us for nearly a century. And that meant creating an entirely new world history.

UTC: Dark Taste of Rapture is Hector's story. What can you tell us about it? I'm dying to know what happens with Dallas's vision of himself with Noelle and how this will affect their friendship.

Dark Taste of Rapture is one of the hardest books I’ve ever written (and not just because of Hector’s body. Yes, I went there.) I started the book a year before the end of (Ecstasy in Darkness, and showed Hector and Noelle’s very first meeting. They have one of the hottest connections, but this uber alpha hero can’t actually touch a woman without killing her. So . . . yeah, making out? A little difficult to work out, but oh, do they find creative ways.

UTC:  And when is MY sexy man Dallas getting his book? Is he going to eventually be with the Queen?

I ~think~ Dallas’s book will be released in 2012. I’ve toyed with the idea of pairing him with the Queen—she’s not the witch everyone thinks her, I promise!—but then, while talking to my editor, another idea slammed me. I won’t know which direction I’ll go until I actually sit down to write the book, but either way, I’m very excited about my ideas.

Thanks so much for chatting with us today! 

 

Maidens, we are giving away a SIGNED copy of Lord of the Vampires, Gena's new Harlequin Nocturne book! This contest is open internationally.

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