Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Interview with author Susan Hanniford Crowley - BK Walker Books virtual book tour



As I continue to host the BK Walker Books Authors Promoting Authors virtual blog tour, today I welcome author Susan Hanniford Crowley.

Susan, thank you for stopping by.

Please tell us about your current release.
The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais is a supernatural/vampire adventure romance and my debut full length novel. When we meet Laura, she's in a desperate way clinging to the Brooklyn Bridge after being dumped by her fiancé, learning her mother has died, and being mugged all the same day. Laura has no idea she has inherited her mother's Telkhine powers. She thinks she wants to die, but changes her mind and slips.

Vampire David Hilliard longs for love and has just asked God to take pity on his loneliness, when he has heart stopping pain and a vision of a woman falling into the East River. He plunges in after her and realizes there is only one way to save her life. He has no idea what it means to love a Telkhine. Would he be willing to die for her?

Blurb:
LIGHTNING
Being descended from an ancient race blessed by Zeus doesn't help Telkhine Laura Cordelais, when she's desperate and standing between life and death. Her destiny looks bleak. Every choice leads to death, and there is no winning door. Or is there?
THUNDER
Begging God for love, Vampire David Hilliard finds his request answered in the form of the tormented and dying Laura. In saving her, he falls in love and dooms them both to a dark underworld of voodoo and sorcery from which nothing can escape.
THE STORM BEGINS
Curses, Keres, demons, oh, my! And the unicorn's horn.

It's available in Kindle at Amazon books and other fine ebook stores. I'm awaiting news on the print date..

What inspired you to write this book?
Dreams. I dreamt Laura and David's story. All my stories come from dreams. That's what inspired the Vampires in Manhattan series. The prequel is When Love Survives, which is about Regina, a half leprechaun/half elf college student on her way to her internship in the World Trade Center, and Gregor, a shapeshifter financial advisor who pulls her into a coffee shop minutes before the plane hits the tower. During their efforts as rescue workers, they fall in love. This book introduces David, as another rescue worker. It's available here.

Then I dreamt the sequel to The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais, which is A Vampire for Christmas. This story is about Georgia, a human with a rare supernatural gift who is marked for death by demons. But she thinks her problem is the stalker — the man who keeps staring at her reflection in the storefront window. Vampire and Arnhem Knight, Trevor Stenwood is tongue-tied at the sight of the woman he loves. How is he going to protect her if she's afraid of him?

I had a lot of fun with this story as Laura and David show up in it as backup Arnhem Knights, and Trevor is so much fun in how he tries to solve his problem with Georgia and keeps messing up. It's available here.

What exciting story are you working on next?
I'm working on a vampire/shapeshifter romantic comedy called Vampire in the Basement. It's in the edits stage going back and forth between my editor at Tease Publishing LLC and me.

I reprise a lot of the characters from the previous books including David and the Arnhem Knights and I've added some fun and amazing new characters.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I was eight, I became a writer.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I work part-time as a webmaster and full-time as a writer. My schedule became so hectic this year, I had to buy a planner to keep everything straight. I write some mornings, all evenings, and every day (including weekends and holidays) on my days off. I have a notebook and pen I keep in my purse for constant writing. Sometimes I bring my editing tote bag with me to appointments. I edit in waiting rooms.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I collect dragons — stuffed toy ones and porcelain figurines. My favorite dragons are by the artist Andrew Bill. I usually have them around me when I write. I find them inspiring.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An actress and a novelist. I tried acting and found I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. As for being a novelist, writing is like breathing for me. Novelists create their lives. I'm very much into that.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I'm very excited as I'm an attending author at Authors After Dark 2010-Romance Unlimited. September 17-19, 2010 at the Harmon Meadow Holiday Inn, in Secaucus, NJ.

Registration is still open. When you read on you'll find the conference (includes 5 meals) is very generous. Considering the events, meals, authors, it's going to be a blast. Here are only a few of the authors in attendance:

Jacquelyn Frank
Diana Castilleja
Susan Hanniford Crowley
Bianca D'Arc
Stella and Audra Price
Jessica Andersen
Leanna Renee Hieber
and more ... lots more. Go to the site to see the full list of attending authors.

I'm going to be carrying around a goodie bag and giving out a small token of my esteem to anyone who walks up to me at the Authors After Dark convention and says they saw this on Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews (while my supply lasts), so be sure to say hi.

And if you'd like to learn more about me, you can find me at my Web site, blog, follow me on Twitter, or find me on Facebook as Susan Hanniford Crowley.

Thank you for your time, today, Susan. All the best with your writing and the rest of the virtual blog tour!


Readers, leave a comment to be entered into a drawing to win one of several gifts from promoter of this VBT, BK Walker. Gifts include: a $25 Visa Gift Card, book light,a free-of-charge virtual book tour, or one writing package which includes a journal, pen, book light, and book marker.

My next guest for the blog tour is June 7 - Sindee Lynn

8 comments:

  1. Thank you Lisa and Susan for a compelling interview.
    Susan, I love, love, love that your stories stem from your dreams. I'm a big believer in the power of dreams. Dreaming has come easier to me than the art of writing.
    Did you always have an imaginative sub/superconsciousness? Or did you find you needed to develop your dreaming skills?
    Thanks ladies for a most interesting way to begin the day.
    Susan, best of luck with "The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais."

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  2. I've always had epic dreams like movies. I learned that once I started keeping a journal of my dreams, I could remember more of them. After 34 years of dream journaling, I remember 4 dreams a night most nights. It's a lot of fun.

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  3. Susan,
    the books sound interesting. Love how you worked NYC into the books.

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  4. That you get your material from dreams is fascinating. Can you tell us how much info floats up from your subconscious as dreams, like have you dreamed specifically about vampires? (I have, but it was right after a hospital stay. Too damn many blood draws!)

    But, seriously, do you get themes from your dreams? Or specific elements? Thanks for posting. And for putting up with stupid questions. ;)

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  5. Thanks, Lindsay. NYC just became part of my books. I spent weeks there every year visiting my aunt and grandmother, so I'm rather attached to the city.

    Thank you, Rhonda L. To answer your question, I dream entire stories and wake up and write as fast as I can to get the story line down. It's sort of like watching a movie in my head, except I haven't seen these actors and actresses yet anywhere else. Sometimes I get a a piece of the story each night for several weeks. I started dreaming about Laura and David, and that started the ball rolling for weeks. Of course, when I write it I have only a shell that I then spend months to fill in with all the details from the dreams. With A VAMPIRE FOR CHRISTMAS, it was one night and then written in a month.

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  6. Hi Susan! Congrats on all your success and congrats on the upcoming book as well :-)

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  7. Wow, Susan. Thank you for your explanation of your partnership with your subconscious. Very, very interesting.

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