Congratulations to Tammy Ramey; the winner
for the eBook drawing!
We're in the forest clearing where Daniel Webb, the main character in Ana Hart's recent release, "Reborn", first met Sarelia, the elder spirit of the Lower World who cursed him with his supernatural powers. There's an air of foreboding here, of unfinished business, and the imprint of Sarelia's energy still lingers in the air. The very forest seems to thrum with an otherworldly power, like the Veil separating the mortal world from the Spirit Plane might be weaker here.
Ana is here this week to share with us "Reborn" and why she loves to write. There's Ana now sitting by the stream. Let's join her!
Naughty
Reader’s: Tell us a
bit about yourself that our readers
might not know.
Ana:
Oh, man! Things that
people might not know about me? Uh... um...
I hate shaving my legs in the winter time (what's
the point?!). I only write with black pens (I seriously hate blue ink). I love
dubstep (I'm listening to “Doomsday” by Nero right now!). I watch French
cartoons in my spare time (Didou is my favorite!). Oh, and I know way more
about Italian Renaissance costuming than I probably should. And about
perfumery. And embroidery. And I can make my own bow and arrows from a hunk of
wood. And, uh, lots of other useless stuff.
Naughty Reader’s: (both Brenda and Tonya nod their heads) Totally agree no shaving in the winter and then yelling “Timber!” come summer. What made you want to become a writer?
Naughty Reader’s: (both Brenda and Tonya nod their heads) Totally agree no shaving in the winter and then yelling “Timber!” come summer. What made you want to become a writer?
Ana:
Well, I come from a
family of writers. Both my parents were journalists. My sister went into
journalism, too. My brother writes in his free time. And I write when my muse
makes me (or, uh, my publisher. Whichever comes first). But seriously,
writing's always been a part of my life. I love reading. I love words. I love
weaving new stories into which people can escape and realize their own
fantasies. When I was younger, I often escaped into the books I was reading and
now, as an adult (well, I'm only technically an adult), I want to give other
people that same joy I always knew.
Naughty
Reader’s: Please share a bit
about your new release, Reborn, without giving away any spoilers.
Ana: Well, it's about this dude named Daniel Webb. You see, Daniel's
just your average guy. He's a twenty-something year-old living in this tiny ass
backwoods town in Arkansas.
He graduated from high school, but dropped out of college, and now he's working
as a night cook in the back of a local coffee shop. You know, living the dream
and all that shit. But totally normal.
Except for the fact that Sarelia, an elder spirit
of the Lower World, just cursed him with supernatural powers a few months ago.
And his girlfriend just dumped him. And he just met this really sexy (but
totally mysterious) girl named Alyssa Vega at the local bar who seems strangely
familiar to him...
Reborn is the first book in my One Powerful
Addiction series and it's a face-paced paranormal romance written entirely from
a first-person male POV (save for the half-page third-person prologue) and
sprinkled with loads of cheesy humor, snappy dialogue, and smokin' hot sex
scenes. Throw in some supernatural powers, goofy best friend sidekicks, and
badass female leads, and you have yourself a fun and unique read that will have
you racing towards the end.
Naughty Reader’s: Is Daniel Webb based off anyone you know in real life?
Ana: Daniel
is a mish-mash of myself, my brother, my boyfriend, and two of my best friends
to form a big, flaming dish of awesomesauce. I really love Daniel as a
character. I wish he was a real person. We'd totally be friends.
Naughty Reader’s: What
inspired you to write a romance strictly from the point-of-view of the hero?
Ana: Well,
I really just wanted to do something different. For years, I've picked up
traditional romances... and I've been disappointed by them all. I wanted to
present a more believable hero and I thought the best way to do that would be
to let the readers completely inside his head. Daniel is the product of days
and weeks of research, rewrites, and my guy friends being subjected to really
uncomfortable questions. But I think it paid off ;-)
Naughty
Reader’s: Do you write
under a pen name?
Ana: Ha! Yes. Ana Hart is my pen name. I picked it because it's short,
easy to pronounce, spell, and remember. I also write YA under my real name, but
for obvious reasons, I try to keep the two separate.
Naughty Reader’s: What types of hero or heroine do you like best?
Naughty Reader’s: What types of hero or heroine do you like best?
Ana: For heroes, I like the real guys – the guys who aren't perfect, who
make mistakes because they're human beings, and then who fix them because they
want to better themselves. I really can't stand cookie cutter heroes. You know
the ones I'm talking about. The ones who look like Adonis and can do no wrong.
I also like bad boys with plenty of tattoos and facial piercings as a general
rule ;-)
For heroines, I like the strong, badass women who can take care of
themselves.
What I really can't stand is when you have a heroine who's
strong and independent... but then the second a man walks into her life, she
suddenly becomes useless. It irks me to no end. I also can't stand historical
romances that feature women acting drastically outside their stations. Research
history, people. Sure, there were the exceptions, but for the most part, women
stayed within their social roles. But they still kicked ass. Women had a
lot more power than we might think they did (even without having been “secretly
taught how to use a sword and bow and blah blah blah by their dad”... come on,
how many girls do you think actually did that? It would have been drastically
unladylike to have exerted that kind of energy out in the sunlight where they
might ruin their valuable pale complexion or, heaven forbid, get calluses and
thus mark them to be lower class.) Overall, I wish authors would research more
before delving into their historical romances, but that's another rant
altogether.
Naughty
Reader’s: Tell us about a
typical day in your life as a writer.
Ana: My day starts at 3 A.M. and usually doesn't end until midnight.
Packed into that day are two day jobs, writing, various errands, more writing,
gardening, and then maybe some “networking” (ie. goofing off on Twitter). I'm
always super busy.
Naughty
Reader’s: (Brenda) 3 AM?
Steve and I are just going to bed! LOL Do your books have a common theme or are
they all different?
Ana: Hmmm... so far, all my stories have leaned more towards the
fantastical. Fantasy/sci-fi/paranormal/whateva you want to call it have always
been my favorite genres. I love creating new worlds and just generally
bullshitting my way along to make something totally awesome.
Naughty
Reader’s: How long
does it take you to write and then edit a story?
Ana:
Honestly, it depends. A
few months if I really put my mind to it? I once wrote a 3,000+ word short
story in three hours, edited it in one, submitted it, and had it sold within a
week. But I must have had superpowers that day or something, because that kind
of thing doesn't usually happen to me.
Naughty Reader’s: (Tonya) Too bad you didn’t bottle some of those superpowers that day. I sure could use some. My clone is a no show! Do you have to be alone to write?
Naughty Reader’s: (Tonya) Too bad you didn’t bottle some of those superpowers that day. I sure could use some. My clone is a no show! Do you have to be alone to write?
Ana:
Yes! Definitely yes. I
have the attention span of an ADHD squirrel, so I have to be alone to keep
myself from being distracted.
Naughty Reader’s: How do you go about naming characters?
Naughty Reader’s: How do you go about naming characters?
Ana: I have a name generator on my computer. No, seriously. I generate
most of my names. Or, for more modern names, I just make them up. I have
several names I really like and I have to be careful that I'm not using them in
every story I write, but I do sometimes recycle them.
Naughty
Reader’s: Is it easier to
write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do
you write then find character pictures?
Ana: A bit of both. I usually just write and then find character pictures,
but for the second book in my One Powerful Addiction series, Addicted, I was
having the hardest time writing one scene because I couldn't find the right
word to describe this female character's skin tone. So I spent hours scouring
the internet until I found a good picture for me to go off of. The word I went
with? Tawny. Hours wasted for the word tawny. Sheesh.
Naughty Reader’s: (Brenda) But you knew you had to have the right word. It’s good to be persistant. (Tonya) That’s right Ana and Tawny is one of those colorful words that tantalize the mind. How do you pick locations for your stories?
Naughty Reader’s: (Brenda) But you knew you had to have the right word. It’s good to be persistant. (Tonya) That’s right Ana and Tawny is one of those colorful words that tantalize the mind. How do you pick locations for your stories?
Ana: If I'm writing in a modern setting, I like to write what I know,
which means it'll probably be based in the southern United States. For everything else,
I just make it up, haha. Seriously. Bullshitting is my speciality!
Excerpt for Reborn:
The young woman gave a shudder of ecstasy and fell away from the shimmering form of the other. Exhausted from their furious lovemaking, she laid in the grass for several long minutes before she finally whispered, “Thank you, Mistress.”
Excerpt for Reborn:
The young woman gave a shudder of ecstasy and fell away from the shimmering form of the other. Exhausted from their furious lovemaking, she laid in the grass for several long minutes before she finally whispered, “Thank you, Mistress.”
When the elder spirit smiled, the expression was filled with heat and yet lacking in warmth. Moving to kneel beside the girl, she brushed a few sweat-soaked strands of hair from her face.
“My dear, I have a favor to ask of you.”
Without hesitation, the young woman nodded and pushed herself to a sitting position. “Ask it. I would do anything for you.”
Sarelia beamed, reveling in the girl's obedience, and she drew her in for another kiss, for another taste of the power the girl so loved and craved. Pulling away ever-so-slightly, the elder spirit breathed against the other's warm mouth and whispered, “I need you to keep a close eye on someone for me, dear.” Sarelia's tongue flicked out to lick along the curve of the girl's parted lips, tasting of her own sweet juices still lingering there. “A man.”
The girl shuddered once more in the elder spirit's grasp and her lips parted further, welcoming in the possessive plunge of Sarelia's tongue. “Who?”
“Daniel,” the elder spirit softly purred. They fell into each other once again, fingers busy against each other's bodies as they raced towards equally desperate climaxes. “Daniel Webb.”
Buy Links:
Bio:
Ana Hart is a writer of erotica, romance, and everything in
between. Ana’s stories can be found in various anthologies, including Postcardsof Passion and A Wicked & Wanton All Hallows Eve. Ana was also one of 32
finalists in the 2011 All Romance Ebooks Just One Bite short story contest and
her short story, “A Fair Exchange” can be found in Just One Bite, Volume Four.
Born and raised in the southern United States, Ana currently resides in
Arkansas with her very supportive boyfriend and their beautiful son (who just
happens to be a cat…but don’t tell him that! ) But she can often be found
online – on Facebook, Twitter, or just lurking around Google and running
searches on herself.
Stalk Ana Online:
Naughty
Reader’s Boudoir: Ana, thank you for
visiting with us this week. You have something to tell the readers?
Ana: Yes I do! I'll also be giving away a copy of Reborn in the winner's chosen format to one lucky commenter. Just leave a comment with your email address and we’ll draw a winner on Saturday!
Ana: Yes I do! I'll also be giving away a copy of Reborn in the winner's chosen format to one lucky commenter. Just leave a comment with your email address and we’ll draw a winner on Saturday!
Tonya and Brenda, thank you again!
