Ian Dalton ~ Wife helped with research, but didn't read the book.

I'd like to thank Ian Dalton, author of the sexy Victoria Wilde series, for today's interview! I first found Ian during a free promo through the KDP program on Amazon. I read the first book of his VW series and was hooked. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the rest. I did, and they didn't disappoint! 

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I know I enjoyed the refreshing no-holds-barred way you approached sex in your Victoria Wilde series. What did you enjoy most about writing the series?

That I got to fantasize about people living exciting lives and having amazing sex and instead of just thinking about it, I was able to write it all down, refine it and try to make it perfect. A few times, while writing steamy scenes, I had to close up my lap top and see if my wife was "available" for some let's call it book research…

*LP: Ah, yes, that is the BEST kind of research! ;)

What is something readers would be surprised to learn about the VW series?

That book one was inspired by true events— that I was so stupid in college that I actually was blind to what was going on around me. Looking back, I feel pretty stupid about the whole thing, but it was a lot of fun to relive and turn mostly a bad memory into a book that people really seem to enjoy.

I enjoyed Jillian in book one, but from there Brian was my fave. Who is your favorite character in the VW series?

It's got to be Victoria. There is nothing she won't do or won't ask someone. She's a firecracker and she's fun to write for.

Who is your favorite author(s) and why?

I love John Grisham and have read nearly everything he's written. I was never a big reader, but I remember picking up The Firm twenty plus years ago and not being able to put it down. A few of his early novels end with his main character escaping the life he hates and ending up on some tropical island with a hot girl. That sounds really good right now.

*LP: Such a typical male! =)

What books have most influenced you in life? And in your writing?

I don't know about life, but in my writing…

Olivia Cunning's Backstage Pass was my guide on how descriptive I could go with my sex scenes and Chad Kultgen's Average American Male was my guide on how raunchy I should go with my story lines.

I personally have a long list, but is there anything you find particularly challenging in writing?

The editing drives me crazy. Reading an entire novel you wrote for the eighth time as you attempt to improve it is a nightmare. Affording quality editing is a real challenge and I so worry that every time I open a document and fix something that I've somehow screwed something else up. I really should keep track changes on, but I absolutely hate working with track changes.

*LP: Wow, someone who feels like I do! I agree with all of the above statement! 

Do you have a regular routine for writing?

Not really, I'll go through bouts of not writing a thing and then I'll kill myself writing thousands of words a day to the point where I'll need to visit the eye doctor and get drops for an eye infection caused by eye strain!

Do you ever suffer from the dreaded writer’s block?

No, but I do lose interest in projects and need to put them away for a while before coming back. I'm having a hard time getting away from the characters in my Victoria Wilde series. I really miss them, but I want to move on. I might need to come back sooner than I thought.

*LP: As a VW fan I wouldn't mind if you did revisit some of the cast in a short story or two! 

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Get something published out there. Make sure it's good and is free of as many mistakes as you can find, but get it out there. Also take advance of Amazon's KDP to start. Don't be afraid to offer your book for free. Free is the best "free" promotion you will find. If your book is good, it will find an audience. Sometimes that audience is small, but it's still an audience. Oh and ignore bad reviews. All books get at least one. Glance at them, wish horrible things on the person who wrote them and then move on. J

*LP: Oh, how I could have used you around the first time I got a bad review. Good advice!

Please tell us what are you currently working on, and when can we expect it?

I'm trying to adapt the first screenplay I wrote into a novel. I'm struggling to decide whether or not to write it in the first person. I was hoping to have it out this year, but that might be a little ambitious. It's about a guy who loses his job, discovers his wife cheating, and inadvertently saves a celebutant (think a Paris Hilton type) from an ill-planned kidnapping all in the same morning. From there, hilarity ensues as he goes on—let's call it—a little adventure as he struggles to move on with his life.

*LP: Oooh, I like! 

Share with us five things that the average reader might not know about you:

-I have early stage prostate cancer and it sucks.

-I hit puberty full on when I was almost 19 and started college when I was 17. I was a five foot two, hundred pound freshman. (life's not fair)

-I somehow began losing my hair at the age of 25. (again, life's not fair)

-I have twins and a daughter who's eighteen months younger. They're all in the eleventh grade and somehow I think I'll need to pay for three college tuitions all at the same time. (God help me)

-My wife has never read any of my books. (She likes murder mysteries and biographies and really wouldn't be interested in my steamy, funny stuff…)

Links to keep track of Ian Dalton and his on-goings:

http://iandaltonbooks.com/

http://www.facebook.com/#!/InappropriateThoughts

https://twitter.com/#!/iandaltonbooks

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5311054.Ian_Dalton

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So what did you think? I think Ian is an interesting kind of guy! (And he writes good steamy scenes, too!)

http://www.amazon.com/Inappropriate-Thoughts-Victoria-Wilde-ebook/dp/B005ZWRMM2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1348982248&sr=8-3&keywords=ian+dalton

Spotlight on Anjie Harrte

For this week’s author spotlight on our TTC VBT, Anjie Harrte is featuring her WIP, An Unexpected Desire. At the moment the novel is going through the first set of edits which she hopes to finish  by the end of September. 

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An Unexpected Desire

Blurb

Fiona is a thirty four year old woman whose life is filled with uneventful boredom. Her coworkers refer to her as the ice queen and she agrees with them. She finds nothing fulfilling in her job or her life but she plods on.

Nyasha is a fiery spirit and an outgoing ambitious woman with her eye on top of the world. She is somewhat of a womanizer and there is a dark secret in her past that made her this way.

Then one day the two women catapult into each other. The sparks are flying; the stars are glistening and; the hairs are raising but still they deny their feelings for each other and fight it off as best as they could. Fiona believes she is straight so these feelings mean nothing, Nyasha remembers the last time she fell for a straight woman and how it destroyed her so she is trying to keep her distance. But what happens when their desires rise, their blood boils, and the fire between them erupts into a massive flame?

Can they continue to fight this attraction? Can they lie to themselves about how they feel? Can Nyasha let go of the past and accept Fiona? Is Fiona straight or has she always been this way and refused to admit it? Both of them are faced with many questions as this unexpected desire for each other rages on.

Excerpt

Nyasha threw the sheet off of her naked body and sat up throwing her legs off of the bed. Fingers traced her spine as she closed her eyes. Warm hands slid over her shoulders and cupped her breasts; a finger teasing her nipple getting it hard. Soft lips pressed against her neck as hot breath permeated her skin. "Come back to bed," the sultry voice whispered in her ear. She closed her eyes and allowed the hands to lower her back on the soft ruffled sheets, as the supple lips were pressed against hers. Soon fingers rubbed at her love spot as she moved her body smoothly against it. Her head moved from side to side as the fingers pried inside of her; moving back and forth in unison with her hips. A symphony played somewhere to which her body moved; crashing in tune with the banging of the cymbals. Enveloped by sweetness that flowed through her being, her muscles contracted and the nectar of her lust flowed as Nyasha uttered a name. It flowed off her tongue so smoothly, so natural, that she didn't realize until she opened her eyes that it wasn't tonight's lover's name that she had uttered.

Nyasha pushed past Shelly and hurried into the bathroom closing the door behind her. She heard as Shelly went hysterical cussing and screaming and banging down the door. She breathe deeply and threw her head against the door. Never had she made this mistake before. How many lovers had she had? How many have she juggled at a time and never have she called one by the other's name and now this, she has never even slept with Fiona, then why was she uttering her name? A loud bang was heard as something was thrown against the door. Nyasha moved from the door and watched at it as though it would leap out at her. Just a while ago this woman was so composed and loving, just minutes ago this apartment was filled with the music of love making; skin against skin, tongues dancing, essence flowing, hearts beating, lips making trails on bodies and voices echoing the pleasure that bodies felt, and now one woman screamed, yelled and cried on one side of a door as the other wondered if she could escape through the bathroom wrapped in the shower curtain.

If there was one thing Nyasha believed in was that the saying; ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’ was a true thing. Wrapping a towel around her nakedness she prepared herself for the worse. What was the worst that could happen? She flung the door open and stepped out, the room was quiet and there was no sign of Shelly. The room was upturned, the small night stand was on its side, a jewellery box was lying on the floor broken, its contents scatterred; this had to be the object thrown at the door. The sheets was yanked off the bed and ruffled together in a bunch on the ground, all the contents of the vanity were scattered about. A once well kept, neat little room looked as though a tornado had passed through. Nyasha grabbed up her clothes quickly pushing her legs into her dress pants and pulling on her blouse over her head. As soon as the blouse cleared her head her body jolted, startled by the angry eyes that was inches away from her. “Who the hell is Fiona?” Shelly demanded.

Anjie Harrte: Romance with some Caribbean flavour

Anjie Harrte is a twenty nine year old mother of one who resides in sunny Guyana, South America. Sometime between running a small business, having a full time job and being a mother and partner she finds time to pursue her passion for creating stories. Anjie dreams up stories of contemporary fiction splashed with some romance, a little dose of murder or an ounce of suspense and sometimes when no one is looking she dashes in a little twist. When she isn’t doing any of that, she is decorating a cake, knitting a chair back or sewing her latest design. Anjie even finds time to lurk around and stalk people and pages on facebook and you too can stalk her if you like at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Anjie-Harrte/  or you can follow her on twitter @anjieharrte or keep updated with her writing at http://authoranjieharrte.blogspot.com/

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Thanks for stopping by Anjie! 

If you'd like to leave comments below about Anjie's WIP (or anything Anjie) feel free, we will both be checking.