AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: DARAH LACE
Hi Darah,
I wanted to thank you for spending some time with the Joyfully Reviewed Group today.
Thank you Tanya! I’m excited to be a part of Joyfully Reviewed.
Tell us a little about Saddle Broke.
Lindsey Baker knows Clay Talbot’s dirty little secret—he likes to watch, he likes to share, and he likes his sex a little on the rough side. So does she. Six years ago he was quick to brush her off for being too young and inexperienced. Now she’s back in small-town Grayson, Texas, determined to show Clay she’s all grown up and knows exactly what she wants—him.
Clay doesn’t play in his own backyard. His dark cravings are better fed at Silver House, a private fetish club where his identity is protected and his privacy respected. And where the women know the score. But Lindsey Baker pushes all the right buttons and he soon finds himself torn between keeping her at the edge of his world and dragging her into it.
Saddle up for a smokin’-hot turn between two cowboys who like a little twist with their ride.
What inspired you to write Saddle Broke?
I’m not sure exactly. I just remember wanting to write a story with the heroine bent over and tied to a saddle. And I knew I wanted the story to contain a ménage. The idea for the hero to be into BDSM settled in and poof! It all fell into place after that. And I really enjoyed writing that scene in the barn.
When you start writing, do you already have the story plotted out or do you let the characters dictate what will happen?
I have a good idea of where I begin and where I end and a few things that happen in between, mostly the where the scenes will take place and what will happen (the sex), but my characters usually lead me along the way. They decide the route that gets me to the places they need to be and they determine who they are and what they need. In Unmasking Zorro (released April 2010 from The Wild Rose Press), I wanted a scene between masked h/h, having sex in an alcove during a masquerade ball. Getting them there was half the fun.
What inspired you to write in your genre? Is this the genre you started writing in or have you morphed to this one?
LOL I started writing historicals because that is what I love to read, but my characters were too naughty. My cps suggested I let my inclination to write hot set the course. I’m glad I did because when I try to write the tame stuff, I feel bottled up and claustrophobic.
Do you have a favorite character you have written?
Hmm, I love them all by the end of the book, but Marcus Preston from Bachelor Auction (due to release Sept 2010) will forever hold a place in my heart. He tries really hard to dislike the heroine, Charlotte Reece. Her father tried to destroy his family’s company and besides, she’s not at all what he’s looking for in a woman. He wants Suzie Homemaker and Charlotte is anything but. She’s also not the “bad girl” he believes her to be. Can she let him know that? No, because she doesn’t trust men and even a great guy like Marcus would grow bored after the chase.
Do you have a character that you look back on now and don’t like?
Nope, because if I don’t like them, I can always change them. I wish sometimes I’d done more with a character, broadened their past, deepened their conflict.
Do you draw inspiration for your characters from real life? Any fun stories you could share?
I afraid I don’t know anyone interesting enough to draw on for inspiration. Not with what I write. <wink> I do my research online. I’m always surprised at what you can learn with the whisk of a mouse. I do find inspiration in songs, commercials, current events and the like.
Name one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you.
Hmm, I don’t think anyone would be surprised by anything about me. I’m pretty boring. My characters are the ones with the exciting lives and I live through them. But let’s see…I’m anal. No, get your mind out of the gutter. I’m borderline OCD…well, I have one foot across the border. I can’t start something and not finish it yet I can let everything else fall to the wayside until it’s done. Maybe that’s not so surprising. My friends would say it’s not. See, I’m having a hard time leaving this question because I feel I haven’t answered it properly…(mentally dragging myself kicking and screaming to the next question–can you see my fingers wrapped around the very…last…parenthesis?)
Do you have a guilty pleasure?
Is there such a thing as pleasure without guilt? LOL I suppose I take guilty pleasure in writing. I can do the most deliciously wicked things in my mind without the consequences of real life. Bwahahaha!
What do you need before you start writing? Anything that is just a must have or the creative juice don’t flow?
I’d say caffeine, but I need that all the time. And I’d say a quiet house, but that seems to never happen anymore. I guess all I really need is that burning fire in my gut to put the story into words. Sometimes it’s there and other times it’s not. When it’s there the words fly. But when it’s not, I might as well find something else to do ’cause it just ain’t gonna happen.
Does music influence your writing? If so, do any of your stories have a theme song?
I’ve had a few songs influence my writing. That song…what’s the name of it? The one from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves…yeah, it’s old but it never fails to stir a deep longing inside me. I want to create characters who feel the way the guy singing sounds like he feels. Oh, man, what is that song…(going to look it up)…aha! (Everything I Do) I Do It For You by Bryan Adams. Oh, there was Carlene by Phil Vasser. That song inspired one of my stories, which will, sadly, never go anywhere. And Toni Braxton’s Unbreak My Heart..I could go on.. Lately I don’t get to listen to music much. I can’t listen to it while I write or work because I’m too easily distracted and my mind wanders. I start creating new scenes with new people.
If your story was optioned for a movie, who would play your characters?
Clay from Saddle Broke would be a younger Gerard Butler, with a Texas accent of course and all the corded muscles he acquired for 300. I’m not one to watch the battle scenes but I wore out the rewind and slow mo’ button on that video. Tom Welling could easily be Spencer in Unmasking Zorro. Oh, mama, the man is hot! And he’s got that charming appeal. James McAvoy might work for Marcus from Bachelor Auction. There’s just something about his demeanor, and he’s oddly handsome in a way that normally doesn’t appeal to me.
Where were you when you got your first contract? Who did you tell first?
Sitting at my computer. I quickly emailed my cps in one group email. I would have told my dh first, but unless you’re a writer you just don’t get what a contract really means.
What are you currently working on?
I’m working on another contemporary cowboy novella with BDSM elements. Not sure where it’ll take me yet. I’m still in the first chapter. I’d tell you more but if I talk too much about it, I’d know too much and wouldn’t be able to finish it. The story would be “done” (remember the OCD thing above about getting a project “done”) as far as my brain is concerned. There’d be nothing left to do. Time to move on.
Where can readers find you?
I’d love to hear from readers and/or other authors. You can contact at darah@darahlace.com or learn more about me/my books at the following:
And for the silly side – What is your favorite type of chocolate?
Milk chocolate with almonds! Or peanuts…or pecans…or…hey anything is good with chocolate!
Thanks again for letting me chat with Joyfully Reveiwed friends! It’s been brought back lots of memories and inspired me to write!
Darah