AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: EDEN WINTERS
For all you M/M fans out there we have cornered Eden Winters to learn some of her secrets…
Her current work out is Duet at Torquere Press and a historical/contemporary/paranormal, published on August 25, 2010.
Tell us a little about Duet.
Duet began life as an attempt at an 8,000 word Halloween themed short story and grew from there. It was supposed to be all modern, with only hints at the past. It exploded from 8,000 to 20,000 words to be a novella. Then one of my betas took a look at it and said, “Where’s the rest of it? You tell us they’re in love, but don’t show it!” The result is a book where the last half was written first. But then, I’ve never written anything from start to finish. I tend to jump around.
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 general idea when I start, but it’s not written in stone and always changes as the characters come to life and take on personalities of their own. The only time this was a problem was in The Angel of 13th Street. Noah was determined to get back together with Willie, so I had to take drastic measures to ensure that wouldn’t happen. Anyone who’s read the book knows what happened to Willie. Let that be a lesson to other characters who try to take over my books! Hee hee.
What inspired you to write in your genre? Is this the genre you started writing in or have you morphed to this one?
I discovered this genre several years ago, after a gay friend said, “You’ll never understand my world.” I love him dearly, really wanted to understand, and thought researching the subject might be the answer. I picked up a m/m book and it was love at first chapter. At the time, I only considered myself a reader. Many, many…..many, many…many books later, a friend and I were discussing a m/m book we’d both read, and she said, “We could do this, you know.” So although I written some fanfic, my only published works are m/m.
Do you have a favorite character you have written?
Alex, from The Wish, was my favorite to write, with Willie from The Angel of 13th Street coming in second. Bad boys are so much fun!
Do you have a character that you look back on now and don’t like?
Only villains that no one was supposed to like to begin with.
Do you draw inspiration for your characters from real life? Any fun stories you could share?
Most of my characters spring from pictures viewed over the Internet. Their personalities are purely creations of my own mind. Others are composites of folks I know or know of, with my own traits thrown in. No real fun stories, but the sibling dynamic between Angie and Michael in The Telling is based upon my own kids, and their interactions.
Name one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you.
I don’t watch TV. In fact, I don’t even own one.
Do you have a guilty pleasure?
Isn’t a massive collection of M/M novels enough?
What do you need before you start writing? Anything that is just a must have or the creative juice don’t flow?
Not really. The ideas come at odd times. I’ve woken in the middle of the night, frantically hunting a note pad, and have used the recording feature on my cell phone on numerous occasions to capture stray thoughts while driving, that might make it to a story one day.
Does music influence your writing? If so, do any of your stories have a theme song?
Duet features violins, and I viewed many YouTube clips while creating it, leading to the purchase of a David Garrett CD. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard him play Michael’s Jackson’s Smooth Criminal on violin.
While the stories may not have a single theme song, they do have play lists, on occasion.
If your story was optioned for a movie, who would play your characters?
I’m really not sure. That not watching TV thing limits my scope on current hot actors. Any suggestions?
Where were you when you got your first contract? Who did you tell first?
I was sitting on my couch, alone at home. The first person I told was my dear friend and writing mentor, P.D. Singer, followed shortly thereafter my another good friend and beta, Meg.
How old were you when you read your first romance book?
I was a science fiction fan, but some of that could have counted as romance, I suppose. My first bodice-ripper-pirate-ship-on-the-cover was read in my twenties. I was a bit late to the party, I’m afraid.
What are you currently working on, and what else is in the wings?
I am currently polishing a short story sequel to The Telling, the book offered as a free gift to readers.
Next I hope to submit a Christmas story to Torquere, followed by a contemporary novel. I have a shape shifter trilogy in the works, and a fantasy novel that builds onto the short story Flame. A sequel to The Angel of 13th Street is also begging to be written.
Where can readers find you?
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3247006.Eden_Winters
http://bookworld.editme.com/EdenWinters
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=100000968860956
http://edenwinters.blogspot.com/
http://edenwinters.livejournal.com/
And for the silly side – What is your favorite type of chocolate?
Dark and semi-sweet!