Author Interview ~ Desiree Holt

Hey all, welcome back on this lovely Monday. No, that’s not an oxymoron, there really are lovely Mondays. And what could be better than a comfy couch, a few Cabana Boys, and an author friend to chat with? See… a lovely Monday.

Today, we have on the couch Desiree Holt, an author I admire and am so glad to have here at The Menagerie today. Let’s make her feel welcome.

Welcome to The Menagerie, Desiree. So glad you could join us today. I can see you’re pretty excited about something. Why don’t you tell us your latest news!

My Ellora’s Cave release from September of last year, Rodeo Heat, has been nominated as an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award and is a finalist for the NERWA Bean Pot Award!

How fantastically exciting! I’m excited FOR you! Wow! Good luck, hon. Okay, when and why did you begin writing?

Actually five years ago, but I’d wanted to write forever. Just didn’t have the time. But once I got started it seemed I couldn’t stop.

LOL, sounds familiar. I, and the ladies at the Menagerie, can certainly relate to getting going and not wanting or being able to stop. Do you have a specific writing style?

I think so. Although my books are plot driven I spend a lot of time on character development. I try to make people “see” my characters and relate to them.

Well, that makes sense to me. I love the fact that I can see your characters in my mind’s eye. It’s important to me to be able to “see” what this man or woman look like in my mind. I can say you do a pretty good job. So, how much of the book is realistic?

I write a lot of romantic suspense, and while I take a certain amount of literary license, I try to be as accurate as possible. I have really good sources for information, and that helps a lot. Also, many of my heroes are based on real people. Who don’t mind lending themselves to my literary efforts.

I can see where you would want to make it as realistic as possible. If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Maybe not a mentor but the strongest influence. Joey Hill. I read Ice Queen, the most beautiful erotic love story I’ve ever read, and I was off and running. I’ve gotten to know Joey very well and she’s a real sweetheart. And Karen Whiddon who inspired my love affair with the wolf and shapeshifters.

Oh, Joey Hill is one of my faves and I really wish I can give the genre the grace and beauty she has brought forth. What book are you reading now?

Back to Luke by Kathryn Shay, an author I discovered almost by accident.

Don’t you just love those accidental new-to-me-authors? They rock. What are your current projects?

I am currently working on the first book in an eight-book series for Ellora’s Cave, Night Seekers, about eight former law enforcement agents, six of whom are shapeshifters, all of whom have had loved ones killed by the legendary Chupacabra-shifter? Wolf? Coyote? All three? Each one will have his or her own book and the hunt continues from book to book until the surprising ending. They are based at an isolated ranch in Texas and funded by a billionaire whose wife and daughter were killed by the beast. Also a Christmas novella and novellas for two other series I’m doing with other writers.

those all sound so awesome! I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Do you see writing as a career?

Absolutely. My fourth, as a matter of fact!

Your fourth and final career, :::crossing fingers::: Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Here’s the series overview for Night Seekers

The Chupacabra has been a legend for decades, stretching from South America to North America, sighted in many place. Ranchers swore they’d killed it only to have it turn out to be a mutated goat or coyote. And the killing spree continued—animals and humans alike. Was it a wolf because of the way the bodies were mutilated? Or a vampire, because each body and three puncture wounds at the neck and was drained of blood? Each time someone was sure he had killed the beast it turned out to be a false alarm, because the killings continued. And the legend continued to grow.

When billionaire Jason Stafford’s wife and daughter were killed by the legendary bloodthirsty Chupacabra and none of the state or federal agencies could trace the half man/half animal, he funded his own team. He chose carefully from the best law enforcement agencies as well as the private sector across the country. Six of the eight selected are shifters themselves, each representing a wolf pack whose members had fallen prey to killers. Each one of them had also been affected by the beast and so had personal reasons to find and kill it.

Known simply as The Night Seekers (because they hunt most effectively at night), they work from an isolated ranch property in Texas, with all the latest high tech equipment and any other resources they might need. Their only mission: find and stop the Chupacabra, the bloodthirsty animal who not only kills but literally destroys his victims with his teeth and nails, and has given rise to so many legends. But first they have to discover how their target moves so easily around the entire country, and sift through the hundreds of files compiled on the many cases and sightings.

Driven by the thirst for revenge and the need to satisfy their lust, each member of the team will have his or her own story, one liberally packed with erotic sex, and in the course of the mission will find a relationship that brings stability to their lives. And with each relationship, the team continues to grow.

Wow, sounds very interesting! Will have to keep an eye out for it. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

The first chapter. Always. It’s like climbing a rock wall!

Isn’t that how it always goes? I swear I sit there and stare at the screen and what is originally there ends up being later as I add more to it… well, you know that works. Who designed the covers?

Syneca at Ellora’s Cave does most of mine and she’s fantastic.

She does great work I love your EC covers, they’re breathtaking. Do you have any advice for other writers?

Keep writing. Join a critique group. Write at least one page a day. And never, ever give up.

Definitely good advice. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I love you all. You are what makes writing worthwhile.

Amen, Sistah! I agree. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

Email and promo in the morning, then five hours writing in the afternoon. No excuses.

Wow, you are so much stricter than I think most of us are. What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Read and watch football.

Well, I like the reading part, it’s the football that I might be a bit wary of. Lol. What does your family think of your writing?

They are my biggest fans and my best promo.

Can’t beat that, now can ya? How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

More than 50 full length and novellas. My favorite is always the one I’m working on.

WOW that many huh? Very cool. And now it’s time for our “absolutely-nothing-to-do-with-writing” questios: What animal do you think makes the best pet and why?

Cats. I have three of them. They are loving, affectionate and have great personalities.

I am a reluctant dog owner. Do you hate how you look in pictures?

Of course! I want to look like Kim Raver instead of Joan Rivers.

LOL, I’m sure we all have those moments. What is your strangest habit?

I cry at parades.

At parades? Really? There has to be a story behind that! I’ll have to corner your or induce the Cabana Boys to… get it out of you. Muahahahahah…. Ahem, sorry. When you looked in the mirror this morning, what was the first thing you thought?

OMG! I’m getting so old!

Aren’t we all? And that’s one of the ones we get a lot…. Lol. What were you doing at midnight last night?

Reading Back to Luke by Kathryn Shay and watching yet another rerun of Law and Order: Criminal Intent

What’s a saying you use a lot?

It is what it is

Where did it originate from ?

Don’t know originally but I picked it up from my daughter.

Have you ever eaten a crayon?

When I was four. Red, I think.

What is your favorite animal? Besides cats?

The wolf, hands down. But since I can’t have one for a pet I want a dog, a blue heeler. It’s a ranch dog that looks like a wolf.

What is your heritage?

A mixture of Polish, Russian and Spanish.

Have you ever cried during a movie? Of course.
If yes, which one and why? Especially An Affair to Remember. Oh, and Dreamer.

What is your favorite pizza?

Thin crust pepperoni

What is one thing scientists should invent?

A computer that doesn’t crash.

Are you a morning person or a night person?

Morning, definitely.

Do you like thunderstorms?

Yes. Love them.

Do you sleep with the light on?

No, but I fall asleep with the TV on. I need the noise.

Can you taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke?

No. I guess I’m just a peasant with an uneducated palate.

If you could wish for anything, what would you wish for?

Health and happiness for my family and friends. And a hit novel.

Here we come to the end of the review and I inform the Cabana Boys to make Desiree comfy and entertained. Thank you, so much, Desiree for stopping in and hanging out with us today. It was fun! Don't be a stranger. :-D

Desiree Holt has lived a life of excitement that brings the color to her writing. She was a summer fishing guide, a summer field hand where she was one of only three women working, a member of a beginning ski team that skied in competition (and no, no broken bones!). /she spent several years in the music business representing every kind of artist from country singer to heavy metal rock bands. For several years she also ran her own public relations agency handling any client that interested her. She loves to tell the story of sending a singer up in a hot air balloon singing “Up, Up and Away in My Beautiful Balloon” and stopping traffic for four miles in every direction. Before and between her two marriages she dated enough hunks to fill up two he-man calendars, one of whom taught her to shoot so beware, she’s always armed. She’s kept a fresh look at erotic romance by making sure the sensuality factor in her private life is always high. She’s married to her own personal alpha hero who helps her with that.

Visit her at www.desireeholt.com, www.myspace/judithdesiree
And at my blog http://www.desireeholttellsall.com/

The Bargain by Desiree Holt

Lara McKee‘s life came to a crashing halt the night her husband was killed in a carjacking and she lost their unborn child. Now she channels all her energy into her job as assistant to Cole Cassidy, sexy CEO of Alamo Construction. Cole’s own life is a mess. A shotgun marriage based on a lie and the fiery death of his wife on the highway have left him with a child to raise that’s a constant reminder of his first wife’s lies and deceit. Both of them have written marriage out of their future.

But Cole desperately needs someone to mother the child and take charge of his personal life. When he proposes a marriage of convenience to Lara, who still yearns for motherhood, she shocks herself by accepting. and so these two people, carrying a van load of emotional baggage, begin to build a life together under almost impossible circumstances. Conflict builds over the child, whom Lara falls in love with at once and Cole ignores.

Beneath the daily conflict, love unexpectedly begins to grow. But at the moment they dare to explore their feelings, anger over the child erupts and the night turns into a disaster that nearly destroys the marriage. Slowly, bit by bit, they begin to re build their relationship, carefully nurturing these new feelings. But it takes another near-tragedy before they can finally get past the hurdles to complete happiness and truly become a family.