Tag Archives: Paranormal Romance

Q&A with Linda Nightingale

1.  What is the title of your newest book or short story?  What’s it about?  Where can readers find it? 

My latest release from Double Dragon Publishing is Sinners’ Opera, a paranormal romance about obsession.  Morgan D’Arcy is an English lord, a concert pianist…and a vampire.  He has everything except the treasure he most wants…Isabeau.

2. What’s your favorite part of writing a new book or story?  

The white-hot fever of creation.  I allow the characters to tell me the story and let the scenes play like a movie in my head.  I love the first draft.

What do you like the least? 

The sagging middle!  And edits.

3. What inspired your new book or story?   

I think Anne Rice’s Lestat was the main inspiration for Sinner’s Opera.  I wanted to try my hand at creating a creature as mesmerizing as Lestat, but Morgan took on a life of his own.  Other than being blond, I really think there is little similarity between the two characters.

4. Where can readers find you on social media? (Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Library Thing, Redd It, etc.)

Twitter:  @LNightingale

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/linda.nightingale.52

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4839311.Linda_Nightingale

Amazon.com:  https://www.amazon.com/Linda-Nightingale/e/B005OSOJ0U/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1/180-1877406-7769344

My website:  https://www.lindanightingale.com

5. Was there a book you read in your childhood or teen years that changed your world? Tell us which book and how it made a difference for you. 

I read an obscure book called The Fire and the Hammer.  Said to say that I don’t remember the author’s name.  The book was about the Doan brothers, a group of Quaker outlaws.  The heroine follows the hero from Bucks County, Pennsylvania into the Carolinas.   She lives with and helps his family, but she never gets her man.  At that early age, I hadn’t even begun to think about soul mates, but the book touched me deeply.  I remember wishing breathlessly that she would finally get to be with Mailin.  I even bought a book on the Doans, who were also notorious British spies during the American Revolution.  How did it change my life?  The Fire and the Hammer inspired me to write.

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Books, Guest Blogger

Why I do what I do

by Crymsyn Hart

Have you ever sat down and said, yup I know what I am going to do today? Then you get started on it and something comes up. Or the unexpected happens. That was me this morning when I turned my phone on and it wouldn’t turn on. It just kept rebooting. So at this point I start to panic because without my phone I can’t do anything because its my link to the Internet and since I have no home Internet and bounce my computer off the phone as a hot spot the first thing I had to do was get the phone fixed. The Sprint guy looked at the phone and also had no idea what was wrong with it so they fiddled with it and got it back to factory settings, but they ordered me a new phone and told me not to turn off my current one in case it happens again.

After the heart stopping moment of the day, I looked to see if there was any work from the day job and there wasn’t. So I was back on schedule. I could write for the rest of the day and work on the three books that I have going at the moment.

While I was writing, I got a great email from someone who had read one of my books and she said that it had made her cry. But in a good way because she had identified with the characters so much. Reading that made the rest of the frustration of my morning and the day fall away. It’s emails or short acknowledgments like that which help me get through the rough times in my day.

So I wanted to take a moment to say thanks to all those readers who acknowledge us authors. You are the reason why I pick up my pen every day or pound away at my keyboard or argue with my characters because they are not cooperating.

Thanks for reading whatever authors or genre you read. We really do appreciate it.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Crymsyn Hart

First Time Author Mistakes

by Crymsyn Hart

It’s been over ten years since I’ve first started to seriously look to get involved with the publishing world. I had graduated college with BFA in writing, had a complete novel that had been critiqued by a few of my teachers, and I was looked for an agent. I’d gone to the book store gotten the latest edition of Writer’s Market and started perusing through it. At this point I didn’t know anything about how to go about anything except from what my teachers and other writers at school had told me. And they all recommended Writer’s Market, which is a great book that now has a great website. But I wasn’t very Internet savvy at that point.

So I perused the pages that listed agents, went on line here and got some information on agents. After following the guidelines: sending in a query letter, synopsis of the work, first three chapters, whatever the agent called for, in the mail, I got many rejections. Most were form letters, but there were a couple with small notes saying the book wasn’t for them, but keep trying. Those were always encouraging .I amassed enough rejection notices to wallpaper my bathroom I think. Then I received an acceptance letter.

At this point, I was ecstatic. This guy was going to help me get published. But I had to send him some money first to help him cover the costs of shipping, copying, etc. Sigh… That was where he got me. Well my grandparents were happy to put up the money for me, but still. Words of wisdom, if anyone ever asks you for money up front, it’s too good to be true.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Books, Crymsyn Hart

What is your kind of Porn?

by Crymsyn Hart

Now I know what you’re thinking and get your mind out of the gutter. I’m not talking about sex or anything kinky unless you think it is. LOL

This week two houseguests have taken over every available living space I have. Cohabitating with one another has been interesting when I’m not a morning person and they are. One is a relative and the other is a friend of ours. We all got into a discussion at the kitchen table, while they sipped coffee, and I made faces at them, about the coffin in my dining room. While being perfectly zombified, I told them the coffin was my friend and one of my favorite things. They suggested it should end up in one of my books. Of course the obvious would be in a vampire novel, but I’m not all about the obvious. So I fired back that it was part of my porn collection. The comment got me a snarky comment and coffee shooting out of my relative’s nose. But then I explained.
Porn, as defined by one of my hubby’s friend, is anything that gets him going, meaning his favorite thing which for him is remote control cars. So I ask you, what is your kind of porn?

Do you enjoy reading romance? Or maybe just reading about steamy firemen who have to hose you down? Is the crime drama your thing or something completely different?

Some of my porn actually does end up in the erotica I write. Cause well you know I write a lot of sex. But besides the vampires, I go for a good horror novel with lots of blood. So when I write that in a way is also my porn because it’s my favorite thing to do. So if you love to write, I say embrace your porn and make it your own.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Books, Crymsyn Hart

Favorite Character

by
Crymsyn Hart

Who is your favorite character? What actor would you see playing that favorite character? What makes one of your characters so endearing to you that you always mention them or write about them? Who, as a reader, do you love in your favorite book?

Those are questions I’ve gotten in regards to some of the characters who keep popping up in my books. I’ve always asked other authors those as well. My favorite character is my Angel of Death, Azrael. He started off being a fly by angel and then demanded being a central angel. Then he makes guest appearances in other series and some random standalones I have.

As a reader, my favorite character is Damon from the Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith. I’d love to have him running around in other books that I read. Damon would add a great discourse to Twilight. I can only imagine him trying to win Bella over from Edward. Lol. He is just so sassy with the edge of evil that you can’t let him out of your sight or he’ll do something evil.

If I could choose an actor to play Azrael, I’d probably pick Hugh Jackman. But there are so many possibilities that all make me go yum.

Those characters that become our favorites, whether you are writing or reading about them, have to have that certain thing about them. That small edge that want to make you revisit them over and over again. I reread books just to read about one character because I enjoy their small quirks. How they laugh or how they interact with other characters. Or just in general how they love to kill people because they do it with a sense of humor.
What do you love about the characters you enjoy so much?

Leave a Comment

Filed under Books, Crymsyn Hart, Gail Z. Martin, J.F. Lewis, Tina R. McSwain

What is your instrument?

by Crymsyn Hart

Memorial Day is past and summer is upon us. At least it is
here in Charlotte. This whole week is supposed to be in the high 90s with bad
air quality. I cringe to think of hubby since he has asthma so it makes
breathing hard for him. I, working from home, stick near the fan and the air
conditioning typing away on my laptop that is missing the V, B, N keys thanks
to one of my dogs dive bombing it. The S key likes to stick and the delete
button is being temperamental. I think it’s the heat. But it could just be the
computer. It’s a few years old and I’m in need of a new one soon. Of course
saying that now, it might just decide to die on me. I’ve had that happen to me
before. Me and electronic items don’t get along much.  Although, as much as I love the laptop, I love
my Blackberry more.

For the past three summers, hubby and I have been going to
the local baseball stadium and watching the games. The first summer we went, I
took notebook and pen and wrote away since I’m not a huge fan. The next couple
of summers,I upgraded to my Blackberry. Such a great invention smart phones.
The things you can do on them while stopped at a traffic light.

People think I’m a little crazy because I write on such a
tiny keyboard. But I love it. I’m sure others write on their phones too. I mean
it’s easy. I love the feel of long hand when I pull out the notebook, but
trying to go back and read my own writing is a nightmare. I have worse than
chicken scratch. Then there is even more work when trying to retype it, but
whatever tool you use, I commend you. As long as the characters get their say
then, woohoo. That is the most important thing.

So back to the semi-usable laptop. Later on, I’ll break out
the Blackberry and hubby will again look at me and shake his head wondering
what in the world I’m doing. I’ll flash him a smile and then get lost in my own
world again.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Books, Crymsyn Hart

Mood Music

by Crymsyn Hart

Music is a key thing to get me into the mood for a book.
Heck, I’ve even got so enamored on a song that I’ve concocted a whole story
around just the one song. Once the book is written, I have nothing to do with
that song or artist for a few months because I’ve just over played them. I don’t
particularly plan on who I am going to listen to during the day. I just put my
MP3 player or computer on shuffle and listen to whatever comes my way.

However, if I’m going to be writing dark fantasy, I like to
listen to Ballad Metal, what I call it, with such bands as Nightwish or Kamelot or
even some instrumental collections to bring me into the other world where dark
elves and even vampire fairies exist. If my muses decide they want to focus solely
on vampires, then I break out one of my favorites either Type O Negative or Concrete
Blonde
.  When I get down and dirty
and into the action scenes or big fights, then I pop in Disturbed or Cradle of Filth
so I can see the battle happening before me in either the guitar riffs or the
screaming of the lead singer.  For other
things it all depends. I shy away from country and rap only because I’m not a
fan of the genres.

What bands help you get into the mood? Some authors post
play lists for their books, is that something you like or would you choose your
own play list if you could?

Leave a Comment

Filed under Books, Crymsyn Hart, Gail Z. Martin, J.F. Lewis

Balancing Act

by Crymsyn Hart

The summer is gearing up with conventions that I’ll be heading out to so I can hang out with some other cool authors and meet some great new people. I’ll be headng to Fandom Fest in Kentucky in July and then Authors After Dark in August. There I’ll be chilling with some more paranormal romance authors. I can just imagine that we will be talking about. Getting up together with more than three hundred women will be an interesting experience and who knows if there will be a cat fight or two.

Before all of that, I’ve found that I’ve been confronted with a balancing act of late. Writing for myself and writing for the market place. Not speaking for anyone else, but over the past couple of years I’ve noticed the market place has changed. Vampires used to be huge (not that they aren’t anymore), but zombies seem to be the in thing this year. At first it was okay to write just one couple in a book and the reading population was happy.

Now it appears that menage a trois and multiple partners are the new rage. Trying to follow the market, I’ve dabbled in this genre of the erotic romance, but find it difficult to keep up. I’m more of a one man and one woman kind of girl even though adding in the other characters makes for an interesting twist on the plot. So the question is, how do I balance everything?

I’ve always stuck by the staying that you have to write for you and not for the market. Most of what I write is for me. And I do admit, I bow and have found myself writing more of the erotic and adding in more of the sex than I find necessary, but hey, people love to read about sex. I find that I write more of the multiple partners as a dare to myself. Just to see if I can do it. And if the dare doesn’t work out, well then I guess I have to write more for me and hope that others en

Leave a Comment

Filed under Books, Crymsyn Hart, Gail Z. Martin, J.F. Lewis, Tina R. McSwain

What’s in a Name?

by Crymsyn Hart

How do you find the name of your character? Do you scour name them after your best friends or other people that you know? Do you use some random name that pops into your head? Or do you run to the baby book of names or website and see what’s trendy these days? Or do you want a meaning of a certain name first before you choose the most sacred of titles for your main character or the secondary ones who are involved in the novel.

I confess. I’ve done all of them.

My first book was based all around my friends. So each character got the name of the person I was writing about down to coping their personality. Of course the experiences in the book were all made up, but the names were not changed to protect the innocent. LOL

When a character pops into my mind, I get their attributes first most of the time. Then I hit the Internet baby name websites and search the meaning of a name. Once I do that, then I know I’ve found a good moniker. Or I look at the names I already have and try to find the balance of what the letters the other names start with. Other times the names pop into the story even without me conjuring them up.

But names are a big part of who a character is. They give you insight into who they are. If they’re strong names then the reader would hopefully know they will turn out to be. Sometimes the spellings are different than normal or the character ends up with a nickname. Sometimes their name can have an impact in their destiny.

What do you think? Have you read anything where a character’s name just didn’t fit? Or do you look for the deeper meaning in a name?

Leave a Comment

Filed under Books, Crymsyn Hart

Remembering

by Crymsyn Hart

Over the weekend, I was doing a lot of cleaning, getting down and dusty. While I was cleaning, I came across some of the stories that I had written in high school. I took a moment to go through the short tales. It got me to thinking about the people in my life who had been influential in helping me write and encouraged me to do so.

During middle school and through high school, writing was a way for me to cope with the reality of the my chaotic environment. My friends always lent me a kind ear. My teachers always told me I could do what I wanted. My family stood beside me through the years, but it was my grandfather who really encouraged me to keep on going.

When I was twelve, he set up a small space for me in his office, in the attic, so that I could write during the weekends that I would spend with them. So during the hot summer hours, I’d retreat up there with his electric typewriter and start tapping away at the keys. He would read everything I wrote and kept on encouraging me even though much of my stuff was about vampires. He asked me once when I was twelve, why I loved vampires so much. I shrugged and told him I didn’t know. I just loved them and I would keep writing about them as I got older. He dutifully told me that my likes would change as I got older and I would probably move out of the faze. After I had several works published that he had read, he told me he didn’t mind reading what I was writing, but he just couldn’t stomach any more vampires. That was something I brought up again a few months before he passed away. He chuckled and said that he really wanted me to finish this one piece that I had done when I was in high school. Out of everything it was his favorite. A young adult fantasy novel about a girl who steps into another world and discovers that sorcerers and unicorns are real.

Well, this was the very thing that I had come across when I was cleaning this weekend. Years ago, he had printed out the massive volume and went through and edited it for me hoping that one day it would see the light of day. It was up on my shelf in two huge three ring binders. Before he passed away, it was the one thing he insisted that I really focus on.

So these past few days, I’ve been flipping through the pages he marked and am finally seeing where the story should go from here. It’s been collecting dust for way too many years to count and I pluck at it once and a while. But for him, I’ll finish it and see it done. All because he was the one who was there for me and always encouraged me to keep on writing. Vampires or not.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Books, Crymsyn Hart