K.S. Hello and welcome to the blog. I am very excited to have you here. Why don’t we start off with a small introduction? Tell us a little about yourself.
T.F. I just recently gave up one of my jobs in order to devote more time to writing – yes, I said one of, because not only did I have a full time job as a finance manager, I also run a small real estate company in San Francisco. Now I split my time between writing and real estate and find that I’m much less stressed than before.
It’s just my husband and I, no kids, no pets.
K.S. Any interesting writing quirks or stories you would like to share with my readers?
T.F. Since I was a CPA for a long time, I keep my daily word count on a spreadsheet. My critique partners howl every time they see me do it, especially since it also calculates how many words I have to write tomorrow in order to keep on schedule. Yes, it’s geeky, but it helps me tremendously.
K.S. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer? What sparked the desire to pen your first novel?
T.F. I wanted to be a writer when I started reading Agatha Christie novels at the age of twelve, but I didn’t really start until over twenty-five years later. When I read my first vampire romance novels a few years ago, I finally realized what I felt passionate about: romance, hot alpha males, and great sex.
K.S. What genre do you write?
T.F. I write exclusively romance, mostly paranormal. All my books are very steamy and fast paced. I’m not one for endless descriptions of wallpaper, so if you like descriptions of the scenery, my writing is not for you. What you’ll get from my books is to-the-point dialogue and fast action.
K.S. What would you say has inspired you most in your writing career? Or, who is your favorite author and why?
T.F. I have many favorite authors, mostly in the paranormal, erotic and historical sub-genres of romance: Lara Adrian, Kresley Cole, Amanda Quick, Lisa Kleypas, Kerrilyn Sparks (just got an autograph from her at the Romance Writers of American conference in Orlando in July), Beth Williamson, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Sarah McCarty, and many more. Last year I read about 200 romance novels.
I get a lot of inspiration from my critique partners Grace and Virna and our brainstorming sessions. It’s extremely helpful to bounce ideas off each other. It has definitely enriched my writing, and without them my stories would be only half as good.
K.S. What does your family think of your writing?
T.F. My husband likes to introduce me to new acquaintances as a nasty writer which is his definition for someone who writes steamy romance. He quite likes the gasps people let out when they realize what I do – and he’s not shy to say that he provides me with any research I might need in order to write convincing love scenes.
My family in Germany is very proud of me, but of course has never read anything I’ve written. Luckily, my parents don’t speak any English apart from a few words to communicate with my husband. It’s not like I would like my mother and father to read the explicit sex scenes I write. No parents should know these things about their kids and vice versa.
K.S. What was one of the most surprising things you learned while creating your books?
T.F. I was always under the impression that I could never write anything that would be 300 pages long. It seemed such a daunting task. That is, until I discovered that writing a book was actually very similar to writing a screenplay: scene by scene. I would just think of a scene I wanted to write, imagine it playing out like a movie, and it worked. Suddenly I could write eight or ten pages at a time without the dreaded writer’s block.
K.S. What inspires you?
T.F. Good writing. Whenever I’ve finished reading a particularly good book, I’m totally motivated to work on my own writing, because I want to become as good as the author whose book I’ve just read.
K.S. Can you tell us a little about any of your novels?
T.F. I published Book 1 and 2 of my new Vampire Romance Series Scanguards Vampires in May and July this year. I’m planning at least three more books in the series, with the third one scheduled to release around Christmas.
Vampire bachelor Samson can't get it up anymore. Not even his shrink can help him. That changes when the lovely mortal auditor Delilah tumbles into his arms. Suddenly there's nothing wrong with his hydraulics ... However, trying to hide the fact he's a vampire is all of a sudden not his only problem, because when compromising documents are found in Delilah's possession, Samson wonders whether she's the one who has more to hide than he does.
Vampire Amaury LeSang is cursed to feel everybody's emotions like a permanent migraine. The only way to alleviate the pain is through sex. When he meets the feisty human woman Nina, a cure for his ailment seems within reach: in her presence all pain vanishes. Unfortunately, Nina is out to kill him because she believes he's involved in her brother's death. And she would succeed if only Amaury's bad boy charm didn't play havoc with her hormones and catapulted her into his arms and his bed every time she was near him. As every kiss brings them physically closer, danger is lurking and threatens to destroy the little trust they have in each other.
K.S. Where can we buy your novel?
T.F. All my books are available on Amazon.com Kindle and on Smashwords.com.
K.S. Do you have a website, fan site, or Blog that we can visit?
T.F. You can find info on me and my novels on http://www.tinawritesromance.com
K.S. Do you have any closing advice to aspiring writers?
T.F. Just write. I always thought I’d start writing when I had enough money and time to do it, but as it turns out, you don’t have to wait that long. I wasted many years thinking like that. But books are written in short increments of an hour here and there. So, even if you only have a half hour during your lunch break, use it and write that book you always wanted to write.