Bethany Michaels

Hi, Bethany. Thanks for agreeing to chat with Enchanting Reviews about your books. We are so excited about getting to know you better.

1. What made you decide to become an author? And why an erotica author?
I don’t think any of us decide to become an author, we just are. Stories and characters are always swimming around in our heads. Writing them down is just a way to let them out. As for deciding to write with the intent to publish, it happened on the eve of one of those ‘zero’ birthdays. I had 4 children under the age of 4 at home, a full-time job and a husband to manage. It was not the best time to embark on a new adventure, but in my heart, my dream was always to be a published author. Luckily my night-shift job included a desk, a computer and several hours of free-time in an office by myself. No kids, no laundry, no boss. I used that time to write. I didn’t start out writing erotic romance. I worked on an historical and two contemporaries before I took an online class on writing erotica and decided to give it a try. I had always been interested in erotica/erotic romance and had read many of the ‘classics’, so it really was not very far out of my comfort zone to write it-telling my somewhat conservative family-that’s another story. But everyone has been unbelievably supportive. I’m very lucky.

2. How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing ‘seriously’ since 2004.

3. What was your first book, and how long did it take to ‘break through’? Can you tell us more about your released work?
My first sale was a novella to Red Sage in 2007 for one of their Secrets anthologies, which I had pitched at the 2006 RWA conference. I had worked on 3 full-length manuscripts prior, but once I tried the novella length, I found I really liked the shorter format. That first novella, EDUCATING EVA, will be released next month in Secrets 23: Secret Desires from Red Sage. It’s a Regency-set historical about a sex-researcher and very naughty house party. Other sales since then include a light paranormal erotic e-book to Whispers Publishing (Ruby Magic, 2007), a ghostly erotic romance to Whiskey Creek Torrid (Hart & Souls in 2007’s Samhain Scorchers anthology) and a contemporary Christmas Carol-type e-book to Red Sage (A Christmas Cara, 2007).

4. How do you come up with a story?
In writing erotic romance, usually it’s a sexy situation that first inspires a story. For EDUCATING EVA, it was the idea of Regency house party where anything goes-then I tried to figure out who would go to these parties and imagined a fish-out-of-water heroine and what she might be doing there.

5. How do you come up with your characters?
The plot and characters are very closely related. One drives the other. So when I come up with a fun and sexy situation, I try to imagine what kinds of characters would be most interesting to put into that situation. For EDUCATING EVA, it was a bookish young woman doing a scholarly study on sex as a biological function paired with handsome ladies’ man determined to show her another side of the subject.

6. Any preference for writing a particular kind of character?
I always like smart, independent, driven women, whether I’m writing a paranormal, contemporary or an historical. My heroines know what they want and aren’t afraid to go out and get it. And in regards to the erotic aspect to my stories, none of my heroines are the ‘simpering Miss’ kind of women, afraid of sex, or totally innocent as to what happens in bed. I like heroines who embrace their sexuality. My heroines are more likely to saddle the dang horse themselves and ride out after the man they want rather than waiting for Prince Charming to rescue them.

7. Do you feel a calling toward a specific genre or style of writing?
I really like fun, sexy stories, but they also have to have a strong plot and dynamic characters. For me, a string of generic sex scenes between strangers isn’t erotic; it’s the emotion within and between the characters followed by a powerful love scene that makes reading (and writing) erotic romance so much fun.

8. A question we all want to know the answer to - What makes a great hero? Ultimately, a great heroine too?
I like strong heroes to go with my strong heroines. Confidence is the sexiest attribute I can think of in a hero, real or imagined, followed by a sense of humor and intelligence. As strong as he is, though, a great hero will eventually recognize it when he falls in love with the right woman and be able to give up a little bit of his pride in order to show the sensitive romantic side that resides underneath that strong, confident exterior.

9. Do you have a set schedule when you write or do you write when you are feeling creative?
I don’t have the time or patience to wait for the muse to show up. J These days, I write whenever someone at my house isn’t crying or getting into something and the laundry isn’t piled up to the ceiling. I don’t have that block of free time at night at work anymore, so I write during the day at the kitchen table during Dora the Explorer, at the park on my Alphasmart, and at the kids’ dentist office (4 cleanings can mean a long stretch in the waiting room). I’ve been known to write some steamy love scenes while sitting at the McDonald’s Playland, too J Weekends and nights off from work are spent writing, too. When I first stated writing, I needed a large block of time alone, but I’ve learned to write whenever and wherever I have a free moment. Ipod and Alphasmart are the two best inventions of all time for a Mom-slash-Writer.

10. What encouragements would you give other writers? Any advice?
To me, there is no merit to an “I don’t have time” excuse. Nobody HAS time. If you want to write to sell, you MAKE the time. Aside from that, I’ve found joining RWA, including my local chapter, has made all the difference in the world. No one can understand what it’s like to possess the drive to write like another writer. No one can understand the fear of failure, the pain of a rejection or the pure joy in finally getting ‘the call’ like another writer. Writing is a very solitary activity and having that network of people who understand is incredibly important.

11. What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I like to read, of course, and watch movies, though I don’t get to the theatre much these days, unless it’s an animated feature J. My husband and I both are history nerds and we like to travel to National Parks on vacation-Presidents’ homes, battlefields, etc. I am sort of a nature girl and like to be outside whenever possible, either hiking or out just enjoying the day. I avoid housework whenever possible.

12. Can you give us a sneak peek into what you are writing now? Or a hint of what is up-coming?
EDUCATING EVA comes out in July in the print anthology Secrets 23: Secret Desires from Red Sage. It will be available online and at major booksellers, nationally.As for works-in-progress, I’m almost finished with a three-part serial for Red Sage’s e-book line-up. That series is a Regency-set historical about a very ‘merry’ widow and a stolen journal containing her erotic adventures. I don’t have any release details yet, but will post them to my website when I do.I also have been playing with a paranormal about an exiled demon posing as a Vegas magician and a correspondence-school PI out to discover his secrets. And I’ve been working on a single-title Regency-set “hot” historical that opens with the heroine’s ‘ruin’ and unfolds from there. I’m having fun turning the ‘normal’ Regency plot on its side.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
If anyone out there is going to be at the RWA Conference in San Francisco in July, I’d love to meet you! I, and many other Red Sage authors, will be at the Literacy Signing, autographing copies of the Secrets anthologies, including the hot-off-the-presses Secrets 23 and Secrets 24, both July releases! I’d love to know what you think of the stories, so feel free to visit my website at www.BethanyMichaels.com or email me at Bethany@BethanyMichaels.com.

Bethany, I wish to thank you for your time today, and we at Enchanting Reviews hope to see more work from you in the near future.


Zee
May 2008