Mychael Black

Mychael, thank you for taking the time to talk with Enchanting Reviews today! I have a ton of questions for you. I must admit that you are my first foray into the gay erotic writing. :)

1. What started your interest in gay erotica?
I actually started off writing gay porn for a gay Asian website. Through there, I met (the late) Andy Dill, and I started writing stories for him as well for a bear website. (For those who don't know, bears are furry gay men; cubs are younger ones.)

2. What is the attraction to the paranormal for you?
Danger, mystery, the darkness (both in terms of night and in terms of the human, and not-so-human, psyche).

3. What would you do if you met a vampire for real?
Honestly? If he were hot, I'd probably screw him. LOL.

4. How long did it take you to get your first book published? How did you go about choosing your publisher or agent?
From acceptance to publication, about a year for my first story: NOVEL VISIONS, a short story by Kay from Lady Aibell Press. I met Rebecca through the Erotic Romance Writers' Forum...I think it was. Lord, I don't remember now.

5. When you are writing, do you come up with plot, characters, or setting first? Which one do you find the hardest to write? Do you have any superstitions when writing?
Usually characters come first. And believe me, when they take hold, there's absolutely no reasoning with them. LOL. Plot is sometimes the hardest, especially when I've got a general idea and my characters decide they want to toss it out and do things their own way. And nope, no superstitions, though I MUST have music. I've playlists for several different characters and stories.

6. How did you come up with the plot for KITTEN? What about LESSONS LEARNED?
KITTEN...Well, we started with the basic idea of a romance--of building the trust and relationship before jumping into the sack--and Shayne came up with Shaun, her werecat. Ashley... I'm not too sure where he came from, honestly. He just popped up in my head and we went from there. The world itself slowly formed around the two of them, and before we knew it, we had an entirely new AU Earth.LESSONS LEARNED. Now that's a funny one. See, that was my original story for the Torqued Tales antho from Torquere Press. But the editor told me it was too dark for what she wanted. However, she wanted it for a Sip (the newest line of short stories). So I wrote the sweet, romancy Hans und Georg, changed the names in LESSONS LEARNED to what they are now, and voila! I have a dark, kinky tale of an incubus getting his just desserts. ;)

7. You have written with Shayne Carmichael and you also write as Kay Derwydd. Do you have a different writing style when you write by yourself (or as yourself)? Or a different subject matter?
Umm, definitely not different subject matter. As Kay, my work did tend more toward the romantic side, though. (I no longer write as Kay.) My work with Shayne is pretty much what it is solo, though I think there probably is a different feel to it just because we feed off of each other as we write.

8. What award that you have won are you most proud of (could be anything from sports to writing to civic organizations)? What award would you like to win?
Hmm, well, in terms of writing, KITTEN (a Mychael/Shayne novella) received Honorable Mention in the Best Shifter category of the RoRR awards. We also have two works - THE POWER OF TWO, and KITTEN - nominated for the 2007 Spectrum awards. A Lambda. I'd love for something of mine to win a Lambda Literary Award. And one of these days, I will.

9. What do you like to do to relax and unwind after a long day?
Roleplay. I love roleplaying and I have a very close friend named Nik with whom I do it all the time. It helps the Muse and besides, it's hot as hell during the sex. *winks*

10. Describe your perfect date using only 7 words.
Sexy, fun, mysterious, wild, alpha (oh, like y'all didn't see that one coming :P), kinky, dominant.

11. I think it's great that you give away a FREE 44-page novella and a 95-page novel on your website. Is this how you attract new readers?
Not really, but I'm not complainin' when that's the case! ;) Seriously... I originally wrote LA CHAMBRE SURE...well, just because I'm kinky that way. LOL WHEN DARKNESS FALLS was my 2005 NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) attempt. Never made it to 50k, so I put it into pdf and offered it up for free. Both stories still garner me emails from folks who read them and went on to find my other works. (The entire WDF story is also available at Literotica, under the name Kay Derwydd.)

12. What is your favorite joke?
I honestly don't know if I have a favorite, but I can tell you what my favorite *type* is: word play jokes. I love jokes that end with a punchline full of word plays.

13. Tell me more about your interest in the medieval time period?
Oh, Lord. I'm not entirely sure where that one started. Archaeology has always been my primary love, and several years ago, I was determined to get my PhD in it, with a focus on the Middle Ages, specifically the British Isles. I devour anything having to do with the time period, really--books, movies, music that reminds me of it, Renn faires, you name it.

14. What would be your first rule if you held ultimate power over the female gender?
Heh. Universal language. Women are hard as hell to understand, what with all the mood swings and such. ;)

15. What would be your first rule if you held ultimate power over the male gender?
Oh, that's easy: I'm the Master. *grins*

16. Which of your male pairings is your favorite? Which would you like to revisit?
Favorite: probably a three-way tie between Robbie & Seth (from GOING HOME), Mychael & Morgan (from Kay's THE LEGACY), and Mael & Cian (from our novel THE PRINCE'S ANGEL). Revisiting... Mael & Cian. I miss them a lot. I'm currently working on smoothing out the sequel to TPA, so that helps.

17. If you were stranded on a deserted island with only 3 books, what would they be?
A Dictionary of Angels, The Book of Angels, and a notebook.

18. If we were having this interview in a person, what restaurant would you choose and what would you order?
There's this awesome Chinese buffet not too far from me. I can not turn down Chinese. It's an addiction.

19. What did you fix your kiddos for lunch today?
Hmm, well, my son's last day of school is today, so he'll have lunch there. My daughter is hooked on Lunchables, so...she got Lunchables. LOL.

20. What is one item that you could not live without?
My computer.

21. Can you give us a sneak peek into what you are writing now? Or a hint of what is up-coming?
Let's see... Coming soon, we've got MAGIC & THE PAGAN - a fantasy (Samhain, Sept. 4th), THE DUKE'S HUSBAND - a contemporary paranormal (Phaze, Sept. 24th), DOMINION - sequel to THE POWER OF TWO (Phaze, Oct. 1st), and THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN CHASE SYKES & NAVIGATOR DUNCAN SAMPSON - Sci-Fi comedy (Phaze, Nov. 5th). As for myself, I've got my Chaser series, HEARTH & HOME, starting August 29th from Torquere Press. This series of three stories picks up where my Single Shot, GOING HOME, left off, starring Robbie and Seth, my beloved tattoo artist and his cowboy.

22. Is there anything else you would like to share with Enchanting Reviews and your readers?
Links! You can find me at the following places:
Website - www.mychaelblack.com
Our site - www.theprincesangel.com
My Journal - www.mychael-black2.livejournal.com
My MySpace - www.myspace.com/mychael_black
My Forum - www.mychaelblack.com/forum
My Group - www.groups.yahoo.com/group/theprincesangel

Thank you so much for your candor in answering our questions. It was great getting to know you a little bit better. Thank you for choosing Enchanting Reviews and keep us in mind to review some of your up-coming work!

Interviewed by dawn
September 2007