Interview - Inara LaVey / Ravenous Romance

Ok something a little different this Wednesday, once again I am hosting while Inara fights deadlines that are proving zombielike in their persistence and brain eating capacity. I's still qite definitely a Ravenous Wednesday though as oour beloved hostess is actually the interviewee, I thought i'd stick to Inara's colours for the interview too. Enjoy.

Inara LaVey is with epublisher Ravenous Romance. Her particular sense of humour and warmth are trademarks of her writing and whether it be gentle romance or steamy erotic fiction her characters and style make her work instantly recognisable. Inara is also our cocktail slinging hostess for the Ravenous Wednesday feature on Un:Bound.

What drew you to writing romance?

Why did I start writing romance, you ask? Well, puberty kicked in and being pretty shy in my early teens, I handled my blossoming libido by a: getting crushes on people like Christopher Lee (as Dracula and as Rochefort in THE THREE MUSKETEERS) and then Harrison Ford as Han Solo. Yup, I was a Han Solo girl, NOT a Luke Skywalker fan. At any rate, my friend Cindi (Cynthia Gentry, http://www.cwgentry.com who I've now worked with on two books, including SECRET SEDUCTIONS and the upcoming WHAT WOMEN REALLY WANT IN BED) and I started writing little romantic-verging-into-erotic vignettes with characters we made up and then plopped down into the worlds of 17th Century France and a Galaxy Far Far Away. These characters were, of course, thinly veiled and idealized versions of us. Yes, I have made out with Han Solo. :-) I branched out into non-fan-fiction and created my own worlds, characters and plots in which thinly veiled and dynamic versions of me sword-fought, flirted and had adventures with handsome and interesting men. I read a lot of romance as a teen, starting with Harlequins and Barbara Cartland (God help my soul), graduating to Georgette Heyer, romantic suspense by Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels, Mary Stewart, Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney, then moving on to the more hardcore stuff by Rosemary Rogers, Katherine E. Woodiwiss, and Fern Michaels. Read so much romance for a few years that when I tried to read other genres, I had to recalibrate my brain to stop looking for the heaving bosoms and throbbing manhoods. I got into horror and mysteries after that and pretty much set romance aside other than romantic suspense until a year or so ago, when I wrote an erotic story for my boyfriend. That story was accepted by Ravenous Romance, they asked me to expand it into a novel, and before I knew it, I had an eight book contract with Ravenous in various sub-genres, all with semi-explicit to explicit sex and a happy ending. Basically grown-up versions of the stuff I used to write as a teenager just because it was fun. Can't beat that!

Ok, so far you have Succubusted which is a short story and Ripping the Bodice which is a brilliantly witty and charming romance out with RR. Can you give us any hints as to what we might find in some of your upcoming books for RR? (NB - this interview was done over a number of weeks, Champagne is now out and it's bloody brilliant!)


OH sure! Next one up is CHAMPAGNE, about a young woman on a trip to the wine regions of France, who discovers more than good wine on her journey. :-) Lots of food, champagne, wine, sex and humor, with a sexy French couple, a dashing Breton, and a naughty Englishwoman thrown in the mix. I have a three book fantasy series involving LARP (live action role-playing) games coming up, a historical western, a post-apocalyptic romance (zombies!), and a haunted hotel.

Do you still channel your sword fighting, Han Solo snogging teenage self when writing for RR or has time altered your perspective on romance and writing?

I definitely still channel my sword-fighting, Solo-snogging self when I write romance, although my perspective on what I want in a man and a relationship has definitely matured. Well ... I still sword-fight with my boyfriend (I've always dated men who fence or do theatrical combat) and figure I will until I'm so ancient I can't wield a blade any more ..., but I don't find bad boys nearly as intriguing as I used to when I was a teenager. I think I liked Han Solo because he was sort of a bad boy, but ultimately faithful to one woman (even if it should have been ME, and not that stoopid Princess Cinnabon-Hair Leia). And I still find the character of the amiable rogue attractive. Did I answer your question? I think I'm just rambling at this point. :-)

Sooo. since you brought it up... are you a LARPer?

People often make the same comment about LARPing, reading romance or fantasy/sci fi and umm, probably of play fighting the boyfriend while he's dressed as Han Solo (or something along those lines). I hear again and again that it's escapism, i'm sure that is part of it, but as a writer/actor/reader etc.. do you think there is more to it than just escapism?

Well, I wouldn't define myself as a LARPer, but I have participated in live games and enjoyed myself thoroughly. Not the ones where people have the same character and go every weekend to continue the saga of their particular games, though. The ones I've played in were all set up by a couple I know who have this amazing 18th Century French style farmhouse (designed and built by the guy) and surrounding land. They did a lot of theater and would build sets for the games. One game had a winged demon that actually flew from the roof down to a lower level (by 'flew' I'm talking wires). We would all get assigned characters a few weeks before the games, work up backgrounds, costumes, et al. They had a basic 'outline' in mind of how the game should run, but the character interactions were never predictable. So much fun! And sure, it's escapism, but the amount of creativity and talent in so many areas (writing, acting, set design, improvisation) takes it beyond that.

Back to your writing then. How important do you think character is to a story and to engaging a reader?

Without interesting and engaging characters, a story or book or film, for that matter, is missing the main ingredient. I've read some books with beautifully written narrative, but the characters were flat and I just didn't care what happened to them. As a result, instead of being something I'd remember for the rest of my life and want to read again, these books are more like text books about writing good narrative. I've also read books that weren't the best written things I've ever encountered -- plot holes, some sloppy writing, etc. -- but they had some memorable characters and I liked these books despite their shortcomings. I love me good characters, I do!

You've written noir, romance and erotic fiction, is it harder to write engaging and believable characters in any one genre than others?

Heh. I think you'd have to ask my readers that question. As a writer, I don't find one particular genre easier or harder when creating characters.

Ok, your romance novels are published through Ravenous Romance. Can you tell us a little bit about being published with an epublisher and your views on the changing market? Basically you have free license to talk about the whole internet thing. :)
Well, as far as being published by an epublisher, the royalties are actually better than print publishing. I personally still prefer to read a hard copy - I do most of my reading during my walks and it's hard to read either a print-out or an e-Book while walking. Although I did see a Kindle up close the other day and they look kinda cool. But I just love books. So the fact my first e-Book, Ripping the Bodice, came out in paperback pleased me no end! From a writer's point of view and also looking at sustainability, e-books are great. The production costs are minimal, they save trees, and we have a whole new generation growing up used to using their iPhones for everything. So why not read online? I do hope, however, that we never lose print books, bookstores or libraries!

Final question: Romance has a huge (often surreptitious) readership so what is it about romance that appeals to so many people and do you need to be a bit of a romantic to write it? (ok i cheated that's sort of two but the second one is a quickie)

Hnmm... In some cases, I think it's because we're programmed via Disney and modernized fairy tales to expect a Happily Ever After ending in our lives. We soon find out there's not necessarily such thing as a perfect HEA, so it's natural to want to find it in the books we read. I know some people who read books to escape a less than perfect home life and romance gives them the hope that no matter what the odds or obstacles, they can have a happy ending. I know even when I read/watch horror, I still want a happy -- or at least satisfying on a karmic level -- ending. And I think you either have to be a romantic or a real cynic to write romance. I know I'd prefer to read the books written by authors who believe in the possibility of a happy ending. :-)