Cheyenne is starting out with a few questions for Jaci. Now behave, Jaci. (If that’s possible ;-)

Chey: What do you do to celebrate when you finish writing a book?

Jaci: I nap. Then I shop. Then I nap some more. Then after a few hours have passed, I start the next book. ;-)

Chey: Do you do anything special the day your book is available in stores?

Jaci: Um, I hyperventilate a whole lot. Then I go stalk the bookstores and take pictures of my book on the shelves (Yes, I am that geeky *g*)

Chey: Do you just write in your home, or do you go to coffee shops or other places to get some writing done?

Jaci: I always write at home. It’s quiet here. I’d people-watch at coffee shops, then I’d never get any writing done

Chey: What are your biggest distractions?

Jaci: Naps and General Hospital

Chey: What is your biggest addiction?

Jaci: Naps and General Hospital

Chey: What’s your favorite kind of food?

Jaci: I love Pizza. And a really good steak. Oh and Lobster. Hmm, I guess I don’t have just one favorite.

Chey: Tell us about HUNTING THE DEMON.

Jaci: Nic Diavolo has been kidnapped by the Realm of Light, a team of demon hunters sworn to defeat the Sons of Darkness, demon lords in service to the Great Evil One. Nic and his brother Derek are sons of one of the demon lords, and it’s up to Shay Pearson, another demon hunter, to determine how much demon blood Nic possesses, and whether he can be trusted to join the Realm, or whether he’ll choose the Sons of Darkness. It’s a fun and sexy story with lots of secrets.

Chey: Where did you get the idea for the series?

Jaci: I wanted to write a paranormal series, but not the same old, same old. When I started worldbuilding and creating characters, demons and demon hunters came to mind and the first book, SURVIVING DEMON ISLAND, was born. It’s a twist on reality television with demons in the mix, and characters who all bring something very special to their roles as demon hunters.

Chey: How many books will there be in the series?

Jaci: As many as Bantam Dell will let me write. I don’t have a set number of books—at least not yet. Right now I’m contracted for four books. I hope there’ll be a lot more.

Chey: Let us know the URLs for your website, blog, and any other link you’d like to provide.

Website: http://www.jaciburton.com

Blog: http://www.jaciburton.com/blog

Okay, Turnabout is fair play, right? So Jaci gets even with Cheyenne:

Jaci: What do you do to celebrate when you finish writing a book?

Chey: A couple of chocolate martinis will always do the trick for a good celebration. Oh, and jewelry. Jewelry is good.

Jaci: Do you do anything special the day your book is available in stores?

Chey: Freak out. Go see my book in the stores. Want to jump up and down, but manage to restrain myself. Um, most of the time. :-)

Jaci: Do you just write in your home, or do you go to coffee shops or other places to get some writing done?

Chey: I tend to go to coffee shops and the bookstore cafe. I put on my headset with some great writing music and go to town. I find I work best when I get out of the house because I’m away from home distractions. And the internet. That’s a big distraction. But I have a BlackBerry, so now I can still be distracted by email…

Jaci: What are your biggest distractions?

Chey: The internet, my kids, my dogs. Lately eBay. Not good.

Jaci: What is your biggest addiction?

Chey: Er, eBay the last couple of weeks. :-) I love (toooo much) cake batter flavored ice cream. Cold Stone Creamery has the best, mixed with their homemade brownies… What, a pound gained every time I have some, no doubt.

Jaci: What’s your favorite kind of food?

Chey: Thai. Loooove Thai food. Also seafood is big on the list. And fillet mignon. Mmmmmmm.

Jaci: Tell us about WICKED MAGIC.

Chey: Rhiannon Castle is a D’Anu witch whose Coven sisters know nothing of the Shadows that lurk within her. Rhiannon is afraid to reveal the truth to anyone. Keir’s Tuatha D’Danann brethren are the only real family he has ever known. He trusts no one—until he is sent to San Francisco and meets Rhiannon, the one woman with fire enough to tame him. They face a new threat that rises from the depths of Underworld. When a demon goddess unleashes her evil upon our world, Rhiannon’s secret could be the ultimate weapon in this epic battle—or forge a pathway to destruction for the only man she’s ever loved.
Jaci: Where did you get the idea for the series?

Chey: Monique Patterson of St. Martin’s Press, the best editor in the world, asked me to submit a proposal for contemporary suspense, and one for paranormal. When she asked for an urban paranormal series, I wanted to do something I hadn’t seen done before. Witches came to mind because I just happened to have been studying Paganism for a young adult novel that I was writing under a different name. There’s a ceremony called “Drawing Down the Moon.” When I was trying to think up ideas for the “Magic” series, that was the first scene that came to my mind, fully developed–when in FORBIDDEN MAGIC Silver performs the ceremony “skyclad” (which = naked) on a private stretch of beach in San Francisco, and summons Hawk of the Tuatha D’Danann from Otherworld to help save the city from Demons. I really got into bringing in Celtic mythology and twisted it to use in my own wicked way. *g* I hadn’t heard of or read any witch books when I came up with the idea for my series.
Jaci: How many books will there be in the series?

Chey: Five. SHADOW MAGIC comes out next May, and then DARK MAGIC in Oct or Nov. I’m writing DARK MAGIC now. It’s going to be tough leaving my D’Anu witches, but the series has an arc and comes full circle in the fifth book. Every book is absolutely a stand alone–you don’t have to have read any of the previous books. But of course you get to learn more about the other characters when you do. :-)

Oh! And then there’s what I call book 3 1/2. It’s a “Magic” novella, BREATH OF MAGIC, with D’Anu witch Sydney and a hunky D’Danann warrior named Conlan. They get in on in the anthology, No Rest for the Witches with MaryJanice Davidson, Lori Handeland, Christine Warren, and yours truly. The anthology is due out October 2nd!
After this 5th and final “Magic” book that I’m writing, I start a new contemporary suspense continuity series with a kickass heroine named Lexi. Then next I’ll start a new urban fantasy continuity series with a half-Drow heroine (Dark Elves). Nyx is all attitude and then some. She’s beyond kickass. I think she’s going to need *her* ass kicked a few times.

Jaci: So give us your URLs:

Website: http://cheyennemccray.com/

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/cheyennemccray

Hope you’ve enjoyed our badgering each other! Remember, everyone who posts goes into the book drawings for autographed copies of Cheyenne’s FORBIDDEN MAGIC and for Jaci’s SURVIVING DEMON ISLAND!
Have a great week!

Jaci & Chey

Colette will be randomly choosing one winner for a signed copy of the book from the comments today so comment away!

Welcome Colette! Your bio says that you’re a historical novelist who is writing under a pseudonym. Any chance we can get you to publicly reveal who you really are?

I could, but then I’d have to kill you. ;-) Actually, it’s not a very well-kept secret, though I’m trying to keep it under wraps. A savvy Internet surfer who *really* wants to know would be able to find out quite easily.

In your own words how would you describe UNMASQUED and who is your perfect reader?

UNMASQUED is an *erotic* version of The Phantom of the Opera–it’s truly not for the prudish or faint of heart. My perfect reader would be someone who has read and enjoyed erotic fiction (such as Anne Rice, The Story of O, Molly Wetherfield, etc.), and who always wanted Christine to end up with the Phantom.

It’s not a soft, romantic story about Christine and Erik finally getting together. Yes, there is a passionate love between them, and the book *is* about that, and how they overcome the conflict keeping them apart–but because it’s an erotic novel, it’s told through erotic scenes. Everything–and I mean everything in the book: the characters, their motivations, their desires, etc.,–is driven by sex. Push the envelope sex.

To me, that’s what an erotic novel is. It’s written not only to tell a story, but to titillate, and to allow the reader to explore his or her sexual fantasies.

What specifically about Phantom of the Opera gave you that spark of an idea to take it a step further by exploring its erotic potential?

I think that even the original Leroux book leaves one wondering exactly what happened when Christine was down in the Phantom’s lair for so long, and of course, at the time the book was published, that kind of issue couldn’t be deeply explored in mainstream fiction.

And then Andrew Lloyd Webber came along and made it more of a two-way love story (there was no question that the Phantom loved Christine in the original book) where the Phantom was made into a more sympathetic and attractive character. I, for one, was always very upset when the play/movie ended with Christine leaving to go with Raoul.

So, because I’d always wanted to write an erotic novel, I thought I’d give a try at telling the story the way I thought it should have been told…with all of the sordid, explicit details. The whole setting (the Opera Theater, where thousands of people lived and worked) was lush and exotic anyway, and then add in a mysterious, tortured genius desperately in love with a woman he believes he can’t have…and a lonely woman who just wants to find happiness….and voila! It was a story that made sense to me.

Eric, the Phantom, is so tortured and so alpha… in your opinion, what makes him so sexy at the same time? Why are readers able to easily look beyond his deformities and make him into such a romantic über-hero?

Well, I think that having Gerard Butler play Erik in the movie certainly helped! I’m serious. Lots of women loved ALW’s The Phantom of the Opera when Michael Crawford sang the role, and Colm Wilkinson, et al, but putting a visual like Butler really helps!

Plus, I think women are often drawn to the dark, forbidding hero who has a secret and who is tortured–and who loves the heroine more than anything. Enough to risk his life for her ultimately.

Were you concerned about the reactions of POTO “purists” who might resist the idea of an erotic adaption of the story?

I wouldn’t say *concerned* as much as *aware.* LOL! It started before the book was even released, and it’s continued. There are whole threads on POTO message boards devoted to my book, and detailing how it does or doesn’t (mostly doesn’t :-)) stick with Leroux’s original novel, and commenting on the amount of sex in it.

I expected from the beginning that this book would sort of be polarizing–for the people who love POTO in its original form, and also those who don’t really read or enjoy erotica (as opposed to erotic romance).

Generally there are two reactions to my book (and if you look at, for example, the ratings on Amazon, you’ll see this borne out): people either love it (5-stars) or hate it (1-star).

I’m delighted with both types of reviews, quite frankly, because even the negative reactions from people help to let potential readers know what they’re getting in the book–if it’s something they’d enjoy.

Erotica is not for everyone; and even within erotic novels, some things push the right buttons and some things don’t for each person. And that’s perfectly fine with me–if I could have put on the book cover “this is a very dirty novel with lots of light bondage, some BDSM, a few menages a trois, and an orgy” I would have.

If people read and enjoy erotica they seem to really love the book. They enjoy the plot, the characters, the many many inventive sex scenes. They see the plot and character development in those sex scenes–it’s there! Every single sex scene in the book develops either plot or character or both, but if erotica is not someone’s cup of tea, then they aren’t likely to discern that because they may not enjoy the scenes.

The only thing that disappoints me is when people disparage the book because it has “too much” “so much” “it’s all” SEX in it. It says right on the cover that it’s an EROTIC novel. What did they expect?

Please tell us what’s next for Colette Gale?

I just finished MASTER: An Erotic Novel of the Count of Monte Cristo. I loved writing that book, and I enjoyed thoroughly Dumas’s original novel. I read and studied the unabridged one, and based my version on that book–not on the recent movie.

MASTER is a little less push-the-envelope with sex than UNMASQUED, but it’s still dark and passionate and sticks with my personal mantra for when I write erotica: at least one orgasm per chapter.

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Thank you to Colette Gale for joining us today!

Please leave a comment for her to be in the draw to win a signed copy of UNMASQUED.

Also, Borders is offering a $1-off coupon for UNMASQUED (among other great books) through September 10. Check out this offer here.