 | by Emma Ray Garrett Lena Austin This month, I took Time Out with Lena Austin: author, mother, grandmother, mentor, and all around terrific person. Ever candid, Lena is the kind of writer new writers can only hope to meet. She gives it to you straight and she'll always let you pick her brain, well at least so long as you don't keep her up too late, LOL! |
ER: All right, Lena, we're often asked why we decided to be writers. My question isn't why, but rather when did you write what you consider your first story? What was it about?
LA: I wrote it in high school as part of my English class. The teacher accused me of plagiarism, saying she could not believe such a story came out of a mere teen. Fortunately, I was the kind of kid who asked for (and often got) parental approval and input. My parents and my stack of plot cards got me the "A" I'd earned. It was the basis for my very successful Unicorn Valley series, BTW.
ER: Nice :D! Do you have a drawer story? A story that you take out occasionally and rework over and over but it's never quite where you want it to be?
LA: I have three!! "Atlantis Lost", "Lionfish", and "Strawberry Butterfly." There was a fourth, but I've recently sold it.
ER: Coffee is very popular among the writing crowd. If you drink it, how do you take it?
LA: I drink it the opposite of the way I like my men - I like my coffee blond and sweet. My men I prefer dark and bitter.
ER: I like my coffee the same, and it seems - when he's behaving - I like my men the same. Though if you'd asked me before my DH, I'd have agreed with you, LOL! So, I hear you're about to release a book co-authored by one of your lovely daughters! Instead of asking how it was to work together, I want some dirt, LMAO! Can you share a momynym from raising her? A lesson she alone taught you?
LA: Tuesday is an informal adoptee, so no baby dirt. I got her as a teen that wore eye-blindingly bad clothes and rainbow hair. (Wince) She tagged along with my eldest bio-daughter Merri, plopped down at my kitchen table, and behind that vivacious exterior resembling a tropical parrot, I saw the eyes of a very hurt child. That was it. She was mine, as far as I was concerned. What were a few cookies and sodas compared to all the love she's given in return? Nothing.
ER: Wow, Lena, that's is absolutely awesome. Really, truly, awesome. Okay, before I get ferklempt, LOL, I know you are quite the busy businesswoman, Lena. When you aren't working, what do you do for R&R?
LA: Square foot gardening, faux stained glass, sewing teddy bears and fleece blankets, textile painting, cooking, housewifery, teaching Wicca, and cat slave duties. Darn. I'm tired just reading this list. Really, they're all fun.
ER: Cat slave duties, LOL! I'm quite familiar with those *bg*! I swear, my Shadow is more persistent, argumentative, and stubborn than I am. I love him anyway. Onto movies, which do you prefer: action or romance?
LA: Action all the way, babe! Make my heart race!
ER: Ooh, absolutely!! "Justine" or "Lady Chatterley's Lover"?
LA: Who? If these are sex movies, can I pick "Fanny Hill" instead?
ER: LOL, okay forget them. Fanny Hill, huh? I'm more partial to "Wild Orchid" myself but that's because Mickey Rourke always struck me as a Dom who'd bend under the right man, *WEG*!
Why don't you give us a piece of sage advice. Writing related isn't necessary, just something you find yourself following often.
LA: How about something my father taught me? "Never whine about your fate," he said. "There is no such thing as fate. That's abdicating responsibility for your own actions. You made choices that got you somewhere, and if those choices mean you fall on your face in the mud then you have to make the decision to get up, wipe off the mud, and keep going. No one wants to help whiners who won't even try to help themselves. You'd be surprised how fast folks stick out their hands to help when they see you struggling and making the effort. Never give up, and always take responsibility for your decisions whether they were right or wrong." Damn good advice.
ER: I should say so! Mighty fine advice.
Okay, so that's the end of my questions. Here start the good parts, readers, LOL! How about some hot bits, Lena! A sneak peek at one of your delicious books, upcoming or classic, and I think we'll be satisfied… temporarily *EG*!
LA: Always happy to oblige. This book releases March 14, 2008.
Night Critters 1: Must Love Dogs
Lena Austin and Tuesday Richards
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2006 Lena Austin and Tuesday Richards
An Authorized Excerpt
This e-book file contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language which some may find offensive and which is not appropriate for a young audience. Changeling Press E-Books are for sale to adults, only, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.
Roni had no such restraints to keep her from pealing out the wildest howl he'd ever heard. "Woo-woo-wooo!" She threw back her head and sang to the moon. The carriage shot them down into the blackness of a dark cave. At least Corbin assumed it was a cave. He couldn't see the stars or the moon but he could see the luminous red nature of Roni's eyes. She looked like the legendary demon dogs. Wait. Her mother was a Siberian Husky werefolk. Their eyes turned red in low light. His heart raced faster, and adrenaline shot through his system. He'd howl in a few seconds if he didn't do something, and his body reacted before his conscious mind thought up a plan. His arms clamped around Roni's, and he yanked her closer for an adrenaline-laced kiss.
She returned the kiss in kind, smelling of excitement and a trace of fear from the ride. Her lips worked beneath his, nibbling on his bottom lip with tiny nips both painful and arousing.
They were still locked at the mouth like two teens with stuck braces when the ride ended. The attendant chuckled when he lifted the restraint bar, and whispered the name of the nearest local hotel. "Get a room, you two."
Roni released Corbin's lips and giggled. She tugged on his hand. "C'mon, handsome. Your car is this way." Then she let go of his hand and ran. The wink over her shoulder invited him for a short chase.
He knew where the damn car was. Barely. Not that it mattered. She couldn't run fast in those heels and presumably she left them on to let "the human" catch her. He laughed and loped easily after Roni.
She "let" him catch her at the rear bumper of his hydrocar. Her hand reached up to grasp his head and pull him down for a lingering kiss.
Corbin wrapped his arms around her and lifted Roni's butt until it rested on the trunk of his car and equalized their heights.
Roni responded by wrapping her legs around his waist. The heat of her arousal smacked his nose like a fist. "We need a room. And a bed. Now."
Those panted demands acted like the strongest aphrodisiacs known to lupine kind. Corbin stroked her whole body from breast to hip and back. "Yes. Your place is closest." It was a lie. His home was closer, but the last thing he wanted was for Duke to see or get involved. She was his, and he didn't want to share even her face.
Roni dove for the passenger side and had her seatbelt on before he could even get in. Her big brown eyes flashed with that demonic light once more in the streetlamps. Her fingertips stroked his zipper, but she couldn't reach any further. "Damn the laws that keep me locked away from you. I'd suck on your cock the entire way home."
The aforementioned body part stood at rigid attention like a soldier called to duty. Corbin's mind blanked as all the blood rushed out of his brain. "Yes, ma'am. I'll drive as fast as I can."
http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=821
ER: Holy smokes, Lena! Now that's what I call a hot nibble!
My thanks go to Lena Austin for taking Time Out with me this month. And for all you readers, I'll see you next month with my next victim, MWAHAHAHAH! Until then, be naughty and love it!
Emma Ray Garrett