Thank you for tuning in today. Please have a seat, get comfy and you might want to take down a few notes of websites. I'm excited to introduce to you the fabulous erotic author, Karenna Colcroft! Let's hear a round of applause please! Thank you....Karenna, I'm so glad you could be here all week so our readers can chat with you. Before I allow them to jump in with titillating questions, I have a few of my own.
Karenna: Tonya, thank you for having me. I love meeting new readers so I hope they think up some good questions for me.
Tonya: Tell us a bit about yourself. Do you have a day job?
Karenna: I do have a day job of sorts. I work part-time (VERY part-time) for my father-in-law in the office of the marine assistance towing company he owns. My husband also works there, as one of the assistance boat captains. That’s where I got the idea for my novel Their Home Port, as a matter of fact.
Other than working there and writing, I have two daughters who like to have my attention from time to time, and two cats who like to distract me from my writing.
Tonya: Well that’s a great way to get story ideas! Good luck with more along ‘port’ avenue. Some of us have things we do to get into the writing frame of mind like music, or drinks. Do you have anything special you do to get into the writing mood?
Karenna: Not really. I’ve seen a lot of writers say they have a certain routine or certain music they listen to or something, but I don’t. I just sit down at my computer, set a goal for the day (a specific number of words if I’m writing, or a specific number of chapters if I’m revising or doing publisher edits), and hope for the best.
Tonya: Are you ever at a loss for ideas? What do you do to get past those time? I don’t have them often but being out in my yard and gardens helps me get creative.
Karenna: Sometimes I have trouble coming up with romance ideas. It can be really difficult to come up with two characters who actually belong together and to figure out a logical way for them to meet. Fortunately, I also write young adult fiction (under a different name), so if I’m stuck for a romance idea I just switch over and work on a YA story for a while.
Tonya: I totally relate to that! Do you have a card file where you keep story ideas? Where do they come from?
Karenna: I don’t have a card file. If an idea really strikes me as something I should use in a story, I type it up and save it on my computer. I don’t know where the ideas come from. Sometimes it’s something I see on TV or read in a book (I don’t use other people’s stories, but a phrase or concept might spark something in my brain); sometimes it’s a dream I had; sometimes they just come out of nowhere. I’ve given up trying to figure out where all my ideas come from. As long as they keep showing up, it’s all good.
Tonya: Tell us about a day in your life as a writer.
Karenna: During the week, I usually get up around 5:30 in the morning, because I want to shower before I have to get my kids up for school. During their waking up and getting dressed process, I sit at my computer and check emails. (My kids are 12 and 15; they’re capable of dressing themselves, most of the time. LOL). I usually drive or walk each of them to school, then I either go to work at my day job or I return home, depending on the day of the week. I have a schedule of blogs I visit each day, along with doing my own daily blog posts and other promotional activities. I usually get in about 2-3 hours of actual writing or revising in the course of a typical day.
Tonya: Keeping up with all that is definitely time consuming and if we aren’t careful, writing doesn’t happen! Are you a daytime writer, night time writer, and do you have to be alone to write?
Karenna: I’m a daytime writer. I actually have a deal with my kids that, unless I have a chat or something scheduled, if I’m on the computer after 6 p.m. they can lecture me. Evenings are my time with my family. I don’t have to be alone to write, but it does make it easier to concentrate if hubby’s at work and the kids are at school.
Tonya: Do you have critique partners or ever been in a critique group? What was the best thing you learned from a critique?
Karenna: I don’t have any critique partners or groups, and I’ve never been in a group. In the past, I’ve had people take a look at a story or two. The best thing I learned was to remember to include all sensual details: sight, sound, touch, taste and smell if they apply. Of course, I still sometimes struggle with that…
Tonya: Do you write better when you first have an idea of what your characters look like or do you write, then add character looks?
Karenna: I usually have an idea of what the hero looks like. Figuring out the heroine’s looks is a little more difficult for me. Cover art forms have become the bane of my existence, because when I decide what my characters look like I have a picture of them in my mind, and then to fill out the forms I have to translate that picture into words.
Tonya: Do you always include HEA and is that type of ending important to you?
Karenna: All of my romances have happily ever after, or at least happily for now, endings. To me, that kind of ending is important. I mentioned earlier that I haven’t always believed romance existed, and now that my hubby is showing me differently, I really like writing—and reading—about people who find their happy endings.
Tonya: Where can our readers find you and your books?
Karenna: The best place to find out more about me is my website. I have a blog on that site where I post daily, with a different type of post each day of the week. I’m also on Twitter (when I remember) as @KarennaColcroft, and on Facebook.
My books are available at my publishers: Pink Petal Books, Ellora’s Cave, Noble Romance, Siren Bookstrand, and coming soon, MLR Press. Most of the books are also available on Amazon and All Romance eBooks, as well as other third party sites.
Tonya: Is there anything else you want to tell our readers?
Karenna: I enjoy hearing from readers, and I’m usually pretty good about answering, so feel free to get in touch.
Tonya: Karenna, I’ve enjoyed our interview! Thank you for being with me this week and letting me introduce you to my readers. I hope all of you have or will be hopping over to Karenna’s websites to check out all her books.
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