Guest Author: Erica Hayes

Before becoming one of RWAustralia’s newly published authors, Erica turned her hand at a number of careers - law student, air force officer, editorial assistant and musician. She writes erotic dark urban fantasy and is published with St.Martin’s Griffin. In her own words she has “the best job in the world – imagining.”

Her imagination creates worlds and stories inhabited by fairies, spriggans, banshees, demons, incubi, succubi, vampire gangsters, glamour and magic.

Today Erica’s visiting to share some not-so-serious details about her life and where she’s headed next in her career.

Hi, Erica, it's great to have you here! Let's start with some basic facts ;-) .

Author name: Erica Hayes.

Published genre/s: urban fantasy/romance/erotica. One day I wanna do some space opera. Or a post-apocalyptic punk noir with aliens. 

I'd love to read one of those genres, E. - can't wait for you to get them drafted! Please hurry :-) .

Favourite childhood toy: X-box 360 and Supernatural DVDs... Oh, you mean my small-person childhood? I had a little stuffed rabbit called Peter, from whom I was apparently inseparable. After a while, his eyes fell out — too much tough love — so Mum had to perform surgery on him. 

Also an orange hippo with a hat, named Groonk-Groonk. Yeah. He was stuffed with beans or dried peas or something, and ‘grooonk’ was the noise he made when you sat on him.

Greatest Vice: Chocolate. Closely followed by the DVD section at amazon.com. Guess which one’s more expensive?

Hmm, the C-word! The secret behind every good writer is a block and half of yummy choc-latey goodness while watching your favourite DVD!

Book you’re reading now: Ummm... just finished Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake. My TBR shelf is diminishing slowly, but only because there are no good bookshops in Newcastle. I was in Borders today with loads of cash and didn’t buy ANYTHING.

Most intriguing place you’ve visited: I holidayed in Egypt once, and visited the temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel. After a week spent gazing at pyramids and tombs and Tutankhamen’s treasure, I thought I was immune to awestruck goggling. I was wrong.

So many places, so much goggling to do, so little time ... sigh...

A place you’ve yet to visit and want to: I wanna see the Grand Canyon. Y’know, that glass platform where you go out over the edge? Yeah. I’m going to RWA in Nashville this year, so this might be my chance...

Oh, the Grand Canyon! When I visited (last century) one piece of advise I was given was, if I ever fall over the edge, don't close my eyes - you have the best view of anyone on the way down, why spoil it by shutting them. Something to remember when you visit, Erica, *grin*!

Author/s in your genre who you enjoy reading: Lots of them. I like Keri Arthur, Ann Aguirre, Rob Thurman, Jim Butcher....

Who or what influenced you to write in the genre/s you’re now published in? I guess it just seemed like a good idea at the time... Everything I’d ever written had fantasy/sci-fi elements of some kind, and I’d tried high fantasy and a kind of quasi-contemporary magicians-and-aliens-in-the-outback mishmash (dustpunk?) but I hadn’t hit on anything particularly special. So I decided I’d try something dark and gritty and a bit sexy. Look what happened. Don’t try this at home, folks :)

When developing a story who tends to appear first in your mind, the hero or heroine, and why? Usually it’s the heroine. My stories are fantasy foremost — the hero’s more of an antagonist, really, and the plot is primarily based around the heroine. But the one I’m working on now arrived hero-first, and I had to make up a heroine to suit him, or in his case to drive him crazy.

Writing Milestone/s: You mean, like, goals? At the moment, it’s finish the damn book. Right now I’m in the middle of book 4 of my Shadowfae series and let me tell you, it’s like flossing your teeth with wet spaghetti: tricky, but fun once you get started. Once I’ve finished that one... well, we’ll see. Maybe more Shadowfae. Maybe onto something different for a while.

Latest release/project: I have SHADOWGLASS coming out on 2 March. It’s book 2 in the Shadowfae series, and it’s about fairies!

The heroine, Ice, is a waterfae thief hunting for that big score, and she gets more than she anticipated when she steals a demon’s magic mirror. 

The hero is Indigo, a haughty metalfairy with a dark secret. SHADOWGLASS has vengeful demons, confused angels, nasty shapeshifting gangsters and a lovesick serial killer. What’s not to like?

If you care to, you can read an excerpt and watch the book trailer at my site: http://www.shadowfae.net

Erica also has a free short story called Hellcursed on her site, based around the character of Jade, the heroine who appears in her first book, SHADOWFAE. It's a great read! Check it out.

In your recent release/latest work, what about your hero or heroine inspired you? Ice from SHADOWGLASS is one of the little people. There are so many urban fantasies out there where the heroine is kick-ass and powerful. I wanted to write about a normal girl who gets out of her depth in a mean world, and has to step up to survive. I mean, sure, Ice is cute and cheeky and knows a trick or two, and kicks some bad-guy ass in her own way. But she’s up against enemies who are way more powerful than she is, and so she has to live by her wits and wiles. I’d love to be like her!

As for the hero, well. He’s blue, and has wings. I’m inspired already :)

Well, I've already placed an order for this book and I can't wait to read it, E. There's something definitely intriguing and appealing about a heroine who faces overwhelming odds yet manages to triumph, not to mention a winged, blue hero!

Thanks for dropping in and sharing! :-) Thanks for having me!

Now for a little fun! I can't let readers go away empty-handed, so I've asked Erica to set you a little challenge. The dangly carrot? An autographed copy of her first book, SHADOWFAE! You just have to answer this question ... If you found a magic mirror that was bound to tell you the truth — what would you ask it?

You have until 12 noon on Monday, 1st March 2010 to leave your comment. The lucky visitor will be announced here on Tuesday, 2nd March. 

Have fun leaving a comment!

Enjoy What You Do

"If you enjoy what you are doing, you can always find time for whatever you want to do."

(WGP)

Positive Attitudes

For most writers, the whole process can be pretty isolating. Physically, mentally and geographically. So keeping in contact with like minded people is essential. Networking, sharing the good, bad and ugly moments of your writing life, receiving and giving support and encouragement to others, learning about writing related topics - all this is a valuable part of your growth as a writer.

Being a part of a writing e-list is a great way to do this. Over the last couple of weeks there's been a huge amount of traffic on a couple of the loops I regularly participate in - the ROMAUS, RWNZ and BI50D loops, as well as their pages on Facebook. Most of it has been good news - sales, releases, reviews, The Calls, contests finalists, contest placings, requests, new agents etc.

After reading hundreds of messages, the one quality that stands out is that positive attitudes reinforce the success of the group as a whole. And it's not just a one-off occurrence. It continues to be a perpetuating cycle of encouragement and support, bolstering everyone all of the time.

Reminds me of the old adage - "success breeds success".

Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?

CONTEST NEWS!

Valentine's weekend was a particularly anxious weekend for me. Why? Because the results for the West Houston RWA Emily contest (all sections) were announced at their Awards luncheon on Saturday, 13th Feb.

Fellow RWOz members Alison Leake, Rebecca Sampson and I had all received word we'd finalled in our respective sections (Al and myself in the Paranormal, Bec in the Contemporary series sections).

Unable to sleep, I checked my emails early this morning (try 3.30am - Australian time! lol) and there were the results. I am very, very pleased to share the contents.

My ms, BLOODBORN, was awarded 1st place in the Paranormal section! And Chris Keesler from Dorchester has requested the full manuscript!

So, guess what I was doing this morning? Hmm mmm, emailing the full ASAP.

Bec placed 1st in her section and Alison placed 4th and BOTH have also had a full manuscript requests. Fantastic news all round!!!

We'll all be orbiting the moon for the next several days, I think :-) .

PROMO: Erica Hayes

Visiting my blog on Saturday 27th February is none other than Aussie urban fantasy author, Erica Hayes. Spread the word - tell you friends, shout it from the rooftops, send out messenger owls because this is a visit not to be missed!

Her debut book SHADOWFAE is out now and the second in The Chronicles series, SHADOWGLASS, is due for release on 2nd March 2010.

I met Erica via another friend in an email then had the pleasure of meeting her face to face at the RWOz annual conference in Brisbane. We then both flew over to attend the RWNZ conference.

In the photo, Erica is dressed up as a wicked looking fairy at the RWNZ Awards dinner. What a great night that was!

Valentine's Day

Have you ever wondered how this special day came about? To me it means sending a special something to someone to tell them you care or love them - a flower, a small gift, a card, a message or love letter with the accompanying sentiment coming from deep in your heart. But was it always like this?

No. The most popular version of the origins of Valentine’s Day comes from ancient Roman times. The church wanted their people to convert from paganism to Christianity. They needed a suitable patron to replace the pagan god and his love festival, and they discovered the story of Valentine.

Around 270 BC, Emperor Claudius needed soldiers for his army but discovered men in love and married men weren’t keen to join up and fight so he cancelled all marriages and engagements. As you would expect, this didn’t go down well with his soldiers.

Valentine, a Roman soldier and priest, disagreed with the decree and married couples in secret. When Claudius found out he threw Valentine in prison. The prison guard’s blind daughter used to keep him company as he awaited his death sentence. Of course, they fell in love (his love eventually cured her blindness) and on the day of Valentine’s death – February 14th – he left her a message and signed it, “From Your Valentine”.

The church decided to use this as a commemorative holiday to replace the pagan love festival and now people all over the world use it as a day to show affection to the one they love.

Traditions abound on Valentine’s Day. Have a look at some of the things people did or believed about this day in the past.

• In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.
• In Wales wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favourite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, "You unlock my heart!"
• Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire.
• Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry. As you twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off. You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell off.
• Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem. That is the number of children you will have.

If you’re looking for a special way to celebrate Valentine’s Day why not watch a classic movie like Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Roman Holiday, From Here to Eternity, An Affair to Remember or Romeo and Juliette.

Or how about something with a little history, adventure and romance – Doctor Zhivargo, Out of Africa, The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Australia.

Maybe, if you’re like me, you’re into the quirky, offbeat romances like The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Casanova, Kate & Leopold or Paperback Hero (coincidently, both these movies star Hugh Jackman!!!).

To finish I’d like to share a beautiful quote from Helen Keller - The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.

However you celebrate it, may your Valentine’s Day be a good one!

Happy Birthday!

A friend of mine who owns a craft shop business called Robyn's Crafty Celebrations celebrates its 1st birthday on Valentine's Day. Hard to believe it's been a year since she opened its doors!

Robyn is the crafter who made my incredible front and back door stained glass windows that you've seen on my website.

She also knits, patchworks, scroll-saws, Paverpols, crochets, sews, creates wooden toys, makes knick-knacks, runs craft days for kids and workshops for adults and sells various craft products. A multi-talented lady!

She's also just created her own website. You can link to her site here.

Happy 1st Birthday, RCC!!!