My interview this month is with Sara Reinke.  I swear this phenomenal author can write anything.  Her works range from fantasy to suspense to paranormal.   If you are looking for a great read then be sure to pick up one of Sara’s works. 

Welcome to Love Romances & More Sara and thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to give our readers a chance to learn more about you.  Could you please tell us a little about yourself?

Hi, Shaiha. Thanks so much for inviting me! I’m a multi-published author from Kentucky. I’ve been writing stories for almost as long as I can remember. My “day job” is as a writer and editor for a regional travel publication, but my first love will always be fiction. I’ve won numerous awards, including finaling in the 2005 Dream Realm Awards for excellence in electronically published speculative fiction. 

Would you mind sharing with our readers one tidbit that no one else knows?  Any secret addictions? 

Thrift store shopping Is definitely an addiction. I don’t know that it’s necessarily a secret from those who know me, though, LOL. Most of my friends know about it because I always tell them what great deals I found. My husband knows about it because I’m always coming home with non-descript plastic bags overflowing with new-to-me clothes. I got hooked on thrift shopping probably about 10 years ago and have seldom bought anything from a retail store ever since. I’m definitely a junkie. 

Most authors are avid readers.  If I was to look through your bookcase what names would I find?  What genre was your favorite as you were growing up? 

Science fiction, fantasy and horror were my favorites growing up, but I also loved mystery stores, too.  As far as what’s on my bookshelf today, outside of reference materials, I couldn’t really tell you. I’m probably unlike most any other author out there in that I don’t read much for pleasure. I’ve found that’s the best way to keep my personal writing style, my “narrative voice” clean and distinctly my own. That helps me tell my stories my way.  

Does your family support you?  And would you be proud or horrified if your family read your work? 

My family is extremely supportive of my writing, and always have been. I’m very fortunate in that respect. I’m not embarrassed if family or friends read my books. I usually give them a friendly forewarning that there are “naughty bits” in the story, but explain that’s pretty much a must-have in romance novels. If they don’t like it, they can thumb past it. I try to write stories that hold their own, with or without explicit love scenes. I will admit, however, that the first time my father told me he’d read one of my books, I felt a bit awkward.  Another time, he scolded me for cussing so much in “Dark Thirst,” which I thought was pretty cute. 

Speaking of family, would you mind telling us about yours? 

I am married to my very own Prince Charming. We’ve been together for nine years; married for six. We have two beautiful children together who are constantly challenging, intriguing, entertaining and amusing us. The rest of my family – parents, grandparents, etc., are pretty far-flung. I have a brother-in-law in Lake Tahoe, for example. He owns a restaurant called The Burger Lounge, and I’m planning to set a scene from “Dark Hunger,” my upcoming sequel to “Dark Thirst” there. 

Now to the good stuff.  Sara, I absolutely loved DARK THIRST.  What was then inspiration for this unique offering in the paranormal genre? 

I was inspired by a couple of different things. First off, I grew up in the heart of Bluegrass territory in central Kentucky, and whenever we’d drive to the more major metropolitan area of Lexington, we’d follow US Highway 60, which took us through Woodford County – rolling acres of pristine, multi-million dollar Thoroughbred horse farms. I always wondered about the people who owned them, the people who lived there.  It seemed like you could sustain an entire subculture, separated and segregated from the rest of the world, on one of those farms and no one would ever know. So that’s where the idea for the Brethren as a hidden society came from. 

As for the hero, I can’t remember why exactly I chose to make Brandon Noble deaf and mute. I remember that when I saw the movie, “Four Weddings and A Funeral,” I was intrigued by the deaf-mute character featured prominently in it – primarily because he was treated just like everyone else. His disability wasn’t a prop or plot device and none of the other characters in the movie treated him any differently because of it. When I came up with the idea for Brandon, I wanted to create that same kind of character. 

As for why vampires – well, the idea for “Dark Thirst” was originally to make it a graphic novel comic book. After I graduated from college, I met a group of folks who wanted to launch an independent comic company. We were all going to pen our own titles and pool our money to have them printed. Since I’d once fantasized about writing and drawing for Marvel Comics, this was right up my alley. So originally, “Dark Thirst” the novel was going to be “Bloodletting” the graphic novel, but even though I got several pages penciled for it, the idea for the comic company fell through, and “Bloodletting” tanked along with it. I toyed with the idea of making a novel out of it, and even started to write it, but it never went anywhere, either. I thought it was an original idea, good enough to keep at least on the back burner of my mind, so I did for about the next 10 years.  

Last year, NY Times best-selling author Karen Robards came to my RWA chapter and spoke, mentioning along the way that vampire fiction was really hot at the moment. I remembered the idea for Brandon Noble and the Brethren and went home, started writing it again. And the rest, as they say, is history. <g> 

How long does it actually take you to sit down and write DARK THIRST?  

That’s a funny story, actually. The first two or three chapters? A month or so, probably. The rest of the book? About three weeks. Kensington responded right away to my original query, which I hadn’t expected, and requested the full manuscript rather than a partial, which I also hadn’t expected…as evidenced by the fact the full manuscript wasn’t done yet. Only two or three chapters. So I wrote the rest of the original draft in two weeks. Once it was contracted, I had to add in about 20,000 words to get it up to mass market length, and that took me another week or so.  

DARK THIRST appears to be the beginning of a series.  How many are you planning on writing in this series? 

There are two books under contract – “Dark Thirst” and the sequel, “Dark Hunger,” which picks up right where the first leaves off and will hit bookstores in July, 2008. I have a third book planned after that, and definitely would like to see the series continue on from there. I have that “comic book nerd” mentality when it comes to my writing, meaning I can always foresee my stories as an ongoing series. Comic book plotlines are a lot like soap operas – they can go on and on for months, with all sorts of intertwining subplots, etc., and that’s how I try to see all of my manuscripts - - with a bigger, broader, where-can-I-take-this-further-down-the-road point of view. 

Could you give our readers a sneak peek into the next book in the series? 

Not without giving a bunch of spoilers, LOL. It picks up where “Dark Thirst” leaves off, and continues the adventures of Brandon, Lina and his friends as they travel across the country from New Orleans to South Lake Tahoe, California. The Brethren Elders are still in pursuit. While Brandon and Lina will still figure prominently in “Dark Hunger,” the main plot will revolve around two different main characters, who were introduced in “Dark Thirst” and go on to develop a romance of their own. 

Vampires are becoming really popular on television.  If you were to be offered a prime time show who would you cast as the leads?

Holy cow. Uh… For Brandon? Probably Orlando Bloom. He has the kind of expressive eyes I envisioned for Brandon, the ability to convey a lot through his eyes and face, and not necessarily through speaking. For Rene Morin, a secondary character in the book? Josh Holloway – Sawyer from “Lost.”  

Sara, is writing your only profession or are you still working the day job to support the dream? 

I went back to work full time earlier this year, just prior to the birth of my daughter…not as much to support my dream as to support my children’s dreams, LOL. While it would be amazing to be able to stay home and write my books full-time, right now, that’s just not possible. Too much has to come first. But maybe someday… J 

If you were given the opportunity to write an anthology with any four authors, alive or dead, who would you pick and why? 

Stephen King – because he’s Stephen King. LOL. Seriously, though, he was a major early influence on my writing 

Devyn Quinn – because she’s not only my friend, but one of the best authors I’ve read in a long time. She has such an extraordinary imagination and a gift for storytelling. It would be a pleasure and an honor to share book space with her. 

Patrick Larkin – because he’s a NY Times best-seller who took the time to personally respond to emails from me when I was an unpublished nitwit trying to navigate the rough waters of getting published. His candor, guidance, advice and friendship were – and are – very much appreciated. 

Karen Robards – for the exact same reasons as above.  

Sara, do you have a ritual for when you complete a book? 

I like to go to my favorite Mexican restaurant, order a heaping plate of chilaquiles, which is a tortilla and chicken casserole, plus a lime margarita on the rocks, no salt. 

I just have to ask this.  What does your office look like?   

Astonishingly neat at the moment. We’re trying to sell our house, so the normal disarray you might find in here is currently absent. J My office has windows on two sides, which gives me an unobstructed view of my yard and street, plenty of sunshine by day. I have my desk, computer, reference books, laser printer, color printer all right here, plus a standing cabinet that contains probably in excess of two tons of papers – book drafts, research notes, promo items, correspondences, anything and everything, all of the way back to at least 2005. I have a very hard time throwing away anything related to my writing. 

I also have to ask how you write.  Do you write everything out in longhand and then transcribe it onto a computer or is Word your savior?  Do you have certain music and scents floating thru the air? 

I have to type my stories out. I can’t tell stories aloud. And my hand cramps up if I write too much on paper anymore, LOL. I’ve been typing out my stories since I was in grade school; it’s how my mind operates now when I’m storytelling. It’s the only way my hands can keep up with my brain, LOL. And while my childhood and adolescence can be tracked by which typewriter or word processor I was using and when, I can’t imagine writing books without MS Word. The idea that I once transcribed everything to paper on a manual typewriter -- with no way to go back and rearrange, cut and paste, add, subtract, etc.  – it astounds me. I don’t know how I survived, LOL. 

As for music and what-not - - no. I can’t have music playing when I write. No distractions. I tend to lose myself in my work and become utterly oblivious to everything around me, and to accomplish this, I have to have things quiet. No particular fragrances or scents, either, unless I have a snack while I work, a glass of wine, cup of tea, etc.  

What prompted you to start writing Sara? 

I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t write stories, so for me, that’s kind of like trying to tell you what prompted me to breathe. Even if I wasn’t published, even if no one outside of my mom and husband ever read my stories, I would still write them. It’s not just a passion for me, and it’s never been a hobby. It’s something I’m compelled to do, what I love to do – something I take extraordinary pride and satisfaction and enjoyment in doing. It’s what I want to do “when I grow up.” It’s just something inherent in my nature, and I could probably cut my toe off more easily than I could give up my writing. 

What inspires you? 

All different things. Sometimes a song on the radio when I’m driving will kick my muse in the ass, get her running on the hamster wheel of creativity in my skull. Sometimes it’s a particular character or face or scene I envision in my mind. Sometimes it’s an emotion I want to explore, or a historical event I learn about that I find intriguing. Sometimes I turn inward for inspiration – from how I think or feel about something. It all depends. And it’s never the same thing twice. You can’t turn creativity on and off like a light switch, and you can’t rein it in like a puppy. All you can do is be open to it and hold on for the ride.  

Do you have any upcoming works that you would like to share with our readers? 

“Dark Hunger,” the sequel to “Dark Thirst” will hit bookstores in July, 2008. I’m about ¾ through it as we speak, and I’m really pleased with how it’s turning out. Sometimes when you write, you go through spans in a manuscript where you don’t feel it’s as strong as it can be, and even though you may revise, rewrite, etc., you never quite get it to a place where you’re 100% satisfied with it. I haven’t had that happen yet with “Dark Hunger.” It’s all coming together so wonderfully, everything falling into place. I’m really excited to see what readers think of it! 

Any suggestions that you would like to give to aspiring authors? 

Don’t give up, no matter how many rejections you receive or how frustrated you become. Surround yourself with supportive people, whether in person or online. Write the stories you want to write the way you want to write them, and not just what you think will sell, or how a particular editor or publisher would have you write. Believe in yourself and your work, and never stop learning or improving your craft. Be kind to others, but more importantly – be kind to yourself.  

Can you think of anything that I have forgotten that you would like to share with our readers? 

I invite everyone to visit my online home away from home at www.sarareinke.com. I always have at least one fun-filled contest going on. Folks can subscribe to my online newsletter, add me to their My Space friends list or check out my free novel-length historical romance, “Heart’s Ransom,” available as a PDF download. J 

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to spend with Love Romances & More Sara!  

Thank YOU, Shaiha, and all of your readers! I’ve had a wonderful time!