Today we’re excited to have Kristine Cayne as our guest on The Editing Essentials. Please join us in welcoming her!
Award-winning author Kristine Cayne is fascinated by the mysteries of human psychology—twisted secrets, deep-seated beliefs, out-of-control desires. Add in high-stakes scenarios and real-world villains, and you have a story worth writing, and reading. Kristine’s heroes and heroines are pitted against each other by their radically opposing life experiences. By overcoming their differences and finding common ground, they triumph over their enemies and find true happiness in each other’s arms.Today she lives in the Pacific Northwest, thriving on the mix of cultures, languages, religions and ideologies. When she’s not writing, she’s people-watching, imagining entire life stories, and inventing all sorts of danger for the unsuspecting heroes and heroines who cross her path. To learn more about Kristine and her stories, visit her website: www.kristinecayne.com or her blog, http://kristinecayne.blogspot.com/ or on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/KristineCayneAuthor
WD: What is your favorite book of all time you can read again and again?
KC: My favorite book of all time, and one of the rare books that I’ve read several times is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. Jamie Fraser will forever be the standard to which I compare all heroes. Likewise, Clare is the perfect example of the strong capable heroine who is nonetheless at ease with her femininity.
WD: What is your favorite part about creating a new story? Creating characters, plot, conflict, sex scenes, action scenes, etc.?
KC: There is so much that I enjoy about writing. If I have to pick, I’d say that my favorite part is romantic scenes. It can be sex, or it can be flirtatious bantering. Both are immensely fun to write.
WD: What do you like about writing your characters?
KC: One of the great joys I get from writing is seeing my characters come to life. When I first start planning a story, the characters are vague, ill-defined, and mysterious, like figures in a dream. I can see them, but I can’t quite identify them. As the story unfolds, the characters start to seem real. I find myself thinking things like: “no, he would never say that” or “of course, that’s exactly what she would do in this situation.” By the end of the book, I’m talking about them like they are my friends: “he wants to try something new tonight” or “he likes how the sunlight puts highlights in her hair.”
Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to conduct interviews with some of my characters with my critique partner acting as interviewer. It was so fun to see how they responded to questions. 🙂
WD: What are your goals for 2013?
KC: I’ve got a full load planned for this year. My goal is to publish three stories this year. One, Deadly Betrayal, from my Deadly Vices romantic suspense series. And two stories from my Six-Alarm Sexy series, Everything Bared and one that is not quite officially named yet. My stretch goal is to publish an additional book from the Deadly Vices series, Deadly Deception.
I’ve never written this much before, nor have I ever written two books concurrently, but I’m going to give it a shot. Without goals, I’d never accomplish anything!
WD: What do you like about doing Blog Hops?
KC: I love the chance to meet new readers. A blog hop is like a huge party where every invitee brings a couple of friends from another “circle.” It mixes things up and expands your group, hopefully resulting in lasting friendships.
WD: What is the most outrageous, fun, or interesting giveaway you’ve done, or seen as a giveaway for a Blog Hop?
KC: While participating in an erotica/erotic romance blog hop, there was a grand prize of a gift certificate to an adult store. The gift certificate in itself was not super interesting or outrageous, but imagining all the items bought by the winner in a basket, well, that made me smile.
WD: What advice would you give to new writers?
KC: LOL! I’m still learning. Each book is a new adventure, and each day is a struggle to get focused. Before you publish, all you think about is writing. But afterward, you have a slew of different hats to wear and you quickly become distracted. I have to work very hard to keep myself on schedule and to pull away from online activities. As I said, I’m still learning. 🙂
Thanks so much, Kristine, for being our guest today! If you have questions or comments for Kristine, please feel free to post them here. She’ll be checking in throughout the day. Thanks!
