Welcome to Dawn’s Reading Nook, Zenobia
Renquist. Please let my cabana boys get you a drink and make yourself at home.
Comfortable? Great…now let’s get down to business.
Q: Tell
us a little about yourself. What you do, either for a living or for fun or
both.
Z: I am a
full-time author and have been such since around this time last year when I
quit my day job. The place was literally making me feel homicidal, so I figured
I better quit before I ended up in jail. I write for my career and it’s also
fun for me, so I’m lucky to be doing something I love.
My husband is Air
Force, and we are recently stationed in Hawaii. The weather is beautiful, my
cats love it, and I’m having a great time with all the inspiration around me.
We’ll probably be here for four or five years. I plan to enjoy every minute.
Z: I am a plotting pantser. For the majority of the book, I’m writing by the seat of my pants. I have no clue what will happen next or who will say what until I write it. However, I do have a general idea of the major plot points and the ending of the story. Usually. Sometimes I have no clue how a story will go or even what the plot will be. I just write until it comes to me.
Q: Tell us all about your latest or upcoming release. What inspired it?
Z: My latest release is with Changeling Press. It’s Forgotten Lover the fifth book in my Caveat Emptor series about Medusa, a vampire, rekindling a lost love with a mage, a man who should be her enemy since they are in the middle of a vampire-mage war. This book is the introduction of the third couple in the storyline.
The Caveat Emptor series is written as couplets, so books one and two are about the first couple, books three and four are about the second couple, and books five and six are about the third couple. The seventh book is the finale that ties up all the loose ends.
The series actually started off with one book that should have been a standalone. That was the original plan. But then my muse put a question mark at the end of the book and my editor asked me in an implying way if I planned to have a sequel. The sequel turned into a series and here we are.
Q: If you had super powers, what would they be? Why?
Z: The power of imagination realized. That’s pretty much absolute power and I would definitely be corrupted absolutely, but it would be a great power to have. The first thing I would do is bring to life a majority of all the preternatural creatures of the world – vampires, shapeshifters, etc. My definition of those preternatural creatures, so no sparkles. I figure that should make life interesting for everyone. What I do after that is anyone’s guess.
Q: What genre haven’t you tried yet but want to in the future?
Z: I have no tried and plan to delve into horror romance. I am desensitized to horror. For the most part, it doesn’t scare me. There are some Asian horror films that get to me but that’s all psychological horror. I’m going to try to write a horror romance that stays true to the romance genre but also scares me, if even a little. I plan to read some of the horror greats – Stephen King and Dean Koontz – to get a better feel for the genre and then we’ll see what I come up with. Hopefully I won’t scare anyone too badly… or maybe I hope that I will.
Q: What’s a fun fact about you? Something unique, a particular talent?
Z: I dabble in knitting chainmail. My material of choice is galvanized steel, but I have started working with copper and bronze for jewelry purposes. I picked it up quite quickly and find it very relaxing, which is funny because I can’t knit yarn to save my life.
Q: What is one thing readers might be
surprised to know about you?
Z: I prefer euphemisms in my sex
scenes. All of my Changeling Press books use explicit language, which makes the
sex scenes raw and very real but I’m a sucker for talking around the issue.
Q: Were your stories secret projects
or were you able to be open with your family and friends about your writing?
Z: My friends knew about my writing
and even read some of my earlier stuff. My best friend and I had even tossed
around the idea of starting a comic book. That never got off the ground,
obviously. My family treated my writing as a hobby/distraction until I
published my first book. Now, my dad, stepmom, and Granny (paternal
grandmother) are my biggest fans… though they’ve only read my mainstream
romance written under my other name – D. Renee Bagby. I plan to keep them away
from my erotic romances.
Q: Do you have any weird writing
habits?
Z: My weirdest writing habit is
watching porn. It’s research for my sex scenes. That’s my story and I’m
sticking to it. *grin* Actually, it is
research so I keep my sex scenes varied and interesting. Not to mention, there
are some things my husband just won’t do… another man, for instance. So it’s
off to the porn for inspiration.
Q: What's your favorite genre to
read?
Z: Paranormal/fantasy romance. I love
reading about heroes with dark powers that they have to control or they may
hurt the woman they love.
Q: What type of book have you always
wanted to write?
Z: I’ve always wanted to write a USA
Today Bestseller. I figure I’ll get there one day so long as I keep writing and
submitting.
Q: What authors can be found in your
library of books (print, audio or e-books)?
Z: Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick,
Amanda Ashley, Elizabeth Lowell, Jude Deveraux (Black Lyon is my favorite
book of all time), Stephanie Burke, Bianca D’Arc, Monica Burns, Kate Douglas,
and Julie Garwood… to name a few.
Q: If
you could travel anywhere in the world (money is no object), where would you
go? Why? And for how long?
Z: I would go back
to Japan and stay there. Being in Hawaii is the closest I’ve been to Japan
since my year long study abroad in Osaka back in college. My father, former Air
Force, was stationed in Okinawa, Japan when I was a kid. I love the culture and
the people and the food. It’s a gorgeous country with a rich history and
mythology.
Q: Do you have any obsessions? What are they?
Z: Anime and manga. As I already
said, I love Japan. I’m an avid anime watcher and manga reader. I need to
restart my study of Japanese language so I can read and watch the stuff the big
American companies don’t feel like bringing over or the series they felt the
need not to finish.
Q: Is there anything you’re currently
working on that you can give us a taste of?
Z: My current works-in-progress
aren’t in the tasting phase yet, however I do have a Christmas release coming
out with Changeling Press in the White Hot Christmas multi-author series. Have
a tidbit from Stripping Christmas due out 17 December:
“You cannot go
home.”
“The hell I can't. You take me home right
now, or I'll kick your ass.”
Kris said in a resigned voice, “You are my
wife.”
“Oh don't start that again. Playtime is
over, Kris.”
He stared at her for a long while before he
stood. “Alex, I am not playing. You are my wife. We shared vows, and those vows
are binding forever. No other can be my wife now that I am wed to you.” He
bowed his head with a forlorn sigh. “The House of Kringle will suffer because
of my folly. I had hoped for a pure and virtuous wife whose love of Christmas
and giving nature would re-energize the power of the House of Kringle, thus
raising us up to our former glory. That dream has left me now. I have failed.
In my failure, I have also doomed my house.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “House of Kringle.
Kris Kringle. Oh ha ha. You really expect me to believe that you're Santa?”
“I will be once we consummate our marriage.
I cannot don the mantle of Santa Claus until I am properly wed.”
“Now you want us to have sex.” Alex backed
up a step. “I didn't sign on for this.”
“Why will you not believe my words?”
“Because you're full of shit.”
Kris flinched back as though she had hit
him. “Please. That language.”
“It doesn't matter how I say it. The meaning
is the same. You need to come out of this delusion and…” Alex's words choked to
a stop when Kris started changing.
Not his clothes, his entire body. Before her
eyes, he turned into the jolly fat man she had come to know as Santa Claus. She
could still see Kris's features, but he had put on a few hundred pounds and now
had how a full, long beard.
Alex stumbled back onto the chair Kris had
vacated as she stared at him.
Kris said, “This is a fey glamour that I
will wear once I claim my power as Santa Claus. At that time it will come
easier. For now, I can only hold this visage for a short time so long as I
concentrate.”
Q: When creating your characters, do
you have models in mind or are they totally fictional?
Z: I definitely have models that I’ve
searched for on the internet, usually for the guys. In the Caveat Emptor
series, I used Chip Nicolas for Theron, Paul Gunn for Lamon, and the younger
David Bowie for Darius. On the odd occasion, my characters are completely based
on imagination simply because I couldn’t find a model that fit the man in my
imagination.
Q: Are you in control of your
characters or do they control you?
Z: They definitely control me. Once I
give them personality, there are things they will and will not do. I once had a
hero block me for months because he refused to play out a scene I wrote. I
deleted the scene and suddenly the story flowed perfectly and I finished in no
time.
Q: If you came with a warning label,
what would it say?
Z: Leave Your Reality Behind – I
don’t like using tried and true. When I create a preternatural character, I
make up everything about them. My vampires and shapeshifters aren’t always what
people are used to. So I warn people to leave their reality behind when
entering mine.
Q: Please tell us where we can find
you on the web.
Z: I’m all over the place:
-
Website – http://zenobiarenquist.com
-
Blog - http://dreneebagby.blogspot.com/
-
Twitter - http://twitter.com/dreneebagby
-
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/Author.DRBagby.ZRenquist
-
Yahoo Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dreneebagby_multiverse/
-
Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/zenobiarenquist
-
Newsletter - http://ymlp.com/signup.php?id=geusujygmgj
Thanks for popping by and I wish you
continued success in your writing career.
Z: Thanks for having me today!
CAVEAT EMPTOR 5:
FORGOTTEN LOVER
Publisher – Changeling
Press
Price: $3.99
you can read the first chapter of CE5: Forgotten Lover online at
http://dreneebagbypresentsfirstchapters.blogspot.com/2011/11/forgotten-lover-by-zenobia-renquist.html
http://dreneebagbypresentsfirstchapters.blogspot.com/2011/11/forgotten-lover-by-zenobia-renquist.html
Blurb –
Can Medusa allow herself to love a man who's
supposed to be her enemy?
Captured by mages, Medusa
is more upset at her own weakness than the mages' idea of torture. Once free of
them, she plans to slaughter them all. Except, there is one mage who awakens
long buried memories of desire from a past best left forgotten. She knows this
man to the depths of her soul, but she and Darius are on opposite sides of a
war that has raged for centuries. It's more than her heart at stake if she
gives in to her desires.
Excerpt –
She tried to pull back but his strength was more than hers. He
held her at his side at the railing. Medusa knew that yelling and shouts of
insult would start any second. Her panic grew when Darius took up a position
behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist.
“Much better, though now I cannot see the garden.” He sniffed at
her hair and laid a kiss on her neck.
Medusa tried to get away from him and duck at the same time. “My
lord, you cannot. The others will see. I will be punished. Please stop.”
He whispered into her ear, “They cannot see us.” He lifted her
hand so she waved to the people below.
She tried to pull away but couldn’t free herself from Darius’s
grip.
None of the people below waved back or scolded Medusa for her
insult. They didn’t acknowledge her at all. She could only guess they refused
to pay heed to Darius’s antics.
“You see?” He laid another kiss on her neck and then her shoulder.
His hands on her waist slid upwards so he cupped her breasts.
Medusa grabbed his hands and tried to remove them. “No. Please, my
lord. Someone will come.”
“You.” He chuckled as he shook off her hands with little effort.
She wasn’t fighting him as hard as she could. She wanted him to
touch her. She wanted everyone to see that Darius craved her body, not Miss
Adelaide’s. Even knowing it would mean her punishment, Medusa wanted him to
continue.
That thought scared her. She shouldn’t be so wanton.
Cool air made her nipples harden when Darius undid the laces of
her vest and exposed her breasts to the elements. Medusa squeaked and huddled
in on herself, covering her chest with her arms. Her actions pressed her ass
against a very hard bulge in Darius’s pants.
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