J.S. Wayne Talks Ancient Magic

Today,I am featuring an interview with J.S. Wayne, authorof Ancient Magic, available from Noble Romance Publishing.


Blurb:  More than two decades have passed sincethe Hodans invaded the peaceful kingdom of Jurav. In their zeal for conquest,they have mercilessly rent the Juravian national character asunder, startingwith the temples of their gods.
Varath was raised from a young age by his uncle to one dayassume his father's mantle— of the command warden of the Temple of Noradi, themost beloved goddess of the Juravian pantheon and the deity of heart, hearth,and the fires which burn in both.  
Melody would have been the High Priestess to Noradi, and herown family has groomed her with equal care against the day when the Hodanhordes would be expelled and she could assume her rightful place as the mostpowerful figure in the entire nation . . . and as Varath's bride.  
When Varath departed to serve in the Hodan army, Melody sawit as an unconscionable betrayal. Now Varath has returned to take his father'splace as the sole guardian of a temple where no one dares enter, and he hasmade overtures to claim the other half of his bequest: Melody herself. But canMelody see past the deceptions and lies his rebellion has forced and learn tolove the man who seems to have turned his back on his own people?
You can purchase Ancient Magic at Noble Romance.



Welcome,J.S. I'm thrilled to have you join me. Let's start with some quick questions for you as a reader:
   Where do you like to settle in for agood read?
 Sprawled out on the couch, kickingback in the late afternoon.
    Whatis your favorite genre?
Urban fantasy, bar none!
   What length do youfavor…shorts/novellas/novels?Novels.
    
Whose POV do youprefer…hero/heroine/villain?  The hero's*smiles* Writing a good villain is SO hard to do!

 Do you like first/second/third person?Third person's my favorite to read,but I love to write in first-person.
 What has been your greatest fear you've had to overcome as a writer?            That would be the little voice inthe back of my head that starts up about three seconds after I type "The End"and informs me, in scathing terms, my writing sucks and no one's going to wantto read it! Just for the tally books, that fear has yet to go away. *Sigh*Maybe on the next one, but I'm not holding my breath!
 What do you hope to accomplish with yourwriting? Do you have a goal?
            My ultimate goal with my writing isvery simple: I hope one day to generate enough money from my writing to ensurethat I can focus only on that and not have to cope with a conventional day job.I don't necessarily need or want to be rich, but "comfortable" wouldsure be nice!
 What makes your writing unique?
Hmm…thisis a tough one.Ithink the most unique thing about my writing is I have a very wide and diverseknowledge base to draw on. I'm familiar with at least the broad strokes of manyparanormal creatures, and I've studied many, many permutations of them. Betweenthat and a lifelong fascination with the occult, I use this to inform mywriting, from the most celestial angel to the basest demon and everything inbetween. I believe this gives my writing a very genuine, organic feel thatreaders seem to appreciate.
 What do you do when you hit a wall? (Can'tfigure out a character's emotions, where the plot should go next, etc.)
 What are you working on now?Since this is November, I'm also participating in NaNoWriMo,trying to finish off the last installment of the "canonical" Angels series anda WIP entitled Once A Knight's Enough. After those are done, I'm going to getback to work on a modern paranormal erotic horror story, The Hollow, featuringthe Headless Horseman.I've got two upcoming releases: "Dancing on Flames," whichis an m/m paranormal erotic romance featuring werewolves; and "Dead MeansDead," for the forthcoming Lesbians Vs. Zombies line from Noble Romance. And after I get all those plot bunnies skinned, I've got sixmore in various stages of development! Plus, I'm working on raising awarenessfor Writing Out Child Abuse, a coalition of writing professionals dedicated toproviding care, comfort, aid and hope to survivors of child abuse worldwide.

Have you always loved romance writing?             Ifyou'd asked me two years ago if I saw myself writing romance, I'd've laughedmyself sick before suggesting you seek out strong medication. I started outwriting urban fantasy and erotic horror; I had a stereotype, and I'm ashamed toadmit this now, of who the "typical" romance writer was. Some womanon the downhill side of forty, living with 47 cats and nary a man in sightwhile she dreamed of Prince Charming showing up was the vision that danced inmy head. I have since learned that this stereotype could not be further fromthe truth, and I'm proud to be one of the people working to dispel that myth!
What's the funniest scene you've ever written?             Theone that always makes me smile is in Shadowphoenix:Requiem, when Mark and his "houseguest," Michelle, get into ascreaming match over dinner. He's just biting into a taco when Michelle hurls astiletto heel and nails him in the ear! The dialogue is scathing, the physicalaction is quite funny, and the whole scene has a great feel that I think fansof "Moonlighting" would appreciate.
What's the most romantic scene you've ever written?             Sofar, the most romantic scene I've written was the very end of "AngelsWould Fall," where Moradiel tells Ariel in simple, direct terms what hislove for her means for his future as a member of the Angelic Host. . . and hiswillingness to accept the consequences for her. I always get a little lump inmy throat reading that, and I wroteit!

When you're not writing, what do you do for fun?             Hah!When I'm not writing, or doing something writing-oriented, I'm asleep. But inthe rare moments when I do unwind, I like to hang out with friends, watch amovie, spend some time with my wife, or play with my puppies.

A quick quiz:  Answer as fast as you can.

Favorite Hero: Batman
Favorite Dessert: Cheesecake
Favorite Villain: DraculaFavorite Song: Unicron's Descent

Have you ever written to music?  Always. I can't NOT write with music!What music? It depends on what best serves my mood and thestory, to be honest. If you'd like to see my YouTube playlist, you can go here:http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC0AC9A0603619473&feature=mh_lolzIt'll give you a pretty good idea what I'm up to!
   
     What would youadvise an aspiring author?
First, I don't like the term "aspiring" in context ofwriting. If you're writing, then quod erat demonstrandum, you're an author.You're trying to get published, which is a very different matter entirely.There's my first piece of advice: Delete the word "aspire" and allits variants from your lexicon with regards to publication. Use a machete, ifyou have to. A spork. Whatever's clever.  Second, you're going to have to put in a lot of time and hard work.You're going to have to cope with the fact that not everyone's going to fall inlove with your story. You're going to get some harsh criticism and some prettynasty reviews and comments.
Put on your big-girl panties and cope. Sounds pretty heartless, butthis is a heartless business, and until you're somewhere in the league ofStephen King or Danielle Steele, you CANNOT afford to let your ego get betweenyou and your dream. If you really want it badly enough, more than anythingelse, you've got to WORK for it. I've seen too many good writers fall by thewayside because they didn't care to put in the time or effort it takes to make itin the publishing world.
 Is thereanything you'd like to tell your readers?I honestly think I have some of the greatest readers in the world,and I love and appreciate every one of them! So, from the bottom of my heart,thank you all. J
 How can readersconnect with you?
·       Web Site ·       Blog ·       Twitter @jswayne702·       Noble author page ·       Amazon author page ·       Goodreads page ·       Writing Out Child Abuse
Thankyou for your time, J.S. I truly appreciate you stopping by. I truly lookforward to your next release.
Thankyou so much for having me here today, Brita! It's been a lot of fun!

http://jswayne.wordpress.com
 Thank you for your time, J.S., and good luckwith your future books!