Author Kaje Harper interview and give-away

I'mhappy to welcome Kaje Harper to my blog today. She's a relative newcomer to them/m genre but has already made quite a name for herself with some fantasticreads. Kaje has a holiday story, Wherethe Heart Is, coming out from MLR Press on December 30.
Welcome,Kaje! Thank you for coming by. I hope you find my questions stimulating.  J


1.    How did you get started writing m/m romance? Did you always wantto be a writer?   I've been writing since I learned how toput letters together, and I filled binders with stories as a teen.  But life got busy, and I never intended topublish anyway, so I moved to just writing stuff in my head.  I always had an ongoing story inprogress.  It was simply a pleasure and away of getting through slow moments, not a career. Then in about 2006 myhusband gave me a computer and the kids were older and I began putting thewords down on paper, or rather in pixels. By the time I had seven novels on my hard drive, my husband suggested Ishould see if I could publish one.  Ithink he figured if I was going to be obsessed with my keyboard, I should atleast try to get paid for it. I sent a story to MLR Press, because theypromised a critique of every submission. And instead I got an acceptance letter. One of the high points of the last decade for me.  That was Life Lessons.  As for the M/M part, I wrote Starksy andHutch slash fic in high school, back before I knew there was such a thinganywhere outside of my own binders (with fade-to-black sex scenes, of course,because back then I had no clue and there was no Internet in those days to doresearch – am I dating myself?)  So M/Mromance has always been part of what I wrote. 2.    Did you have any earlyinfluences either in this genre or any other?I didn't read very much M/M romance untilafter I was already writing it.  I didread some classics, Mary Renault's The Persian Boy and Patricia NellWarren's The Front Runner made an impression, as did Mercedes Lackey'sValdemar books.  But I read everythingelse too, including a lot of straight romance, mystery and fantasy. So manyfavorite authors.  The one I wanted to belike the most was Lois McMaster Bujold. I love her work; her style and her characters are really wonderful.

3.      What is the hardest partabout writing for you? The benefits?   The hardest part technically isediting.  I write in one fell swoop,beginning to end.  I then have a hardtime looking at the thing again, let alone working on it.  I have a love-hate relationship with my work,especially right after I finish something. It's good that the turnaround time with an editor usually gives me a fewweeks to gain a little perspective and look at the story fresh.  The benefits of writing, however, arelegion.  It's a joy and a therapy towrite.  When life hands me lemons, I canwrite about two guys falling in happy-ever-after love over a pitcher oflemonade.  The stories show up in my headanyway.  Getting them written down is asatisfaction.  When someone says that mywork touched them in some way, that is a creative contribution I have made thatcan never be lost.  And when I can't makethe real world bend for the loved ones in my life, I can help my characters toclimb out of any kind of hell and find a happy ending.  So therapeutic, that.4.     Tell us a little aboutyour holiday story, Where the Heart Is.  It's a relatively simple andsweet story about figuring out what matters in life.  This is the blurb:  Dr. Trevor Carson had a good life as a cityveterinarian, until his father died. Taking over his dad's remote countrypractice was supposed to be temporary, but Trevor found himself loving theplace. If only it didn't mean separation from his partner, Michael. A Christmasvisit from Michael gives each of them a chance to decide if home is a place ora person.5.    Do you have any writing quirks? (ie computer has to be facing acertain way, cup of coffee on the left, certain music playing, etc)  I can write anywhere, in termsof getting the story done, because it happens in my head.  My biggest problem is that it happens a lotwhile I'm driving, which occasionally has me distracted or pulling over to graba pencil and jot down a particularly apt phrase before I forget it.  Putting it into the computer is just the mechanics.  No quirks there.  I do often have my little dog in my lap as Itype.  He's sweet but has a tendency tolean his chin on my arm, which does slow my typing speed down.6.    Do you have any writingor reading squicks? Things you don't like to read and can't see yourself everwriting?   Not big ones.  I don't usually go for BDSM with real hurtinvolved, although The Violet and The Tom is a favorite and that storydoes lay some significant pain on the MC. I don't think I could write that scene though.  And I don't read and wouldn't write m/f/m wherethe two guys only pay attention to the woman in the bed and not eachother.  Too much of a waste.  Beyond that, I'm pretty open.  A good writer can make me believe in almostanything as a workable story.  And whoknows what plot bunnies may appear out of my subconscious next and demand to bewritten.
7.     Sometimes I find writingcuts into all the reading I want to do. Do you read a lot or just don't havethe time? Any faves you wanna share with us? It does cut into reading, but for me it is a verysimilar pleasure (at least the first draft when I don't know what's going tohappen yet.)  But I still read aton.  Favorites recently included CaroleCummings' Dream, Amy Lane's The Locker Room,  Josh Lanyon's Come Unto These Yellow Sands,Jordan Castillo Price's Hemovore,  Harper Fox's Driftwood.  And many more.8.     What's next on yourplate? What are you working on?  I have the Christmas short from MLRcoming out on the 30th.  I'vealso just done the proofs for The Rebuilding Year, a stand-alone novelcoming from Samhain in March.  The secondHidden Wolves book has been accepted and is in first edits.  And as soon as I have a moment to breathe,I'll do a last edit on the draft of Life Lessons 3 and submit it to myeditor.  Oh, and I have a YA short story Interventioncoming out in January, under the pen name Kira Harp, as part ofFeatherweight Press's Helping Hands charity line of stories.9.     What's yourfavorite part of Christmas  Christmas Eve, putting up the tree and baking cookies with mykids.  I love the family time, Christmascarols on the stereo with everyone in the mood, and that last echo ofanticipation in the air.10. Finally – a few quick choices:a.    Coffee or tea – tea, often , in large quantities.b.    Dog or cat – ouch, must I choose?  Dog, because my husband is allergic to catsso I can't have one at the moment.  Mylittle white mutt is my avatar.c.    Beach or mountains – mountains (I sunburn)d.    Pecs or abs – abse.    Smile or eyes – eyesf.     Cowboys or rockstars – cowboys (hot men in bluejeans – oh, yes.)g.     Who would win in a fight– vampires or werewolves? And why.  Um,that depends on the pantheon, and I read a lot of them.  If you take my own werewolves from UnacceptableRisk and the vampires from Ghosts and Flames then it wouldunfortunately be the vampires.  I madethe vamps very hard to kill, and my wolves are not very supernatural instrength and abilities, so one-on-one the vamp would win.  However wolves always have the Pack at theirbacks, so if there was enough time to gather, then a pack of wolves could pulldown a vampire. Kaje has generouslyoffered up a copy of one of the books on her backlist to one lucky commenter onmy blog.  BE SURE TO LEAVE YOUR NAMEAND EMAIL ADDRESS WITH YOUR COMMENT.
CONTEST WILL BE OPEN UNTILSUNDAY, DECEMBER 18.
If you don't win, you can go to Kaje's website for information onall her books,Kaje Harper, and be sure to mark December 30 on your calendar for her holiday story,Where the Heart Is, at MLR Press.