Across the Beer Bar with Doris O'Connor

Welcome to my Tap Room Doris! What can I pour you to start?
Hi Liz, so great to be here.  A beer would be wonderful, even better if you have anything German!Okay, BEER SCHOOL MOMENT: the word "lager" means "to store"….in German. Germans invented lagers. I ONLY make lagers.  So, yeah, you're good. Here, try this one. Wolverine Dark Lager---roasty, rich, but with a clean finish characteristic of lagers in general.
I'm just gonna say now, I love your book covers....that fireman one? Too Hot To Handle---whew. awesome...
Yeah, Alex is pretty sexy. Well, fire fighter and half Italian, what more can a girl want! Kitty and he have some awesome chemistry ;-)
Tell us about the first book you got accepted. How long did it take? How did you handle getting those first edits?
The first book I ever had accepted was Scandinavian Scandal. The day will be edged in my memory forever. I was heavily pregnant at the time and when I got the e-mail I screeched so much hubby and the kids thought I'd gone into labour. Lol. Still amuses me that I didn't!
My sexy Swede was first born in September 2010. Mills and Boon were running their New Voices competition so I fired off a first chapter and submitted. I didn't get anywhere with it, but I finished that first version of Scandinavian Scandal, submitted and again didn't get far. I put it to one side for a bit, wrote other things and after I'd written Awakening, which was my first erotic piece, I decided I was going to turn into an Erotic Romance. I completely re-wrote it and Noble picked it up J That same week Breathless picked up Awakening. The rest is history as they say.
My first edits were actually for Awakening and I did them all with a two week old baby either attached or on my lap. Now that was an experience, lol. I clearly remember, opening the word doc, hyperventilating at the amount of comments and shutting it again, thinking Oh God, I can't do this. Then I told myself I was a big girl and just got on with it. I learned tons, during those edits and Mason, my editor, was and is fabulous. She was incredibly encouraging and really helped me to make the story shine. I re-wrote the ending and it's soooo much better now than it was.
You have paranormals and contemporaries published it seems. Which do you like writing best?
If I had to pick, then probably paranormals. I love paranormals because you can torture your characters so much more and I do love to torture them, my heroes in particular, lol. And the whole world building that goes with them is pretty cool.  Lure Of The Blood started off as an Erotic, shortie contemporary, actually, but my characters had other ideas and it took on a life of its own, like my stories always do, it seems.
Contemporaries are fun to write for other reasons. At the moment my stories are pretty evenly split between contemporary and paranormal. Time will tell. I just do as I'm told and write what they tell me to. Resistance is futile, it seems, so I don't even try anymore, lol.
If you had to name one writer for inspiration who would it be?
Just one? Man that's tough. Probably Charlaine Harris. I fell utterly in love with her Sookie Stackhouse Series and still re-read it often. Eric, mmmm, lol.  Of course she is paranormal. Hmm I'm sensing a theme here…
Though to be honest any book that I've read and liked inspires me in some way. Heck, even the ones I didn't like, inspired me, in a 'I can do better than that' kinda way. And my list of favourite authors grows daily. I'm a voracious reader and will read all sorts.
Yeah I read them but frankly I like how HBO sexed it up and changed some of the hokier aspects of the story. One of the few successful translations book to screen I've seen. Mmmmmmm……Erik……Oops, glass is empty, what can I get you next?
Another one of these will do, it's very nice!
Okay, speaking of GREAT COVERS, your Breathless Press release, Awakening is totally eye catching and gorgeous.  What's it about?
Isn't it just! Between you and me, it is my favourite cover. It's just so WOW worthy. And him, that stare. Heck I wrote the story and I must say the art dept got him so well.
Astrid is a straight laced school teacher, who is sent to a sexual fantasy island by her best friend as a birthday treat. She goes kicking and screaming, cause she doesn't do fantasies. Famous last words and all that.  The few sexual encounters she's had have not been satisfying, shall we say.
She wakes up in her very own Arabian fantasy and is ordered to pleasure Prince Rashid. He's a hard man to resist and she discovers that submission is the key to ultimate pleasure. You have to read the story to find out how it all ends ;-)
What are you working on now?  
I'm almost done with Lucas' story. Readers will have met him in Lure Of The Blood. So many people have said to me that Lucas needs his own story, so being the obliging girl that I am, I thought I best pen it.  Ion and Marnie and a few of the other characters make a re-appearance too J
I also have two Anthologies and a naughty nursery rhyme coming out soon and numerous story ideas flitting around in my murky mind ;-)
nightcap time--what's your poison?
Make it a large Baileys or two or three…Aiyeeeeeee and we were doing SO WELL.Beer dear, that's it.  I like you so I'll share some of our just released Faustian Stout Baltic Porter you lucky girl you.


Thanks so much for having me. Whoops, shouldn't have worn those heels and errr why is the floor spinning?Oh Lord, after 3 beers? You people are lightweights….or cheap dates.I gotta train you up!
Links
Website http://www.dorisoconnor.com/Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/mamaD8Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Doris-OConnor-Romance-Author/241366635885432

Buy links
https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/363/Scandanavian-Scandal
http://www.breathlesspress.com/awakening-0
http://www.evernightpublishing.com/lure-of-the-blood-by-doris-oconnor/