Coffee with Daily

T:  Good Morning Daily thanks for joining me this morning. I hope the coffee is strong enough?

T: I promise for this set of questions I’m going to keep things fun and light (well light for me) so let’s get started.

T: How much research do you do before writing a story?

Depends on the story. For “A Night of Firsts” I had to do quite a bit of research. For instance, I had to research different types of police vests. I also had to ask a friend about some of the areas in Jamaica since that’s where my female lead is from. Also in Leslie’s Dilemma, I had to do some research on a the 1970s style Trans Ams, since I didn’t know what that thingy that popped up from the hood was called (it’s a shaker btw)

T: How did you come up with Leslie’s Dilemma?

Through a couple flash fiction (story under 200 words) pieces I wrote about a woman (Leslie) who takes men home for sex, then kicks them to the curb. One day I wondered what would happen if she woke up next to a woman after a night of partying.

T: What made you write about a military couple?

I was going through NMPS in Norfolk prior to a deployment and saw a beautiful black woman working at the front desk of the Navy Inn and Suites (where I was staying at the time) and the story kinda took off from there.

T: Rape is one of those issues that many have a problem reading, what made you want to explore a near rape in Eve’s Daisy?

“Near” is the operative word. I feel folks don’t mind if the victim is successful in escaping such a terrible situation. The only regret I have is that the two aggressors didn’t get what they had coming to them. Which leads me to another regret – Eve’s Daisy should have been at least 20k words longer, then those lunkheads would have got what they deserved 😉

T: How do you juggle, writing, family and work?

It’s not easy. Especially since I do a lot of beta reading in between. I’ve got several projects going on at once; a romantic comedy about a woman who sleeps with her best friend’s ex, then falls in love with him, and a novel about a coven of witches.

T: How many anthologies have you been a part of?

To this date two: Tie Me Up and My Kinky Valentine, though the later was pulled by the publisher because it wasn’t generating enough sales. I’m about to sign a contract with Rose Caraway for her antho For the Men: and Women Who Love Them.

T: Do you ever add any part of your day to day life in your writing?

Sometimes. In Leslie’s Dilemma, Stanley once lost a girlfriend to another woman. That happened to me once. Also, in Eve’s Daisy, the pond they swam in is actually a real pond where I grew up. It was a feeder to the small brook I fished in as a kid. Also, I try to corporate the military, animals, and sports in most of my stories.

T: You have a few animals that live with you. What types of dogs do you have? Why two rats? What are the cats names?

I have a 14 yr old Rottweiler/Golden Retriever mix, a Beagle/Dauchund (sp?) mix, and a min pin. The rats are my wife and son’s doing. They love those suckers. Our male cat’s name is Spike, and the two females are Precious and Cookie, who get more complaints from the neighbors than my child LOL.

T: What intrigues you about erotic romance? Why do you write it over say romance or another genre?

My background is actually in article writing. I used to write for a local newspaper back in the day, have written for magazines, as well as online sites such as Break Studios and for Orbitz. One day I wanted to get back into fiction (I wrote a lot of fiction in college) and did a Google search for writing contests. Literotica was the first to pop up. Of course I started reading the stories and was like “I can write this.” Turns out it’s much harder than I thought. I joined an erotic writing group (ERWA) and my first story didn’t receive the best feedback (someone told me they didn’t make it past the first paragraph). However, my second story fared much better, and is the one that’s going to be a part of Rose’s antho.

T: What does your wife think about the craziness of what comes with writing and more specifically writing erotica?

She hates it. Wants me to go back to writing horror, which is what I wrote in college.

T: Have you always lived in the Carolina’s?

No, I grew up in Vermont.

T: What comes next?

Not sure. Like I said, I have a ton of projects, including a sequel to One Night in Charlotte.

T: Well Daily that’s all I have for you today? Until next time thanks again for joining me, now get back to work and write your next book.

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