Author Spotlight · Interview with an Author

Interview with an Author featuring Sylvia Black

The Literary Vixen presents…

Joining us today is Sylvia Black! Her book, Master Descallia : Dark Vampire Romance (Masters of the Consulate Book 1) released on April 30th 2021.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

A large thank you for having me! I’m excited to get to spend time with all of you. My name is Sylvia Black. I am an International Best-selling author of paranormal romance. I currently have six of an anticipated twelve book series published. They are dark vampire romances, in a world of witches, rogue shifters and the syndicate.

What inspired you to start writing?

My family traveled extensively when I was growing up. We lived in England for years, and when traveling, I would always have my nose buried in a book or a pencil in my hand to write my own. A grandmother born and raised in the Baltic sea region nurtured the love for old-world history and folklore of Europe.

What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

 I don’t know if there’s a quirk that I can think of other than constantly trying to keep one of my golden cocker spaniel puppies from taking over the keyboard. He loves to type!!

How do you deal with the emotional impact of a book (on yourself) as you are writing the story?

Great question! Sometimes as an author the emotions of your characters turn you inside out emotionally. I think the process of helping them find their way to a happily ever after is what helps me reconcile the emotions.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

 I didn’t realize that once I started writing, the stories would literally write themselves. I’ve heard authors say that before but didn’t really understand what they meant until I started to write myself and got a few books into the series. Sometimes it’s hard for me to keyboard fast enough to keep up to the stories spilling from the characters themselves.

What comes first for you — the plot or the characters — and why?

The characters, probably because all of my stories tend to be in the same world. There is always another hot, possessive master vampire called upon to help the plight of the vampires, and a woman he doesn’t want to get to know at first but falls head over heels for.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

That winding myths and lure into a plot would be so intriguing to me. Actually bringing pieces into the story at the right time is oddly challenging and fun!

What gave you that push to press the publish button?

I met a group of women at a writing conference years ago – before I had published my very first book. They have become my closest friends over the years, and they were instrumental.

Do you have any new series planned?

There are two spin-off series rattling around in my mind right now. If you are familiar with the Masters of the Consulate series, you probably already have a good idea of what comes next, but officially it’s being kept under wraps for the moment.

What advice would you give to other authors?

Just keep writing. Read in your genre, get to know your genre, and then just keep writing. A close friend offered me this advice years ago.

What is the one thing you want people to know about you and your books?

That the vampire masters are alpha, possessive, sinfully hot and end up falling hard for the women they come to love.

Thank you Sylvia Black for chatting with me! I will include her information down below. Check out her book, Master Descallia today!

~Synopsis~

Salvatore Descallia, a purebred and Overlord to the Consulate of Masters, rules and fights with an iron fist. When he learns of the coup planned to blame his clan for disappearing women, he must move swiftly to deal with his enemies. He has every intention of killing everything in his way, until a new challenge presents itself, one with crystalline green eyes who is close to death.
To save her life, Salvatore gives her immortality in exchange for a life of servitude in the underworld.
Consumed by coursing desire, Lucianna Denaro is helpless against the dark-eyed dominant stranger who expects her to learn the dangers and rituals of his world. While the underworld is new and death lurks at every corner, it is his touch that threatens to scorch them to ashes with its heat.

Sylvia Black is a master’s prepared and International Best-Selling paranormal romance author with a special love for old-world history and the folklore of Europe. A grandmother born and raised in the Baltic sea region nurtured this love and it grew more profound as a young child living for years in England and traveling extensively. 

Sylvia likes to keep her readers on the edge of their seats one minute and fanning themselves as the heat rises in the next. Her novels feature handsome, dark-minded males who will stop at nothing to protect their mates. 

The perfect day for Sylvia would be spent sitting on a balcony overlooking the Amalfi Coast in Italy while enjoying an espresso as she writes. 

While not writing, she spends time with her husband and family, including an adorable fur-baby. She enjoys traveling extensively, especially when researching for her next novel. 

She also loves to spend time interacting with you, her readers, so please feel free to connect with her on social media! 

For a very limited time, you can download a free copy here of The Beginning, which is the prequel to the much-loved vampire series, Masters of the Consulate. It is the old world back story and gives readers an understanding of how the group of hunky vampire leaders came to be in the modern-day world. Download now

You can also find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Tik Toks and Instagram. Connect with me and say hello while checking out all the interesting pictures, videos, and fun!

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Author Spotlight · Coming Soon · Interview with an Author · Pre-Order

Interview with an Author featuring Via Mari

The Literary Vixen presents…

Joining us today is Via Mari! Her upcoming release, Consigliere’s Revenge: Dark Mafia Romance (Sicilian Gods Book 3) releases on April 26th 2023.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hello- I’m pleased to have a chance to get to know you and others a little bit better. My name is Via Mari. I write steamy billionaire, mafia, and bodyguard romance. When not writing I’m spending time with my husband and our two cocker spaniel puppies, Reggie and Roscoe.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

As a young child I used to write a lot. I was always reading a book while traveling with my parents. I actually wanted to be a journalist but ended up with a great career in the corporate world until I started writing again and was encouraged to publish.

What time of the day do you usually write?

I like to write late into the night, around 11 pm to 2 or 3 am. While that’s my favorite time, these days I find myself writing when my fingers just can’t stay away from the keyboard, too.

How much ‘world building’ takes place before you start writing?

I have to admit, I’m half plotter and half prancer. The worlds are mostly in my mind, and develop as I go, although there is a main framework that I follow.

Which of your books were the most enjoyable to write?

The Brutal Kings series was my very first. It was enjoyable because it was so naughty and well just steamy… The Torzial Affair was fun because I really wanted Jenny to get the revenge she so desperately wanted. But, this last series? Sicilian Gods, now this is really fun because these men do not mess around! Sigh… This is a hard question. I loved writing every single word of all of them.

Where do you pull inspiration for your books?

Honestly, the characters. They really write their own story as we go. My stories are all in some way and shape connected so it’s exciting to see who I’m going to run into again from a previous or future book to be.

Do you hear from your readers much? What do they say?

I have readers from all walks of life. I have readers in my newsletters who email me on the regular, readers who post Tik Toks and talk about my books, I have some in my reader group who post pictures of what they want to see written. One of my special readers clearly wants me to write about cowboys. Most of my readers either email me or message I find which I really enjoy. They tell me when they finished a recent book, what they liked, what they found perplexing, who they would like me to write about next. Others, just reach out to send me a meme or gif to wish me a nice day. I love interacting with my readers especially when they tell me I kept them up all night long because they couldn’t put it done. That brings a devilish smile to my face.

Favorite book when you were a kid.

Each and every one of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys collection.

If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

Honest, hard working and caring.

What advice would you give to other authors?

When I first started writing as an adult someone told me to “just keep writing.” I found that as I took that advice, my rhythm came, the voices started to get distinct and I learned a tremendous amount. That’s the same advice I would give. Read a lot in the particular genre that you wish to write and then just keep writing until your own distinct voice appears.

What is the one thing you want people to know about you and your books?

What is the one thing you want people to know about you and your books? That they are set in a world of billionaires, mafioso and bodyguards and each and every one of them has a happily ever after. Most of all, I loved writing each and every one of them for you.

Thank you Via Mari for chatting with me! I will include her information down below. Check out her upcoming release, Consigliere’s Revenge today!

~Synopsis~

A powerful mafioso with revenge on his mind. A reporter who needs to be controlled.
Will loyalty be stronger than his need to protect the woman who poses the gravest threat of all?

Everyone expects retaliation from the Larussio Crime Family after the brutal attack by our rivals and kidnapping of our innocent cousin.

The job for ensuring our retribution is well-thought-out, precise, and maintains our family’s position in the crime world falls to me, Lorenzo Larussio, Consigliere to the boss and underboss of our family.

My mind is absorbed with nothing but that…

Until the beautiful reporter who calls to my dark, sinister soul shows up at our casino, dressed to kill, leaving me unable to rid her from my mind.

Izzy Arden’s article hits a little too close home, and it’s up to me to ensure our secrets remain buried like those of our dead and not inked all over the world for everyone to see.

The fiery beauty is a force to be reckoned with, though, and not easily subdued. She fights for the truth no matter the danger, her emotional scars and mistrust pushing her to write about our most sacred traditions even knowing the threat it may bring.

Our enemies see her as a way to get to me. They shouldn’t have come for her, though, because now they’ll see why rumored in the back-alley streets of Italy they whisper Cosa Nostra with fear.

They will pay dearly for taking what does not belong to them, but will it cost me the one woman I’ve ever loved when she sees me for who I really am?

Consigliere’s Revenge is the explosive third book in the Sicilian Gods series by Via Mari. It is a deliciously dark, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, mafia romance. You will love these novels where the passion is fiery, the loyalty is fierce, and the stakes are high. Each book is a standalone with a guaranteed happily ever after.

Via Mari lives in the Midwest with her husband. As a child who was raised in both the United States and the United Kingdom, she spent countless hours traveling and developed a passion for the written word at a young age.

Her passions are writing steamy and suspenseful romance. She writes billionaire, mafia and bodyguard romance as Via and paranormal vampire romance under the pen name Sylvia Black.

She is an avid reader of romance. In fact, you can still find her curled up in an overstuffed chair, especially during winter when the wood fire is crackling and popping, reading a page-turning novel until the early hours of the morning.

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Author Spotlight · Interview with an Author

Interview with an Author featuring Deb Hunter

The Literary Vixen presents…

 

Joining us today is Deb Hunter! Her story, Fables: A Tudor Fairytale is on Kindle Vella and available now.

What inspired you to start writing?

Hi! Great question. It’s something I’ve always done *giggle* more like a compulsion than inspiration. 

I just don’t know why I do it. 

What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Research. I research everything until finally writing it.

How do you deal with emotional impact of a book (on yourself) as you are writing the story?

Another fantastic question. If I cry, I wonder if readers will cry. 

When writing Phoenix Rising-a novella about the last hour of Anne Boleyn’s life, I lost 12 lbs. It was stressful getting inside the head of someone knowing they might die. Henry VIII really strung her along the last few days of her life. She was led to believe he would offer her life at a convent. It’s one of history’s greatest love stories gone wrong, and it had to have the correct emotional string’s to give it the gravitas it deserves. 

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

Only two novels – September Ends and I’ll See You In My Dreams. I like short reads. Numerous short stories and collections, and the novella Phoenix Rising. Those are all fiction. One collection, Sexuality & Its Impact on History: The British Stripped Bare published by Pen & Sword Books, UK was the #1 History and #1 Pop Culture best seller on Amazon in 2018.

What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

Oh…I really don’t know the answer to that. Everyone who writes has something to offer to readers. 

Let’s talk about Kindle Vella. Tell me about your experience with it.

Kindle Vella is a great challenge, and it’s in the launch phase. It’s just beginning. I actually LOVE writing the spontaneous little episodes. My series is called Fables: A Tudor Fairytale.

It’s the story of two actors playing on a film set in New Orleans, playing the parts of Anne Boleyn & Henry VIII. Only thing…the actors can’t stand each other, which is so much fun to write. But, like most extreme emotions-hate can shift to love with a smile. We’ll see what happens with these two characters as the series develops. 

The new episodes are dropping weekly. One fun thing I’m doing is drawing a card from my tarot deck and basing the new story on it. For instance, Story 3 was The High Priestess, and Story 4 is The Chariot. 

It’s kinda my jam. Phoenix Rising is based on an astrology chart.

What book is currently on your bedside table?

I’m a history person! The book is Queen’s Consort: England’s Medieval Queens by Lisa Hilton. 

Do you have any new series planned?

Not right now, but I would like to write some more Tudor history.

What advice would you give to other authors?

Don’t quit your day job!

What is the one thing you want people to know about you and your books?

Thank you to every single person who has read my work. You have no idea how much I appreciate you all. Special shoutout to my FB group, All Things Tudor. We are 16,000+ people with a love of Tudor England and an incredibly irreverent look at history.

They make my day every single day, and I love them all.

 

Thank you Deb Hunter for chatting with me! I will include her information down below. Check out her Kindle Vella series, Fables: A Tudor Fairytale today!

~Synopsis~

Some love stories last forever. Some are tragic. Some just…need magic. Henry VIII & Anne Boleyn. Their love changed history. Max King & Daisy Colston. Not so much. They despise each other as they play the part of the fabled lovers in the film considered ‘the-next-big-thing’ about the legendary Tudor affair. A chance encounter at a New Orleans tarot shop could seal their destiny.

USA Today bestselling author and historian Deb Hunter also writes fiction and history as Hunter S. Jones.She publishes independently and via traditional publishing platforms and is repped by Past Preservers Casting.

She has actively promoted the craft of historical writing through affiliation with many professional groups, including Society of Authors founded by Lord Tennyson, the Royal Historical Society, the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the Dangerous Women Project.

When she isn’t writing, talking or tweeting about kings, queens and rock stars, she lives in Midtown Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tennessee with her Scottish-born husband.

Twitter: @theDebATL
FB: @theDebATL
IG: @theDebATL 
~~~
Fables: A Tudor Fairytale available via Kindle Vella