With her novel Soulful Sex still riding high on the charts, Author Diana Laurence is celebrating the release of a new novel from New Age Dimensions Publishing. Souls’ Embrace was released in August and is available in both trade paperback and ebook formats.

Welcome Diana! Thanks for taking the time to talk with us.

Thank YOU for the opportunity, Kathi!

Can you tell us a little about Souls’ Embrace?

I’d love to, I’m really excited about this book. It’s a paranormal romance in a medieval-style fantasy setting, with kings, horses, magic, swordfights and the like. The story starts out in a unique way which readers so far seem to like: the protagonists, Kier and Mauren, meet psychically and conduct their courtship via telepathy and visions. Even though they are not physically together, there are plenty of sparks and some intense love scenes. Then abruptly Mauren loses touch with Kier, who is a soldier, and she fears he is dead. She enlists the help of one Master Xiturias, a charismatic man with great powers. Although pretending to assist Mauren in locating Kier, Xiturias falls for her and is determined to win her for himself. The love triangle ends up a to be a sort of battle between the bright and dark sides of sexuality.

How nerve-wracking is it when you publish a book? Do you worry a lot about the response you will get from readers?

For me, publishing a book is 100% fun. I’m happy to say although I published eight works this year with three different publishers, I have been blessed not to receive a single bad review or negative reaction from reviewers or readers. Except sometimes people write me that a story was too short and they wanted more, but that’s the kind of criticism you like to hear! LOL I’m totally new to the romance market since March 2004, so it’s been amazing to me to receive this kind of response. The reviews, the fan emails, the sales for Soulful Sex...I’m pretty floored by it all.

What is your schedule like? Can you tell us what an average day is like for you?

Unfortunately I have a day job so must fit writing, promotional work, and emailing in whenever I can. I have a wonderful husband who operates a one-man cleaning service (called Personal Slave, and guess who named it! LOL), so he also takes care of much of our own household management to give me more time. But every day before and after work I’m busy at the computer. When I’m working on a book I take a lot of time on weekends and as many evenings as my life will allow. But I have a family and other interests as well and I try to keep things balanced. Fortunately I write very quickly!

What does success mean to you?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, to me it’s not about sales figures or money, it’s about readers. I just want to share the creations of my imagination with other people and hopefully get their feedback. The moments I’ve considered my most successful were the times a reader told me how deeply he or she was moved by my characters. There’s no thrill greater than having someone fall in love with a hero who dwells in my imagination. To me that’s the closest one can get to being like the Creator, know what I mean?

Are you a disciplined writer? Do you have a goal each and everyday that you try to fulfill, or do you write as the urge strikes you?

Although my lifestyle doesn’t afford any strict schedule, I’m very disciplined and dedicated. I get a lot done everyday and my writing is a top priority. Fortunately also I’m able to write when I need to—I mean, if it’s time to work on a story, I can do it regardless. I think that comes from writing a lot on command in the business world over the years.

Are you pretty aware of the characteristics and personalities of your characters, or do they surprise you with little quirks now and then?

They sometimes completely surprise me. Honestly, some of these people are just in my head piecemeal and the writing process is just a matter of getting to know them, as if they pre-existed. I recently wrote a novella called Gift of Flesh, which is currently being given away for free by the Living Beyond Reality Press READ FREE Project (www.livingbeyondreality.com). In the process of writing it down, I was amazed to discover how much I liked the hero and heroine. There was so much more to them than I originally expected. It was honestly like getting to know new friends. It seems weird, but I think this happens to all authors. I hope so, or I’m just kinda crazy! LOL

When did you know that writing was something that you wanted to do? Did you have any doubts as to whether or not you would succeed?

I think I figured it out writing was going to be my life around the 4th grade, when I started winning writing contests. I started writing all the time for fun and always have. I knew pretty early on that it wasn’t going to be a career that would support me, but I’ve been freelancing for over 25 years now. I think I was in my twenties when I concluded I was NOT going to succeed! LOL It’s such a matter of luck to make it in fiction writing and the odds are completely against you. So I took to doing it mostly for fun, and then the internet gave me a way to share my writing with others even though it was not for pay. The advent of epublishing is what has changed the market. As soon as I realized it was an option for me I gave it a try, and see what happened? In five months I have a bestseller…today Soulful Sex is at #2 in ebook romances and has been in the top five for six weeks! So I’m rethinking my belief that I won’t succeed… LOL

What is the best thing that has happened to you today?

On this particular day, it was hearing from my publisher that Soulful Sex’s sales in September are running double what they were in August. Now I just hope more of these readers will email me—hey people, it’s dianalaurence@wi.rr.com! LOL

What do you hope to accomplish in the next 5 years?

I now have a paperback available and that’s a whole new ballgame. My publisher and I are working hard to get it in brick-and-mortar stores (it’s available online many places) and I would love to see it sell well enough that print publishing is really a successful part of my work. Meanwhile, I think ebooks will gain in popularity and that will be interesting to see too. I honestly don’t know what to expect from these things so it’s hard to imagine where five years will take me. But as far as the part I can control, I just want to continue to publish books and cultivate readers. We’ll see what happens! I sure didn’t expect the success I’ve had so far…

What is your biggest pet peeve?

As far as writing goes, what irritates me the most is when I see a lack of professionalism in the ebook industry in any form. I am super professional myself and also a perfectionist when it comes to editing my work. New Age Dimensions has very high standards and they do everything at least as professionally as print publishers do. I don’t like it when I see ebooks offered that are poorly written, badly edited, sloppily formatted, or marketed in a less than professional way. It just hurts the image of the good writers and quality epublishers.

What is next for you?

I’m currently working on the sequel to Soulful Sex. I am hopeful that NAD will publish it as an ebook and perhaps then the two books can be combined in a print version as well. I wasn’t sure how well the short story collection concept would be received, but obviously people are liking it! It’s a nice format for romantic erotica, and I have fun getting to create more characters and working in a variety of styles and situations.

Is there anything you would like to add before we go?

Just a few little plugs: First of all, I have to say the print version of Souls’ Embrace is a beautiful book and I hope your readers will check it out to see what great product New Age Dimensions is producing. Secondly, while of course readers can feel free to purchase Soulful Sex from Amazon if they prefer, your beloved author gets a bit more in royalties if you purchase direct from NAD! LOL And finally, I always like to invite readers to visit Living Beyond Reality to get their own free copies of my ebook novella Gift of Flesh and the category novel The Golden Padawan. I would love to have you read them!

Thank you again, Diana for taking the time to chat with us!

Thanks so much for having me! I’m always delighted for the chance to talk with readers.

For more information on Diana’s book visit her website

Interviewed by: Kathi