Fallen Angel Reviews is proud to welcome Gracie C. McKeever for an in-depth interview, into the mind of a multi-talented author and poet with numerous short stories, articles and poems under her belt. Hi Gracie, thank you so much for taking time out to sit with Fallen this evening. I can’t begin to tell you how exciting it is to speak with you.

Hi Rachelle! Wow, that was quite a welcome. I'm not sure I'm worthy of your praise, but I certainly will take it and am honored and excited to be here and answer your questions.

As I was doing a little background research into your career I must admit I was impressed. Gracie, you wear many hats and I have to ask how do you do it? Where do you find the energy to be an author, a poet, freelance writer and reviewer?

When you put it that way, Rachelle, it makes me wonder where I get the energy from too . Actually, it doesn't take much energy at all…I just don't have a life. But seriously, when I'm not at my full-time job, I'm home writing, squeezing it (and reading) in however and wherever I can—on the train during my commute on the way into and on the way home from work; at work during breaks, just anywhere.

Did you ever imagine when you began writing stories for your siblings, that you would one day become a multipublished author?

Not in a million years! When I was a kid and writing those stories, I never thought to one day make a career of something that was so much fun, something that came so naturally to me. Multipublished…wow that sounds so official, and cool. Maybe that career is right around the corner.

Your published stories date back to the mid nineteen nineties, but you were bitten with the erotic bug in 2001. Was the jump from romance to erotic romance difficult?

The "jump" was more a gradual evolution, so no it wasn't difficult at all. I think I've always had the erotic gene in me and was just able to tap into it once I'd been exposed to just the right story. Actually, I've always kept the bedroom door open in the sex scenes in all of my novels, so it was easy for me to slide into the erotic realm and just be a little more graphic and get "down and dirty" explicit.

I noticed most of, if not all, of your books have some sort of paranormal twist to them. Is this genre your favorite? Are there any upcoming releases in the works in other genres?

Yes, I'd have to say paranormal (and all the sub- and cross-genres it engenders) is my favorite genre. Actually, the next two books in The Matchmaker Series after "Beneath The Surface, Book I"—" Terms of Surrender, Book II", and "Manifest Destiny, Book III" (which I am currently working on)—have very minimal paranormal elements in them. Neither the hero or heroine in "Terms of Surrender" and "Manifest Destiny" have paranormal abilities, nor are the storylines paranormal. The paranormal elements that do arise are from appearances made by and allusions to the hero and heroine's brother and sister who ARE "gifted" (in this instance, I guess I couldn't get away from paranormal altogether, huh?). "Terms of Surrender" is a BDSM/Interracial/Suspense story and "Manifest Destiny" is a May/December, East-meets-West story.

Something I wonder while reading erotic romances is if the stories were inspired by an actual event in the author’s life. Have you ever written a story and used a past relationship for motivation?

There's a little bit of myself in every character I write, but I've never written an erotic romance that was inspired by an actual event. Most of the stories are totally made up, though some of the scenes are inspired by actual daydreams and fantasies . I have used one past, platonic-but-he-wanted-more relationships to fashion one of my villains, but he wasn't in any of my erotic romances, but rather my first published novel, "New Life Incognita".

I noticed you went a few years between books and have brought 2006 in with an explosion. Were you taking a needed break from writing or just focusing on other aspects of your career?

Actually, during the last few years I've been writing, had never stopped, hence what seems like an explosion is just books that I'd written over that period of time now being released back-to-back-to-back and within months of each other. I was lucky enough to query the right publisher at just the right time who liked my voice and wanted all of the work I had written to that point. "Manifest Destiny" came about when the publisher asked if I was planning anymore books featuring any of the Vega siblings and my initial answer was no. Within a day of that answer, I had a premise and the characters forming in my head. I was already a third through "Terms of Surrender" at this point, but I guess I just needed the right impetus and incentive to really get into gear with the rest of the series.

, now that we have a better idea about your work I’m sure our readers and your fans would love to know the woman behind the words. When you aren’t writing or freelancing, how do you spend your “Me” time?

I spend "Me" time catching the latest movie, watching DVD's and favorite TV shows, catching up on my reading and trying to catch up on my sleep .

A lot of authors still find time to read a few books between deadlines and plot updates, what was the name of the last book you read for pleasure?

Actually, most of the books I review are books I've read for pleasure, I just happen to do reviews for them after the fact (meaning they weren't assigned to me by a magazine or website, but books that were on my TBR piles and which I wrote reviews for after I read them). I actually just finished a "Secrets" anthology (Volume 11) that I enjoyed a lot and don't plan on writing a review for.

Are there any social issues that you are passionate about and want to share with your readers?

Hmm, until you mentioned it, I didn't think there was anything I would consider myself "passionate" about, but I guess I'd have to say that I am passionate about safe sex and I'm pro-choice (incidentally, and as one might guess, two issues that come up quite frequently in my writing. I try not to let my views overshadow the story or characters though.) I'm also in favor of same-sex marriage.

Now that we have a better idea about your personal passions, I have to ask at least one on the spot question so forgive me. (grin) Do you have any bad habits that you can share? This can be something as simple as always being late for deadlines to something more personal if you like.

Though I'm a chronic procrastinator with some things, I haven't been late for a deadline yet. I'm a packrat and I hate to clean (that's really where my procrastination comes in).

As we come to the end of this interview I was wondering if you have any upcoming chats or appearances scheduled to promote your new releases? If so, please let our fans know when and where.

At the moment, I don't have any chats or appearances scheduled, though I have finished several online interviews in the last week that should be appearing in the upcoming month(s).

Is there anything else you would love to share with our readers today?

Check out "Between Darkness and Daylight" in Siren Serial's "Love Interludes", available now (the first installment of 4 full-length Siren novels is FREE and can be downloaded here: http://www.sirenpub.com/serials/) Also, check out "Beneath The Surface" when it comes out from Siren Publishing, Inc. this April 3rd !

Gracie I want to thank you for taking the time out to really give our readers an up close and personal look at the woman behind the words. In closing, where can readers and fans find additional information about you and your body of work?

Rachelle, thanks so much for taking the time to interview me and asking such in-depth, well-thought questions. It was a pleasure doing this interview with you!

Readers and fans can find additional information about my work at my author website: http://www.graciecmckeever.com and my publishers' websites: http://www.awe-struck.net, http://www.fictionwise.com and http://www.sirenpub.com. Readers can also keep track of my work and me by joining Siren Publishing Writer and Reader Forum at http://www.sirenpub.com/forum/ and also checking out Siren Books at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SirenBooks/ where they'll keep abreast of the latest book releases, contests, special sales, new projects in the work, and much more. Hope to see you all there!

Thanks again, to you Rachelle, and Fallen Angels for letting me share information about myself and news about my latest works!

Interviewed by: Rachelle