Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Yolanda Sfetsos. Thanks for being here today Yolanda, welcome to FAR!

Thank you, Tammy. It’s great to be here.

To start, will you please tell us a little bit about your current release Hellblaze?

HellBlaze is my first novel release from Aphrodite’s Apples. It’s the story of a female demon that doesn’t particularly like humans but ends up having to depend on them if she’s to get back to her hellish realm of Mon. In the process she learns a lot of valuable lessons, and accepts a lot of things she might not have if she hadn’t ventured on her quest to get back home.

I really enjoyed spending time in the world of Blaze.

Since everybody needs a break, even when doing something they love, how do you like to spend your time away from writing?

I love to spend time with my husband and daughter. We like to go for walks, watch a family movie together or play a little bit of Wii Sports. Asides from family time I love to read. I’ve fallen a bit behind on my reading, but love it! When my daughter’s asleep the hubby and I also enjoy watching TV shows or anime.

What would you like to accomplish with your writing career?

Firstly for me comes the writing. It’s something I can’t do without and do it every single day, so I hope to keep telling stories and improve my craft with each one.

I would also love to continue selling my tales to the growing digital publishing world, and strive to one day achieve the ultimate goal of being published in print.

Do you have any special rituals to help you get in the mood to write?

Not really any special rituals but I love to grab my laptop and sit on the couch in the same spot every single morning. I used to start writing after dropping my daughter off at school but my husband switched jobs recently so I now get a chance to write before she even wakes up. So I like to get between 1-2k words written before she’s even up. That really helps me achieve higher word count totals at the end of my writing day.

Your book Heart & Soul is due out next month from Cobblestone Press. Can you tell us about it and where you got the inspiration for it?

I’ve got a soft spot for the two main characters in this novella, so I’m very excited about its upcoming release.

It’s basically the story of Jake and what happens when he finds a wanted ad in the local newspaper, one that seeks to attract the attention of the vampires in Sydney. As he seeks to get some answers and find whoever is responsible, Jake gets sidetracked by his attraction to the waitress in the coffee shop he frequents.

The inspiration for this story was some good old songs from the 80s and that I wanted to write a different kind of vampire story. Of course I wanted some of the generally accepted vampire myth in the story, but with a mix of my own. It was a lot of fun to write and I hope to revisit Jake and Mary again in the future.

Do you have an agent? If so, did your agent sell your first book to a publisher, or did you do that on your own?

No I don’t have an agent… yet. Yeah, there’s some wishful thinking there.

I hope to find an agent sometime in the future but for the moment I’m submitting everything myself. I sold my first eBook to Cobblestone last November, called Faerie Dust. Since that first sale, I’ve been submitting as regularly as I can.

I noticed on your website that you have Beyond Hellblaze coming soon from Aphrodite’s Apples. Is it connected to your release Hellblaze?

Yes, Beyond HellBlaze is going to be an anthology of three short stories set in Blaze’s world. It’ll be about three characters that appear in the novel and the things that happened before the demon entered their lives.

Did you always want to be a writer?

Yes, I did actually. I’d been making up stories inside my head since I was a little kid, just didn’t really have the skills to put it on paper. Though I did win a book once because of a story I wrote in, I think it was, third grade.

It was in my early teens that I started writing tales after being influenced by teen romance books I enjoyed reading. Though it didn’t take long for me to be introduced to vampires and Clive Barker’s writing. Shortly after that, my writing took on a darker more paranormal edge.

If you could switch places with a character from one of your books, who would you chose and why?

Well, I don’t think I’d really like to switch places with any of them because they mostly live very tortured lives. I’m very cruel to them, lol. Besides, I’m very happy in my on life… though I wouldn’t mind having some of their paranormal abilities.

What would be the theme song to your life?

“Time of My Life” by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warner, from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack because since I meet my husband, that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.

Congratulations! You just won a year off from work to travel anywhere in the world and write the story of your dreams. Where do you go, what type of book do you write, and what’s the title?

I think I’d go somewhere in the US. I’ve always wanted to visit America.

New York City would be my first stop because I’d love to write a story set in this city after having experienced it for myself. From what I’ve seen it looks amazing, so this could be a sort of research holiday. As for the type of book, of course it would be a paranormal with a dark edge about a girl that knows more than the average New Yorker about the dark things that hide in the shadows.

Sometimes the title is the last thing I come up with, so let’s see - Shadows and the City? Yeah, I’m a Sex and the City fan.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

I’d just like to share some links with you.

My Blog, Myspace page, Yahoo! Newsletter

Every month I select a random name from my newsletter and that person wins a prize. I change it every month, so sometimes it could be a specific eBook and others it’s a choice from my releases. Oh, and I love to hear what readers think of my tales, so if you read one don’t be shy and send me a note with what you thought.

I’ve got quite a few releases coming soon too, so be sure to check out my website!

And finally, thanks very much, it’s been a lot of fun.

Thank you for taking time to speak with me today Yolanda. Readers be sure to check out Yolanda’s website.

Interviewed by: Tammy