Today I am speaking with Jaci Burton and Cheyenne McCray. Good morning, ladies. I must say it is good to have two great authors in our midst this morning.

Linda: Jaci, wow, you have a great website, very informative. Cheyenne, you too have a very impressive website and very informative. Both of you have many books for the avid reader to choose from.

Jaci: Thank you! It’s taken me quite a few years to put together a website that (I hope) is easy to maneuver around and provides all the information a reader needs. I’m so glad you like it.

Cheyenne: Thanks so much, Linda. I love what my webmistress has done with both my main site and my romantic erotica site.

Linda: If it is okay I will ask Jaci first about her book in the Demon Hunters, Hunting The Demon. Jaci, where did you get the idea for this book? Is it a part of a series?

Jaci: Hunting the Demon is the second book in my Demon Hunter series with Bantam Dell. I planned out this book as a follow-up to Surviving Demon Island, the first book in the series. In the first book, my hero was Derek Marks. Hunting The Demon features Derek’s brother, Nic, as my hero.

Linda: Jaci, I believe your website says you dream of writing passionate romance. I noticed you have more than one publisher with your books. Is it hard being with more than one publishing house?

Jaci: Not at all. It requires a lot of juggling, but with a good schedule, I know when books are due, and I work on one at a time. Finish one, start another. It’s actually a lot of fun working for multiple houses.

Linda: Cheyenne, I believe your release due August 28th with St. Martin’s Press is Wicked Magic, of the Magic Series. I caught the video on your website. It is quite alluring to the eye. Why not tell the readers a bit about the story, and Rhiannon and Keir?

Cheyenne: I’m glad you like the video—I love it, too.

Keir and Rhiannon are fire and fire. Together they create an inferno. They both are wounded characters who learn to trust and love. Rhiannon has a terrible secret that she keeps locked up inside, but circumstances force her to reveal her secret. The back cover blurb tells you a little more about the book better than I can!

A DARK SECRET
Rhiannon Castle is a D’Anu witch whose Coven sisters know nothing of the Shadows that lurk within her. Rhiannon can’t reveal the truth to anyone—least of all Keir, a rugged warrior who walks into Rhiannon’s life and awakens her to a wanton desire…

A SEARING PASSION
Keir’s Tuatha D’Danann brethren are the only real family he has ever known. He trusts no one—until he is sent to San Francisco and meets Rhiannon, the one woman with fire enough to tame him. Every seductive encounter convinces Keir that she belongs with him—even though Rhiannon knows her powers could put him in peril…

A SHARED DESTINY
And then a new threat rises from the depths of the Underworld. When a demon goddess unleashes her evil upon our world, Rhiannon’s secret could prove the ultimate weapon in this epic battle—or forge a pathway to destruction for the only man she’s ever loved…

Linda: Cheyenne, where did you get the idea for this series?

Cheyenne: I started writing young adult, YA, books before writing for adults. I was doing both simultaneously while I researched Pagan witches and the history of Paganism. When my editor at St. Martin’s Press asked for a proposal for an erotic urban paranormal romance series, a Pagan ceremony called “Drawing down the Moon” came to my mind, and I could clearly see the heroine performing this ceremony and summoning beings from another world. I was also interested in Celtic mythology and have drawn many of my races and characters from that mythology.

Linda: What can the readers look forward to in the future with Jaci and Cheyenne

Jaci: I’m currently at work on the third book in the Demon Hunter series. The Demon' Touch will release in 2008. I also plan more books through my other publisher, Berkley. I have an anthology, Exclusive, releasing with them in September, and a single title contemporary erotic romance Riding Wild, releasing in February, 2008.

Cheyenne: In 2008 my book releases include Moving Target, a contemporary suspense, followed by Shadow Magic and Dark Magic. Dark Magic is the last book in the “Magic” series, which I’m currently writing now.

A little farther in the future, 2009, I have a new series coming out. The first is a contemporary suspense continuity series with a kickass heroine, Lexi, and has romantic elements.

I also have an urban fantasy series following that with a heroine who is half Drow, the Dark Elves, and half human. She’s a killer with a major attitude problem.

Linda: Did either of you have to do much research on your book? Was it hard choosing names, and settings?

Jaci: For the Demon Hunter series, most of the characters were introduced in Surviving Demon Island, with the exception of a few secondary characters who take a main role in later books. Naming them is actually a lot of fun. It’s a lot like naming a child, since they become so real to me, so I take it very seriously. Names of characters are really important.

Hunting The Demon takes place in Australia, so I did quite a bit of research as far as the geography of the Northwest Territory. I really enjoyed that aspect of plotting the book. Australia is beautiful country and I loved setting one of the books there.

Cheyenne: Sometimes I make up names. Most of the time I find names with meanings that correspond with the character. Or names that just sound good. The Fae and Elvin names from the “Magic” series are pretty much all Irish, Gaelic, and Celtic.

Linda: Does it take long for either of you to compose a book?

Jaci: It takes me anywhere from four to six months to write one of the Demon Hunter books.

Cheyenne: I write a book in about 8 weeks. But I’m thinking about the next one and planning it in my mind while I’m writing the current book. Like right now I’m writing the 5th “Magic” book, but I’m thinking about my new contemporary suspense series that I start writing 11/1. I’m researching Boston, the local language, history, geography, plus law enforcement and the area I’m gong to concentrate on. So I start the writing process for each book before I ever start to actually write it.

Linda: Jaci and Cheyenne, with all your list of credits, do you have an agent?

Jaci: Yes. I’m represented by Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency. She’s a wonderful advocate for me and my books. I couldn’t do this without her!

Cheyenne: A wonderful one. Nancy Yost of Lowenstein-Yost and Associates

Linda: Have either of you ever been touched with writers block, and if, so what did you do to get rid of it, and start back your routine?

Jaci: There are times when the plot or the characters just don’t want to do what I want them to. I just keep writing, even if I don’t think it’s working. That usually helps me move past whatever the problem is, and I know whatever the issue is I can fix it later in editing. There’s nothing worse than not writing when you have writer’s block. You can’t fix a blank page!

Cheyenne: I don’t believe in writer’s block. Sometimes I get stuck, but I just need something to jar me to get me going again. What I do is just *write* even if I think it’s terrible. That gets me going again, and my main crit partner who crits chapter by chapter either tells me it doesn’t suck or how I might fix it. And I do the same for her.

Linda: Jaci and Cheyenne, what do you think about the e-book industry, its progress and future?

Jaci: I got my start in e-publishing. I think it’s a growing industry with an amazing future that I have enormous respect for. It’s a way for writers to put out books that are outside the box of what is considered ‘traditional’, a way for writers to stretch their creative muscles and put something out there that may not fit within the realm of traditional NY publishing. I loved that my books found a home in e-publishing and was very successful there. I believe there are some incredible e-publishers out there, but like anything with publishing, a writer should be careful, do their research and make sure a publisher is sound, and the right fit for their work.

Cheyenne: I’ve always thought e books are the future. I’ll hate to see print books go, but some day most people will have electronic devices where they can read a book on a device that they can store 100’s of books in. They save space in the house, can take a book everywhere with them, and get instant gratification when they can download the book as soon as it comes out.

Linda: Have either of you ever written a screenplay or thought of doing so?

Jaci: No, I never have. Screenwriting isn’t on my radar, at least not in the near future.

Cheyenne: Nope. :-)

Linda: Jaci and Cheyenne, what were some of the greatest joys after the release of your first book?

Jaci: There’s no feeling in the world like the release of your very first book. Seeing the cover with your name on it, knowing that people were actually going to read it, seeing all those pages that you wrote…is really an indescribable feeling. And yet every book I’ve put out since still feels like the first. It’s always so exciting for me.

Cheyenne: It’s a high. It’s thrilling, exciting, and just an amazing feeling. And to see it on Amazon or in bookstores is even more of a thrill.

Linda: Do either of you have problems promoting yourself?

Jaci: Not at all. I love promotion, probably because I come from a business and marketing background and know how important it is to get your name out there. Readers have to find out about me and my books so they can buy them. I put out ads, I chat in groups, I blog and do anything I can to make sure readers can find me and my books.

Cheyenne: I used to have time to do more of it, and no, I didn’t have any problems doing it. But now finding the time is becoming increasingly difficult. So I’ve had to hire and assistant and a publicist to help me keep up.

Linda: Is there any author, past or present, that either of would like to pen a book with

Jaci: I co-wrote a couple books with my husband. It’s really difficult to write with someone. I think if I chose some of my favorite authors, I’d be completely intimidated and unable to write a single word. Heh.

Cheyenne: That’s so hard to say. I’ve penned books with other authors. Annie Windsor and I have written YA novels together under different names and an adult novel. We have such an amazing relationship that it was easy and fun. We play well off each other.

As far as another author—I can’t think of anyone because I don’t know what it would be like to work with them, and that’s important. Annie Windsor—any time.

Linda: Jaci and Cheyenne, there is a lot of talk about the value of obtaining "reviews" of your work. How do you feel about having your own books reviewed and what value, if any, do you get from them?

Jaci: I find reviews quite valuable. Of course great reviews are wonderful, but even the ones that aren’t so great can help pinpoint areas you need to work on in your next book, so I read them all.

Cheyenne: I believe it allows readers a glimpse of what the book is about and if it intrigues them enough to purchase it. It also makes the reader more familiar with the author’s name. I appreciate any review site that takes the time to review my books.

Linda: Is there anything off the top of your head that either of you would like to share with your readers?

Jaci: I hope readers who love paranormal and haven’t yet tried my Demon Hunter series will give them a try. Surviving Demon Island is available now and Hunting The Demon on August 28th. It’s a mix of romance, action, adventure and suspense and I love this series and all the characters in it, so I’d love to share this world with them.

Cheyenne: I want to let all of my readers know how much I appreciate them. I do everything I can to deliver to you a world you’ll slip into and be able to let the world fall away and live in the now. Thank you for all of the email, and snail mail cards and notes!

Linda: Is there one habit either of you know you’ll never change?

Jaci: Probably the state of my desk, piled high with books, papers and just generally a mess. I do clean it off occasionally, but it just ends up messy again. I seem to work really well this way. It must cater to the cluttered creative mind.

Cheyenne: Hmmm…. Writing? I’m obsessive-compulsive about it.

Linda: Jaci and Cheyenne, do you have a favorite movie that you could watch over and over again?

Jaci: Several. The Blade movies, Independence Day, Armageddon, Pretty Woman, Sweet Home Alabama, The Sweetest Thing…I could go on and on. I love movies.

Cheyenne: the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gladiator, and the Bourne series.

Linda: Or a favorite actor that you would love to star in one of your books?

Jaci: Gerard Butler would be nice. Is he available? ;-)

Cheyenne: Ack! This is difficult because I don’t watch TV. I do watch movies, but I forget actor’s names. I love Matt Damon in the Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum. Will Smith is one of my absolute all time favorite actors. I’ve always loved Harrison Ford, but he’s the exact same age as my dad, so that doesn’t work. Yeah, Matt Damon would be hot!

Linda: Can each of you share your websites, or any groups, or myspace with your readers today?

Jaci:
Website: jaciburton.com
Blog: jaciburton.com/blog
Myspace: myspace.com/jaciburton
Chat Group: groups.yahoo.com/group/JaciBurtonsParadise

Cheyenne:
cheyennemccray.com
myspace.com/cheyennemccray

Linda: For Fun, for each of you: What is your absolute best comfort food? Which do you prefer Coffee or Tea? And of all the cities to visit in the U.S. which would you say would be the best to take a vacation and enjoy?

Jaci: Comfort food is definitely pizza. Or brownies. I love coffee, definitely. Florida for vacation.

Cheyenne: Mexican food is my comfort food, and I prefer iced tea even though I do drink coffee and like it, too.

Linda: Jaci and Cheyenne, aside from writing, if the two of you were asked to compete in a challenge of some sort, against the other, like cooking, racing, bungee jumping, etc, what would you think would be your best avenue to challenge the other?

Jaci: Cooking. The others sound like too much work, and I’m a pretty darn good cook.

Cheyenne: Er, I have no clue. Jaci would easily kick my butt in any of the above. I do make a mean restaurant reservation and can warm a seat well when it comes to watching racing and bungee jumping.

Linda: Is there anything that either of you would like to add?

Jaci: Thank you Linda, and FAR, for the opportunity to share a little about myself!

Cheyenne: I’d just like to thank all of my readers. You are why I’m here and I appreciate every one of you!

Jaci and Cheyenne, thank you so much for chatting with us today. It has indeed been a pleasure to have both you terrific ladies with us today. Good luck to you and your writing. I know I will be looking forward to reading your books.

Jaci: Thank you!

Cheyenne: Thank you so much for having us. I appreciate the time you have given out of your busy schedule!

Interviewed by: Linda L.