Welcome to FAR Sierra Dafoe! We would like to ask you some questions so our audience can get to know you a little bit better. If at any time you would like to interject with statements of your own feel free. First question:

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer and tell us about your first story?

It’s funny, I don’t think I ever decided, really. Writing was simply something I always did. The first story I remember writing was “Tommy the Turtle” -- I’m pretty sure that was in second grade. It was on that fat double-lined manila paper, remember that stuff? I did little illustrations along the top. The plot, alas, is long gone, but I do remember being very proud of that story.

Even when I wasn’t writing as a kid I was usually off in a fantasy world of my own. I loved to read, and one thing we had a ton of in my house was books. Fairy tales, fantasy, those wonderful old hardback editions of Tanglewood Tales and Robin Hood with the color plates… By the time I was seven I had this whole inner mythology, an entire sub-realm peopled by knights and gods and monsters and folk heroes. On some level, I’ve never left it.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Honestly? I often don’t know. Here, there, memories, things I see in the newspaper, songs, snippets of conversation… By the time it gets down on paper, though, I often can’t remember where the germ of the original idea came from!

I loved how you intertwined complex situations with strong characters dealing with difficult cultural situations in your Devarian series. Where did you get the inspiration in the Devarian series?

Now that one, for a wonder, is easy. It started during a conversation with a good girlfriend -- I seem to recall there were strawberry margaritas involved. We were complaining about the state of the world and what a mess the politicians and rulers were making of it, and boy howdy! Ever notice they’re almost all men? So we came to the conclusion that it should be illegal for any man to be in a position of power -- obviously they can’t be trusted to know what’s good for them. Hey!, says Sierra, there’s a story here!

And thus the Devarian universe, in which women are the rulers and the men are slaves, was born.

Of all your accomplishments, which one are you most proud of and why?

My son. Definitely my son. He is a warm, wonderful, generous, caring young man, and I am excessively proud of him! He’s by far the best thing to come out of my life.

In your Shifter Sisters series, do you have a favorite character? And if you do, what makes that character so memorable?

That one’s rough! I love Lu, the star of Sex and the Single Werewolf, but I also love Persia, the bratty, sassy cat-shifter. She’s a riot. She’s completely amoral, a pain in the ass, and totally opportunistic. But nevertheless she’s somehow irresistible -- my readers seem to really enjoy her, and the reviewers, as well -- Shifter Sisters 3: Stray Cat Strut picked up two recommended reads (which makes Persia say “Nyeah!” to Lu, who only got one, LOL!), and a whole slew of five-star reviews. And Tori, who’s my vampire and surrogate mom to both these madcap characters, is wonderful and elegant and calm -- it was fun watching to see what happens when that calm gets utterly ruffled in Once Bitten, Twice Shy.

I love how each of your books can stand by itself, but read together each next one adds depth and breath to the story. How do you manage to interweave the stories so well?

Thank you, Teresa! What a lovely compliment. Sometimes it’s the result of having a sort of mental map of the whole interwoven story from the start. Other times, I have to admit, it’s completely fortuitous. The character of Amista, for example, in Devarian Revolution -- I was absolutely fascinated by her, and by Merkun, the slave-dealer who sells Kantou to Soleyla. I was always curious what sort of experiences had led Amista, who is High Commander of the Guardian forces, to make the decisions she did in Renegades. So it was wonderful going back and exploring that earlier part of her story, when she was a young captain, in Devarian Pleasure-Slave.

When you have free time what do you like to do?

I’m lucky to live in the White Mountains in New Hampshire, which are absolutely gorgeous. I spend a lot of time just hiking up at Jericho Lake or along some of the zillions of trails up here. It’s a good thing, too -- writing’s very sedentary and I desperately need the exercise.

What is a typical day like for you?

In as much as I have one, I get up around 5 or 6, depending on when the hubby’s alarm (dang thing!) starts going off. Make tea, check email, post to the loops and try to update the site, things like that, while he’s getting ready for work. Then, generally, I head over to the couch with my laptop and write till he comes home for lunch. Hard as I try, that first interruption is usually deadly for me -- unless I stay up all night (which I often do) that’s usually it for the writing portion of the day. So then it’s back to site updates, blogging, catching up with my own loop, the Sierra Club, and all the myriad other little things that are just part and package of the job!

How has being published changed your life, if at all?

Well, I never watched much TV -- I loathe commercials! -- but now I pretty much don’t watch any. Having the opportunity to do something I love for a living is fabulous, and it’s been relatively all-consuming since I started. I keep thinking there’ll be a point where I have everything done for a day or two -- it never seems to happen, LOL!

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

Ummm… Don’t think this is easy. Writing is sometimes easy, but having a career as a writer is work. Hard work. And for the first year, if you make two dollars per hour invested, you’ll be lucky. I have two other pieces of advice which are going to sound contradictory, but they’re not:

The first is to practice -- a lot. Find yourself a good critique group, other writers who are serious about their work, and listen to their reactions. Write tons. I mean tons. You could be an absolute natural, a born writer, but even born writers are going to be far better at their craft after their hundredth story than their tenth. Many writers seem to hit a point where they hate everything they’re writing, where they’re dissatisfied with it. Ironically enough, this often seems to coincide with the point where they’re really starting to develop their chops.

The next piece of advice, which as I said seems paradoxical, is don’t wait forever to start sending things out. I’ll be honest -- I’ve had comparatively few rejections in my life, but that’s largely, I think, because I waited forever before I started sending things out. Looking back, I probably could have been publishing ten years ago -- but I never submitted anything back then. So if you’ve written at least twenty or thirty stories, if you’ve worked regularly with a workshop or critique group and they’ve been seeing the improvement in your work, and you’ve been seeing the improvement in your work, start sending it out. Sure, you may (probably will) collect a lot of rejection slips -- but you’ll also know, a lot sooner than I did, when your work is ready.

How do you know? Why, they buy it, of course!

What would you like to accomplish with your writing career?

Do I have my eye on that USA Today Bestseller list, in other words? Oh, yeah! The print market is definitely my next target -- it may take me a while, but I am bound and determined to get there! In the meantime, I am thrilled to now be with Ellora’s Cave and Siren Publishing, along with Changeling Press.

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

I just wanted to mention “Make Me”, which is my first Ellora’s Cave release. It’s a Halloween love story, one of the Tricks and Treats Quickies, about Larissa, a strong, independent woman who’s waited all her life for a man powerful enough to not be intimidated by her, and Adrian Dane, the gorgeous, green-eyed vampire determined to claim her as his. I’m proud of it because I think it’s both hot and sweet -- very sensual but also romantic -- and people really seem to be enjoying it!

And I hope readers will come visit me at my website -- www.sierradafoe.com. There are contests, interviews, lots of great excerpts, free stories… all kinds of stuff! Stop on by and say hi!

Thank you so much for having me this month, Teresa! It was a delight.

I wish to thank Ms. Dafoe for spending the time to answer our questions and give us insight into herself and her books. I enjoyed reading her Devarian and Shifter Sister series and look forward to reading more of her books. Again thank you for your time.

Interviewed by: Teresa