Welcome Brynna Curry today!!

Hi Brynna, so glad to have you here with us today. First thing I need to say is how much I love your book covers, can you tell me who the artist/s were? You must be thrilled with them! Let's start the interview...

1) Who is your favourite author and why?
Sherrilyn Kenyon, because I can actually turn off the writer/editor part of my brain and just enjoy her vivid storytelling.

2) When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When I mailed my first submission to Harlequin. It was politely rejected.

3) Describe your writing space?

I do most of my writing in my bedroom, so there are stacks of papers and books everywhere on the bedside table. At the new house, my 'office' is in the dining room. I have an antique sewing machine table I use as a desk. Of course there's bookshelves filled mainly with Nora Roberts books and paranormal romance novels by different authors. I'm completely addicted to books. Of course, there is usually a hammer, nails, or even a saw lying nearby. Right now our remodeling crew consists of me and anyone I can bribe to help me. It's a work in progress. I like to have figurines and plants around me when I'm working. Dragons, wizards, forest critters, knick knacks with stars or moons on them are my favorite ones.

4) What are you reading now?

I'm re-reading Come the Spring by Julie Garwood Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks, and Midnight Bayou by Nora Roberts, along with a ton of review books for YGR and To Take Up the Sword by yours truly. It will be my first read through just for fun (meaning editing's done, set in stone, and I've moved on to writing a different book) before it hits the shelves 9-6-10.
5) How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

To date I've completed four books and have seven works in progress. Out of the completed books? I'd have to say Gypsy Moon (written under Brianna Roarke) because its a great story and made me push the boundaries of my comfort zone. Out of the Elemental Magic series? Fire's Ice which isn't quite finished yet because of all the magic. Devin (the hero) is just wicked enough to be fun. A wizard and Scottish laird banished from his clan by magic, he's lived a thousand years waiting for the spell to end. Fire's Ice wasn't actually part of the original series, but my readers liked Devin so much, he became a continuing character and eventually I gave him his own book. It will be out sometime next summer if we stay on schedule.

6) What comes first, plot or characters?

Characters. Always. Usually from dreams or sometimes a song will trigger an image of a new character. I build around that.

7) Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

No. Not really. I usually have several projects going at once. When one set of characters is quiet, one of the others will 'speak' to me and I'll work on their book. The story is almost always better for the time away and fresh read through.

8) What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Aside from reading, I like to finish little (and sometimes huge) home improvement projects on the house we are remodeling. I also love to play video games with the kids. Legend of Zelda and Spyro are my favorites.

9) Tell us about your latest book?

To Take Up the Sword is the second book in my Elemental Magic series. Here's the blurb and an excerpt:

After the acquittal of Gueraldi's right hand and favored killer for hire, Ashton Smythe, Special Agent Gabriel Spiller takes time away from his work with the FBI. Having failed in his mission to avenge his lost would be lover, Serena Roarke, Gabe returns to Alabama in search of the missing diamonds needed to reopen the investigation and to lay low from the death threats he's received since Smythe went free.

Almost two years after her sister's death, Leannan O'Neal feels the loss of Serena more now than ever. A secret meeting between them before she died left Lea with an ugly figurine and nothing but questions. Hang-up calls at work and a trashed house reminds her of the card Serena gave her. "If you find yourself in trouble, go to him and only him" were the last words her sister spoke to her.

With Smthye out for revenge and hot on her heels, Lea goes on the run in search of Serena's 'Angel', but how long can Gabe keep her alive, and is the cost worth more than her life?

Excerpt:
Lea fished her keys out of the pocket of her windbreaker and unlocked the front door of her sweet little house. Uneasiness swept over her for the second time this morning. Turning, she scanned the empty street behind her. Nothing looked out of the ordinary as far as she could tell. At six-thirty, it was too early for the school bus riders in her neighborhood to be waiting outside.
She’d be at her desk in her warm classroom if she hadn’t forgotten the graded test papers. Those really needed to be added to the signed papers she sent out over the weekend.Though it was an hour before she’d have to report to her first class, she’d go in at seven o’clock to catch up on grading homework. The smell of Dunkin Donuts’ coffee and sweets lingered on her jacket, beckoning her back to the car. She just had to get one thing she’d forgotten.
Opening the door, Lea froze. Oh my God! What had happened to her house? She picked her way over the broken glass of an old vase in the foyer and looked into the living room. Couch cushions were ripped apart, stuffing all over the floor. Mirrors, shattered lamps tossed into corners. As she picked her way through the destruction of her home, down the hall she found her office and bedroom the same way. Completely trashed. She’d never get the blood out of her clothes or mattress. Were the criminals who’d done this still here? Why would they want to attack her home? Unless... This was about Serena’s statue. Lea thought back to the last meeting with her sister here in her home.
“Lea, I need a favor, a gigantic one.” Lea watched Serena’s red curls bounce around her face as she emphatically pleaded with her sister.
“Sissy, calm down, I’ll do it if I can.” Lea noticed Serena kept her back to the wall, alternately looking between the windows and her watch. Serena thrust a statue into her arms. “Keep this safe and with you always. Never let anyone know you have it. When I need it I’ll come back for it.”
Lea looked at the cheap trinket curiously and shook it, but it made no sound.
"I will, because it’s important to you. Can you tell me why?”
“No, I can’t. I will return for it, Lea.” A chill went through Lea and she
hugged her sister so tightly she could scarcely breathe. “I love you. I’m sorry to
ask this of you, but I have no one else to trust.”


"Not even your husband? You’re scaring me, Sissy.”
“Especially not Jack, his life depends on it. I know you’re scared. You need to be. If I don’t come back or you find you’re in danger, go to this man and only him. Promise me.” She grabbed a ballpoint pen off a nearby table and scribbled something on the back of a small white square. Serena gave her Gabriel’s business card. “Tell him who you are. He will help you. I’d trust him with my life, and in a way I guess I am.”
“Are you going to be okay?” Lea asked.
“I don’t know...” She paused as she opened the door. Her eyes were grave as they met Lea’s gaze “Tell no one I was here. We’re estranged. You don’t know me. No one does, not anymore. Take care, I love you.”
The next time she’d seen Serena was in a casket.


Whoever had done this must have been looking for the statue. Thank goodness she kept it with her, even on her morning donut runs. She took stock of the damage. In her bed, on her pillow, covered in blood was a mannequin’s head that bore a striking resemblance to her.Get out now! Serena’s voice flitted through her mind.
What the hell? Hurry! Run! Find Gabriel!
Covering her mouth with her hand, she backed into the dresser. Lea dug through her lingerie drawer and found the small cloth bag with stars on it she’d hidden there after Serena’s visit. Checking the contents, she found the roll of twenty-dollar bills she’d saved, one of her two credit cards and all her identifying papers. She switched her flats for tennis shoes, ran back to the front door and said goodbye to her house.
10) What’s next for you?
I'm looking forward to To Take Up the Sword's release (like a kid at Christmas) on September 6th. Wait for the Wind is about to go into edits with an anticipated release in January and I'll be completing the last two books in the series. I'll be running contests all month to celebrate Sword's release. More details will be available on my website soon.

The fall issue of 'Apollo's Lyre' will be out that month, my first as acting review editor. It will be busy too with book reviews for You Gotta Read. After that? We'll just have to see where the road takes me.

It's been wonderful to visit with y'all today. I'd love for you to stop by the site or blogs and say hello.
http://brynnacurrybriannaroarkebooks.webs.com/
http://brynnacurrybriannaroarkebooks.blogspot.com/
http://brynnacurry.wordpress.com/
http://paranormalwriters.blogspot.com/

I'm also on Facebook, Twitter, My Space, & Linked In as Brynna Curry.

Great interview! I am also a huge Nora Roberts fan - I pledge to one day own everything she's written, mmm, we'll see if that's achievable in time! I'd love to know how you manage to juggle so many works in progress! Comments please...