Interview by OBS Staffer Deanne

1. What can you tell readers about yourself that would surprise them?

I attract disasters. Seriously. I have some sort of crazy water anti-super power. And maybe a touch of fire. In the last 10 years, I’ve had THREE hot water heaters explode and flood my houses. Yep, DIFFERENT houses. Another house was flooded by storm surge by hurricane Katrina and destroyed. Last year, my neighbor’s brand new hot water heater blew up and flooded their house. And the fire? My apartment’s insulation in the attic caught on fire…fortunately, it didn’t do much damage. But a month later, my neighbor’s house caught fire and burned to the ground. Yep, if I could control this, i could be an awesome supervillain. For like, Itor.

2. The Acro series is really spicy (which I loved). Did you find it hard to get in that frame of mind (to write the sex scenes)? And how did you ensure that you remained fresh through out the series?

The frame of mind thing is important. There are times I’m just not “in the mood” to write a sex scene. Same thing happens with action scenes. Both are really hard to write, and I need to be “feeling it” if that makes sense. It wasn’t hard…it was just…I needed to be there. If I couldn’t get into the frame of mind, I’d write the general mechanics and come back later to flesh the scenes out. I think staying fresh was easy because there were two of us (Stephanie Tyler is my Croft co-author) writing the scenes, so I didn’t have to do them all by myself.

3. The Demonica Series was extraordinary, I loved that it was different from your normal paranormal genre. Where did you come up with the idea of demons and demon hunters?

Well, really, I just wanted to do something different. I mean, demons/vampires and slayers aren’t new, but no one had done a hospital setting yet. Vampires were already popular, and so were shifters, but demons hadn’t really come onto the scene. At least, not at the time I was writing Pleasure Unbound. Right after it sold, Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter took off big time with their demons, so my “newish” idea wasn’t so new anymore. 🙂 But anyway, I populated my hospital with different kinds of underworld creatures and then added the slayer element, because in the real world, everyone has enemies. This is a world where people are persecuted because of the color of their skin, their sexuality, their religion, their politics. So I figured that if people are hating other HUMANS, there would certainly be a group of people wanting to wipe out demons!

4. Do you have a favorite book or series that you could read over and over again and why?

Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. I read it over and over and over. The world-building is extraordinary.

5. What do you do to prepare for the release of a new book? And do you know when you are writing if that book is going to be a hit?

To prepare…I pretty much just stick my head in the sand and panic. 🙂 And no, I don’t think any book is ever going to be a hit. Seriously, I always think that whatever book I’m writing is the worst thing I’ve ever written. I simply can’t be objective when it comes to my own writing. It isn’t until I see the final product that I think it might be okay.

6. You have a new book being released in April 2011, Eternal Rider (the first in the Lords of Deliverance series). Will you tell readers what to expect from this book as well as the series?

Eternal Rider will introduce readers to all of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who walk the line between good and evil. Their fate, as well as the fate of humankind, depends on how well they guard their Seals. The whole series will contain an apocalyptic arc that pits one Horseman against the others. The series is set in the Demonica world, so you can expect much of the same level of action and steam, and you’ll see lots of the Demonica cast!

7. Can you tell us what to expect from you in the future?

Honestly, I’m not sure! For now, I’m just concentrating on the Lords of Deliverance. I have books I’d LOVE to write, but they’ll depend on sales. For example, I’d love to do Reaver’s book after I’m done with the Horsemen, but…that’s up to my publisher and my readers!

8. Out of your many writings, do you have a favorite book or character? if so what makes it so special to you?

I think that of the Demonica novels, Passion Unleashed is special. Wraith is just so easy to write! Out of the Sydney Croft novels, I have a soft spot for Unleashing the Storm. That book and those characters just wrote themselves.

9. It seems that now every book or comic book is being adapted into films, what are you thoughts on that? Would you like for your books to follow the same process? If so, do you have any actors in mind for the main parts?

I would love to see my books adapted into either films or comics! Sadly, I have no control over that, but I’d SO love it! Actors? I really try not to think on that, because I never base my characters on anyone real. It kind of screws with my process to do that. But I’ve always thought that Josh Holloway from LOST would make a good Wraith, and the lady who plays Natalie on One Life To Live would make a good Tayla. And I’d love Oded Fehr to play someone…maybe Shade? Or Kynan? Heck, that man could play Runa and I’d be happy! *g*

Again, thank you Larisa for taking the time to talk to your readers.