Blog Tour: Blood Seductions

Where do you hail from and what do you love most about your hometown?

I was born in Arizona, and spent my earliest years running wild across the desert landscape. I must have driven my mother half to distraction with all of my adventuring, frequently bringing home pieces of the desert with me. Geckos, scorpions, snakes, cactus flowers…my mother was always finding jars or pockets filled with the odd little treasures I found along my way. I miss the freedom and carefree life that I lived back then, as well as the warmth of the desert sun. It gets far too cold up here in the Utah mountains!

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

As soon as I was old enough to pray, I started asking God for a horse and cow. I really wanted to be a cowgirl when I grew up. I’m not sure what movie or dream might have originally inspired that goal, but I know that I was motivated by a love for the great outdoors.

Tell us about your latest book.

I’m currently polishing up Dream Seductions: All the Queen’s Men, which I plan to publish in July. It will be the fourth book in my popular Dream Seduction series, but it is actually the story that originally inspired the entire line. I love the main character, Syrena. She is a succubus that was raised by humans, never knowing what she really was. She also never learned the laws and rules that others of her kind live by, or to fear the other supernatural creatures which might haunt the night. It really ends up giving her a lot of potential, as well as places her in a lot of danger.

Do you have anything new in the works and can you tell us a bit about it?

This year I’ve started branching out to complete short stories for a variety of anthologies that will be published late 2012 and early 2013. I’ve still been writing full length novels on the side however, so I’ll have at least another three or four books for release this year.

Secret Admirer was published just this past weekend. It’s a fun contemporary romance about a waitress who gains a very sexy live-in bodyguard, after she begins receiving a series of frightening “secret admirer” letters.

Dream Seductions: All the Queen’s Men should be available sometime in July. As I mentioned above, it’s a story about a succubus learning her place in the world, and will have a lot of hot ménage and couples interludes. A succubus can be a very sensual creature, especially if she doesn’t know the rules about sticking to her own species!

Passionate Creatures is another contemporary romance that I plan to release this year. It’s a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, as a single mother finds herself torn between two powerful men, and protecting her two children. The oldest child has become suicidal after the suspicious death of his father, and the increase of drama in his life makes the situation that much more volatile.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging about writing?

I love writing and reading, but I really struggle with any sort of marketing. I don’t like self promotion in any way, so I’ve been sincerely blessed to have this many devoted friends and readers that are eager to share their appreciation for my stories with others. I’m sure I would never have reached such success without all of those wonderful people. Thank you all so much!

What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

Try to write about what you love! If you are passionate about what you are putting on paper, the readers will be able to feel that passion. You’ll also find that the words just seem to flow onto the page without as much effort.

Let yourself sink into the story and feel the emotions of each of your characters.

Most of all, never give up. It can be tough sometimes, when your Muse is being stubborn, or the plot becomes complicated. Just keep writing. You can always go back and edit out parts of the story once it’s completed.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

I suspect we all struggle with stories from time to time. Something that helps me push through a temporary block, is having a rough outline of the plot already down on paper. If I have a basic idea of how I want the next portion of the story to end, I can better muddle over how to get my characters to that point.

If I ever find myself really struggling with the flow of a story, I may simply put the manuscript aside for awhile and work on something else. I’ll complete a short story, or just do some reading and completely avoid writing for awhile. My subconscious mind will gnaw away at the block and eventually offer me a fabulous solution, usually just as I’m drifting off to sleep at night. For that reason I always keep a notebook and pen on my bedside table.

Who is your favorite author and why?

It’s really hard to pick a favorite author, when so many of them have made an impression on me over the years!

Some of my favorite authors are probably Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Suzanne Brockmann and Nora Roberts. I really appreciate a good scary story, or a good romance.

What books have most influenced your life?

That’s really a tough question! I’ve had so many books influence me over the years. As a youth, I think I was most inspired by Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonrider series. Her books helped to awaken my imagination and a desire to write stories of my own.

How did you deal with rejection letters?

Ah, the bane of all writers! I’ve found there are two kinds of rejection letters. Usually they just send you a generic, pre-written response that they mail out to any author they don’t feel they can support. But occasionally a publisher will give you clues as to why they might have turned your manuscript away. If they do, pay attention! It could be a golden egg in disguise.

Rejection letters, or bad reviews, can give you valuable insight as to how you might want to improve your writing. As an author, it’s important to learn how to develop and progress the quality of your books.

Most importantly, never give up!

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

I would highly recommend utilizing a good thesaurus and dictionary. I also love having access to the internet for maps and details on locations, as well as history and details to add depth to stories. Other than those items, I might recommend an external hard drive to back up all of your books. There’s nothing quite as horrible as having a manuscript lost because your computer gets a virus or has a meltdown.

Where do you as an author draw the line on gory descriptions and/or erotic content?

I think it depends on who your target audience is. There are a few authors that make a very good living by offering the goriest or most erotic content available. I never limit my own imagination, unless I’m striving to market for a specific audience or publisher.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

I generally live my life in such a way I seldom need to seek out an experience for the sake of research. I absolutely adore the life of an adventurer. That said, whenever I do find myself in need of information, I usually resort to scouring the internet. Read blogs, websites, books, everything you can get your hands one. There are so many fascinating things to experience, even from the safety of your own home.

Don’t forget to give us links to your website etc.

For those that are new to my writing, I’d love to talk to you about what you’d like to see more or less of in my stories. I hope you’ll all feel free to drop by and share your opinions or suggestions!

You can almost always find me on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Celeste-Hall/163107347079149

I’m a huge Facebook junkie, so messages left there will usually be answered that same day. =)

Other places I can (less frequently) be found include:

My website, http://www.celestehall.com

Blog, http://celestehall.blogspot.com

Twitter, http://twitter.com/ACelesteHall

Goodreads, http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4915911.Celeste_Hall