Terrific Tuesday with Nina Pierce:)

Welcome! Please introduce yourself and tell us about your latest release.

Hi! I’m Nina Pierce. I write erotic suspense and erotic romance for Ellora’s Cave. My latest release, “Healer’s Garden”, is a futuristic suspense novel available now in print.

Have you ever had an idea for a story which scared you after you began writing it?

I’m such a weenie when it comes to that stuff. I don’t like being scared … not even sort of. I don’t watch horror movies or read stories I know are going to have a horror element in them. So in answer to question. Nope. I wouldn’t even think the scary thought let alone pursue it for a story.

Now murder, some blood and a nasty villain … I’m all over that!

Have you incorporated actual events from your own life into your books?

The first book I ever wrote incorporated a lot of people I know, their looks and personalities. I had to do it that way because there were too many other unknowns in writing my first novel. Of course that manuscript keeps the dust bunnies under my couch company and will NEVER see the light of day, so my family will never know.

And now that I write erotica? Well, let’s just say Mr. Nina never complains about the extensive research, but I couldn’t possibly be more specific than that. >wink<

How much research do you do? Do you research first and then write, or do you write first, then research as needed?

Every book requires research of some kind. I haven’t written a book where I wasn’t googling this or that to make sure some nugget of information is correct. Sometimes it’s a little. Sometimes quite a bit. I rarely do it ahead of time, usually because I never know where I’m headed.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? And have you ever had a story take on a life of its own?

I’m a pantser and Lord knows I don’t want to be. I’ve tried taking classes on plotting, working with plotters and still I fly by the seat of my pants. One suspense story took me to the end until I figured out why the killer murdered all his victims. Of course when it came out I realized my subconscious knew it all along. There were all kinds of red herrings I dropped along the way to mislead the reader.

Unfortunately, my characters have never run away with a story and taken me along for the ride. I’ve heard this happens to many writers and I’m waiting for it to happen to me. LOL! In most cases I bleed words onto the page. Writing is a slow process for me.

How long did it take for you to be published?

I sat down to write in the summer of 2005. I pounded out two manuscripts and had them rejected enough that I took some time to sit back and study the market. I realized erotic romance was exploding onto the digital market and sat down in 2007 to write “Healer’s Garden”. It was published in December of that year. (It’s been re-written in and expanded and EC picked it up this year. I like this new version better.) So in the grand scheme of things, two years.

If you could go back and tell yourself anything when you first began your writing career, what would you say?

Hmmm, this is a hard one. I think first I’d say … be patient. Writing/subbing/publishing is a slow process. It doesn’t happen overnight. I’d also tell myself to stop taking so many breaks and write more!

Laptop or pen and ink? What are your ‘must-haves’ when writing?

Neither. I write only on my desktop. I haven’t found a laptop keyboard that works for me. I can’t write fast enough by hand to keep up with my thoughts. Besides I like the moving of this sentence or that paragraph ease of writing on the computer.

Must haves? Thesaurus online, M&M’s and decaf coffee. *shrugs*

Who are your favorite authors? Who would you say influenced you the most?

Gosh, I have so many! Larissa Ione and Jessica Andersen for science fiction. Susan Wiggs for historical. Sandra Brown for romantic suspense.

But Anne McCaffrey’s “Freedom” series and Jean M. Auel’s “Children of Earth” series were both amazing epics that completely rocked my world. Both ladies world building skills and characters pulled me in and truly influenced the way I’d like my books to come across to readers. I still read both series now and again and learn something new from them each time. I'm a HUGE Jean M Auel Fan! I just recently learned her next one is coming out next year (rubs hands together in glee:)

What would your readers be surprised to learn about you?

That I’ve been madly in love and married 26 years to my high school sweetheart and we only broke up once for a short period of time in college. *sigh* I’m such a romantic.

For Fun:

Favorite Halloween memory?

The year my dad rigged a tube and sheet of plastic so when kids were coming up our drive he moaned and lifted the plastic to look like a ghost. Yeeeeeah, we didn’t give away too much candy that year. But boy, it was funny!

Favorite Scary Movie?

The original Halloween

Frankenstein, Dracula, or Werewolf?

Dracula

Thank you for being here today! Please tell us where we can find your books.

My website: http://www.NinaPierce.com is the best place to find the latest news. But also at my publisher, Ellora’s Cave http://www.jasminejade.com/m-535-nina-pierce.aspx

You can also find me online at …

blog: http://www.NinaPierce.com/blog

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Nina.Pierce

twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NinaPierce

BLURB:

In the female dominated society of the 23^rd century, mating with a male, even if it is to save the human race, is a distasteful task and one Healer Jahara Hriznek has successfully avoided—until now.

Brenimyn is a gifted breeding instructor at the Garden of Serenity. Forced to copulate with all females requesting his services, he yearns to find the one woman who responds to his touch. When Jahara arrives with the new class of breeders, Brenimyn’s body immediately aches for her, but convincing the stubborn healer that sex between a man and a woman is more than just an act for procreation proves to be a challenge he refuses to fail.

Jahara doesn’t want to enjoy the sinful rapture only Brenimyn brings to her body. Brenimyn has no intention of dousing the flames of desire licking at them until Jahara is completely his—body, mind, and heart. But when the government finds their loving relationship a threat to the natural order, there may be more than their stubborn wills at stake.

Excerpt:

Patience. That’s what was required of him. But damn, he’d been treading water a hell of a long time while he waited for destiny to change the course of his life.

Brenimyn didn’t enjoy these monthly exhibitions any more than he liked copulating with Kylie. Though she’d never admit it, she detested his touch. He didn’t mind. It was less confusing without emotions getting all tangled in their peculiar relationship.

Since arriving at the Garden three years ago, Brenimyn had become accustomed to arrogant women who thought they were the only intelligent creatures walking this earth. Kylie was a prime example of that conceited attitude personified.

To the women before him, he was nothing more than a stud. Stupid, beastly and—inhuman. Oh, if only they knew what he could do, they wouldn’t think themselves so superior, now would they? But the time had not come to travel that particular road. Preparations still needed to be made. In the meantime, he would swallow his pride and let the mauling begin.

“Their physiques are quite different from ours, not all cushy and round. Rather ugly if you ask me.” Kylie pulled off Brenimyn’s tunic and smiled up at him. “Sorry, Brenimyn. I know the truth stings.”

Forcing his lips to lift, he bent and kissed her cheek. “Nothing is as beautiful and sweet as a woman, Kylie. Not even the flowers in the gardens.”

“Thank you.” She callously patted his stomach with a cold hand.

“Now, Brenimyn is going to take off his breeches. Though you all studied anatomy in school, the first look at a man’s genitals can be shocking.”

Brenimyn untied the cords at his belly slowly, seductively. This was the only time he had control and he stretched the moments out until the females before him leaned forward in breathless anticipation. His eyes locked on the only woman in the room who seemed less interested in this whole charade than him. The raven-haired beauty actually looked lost despite the maturity lining her face. Her hand caressed her cheek even as he thought of her. Her eyes shifted uncomfortably around the room, not watching as the fabric pooled at his bare feet and the inevitable gasp of awe echoed off the walls.

“Please come up and have a closer look,” Kylie said. Her hand fondled his buttocks. Touch but don’t desire, this one is mine, her caress communicated to the breeders even as her lips curved into that plastic smile he’d come to despise. “My mate is a wondrous specimen.”

Brenimyn resented Kylie. He belonged to no one. Least of all her.

On shaky legs, the dark-haired woman approached with all the others. Her gaze searched everywhere but the one place he willed her to look—his face. For some reason, he wanted her to see him, not as a supplier of sperm, but as a man.

Like all the others, her eyes focused only on his physique. Her gaze slid over his well-defined chest he worked hard to maintain. She followed the small line of blond curls around his navel then lower. From her frank appraisal, he wondered if she had ever seen a human male as natural as the day he was birthed. This woman was no different from all the others. Disappointment slumped his shoulders.

Winding her fingers into the yellow mass of curls, Kylie’s fingers cradled Brenimyn’s testicles. “Touch everything, it’s all right.”

At Kylie’s tone, Brenimyn dropped his gaze to the floor. He worked to block out the uncomfortable flurry of fingers petting his skin. He thought again of the Governmental Body of the Garden and wondered how much longer they would keep him as head of the male breeding population if Kylie didn’t conceive soon. As much as he abhorred this display, he needed to be here. He was desperate to meet all the new women entering the Garden. After the mating ritual with Kylie, he’d circulate through the other instructing rooms under the pretense of checking his breeders. Surely the woman he sought would be among this breeding class. Although the girls currently giggling and fondling his body couldn’t really be classified as women, now could they?

Lost in his own thoughts, Brenimyn wasn’t prepared for the shock wave tearing through him like a jolt of electricity. He stared at the fingers trembling along his forearm then into the amber pools that had held his gaze since he entered the room. He wasn’t supposed to meet the women’s eyes when they were this close, but the unexpected tingle of awareness had broken his usually stoic concentration. The beautiful brunette looked at him through thick lashes as if she recognized him. Her mouth trembled with a smile. Did she feel it too? He studied her, trying to discern if she sensed the flow of knowledge rushing between them.

BUY LINK: http://www.jasminejade.com/pm-8729-535-healers-garden.aspx