AccessRomance interviews author Jaci Burton.
AR: Your second Demon Hunters book, HUNTING THE DEMON,
is out now. How did you come up with the idea of writing about demon hunters?
How many more are planned for the series?
Jaci: I came up with the heroine of Gina Bliss in SURVIVING DEMON
ISLAND first. She came to me almost fully formed, then I built the first book
around her. The worldbuilding came after in much more depth as I began really
digging into the first book and the demons and demon hunters came to life. I don't
have a set number of books planned for the series. Never know who's going to pop
up in a book besides the already existing characters. Heh. Right now I have contracts
for four books. I'm hoping for a lot more if the series does well. :-)
AR: What sort of research have you done in creating your
demons? Do you feel writing in the paranormal gives your imagination more leeway
in constructing your fictional scenarios?
Jaci: I work very hard to make each heroine unique. Gina was very
strong, self sufficient and physically strong--a real ass kicker. She was probably
one of the most exciting heroines I've ever written. So I have to be careful not
to make every heroine in this series a cookie-cutter version of Gina, because
how boring would that be? Gina had her own demons (pun intended) of the internal
variety, as do each of my heroines. They also have their own unique strengths,
not all of them physical. When I create a heroine, I create her entire life history,
her background, her history, and each of these things shapes who she becomes in
her book.
I love paranormals because of the worldbuilding aspect. It gives me so much more
freedom to create things I couldn't normally create in a 'real world' environment.
Creatures and weaponry especially, as well as paranormal 'gifts' and 'skills'
my heroes and heroines may possess or acquire during the course of the story.
Fun stuff!
AR: You're writing your demon hunters for Bantam, but
you've also written several novellas for Berkley Heat. Tell us a little bit about
those titles and their connections.
Jaci: I wrote three connected novellas in one book for Berkley
Heat, titled WILD WICKED & WANTON. It was about three best friends who make
a bet to enjoy a wild weekend of sex with a man her friends choose for her. I
had the best time writing those stories and fell crazy in love with those girls.
They were an absolutely blast to write and all three were so unique. My novella,
WILD NIGHTS in the upcoming EXCLUSIVE anthology with Berkley Heat contains Mike's
story. Mike was one of the characters in WILD WICKED & WANTON who definitely
deserves a happy ending of his own, and I was thrilled to give him one. I also
have a single title releasing from Berkley Heat in Feb 2008. RIDING WILD is the
launch of my Wild Riders series, which is contemporary erotic suspense and I can't
wait for readers to meet my Harley riding bad boys. :-)
AR: You started out with a very successful electronic
career writing for Elloras Cave. Are you still writing for them as well as for
Samhain Publishing?
Jaci: Right now I'm releasing a few books with Samhain Publishing.
I just released SHOW ME, a contemporary erotic novella dealing with voyeurism
and exhibitionism. I have an erotic Christmas novella releasing with Samhain in
December titled UNWRAPPED that I'm very excited about. Sometime next year I hope
Ellora's Cave will be releasing their FORBIDDEN FANTASIES hardcover, which contains
a novella from my Devlin werewolf series.
AR: What's a typical day for Jaci Burton?
Jaci: Typical? What's that? Heh. I don't have typical days. Every
day is different. Some days are spent doing nothing but writing. Other days I'll
work on revisions or promotion and get no writing done. It all depends on deadlines
and what's sitting on my desk and whether I have a book releasing I need to promote.
Always juggling priorities.
AR: Is there a secret to balancing such a prolific schedule?
Jaci: Uh...Xanax? Okay, seriously. A lot of patience and a really
good calendar.
AR: If you could have any book in your hot little hands
to read right now, what would it be?
Jaci: The next demon hunting soccer mom book by Julie Kenner.
Or maybe Nalini Singh's next book that releases after Caressed by Ice. Or Meljean
Brooks' Demon Moon. Or..........
You can visit Jaci Burton's website at http://www.jaciburton.com
