Interview With Renee Charles, Author of Only Love Survives

I’m delighted to have fellow Wild Rose Press author Renee Charles here today for an interview and a look at her new zombie romance, Only Love Survives.

Hi, Renee. Welcome back. Tell us a little about Only Love Survives:

Amidst an epidemic ravaging the world, all Megan Fletcher’s hopes for the future lie in getting to Las Vegas where newscasts reported scientists were gathering to search for a cure for the modern plague. After rescuing her from a rooftop surrounded by Zombies, Sam Woods appoints himself her escort.  While he knows she is determined to get to Vegas no matter the cost, he doesn’t know her secret. And with his hatred of all things Zombie, she doesn’t dare tell him the truth. The more he kisses her, the harder it is for Megan to hide her growing feelings…and the bite-shaped scar.

But Vegas is not the haven it was promised to be, and when Megan’s immunity to the disease is discovered, she realizes her future and her heart belong to Sam, if he will trust her.  An idealistic school teacher and ex-corporate mogul manage to find love despite a looming worldwide catastrophe. Can their love survive while everything around them is dying? Will they learn that when facing the end of the world, Only Love Survives.

What are you working on now? Do you have any releases scheduled for this year?

Only Love Survives is FREE this week (August 23-27)and only available on Kindle. It will be fully released September 15^th. I am working on the sequel as we speak…ahem, type.

What are your writing goals for this year?

I would really like to connect better with my blog. I love participating in them, such as your lovely blog here, but I seem to ignore my own. It always seems to come last, and blogs are such a great way to connect with other writers as well as readers. I intend to develop my own blog into something people enjoy the heck out of and anticipate each post with a smile. Oh and write the sequel, and plan a release BBQ (I am not a fancy party kind of chick.) Establish goals for next year before July…

How do you come up with ideas?

Something usually catches my attention, at a museum, on TV, driving down a freeway. It’s usually a picture. Then I ask “what if” or “why”, not on purpose, it just happens. Sometimes that’s as far as it goes. Sometimes it snowballs into a story worth telling.

What do you enjoy most about writing?

Bringing the different threads of a story together. Finding the places that things naturally fit. It’s like creating a spiderweb, where at first it’s linear, not much to look at. Just a glistening thread spread across a void anchored to 2 or 3 points. Then you spin and weave and tie ends together until you have something beautiful.

What did you learn from writing your first book or what do you wish you’d known before becoming published?

Oh what wouldn’t I give to have the years back I spent denying I was a writer. Thinking it was only a hobby and I could not do what “real” writers did, even though I was already doing it. I have notebooks full of novels and stories. I have been writing since I could spell “See spot run” and decided spot needed a friend, because he was lonesome running all alone. And where was he going anyhow? Did spot have a family that missed him? Where was his kid? Every dog has a kid. Maybe he was looking for his kid. Oh sorry what was the question?

Do you have a favorite time of day for writing?

Ummm, between loads of laundry, driving to practice, making dinner and going to my day job. If I had a favorite time, I would not recognize it. (laughing)

Where is your favorite place in the world?

Sitting around a campfire with my husband and kids reading ghost stories out loud and eating smores.

What is your favorite food to cook or eat?

I really hate cooking. My husband is the creative cooker. I like to dump things in a pot and walk away. I do well with crockpots and Dutch ovens. My husband on the other hand likes to experiment.

What do you like to read?

I am assuming you mean besides romance novels, right? Is it wrong that I like to read non-fiction books about sex? Seriously, “how to…” manuals and articles. My husband just bought me a subscription to Cosmo for the sex articles. And yet I am not an erotica author. Go figure.

Do you listen to music while you write? What are you listening to now?

Music distracts me. I love music and end up singing the songs or humming, then my mind wanders and I lose track of the story in front of me. I prefer to write with something on the TV quietly in the background, a story I already know so I don’t pay attention, but enough noise that it keeps me anchored in the room.

Who first introduced you to the love of reading?

My mother, my Grandmother, and my Great-grandma. I remember waking up in the middle of the night at Grandma’s house, and the light in my Great-grandma’s room would be on. I would peak in on the way to the bathroom, and she would be reading while the rest of the household was long asleep.

These are few of my favorite things:

1. My family

2. My dogs

3. My books…not always in that order.

And Renee has a question for you all:
Why do you think we are so drawn to the mixture of monsters and romance? Really it’s not new…We have mixed the two for a long, long time. Dracula, Phantom of the Opera, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Day the Earth Stood Still. Now the trend is to upgrade the monster to hero even. Is it bad boy syndrome, or something deeper that keeps us coming back for more sex tainted with fear?

Excerpt:

A storm that spelled danger flashed across Sam’s face. He advanced on Megan so fast, she backed up against the side of the Suburban. Planting a hand firmly on each side of her, he pinned her with his arms as well as his gaze.

“What I want? Are you so hard headed you can’t tell what I want?” He covered her mouth with his lips and crushed her clever comeback with an assault on her senses.

Megan pushed him, but he didn’t budge. Instead, he continued to kiss her until her heart raced and cheeks flushed with need. All resistance melted and she succumbed to the warmth of his embrace. Her arms wound around his neck of their own accord pulling him closer while her tongue sought his in a passionate dance, completely ignoring what her heart wanted.

When he finally broke away leaving Megan breathless and wanting so much more, Sam put his forehead to hers and watched her mouth like a drunk watches amber liquid poured into a glass. “You,” he rasped. “I’ve wanted you since I found you hanging from that damn roof, and all our little encounter in the river did was add fuel to the fire.”

Bio:

Author Renee Charles believes all love is legendary. Being the only female in a house full of giants (husband and two teenage boys) she tends to lean toward the strange and unusual, but inevitably the softer side shines through.
Whether life leads her to a snow covered mountain top, sun dappled forest, or the bottom of a ravine (yes, ditches happen) she always has a pen and note pad ready so wherever the next adventure takes her, she can take notes.
Her own romance began in an insane asylum. Luckily, both she and her husband only worked there. But it makes sense her romance novels have strange beginnings that lead to passionate endings. Romance with a twist.

In the face of zombies, werewolves, and big foot she always seems to find a happily ever after to leave you with a sigh at the end.

You can find Renee at:

www.reneecharles.net

http://www.reneecharles.net/romance-and-other-hot-topics-blog.html

http://www.facebook.com/ReneeCharlesAuthor

https://twitter.com/RCharlesWriter

Find my Books:

http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=984

https://www.amazon.com/author/reneecharles