3/03/2011

Cynthia Eden

Today's Get Lost in a Story guest is award-winning Author Cynthia Eden.

Cynthia writes dark tales of romantic suspense and sexy stories of paranormal romance. Her publishers include Kensington Brava and Grand Central (Forever line). She lives in the Deep South, loves reading romance novels, and watching scary movies.



DEADLY LIES:
She wants to hide the past…
FBI Special Agent Samantha Kennedy is haunted by memories of the serial killer who abducted her. To keep the darkness at bay, she pretends to be a different, more confident woman. This Samantha doesn’t fear every unknown face. So she throws caution to the wind and shares a night of unbridled passion with a handsome stranger.

He needs to uncover the truth
One night isn’t enough for successful entrepreneur Max Ridgeway. He wants more of the sexy, smart, mysterious woman who slipped away before dawn. When they meet again, their attraction is undeniable—until his stepbrother goes missing, and Max realizes that Samantha isn’t who she seems. But they must trust each other to trap a ring of blood-thirsty kidnappers before the nightmares that terrorize Sam become irrevocably real.
As a merciless criminal spins a web of . . .

DEADLY LIES
DONNELL: Cynthia, it's an honor. Great covers and blurb. Let's start with a question most every author wants to know: Do you read reviews of your books? If so, do you pay any attention to them, or let them influence your writing?
CYNTHIA: I’ll confess…I read them. Sometimes they make me smile and perk me up, and sometimes they make wince. That’s just life. They don’t influence my writing, but they do strongly influence my need for chocolate.
DONNELL: Spoken like a true professional. Have you ever written a character who wasn’t meant to be a hero/heroine but he/she wouldn’t go away?
CYNTHIA: I’ve actually written three of these guys so far (well, I’m in the process of writing one, so 2 ½). I think I may have a bad guy weakness. The first character was Niol, a super powerful demon in Hotter After Midnight. Originally, I intended for him to be the villain of the piece, but he got to me. So I wrote a story for him—Midnight’s Master. So far, Niol is the character that has inspired the most fan mail. I think others may have a bad guy weakness, too.
DONNELL: What’s in your refrigerator right now?
CYNTHIA: Oh, let’s see…cold pizza (Yikes! From at least 5 days ago), cheddar cheese, five different types of milk (don’t ask) and some Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Um, tomorrow is grocery day.
DONNELL: Is Elvis really dead?
CYNTHIA: I hope not.
DONNELL: What do you do to unwind and relax?
CYNTHIA: I go to the beach and eat lots and lots of chocolate (you have to eat the chocolate fast on the beach because it melts or gets all sandy too soon).
DONNELL: I'm seeing a pattern here with chocolate. Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?
CYNTHIA: I think writer’s block can hit any writer. I keep an idea file on my computer to help me fight the block. When I’m writing stories and other ideas come to me, I type them in the file so that I can use them when I am stuck for story ideas.
Another technique…if I’m trying to write a scene, and I’m just stuck, I will go for a long walk or a long drive so that my mind can relax. Then, I attack the pages with a fresh perspective.
DONNELL: Dog person or cat person?
CYNTHIA: Dog. My dog Yogi was a shelter pet I adopted, and he is awesome.
DONNELL: Which is your favorite language other than your native language?
CYNTHIA:My husband is Greek, so…Greek.
DONNELL: What’s the first thing you do when you finish a book?
CYNTHIA: Eat some celebratory chocolate.
DONNELL: Why of course! What author(s) inspired you in your writing?
CYNTHIA:Jayne Ann Krentz has always been a huge inspiration for me. She can write such wonderful stories in a variety of romance sub-genres. I love her writing ability! Her book, The Pirate, was the second romance book I ever read. It hooked me on the genre, and I’ve been addicted to romance since then!

QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO ASK YOUR FANS?
I’ve had a great time answering the interview, but now it’s my turn to ask a question. So tell me…what’s your guilty pleasure? Books? What kind of books? Chocolate? Share and one commenter will win her/his choice of my Deadly Books (DEADLY FEAR, DEADLY HEAT, or DEADLY LIES).

I’ll give one commenter her choice of a “Deadly” book (either DEADLY FEAR, DEADLY HEAT, or DEADLY LIES).

To learn more about Cynthia Eden visit the following:
Twitter @CynthiaEden  Goodreads   Magical Musings    Blog

Cynthia, thanks so much for being our guest today on Get Lost in a Story. Readers, check back tomorrow as Heather Snow hosts Author Robyn De Hart.

42 comments:

  1. Good morning, Cynthia and readers. I had a devil of a time posting the blog this morning; hope I haven't kept you waiting. As you can see Cynthia likes chocolate, and I'm right there along with her. I love chocolate also, I'd say my guilty pleasures are Junior Mints!

    Cynthia, when did you start writing and tell us a little bit about working with two publishers. Do you have interfering deadlines?

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  2. My guilty pleasures would have to be books AND chocolate! I love reading everyday, and loove chocolate, especially white chocolate. Yum!

    Your book series sounds really good. I would love to win a copy of 1.

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  3. Hello Cynthia!

    My most guilty pleasure would be my weakness for Christian Louboutin heels. I have a pair of Manolos and a pair of Jimmy Choo boots too but CL are my favorite. The heels are super high which kill my feet but I love them. Because of the cost I can't indulge as much as I would like.

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  4. Hi Cynthia!

    Guilty pleasure? My deck under the stars, a glass of wine, tiki lamps, and a book to keep my hooked as midnight comes and goes.

    I'd love to hear how you work with two publishing companies. Your releases have been really close together making me wonder about deadlines like Donnell asked.

    Dale

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  5. Chocolates: Let me count the ways...

    Dove dark chocolate, Reese's Peanut Butter cups (love the mini ones!), mint chocolate, eclairs, walnut brownies... I can go on, but I think you get that I'm a chocoholic and I haven't had my fix for the day yet.

    Everything Jayne Ann Krentz writes is a must read for me. She's a real storyteller. And so are you, Cindy.

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  6. Good morning, and welcome to GLIAS, Cynthia. I enjoyed your interview, especially the fridge question. Mine is pretty sparse right now, a testament to how busy things have been in our home the last couple of weeks, but I, too, have some Mike's--though the hard pomegranate lemonade...tasty!

    Thanks for sharing your stories with us. As for guilty pleasures, hmm...I have a healthy guilt complex so I could go on and on.

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  7. Hi Cynthia!!! My guilty pleasure is definitely books! I love them & I get so excited when I get a new one(im a dork I know) :) I loooove suspense definitely my favorite!

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  8. Hi, Donnell! Thanks so much for intervewing me! :-)

    I wrote my first novel when I was 18, but that book was truly horrible. Of course, at the time, I thought it was incredibly awesome. (I was so wrong.) Life slowed me down a bit after that as I went to college, got a job, got married, had a family (you know this story! It happens to us all), but I never let go of my writing dream. When I had my son five years ago, I decided it was time to get my writing back on track.

    As far as my deadlines are concerned, I try to set the delivery dates so that I don't have to be rushed between books. Now this sounds good in theory, but in reality, page proofs and copy-edits often arrive when I least expect them! :-) So juggling is involved.

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  9. Thank you, June! Books and chocolate are great guilty pleasures.

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  10. Hi, Stacie! Oh, that sounds like a very fun guilty pleasure.

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  11. Hi, Dale! How are you? And, may I please join on you that deck? It sounds wonderful! With the deadlines, it really comes down to time management. When you know you have to finish one project by a particular date b/c another book is waiting, you learn to adapt to late nights and early mornings so that you can get daily page count goals met. I am a firm believer in the page goal system. 15 a day for me while I'm on deadline--have to do it!

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  12. Hey, Edie! Thank you! :-) Jayne Ann Krentz totally inspires me to write. I had a huge squealing moment the other day b/c there was a Publishers Weekly article about romance reads for Valentine's Day that listed my name right after hers. Since she inspires me so much, I was absolutely thrilled to be listed with her.

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  13. Thank you for the welcome, Heather! That Mike's can be awesome. And I understand about that guilt complex--mine is starting to get me right now b/c I ate cake for breakfast. Whoops!

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  14. Hi, Miranda!! Books are a FABULOUS guilty pleasure!

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  15. Great interveiw! My guilty pleasures are books and chocholate! They seem to go hand in hand don't they! Thanks for sharing with us today!

    evjochum[AT]aol[DOT]com

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  16. Great interview. I'll have to make sure to have some chocolate for you for next time we see each other. Congrats on the new release. As for me, my guilty pleasures are . . .books and chocolate. Also, writing materials of all kinds. You have to drag me out of stationery stores. LOL!

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  17. My guilty pleasure is books (paranormal, fantasy, manga, and historical romance) and anime. You get me around those two things and I am in heaven, browsing through the titles, memoring if I seen/read them or not, bringing to mind what it is about.
    Raonaid (at) gmail(dot) com

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  18. Hi Cindy!
    Great post... Love bad boys... I guess thats a guilty pleasure, right?!
    And walks. I live by the beach in Pensacola and I love to walk. But There is always a ton to stuff to do so even though walking is good for me I still feel like its an indulgence!
    Oh, and Lindt Batons (filled with liquor) Definitely a guilty pleasure.

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  19. Hi Cynthia,

    Don't enter me. My guilty pleasure is most definitely books. They are all over the house and I carry one with me at all times. Hubby bought me a Kindle to try and contain the "mess" as he calls it. Didn't work ;).

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  20. Okay, I'm really, "really" seeing a pattern between writing and chocolate. (Although I once had an editor who hated the smell of chocolate and wouldn't let us bring it near her office ;) She was a sick woman ;) Seriously, I loved her.

    Cynthia, thanks for the explanation of handling deadlines. I work that way too. Give me a deadline, I'm all over it.

    Where do you see romantic suspense going these days?

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  21. My guilty pleasure is first and formost, Books. I love my romance books, historical and some paranormal. But you've got to have chocolate to go with those hot love scenes.

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  22. Great interview ! Lots of fun, Cynthia. And welcome to GLIAS. My guilty pleasure is pretending to be gone. LOL I'll have an appointment, but for some reason it will cancel...but I don't tell other people I'm free. Doesn't matter what I do then...but I don't text, answer the phone, email, nothing I'd normally do. The time totally belongs to me,.

    ~~Angi

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  23. Thank you for the great interview I really enjoyed it! My guilty pleasures are books love reading so much and right now I love Milano milk chocolate cookies!
    tishajean@ charter.net

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  24. Hello Cynthia,

    Great interview!!! I enjoy hearing your perspective on things :) Haha, especially the refrigerator question...mine is about the same, cold pizza, 3 different kinds of milk (one child likes chocolate, one child is lactose intolerant, and of course reg milk)and a ton of left overs from god knows when, lol. Anywho...my guilty pleasure is also chocolate, I can't go long w/o it. I also like romance books with a strong emotional pull, and wine! White or Blush to be specific :) Thanks for the interview Cynthia hope to hear from you again soon!

    (((HUGS)))

    leaghchristensen@yahoo.com

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  25. Cynthia, congrats on your newest release and thanks for a great post today!
    Beside books my guilty pleasure is decoration - I love to buy it, decorate my flat and change the design every few weeks :)
    greetings, Melanie

    booksforalleternity at gmail dot com

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  26. Hi Cynthia,

    Your Deadly series sounds terrific! My guilty pleasure is sneaking off to a movie in the afternoon and having popcorn and a diet coke for dinner!

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  27. My guilty pleasure is watching The Real Housewives of New Jersey. I don't know why but I LOVE that show.

    iqb99@yahoo.com

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  28. Thanks for checking out the interview, Johanna! Books and chocolate definitely work well together.

    Hi, Caridad! Thanks for coming by! And thanks for the congrats!

    LOL, Raonaid, I think we may all be book obsessed on this blog. But that's good--that's the way we are supposed to be!

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  29. Oh, Laura, walks are a good pleasure! I've visited the Pensacola Beach (I'm over in Mobile) and it is so gorgeous! You shouldn't feel guilty about that at all.

    Victoria, I think that's why my husband gave me a Kindle for Christmas, too! The books had taken over!

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  30. Donnell, I see that sneaky pattern with chocolate and books, too...
    For romantic suspense, I think military and law enforcement heroes will continue to be popular choices. I think the darker books will also work well. Because readers have learned a lot of terminology and "tech" work from shows like Criminal Minds and CSI, I believe that writers will have to work really hard to show that they've done the proper research in the books.

    Linda, my philosophy has always been that chocolate can make everything better!

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  31. Thanks for the welcome, Angi! And I sure like that "pretending to be gone" idea. Alone time can be fabulous.

    Thank you, latishajean! And now you have me craving those cookies! They sound so good!

    Leagh, I do enjoy some wine, too. :-) I found some a few years back called Vampire wine (it's from Transylvania) and it is usually only in the stores around Halloween. I love it! :-) And thank you for checking out the interview!

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  32. Thanks, Melanie! I wish I had some decorating skills--I am very envious of you!

    Hi, Gjillian! Glad you like the sound of the series--thank you!

    Oh, Danielle, I have been guilty of watching, too...

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  33. Congrats on the new release, Cynthia. MY guilty pleasures include junk and fried foods and raunchy comedies like The Hangover and Porky's.

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  34. My guilty pleasure are ebooks and potato chips!
    The ebooks are much easier to hide - the chips just keep expanding my hips!! LOL

    susanmik@gmail.com

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  35. Oh, Jane, now I have to confess. I LOVED the Hangover. Did you hear that they are making a sequel? :-)

    Susan, I could go for a bag of chips right now! So yummy!

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  36. Hi Cynthia!

    My guilty pleasures are chocolate chip cookies, going to the movies, books and American Idol.

    marieimy (at) gmail (dot) com

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  37. Cynthia - thanks for stopping by and sharing today.

    My guilty pleasures aren't very original: chocolate and a long, LONG soak in the tub with a good romance, mystery, or romantic suspense novel.

    Pizza and chips also work.

    And your cake for breakfast sounds like a winner to me.

    Barbara

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  38. My guilty pleasures are books and chocolate. I love different types of romance and fantasy books.

    smccar1 at hotmail dot com

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  39. Mariee, I have been meaning to tune in this season--is Idol good so far?

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  40. LOL, Barbara, that cake was awesome! I had a slice for lunch, too. :-)

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  41. Those are good pleasures, Stephanie!

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  42. Thanks so much for all the comments, everyone! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

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