Interview & Giveaway with Anne Marsh

Hi Anne, Welcome back to Anna's Book Blog! I'm glad to have you here. To start off can you tell the readers a little about yourself?

This feels like the part where I'm supposed to reveal the secret fabulousness of the romance writer's life, rather than admitting that I have a day job, a minivan, a husband, two amazing kids, and five cats. I really got started writing romance after I was laid off from my dream job at Pixar; there I was, chewing through a really large bag of M&Ms, and there was the big stack of Women's Day and Good Housekeeping magazines on the bedside table (because when you get laid off in the middle of the week when the mortgage payment is due, I highly recommend crawling straight into bed). One of the magazines was busy exhorting me to "Make lemonade out of lemons!" and "Envision the job you want and it will fall right into your lap!" I was skeptical (although impressed by the brilliance of their copywriters), but I was also out of M&Ms at that point, and I'd always wanted to write a romance novel (in that hypothetical future when "I had more time"), so I just started writing. That was five years ago and I'm still resisting the urge to drive by Pixar and huck a couple of books at the front gate and go "Booyah! See what I did when you didn't need me anymore?"

His Dark Bond is your latest release, can you tells us a little about it and the series?

His Dark Bond is the second book in my Fallen series (although it's absolutely a stand-alone book). The book is sexy and dark, with fallen angels in a near-future, slightly post-apocalyptic Moscow. The hero, Zer, has been leading the Fallen angels for three thousand years-- and he's more than a little soul-weary and cynical. He's quite sure there's no soul mate out there for him and that he will never find redemption.

Kensington wrote some really sexy copy for the back of the book:

HE HUNGERS FOR HER BODY . . .
Zer is no angel—well, not anymore. He’s explored every flavor of sin imaginable, drinking in the pleasures of humanity. But now he must find the woman who carries his salvation in her very blood…a woman like Nessa St. James.

AND HER SOUL
Nessa has considered the bargain the Fallen offer. Anything she wants in exchange for accepting Zer’s bond? No way. Not her. Not when she finds out about the mind-blowing ritual involved, and the marks of surrender that will ink her skin. But with a serial killer to stop and centuries of experience on his side, this is one job Zer’s going to nail.

What is your writing day like?

I typically write from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. If it's a day that the day job takes me into the City, I also write on the train for about two hours. If I'm telecommuting, I'll also write an hour at lunch time and again in the evening. I'm a huge fan of short, intense spurts of writing. Minutes add up, especially if I can pry myself away from the Internet ;)

When you're not writing, what kind of books do you like to read?

I realized I was in trouble years ago, when I had to institute a collections development policy for my house! There aren't too many books I haven't enjoyed. Some of my go-to authors are J.R. Ward, Lora Leigh, Eloisa James, Anne Bishop, J.K. Rowling, and Anthony Trollope. For English family happiness, nothing beats a good Trollope. There is also an amazing Modern Virago Classics series-- if you can get past the bilious, pea-green covers, you're holding some real ground-breaking women writers in your hands.

Can you tells about your experience with being signed to Kensington/Brava?

I originally signed with Dorchester. Unfortunately, Dorchester has had (cough) a few issues, so, when my editor there (the fabulous Alicia Condon!) left to take over Kate Duffy's role at Kensington, I was thrilled to follow her. Alicia is an amazing editor and the entire team at Kensington has been very supportive. I'm a "Why?" person-- I work as a technical writer for my day job and the whole point of that job is asking "Why? Why? Why?" like a two year-old until you understand precisely how a recalcitrant piece of software works-- and the Kensington team has been very patient about explaining why they would recommend doing something a particular way. I've learned lots from the women of Kensington!

What are 3 things that are "must haves" for you when you sit down to write a book?

The laptop, itunes, and my earbuds. While I sometimes enjoy brainstorming in a notebook, I just can't write longhand. Nothing comes out. No words. Nada. Open up the text editor, however, and I'm off to the races.

How did you come up with your idea for the Fallen series & did you find inspiration in anything or anyone while writing it?

Since I spent far too many years in graduate school earning a really expensive PhD in Russian literature (although I did manage to prove the naysayers wrong when they claimed it was impossible to write a passable dissertation between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. with two small kids in the house), my paranormal books borrow from Slavic mythology and medieval Russian religious literature. There are some scary, scary creatures lurking in those stories. In Slavic mythology, an angel rebellion in Heaven ended with the rebellious angels being cast out of Heaven. Those angels fell and fell and fell-- some ended up in our world, while others fell right through the Earth's crust and earned themselves a particularly graphic and unpleasant end. Worse, the fallen angels were condemned to live as goblins. I loved the idea of a bad boy who still retains some redeeming qualities-- but needs a heroine to pull those qualities out of him… so my Fallen angels have one shot at redemption. If he can find the one woman who is his soul mate and he loves her, he gets his wings back and earns redemption.

Since becoming published, what has been your favorite part of the process?

Putting together a new proposal. It's like the best of shopping for an evening gown, a vacation, and a new house, all rolled into one. Because I'm now a published author, I write a synopsis and the first three chapters of the new book and send that to my agent, along with a short pitch she can use. It's far too much fun to come up with a whole new book-- there are all sorts of possibilities! I have proposals out right now for two sexy shapeshifter series (because we all need Cajun werewolves, right?) and a team of really hot Navy rescue swimmers who know precisely how to live up to their motto: So others may live.

Did you have any input when it came to designing the cover and has it met your expectations?

Honestly, I had absolutely no input whatsoever. I discovered I had a fabulous new cover when I was poking about on Amazon one day. Fortunately, I loved it and it was a fun surprise. Kensington has some amazing cover artists working for them. One funny story, though: a while before the cover appeared on Amazon, my editor called me to walk me through my revisions and mentioned that there was a problem that was about to become my problem. She'd apparently had the cover artist give the hero a large tattoo of wings on his back and then couldn't remember whether or not that actually matched what happened in the book. Fortunately, it did! Otherwise, I was going to need to write them in as the cover had been finalized.

If you can, tell us what is up next?

I have a novella set in the world of the Fallen that will be published as an ebook in late May 2012. This is Vkhin's story and it's a little darker, but just as sexy as the first two books. I'm also stretching my writerly wings into contemporary; I have a very hot release on 10.30.2012 from Kensington Brava. The hero of BURNING UP is a smoke jumper who parachutes into the heart of wildland fires-- he's the ultimate hero and bad boy of summer and I've had so much fun writing his story. Time Magazine featured the cover shoot in one of their December issues and, it's safe to say, my cover model is one hot, hot man.

__________________________________________________________

HIS DARK BOND

By Anne Marsh

Fallen #2- Out Now!

HE HUNGERS FOR HER BODY . . .

Zer is no angel—well, not anymore. He’s explored every flavor of sin imaginable, drinking in the pleasures of humanity. But now he must find the woman who carries his salvation in her very blood…a woman like Nessa St. James.

AND HER SOUL

Nessa has considered the bargain the Fallen offer. Anything she wants in exchange for accepting Zer’s bond? No way. Not her. Not when she finds out about the mind-blowing ritual involved, and the marks of surrender that will ink her skin. But with a serial killer to stop and centuries of experience on his side, this is one job Zer’s going to nail.

Where to Buy:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | IndieBound

GIVEAWAY:
Thanks to Anne I have a copy of  Bond With Me & His Dark Bond to giveaway to one lucky winner. To enter leave a comment along with email address. Open to everyone, including International. The winner will be announced on February 11th. Good Luck!