Interview with Amanda J. Greene

Well my wonderful readers! It is that time again; time to learn more about another intriguing author. This time we are lucky enough to have Amanda J. Greene with us. Make sure to check out the sneak peek of her novel, Caressed by Moonlight.

Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions. Why don’t you start off by telling us a little about your novel, Caressed by Moonlight?

Caressed by Moonlight is a historical paranormal romance set in the early 1800s. Dorian Vlakhos is a vampire king trying to save his clan from the vicious hunters and a bloodthirsty traitor. Victoria Kingston is a woman down on her luck. Forced to marry within a month or never see her sister again, she sets out to find a husband and Dorian is not the type of man she is looking for.

After meeting the lovely Victoria, Dorian has to have her in his arms and in his bed.
Fate’s twists and turns take them on an adventure that neither of them ever thought was possible. But, they must be careful for danger lurks in the darkness.

This novel is part of the Rulers of Darkness Series. Do you have an idea of how many novels you plan on writing in this series?
               
As of now, I have five novels planned for my Rulers of Darkness series.

Who are the Rulers of Darkness?

The Rulers of Darkness are the Chieftains of the various vampire clans: Dorian Vlakhos, Dimitri Arsov, Hadrian Lucretius, and Sonya Rebane.

This is a paranormal romance and it has a historical setting as well. What is it about the paranormal genre that has you wanting to write about it? Why a historical setting?

When I was in middle school, I read and fell in love with vampires, shape-shifters, and witches – anything supernatural.

I chose a historical setting for Caressed by Moonlight because history has always fascinated me. I wrote the original rough draft of the novel when I was in middle school and a few years ago I found it in my closet. After a quick read through, I decided to polish it up and make it into a series. I kept the historical setting since it works well with my plans for the following novels.

Victoria almost seems like part of the Cinderella story. While there are no evil stepsisters, there most definitely is an evil stepmother in the form of Victoria’s aunt. Did you want this fairytale type tone to the novel?

Honestly, the idea of Cinderella never crossed my mind while I was working on the manuscript.  Even though the fairytale tone was not planned, I do think it adds to the storyline, the romance, and the emotional connection between the reader and the characters.

Victoria’s Aunt Nelly is a vicious and cruel woman. How were you able to come up with someone so hateful and spiteful?

Aunt Nelly’s character was inspired by years of reading historical romance novels, mainly those written by Johanna Lindsey, she has an amazing talent when it comes to characters.

I also felt that Victoria needed a tough spiteful adversary in order to be/become the strong character she is.

When you wrote this novel was the outcome of this tale all you expected it to be?

The hardest part of writing this novel was writing the ending. It took me months to write and I feel it came out well.

Did the characters take on a mind of their own?

Every time I write a book, I make an outline and create character bios. As I write, the characters do take over and start to lead. I don’t tend to follow my outlines and, on occasion, I delete them.

Why self-publishing?

There were many factures that influenced me to self-publish. I had tried to find a literary agent for a while. I also sent query letters to publisher and had no luck. Being able to share my stories with others had been my dream for so long; I did not want to wait to for someone to discover me. (As my husband knows all too well, I can be incredibly impatient.) I felt Caressed by Moonlight was strong and I knew I had to at least try to achieve my dream. 

My grandfather’s passing also urged me to self-publish. He had always given me strength, support, and (being the military man that he was) taught me to always believe in myself.

The final factor that shoved me over the edge and into self-publishing was my husband. He was deployed in Iraq for almost a year. I was working and going to school full time, but I needed something to focus on and self-publishing was a fantastic project.

When did you know you wanted to write professionally?

I love writing and sharing my imagination with others. I began writing when I was young and shared my stories with family, friends, and classmates. Though it was only about two years ago when I decided I was going to polish up Caressed by Moonlight and about a year ago I decided publish it.

Do you have any favorite authors?

I have been a romance novel fan for more years than I would like to share. There are a ton of amazingly gifted authors that I enjoy reading. I would have to say Johanna Lindsey, Kathleene Woodiwiss, J.R. Ward, Amelia Atwater–Rhodes, and Sherrilyn Kenyon would be at the top of my list.

Your website mentions you have a pseudonym. Would you like to talk about her?

Amanda Varian is my pseudonym. I plan on releasing young adult novels under this name.

What are you working on now?

I am currently working on the second novel within the Rulers of Darkness series, Caressed by Night, along with my first young adult novel, The Darkest Light.

Do you belong to any social networking sites?

I am on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Shelfari – I love to discuss books!

If Caressed by Moonlight was going to be turned into a movie, who would you pick for the actors and actresses?

I would pick Hugh Jackman for Dorian and Natalie Dormer for Victoria.

And one last question I like to ask all of my interviewees. If you were to be described as a cup of coffee, what flavor would you be and why?

Oooh! I love coffee. I live off it! I think I would be a pumpkin spice latte with whipped cream because it’s rare, (where I live, it’s only sold during the holiday season), sweet and delicate, with a tangy punch of spice/sass. It’s a memorable drink and once you meet it you will crave more.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I had fun getting to know you and exploring the world of the Rulers of Darkness Series.

Thank you so very much for your time and the interview.
Amanda J. Greene

Now for a teaser of Caressed by Moonlight:

“It isn’t as clear as the country.”
“I’m sorry?”
“The sky. It is clearer in the country,” Victoria said as she stepped from the shadows of the trees.
            The man turned to face her and she gasped as if she had been struck. He was tall, taller than any man she had ever seen, muscled and thick. Strands of deep brown hair fell across his angelic yet masculine face, her fingers twitched with the desire to brush them away from his magnificent eyes. Those fathoms of blue were like the sea after a tremendous storm, piercing, penetrating, and exotic. His jaw was straight and square, his lips thin and alluring. He was absolutely beautiful, in a dangerous, masculine way.
“Yes.” Dorian’s delicious lips turned up in a smile.
            His husky voice moved over her skin like a caress, her entire body was aflame from his cool gaze that roamed over her, leaving nothing untouched.
            Dorian was swept away by this young woman’s beauty. She looked like an ancient goddess. Her nearly black hair sat in tight ringlets atop her head; a few tussled locks fell and rested on her shoulders. He could see every detail of her face in the moonlight. Her deep green eyes framed with long flirting lashes, her slim nose, perfectly molded cheekbones, and lush lips that would tempt any man. His eyes slowly moved down the length of her bare neck, over her slender shoulders, and paused for the briefest of moments on her full breasts. Then continued their journey across her waist and hips and all the way down to the hem of her gown.
            Victoria shook her head trying to remember why it was she had come outside. She demanded herself to think and forced the thick sensual haze from her mind. She turned her eyes back to the man and found that his had never once left her. The way he studied her was beginning to grow irksome and she had the sudden desire to slap that satisfied smirk off his face.
“I do believe you are staring, sir.”
“I am,” he said, his smile widening.

Well readers? What do you think? Does it leave you intrigued enough to want to read Caressed by Moonlight? I hope so! Until next time, read tons of books and drink lots of coffee.