The hot days of August have come to an end, but there’s no stopping some of today’s hottest authors! Today we have Deborah Boyer with us talking about her book, Rock Paper Scissors, and a little about herself. Coffee Time Romance wants to take this opportunity to welcome Ms. Boyer.
Hello, Lori, and thanks for interviewing me!
We’re anxious to get to know you. Why don’t you start by telling us a little about yourself.
My best friend once described my life as eclectic steeped in tradition. My childhood and young adult years split between Philadelphia and Central Pennsylvania, by the time I was 35, I had moved 23 times. Then, just after I turned 40, my husband and I became the fifth generation to own the modest little house my great-great-grandfather built in 1907. Near the old Reading Railroad yards, it’s the house where, like my great-grandfather, grandfather and mother, I was born. Finally, well entrenched in my fourth decade and about to celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary, I’ve come full circle, have settled in for good, and intend to grow very, very old here.
Your book, Rock, Paper, Scissors won a gold star award (congratulations) and has had many great reviews. Where did you get the inspiration for this book?
Thank you. After a handful of rejections, I worried the story had too many heroes for a romance. Fortunately, Aphrodite Unlaced is interested in works that are a bit unusual.
As for what inspired the story, I read a study where researchers, using identical twins and their spouses, tried to demonstrate that love is simply an instinctive recognition of our appropriate genetic match—i.e., if you love an identical twin, there should be a corresponding attraction to the other twin. While that sounds logical if not a little dry, the results proved there is almost no genetic correlation in why we love who we love. In fact, we’re more likely to be attracted to our mate’s non-twin sibling than their genetic double. Of course the whole thing made me think “yeah, but what if…”, and first seeds of Rock Paper Scissors were sown.
Have you, yourself, ever been on a blind date? If so, how was it? And if not, would you ever consider it (if you weren’t already married, of course)
Only once. Somebody’s cousin in for a visit. And it was just as bad as the horror movie plot that sounds like. While I like a good, honest, raw man smell, I don’t think he had seen the inside of a shower for days. To add insult to injury, not only did he smell really bad, he kept repeating, “Are you okay?”
I do have to laugh remembering it. So very much younger then, I had absolutely no idea how to gracefully extricate myself but instead let my lack of enthusiasm say it all. Today, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be near so politic about it, and he wouldn’t even get in the door, let alone take me anywhere!
Who is your favorite character of any book you’ve written? Who is the character you found the hardest to write?
Sam Madison is my favorite. As a result, like an old lover, he keeps turning up in other works, and always when I least expect him. The hardest character is in a book I’m working on now. Simon Hunter has qualities that continue to confound and frustrate me, but for some reason, those very same qualities are what intrigue me about giving him life.
Must be those S-hero names. Maybe I’ll call the next one Ian or Joe.
What is your favorite genre to write? Is there a type you wish you could write, but have yet to try?
Women’s fiction is what I enjoy most. I love crawling around the feminine psyche, trying to figure out what makes us women tick instead of tock, and what makes us truly the more complicated gender.
The mental aspects of domination games also fascinate me and I’ve wanted to try writing it for years. Although it took a long while to get confident enough to brave it honestly, I finally began putting a fetish story on paper a few months ago.
That leaves the only genre I love but haven’t tried as real crime. One day I just might find the right subject and tackle the genre. Then again, one day I just might admit I’m way too lazy to do non-fiction justice. Jury’s still out on that one!
I see you are an avid reader, as well as a writer. Who are some of your favorite authors, and do you still have time to read as much as you would like?
My husband began chemotherapy in February for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. For all the horrible things that has entailed, we’ve decided that having a lot more time to read must be the silver lining. At the moment, I’m on a mission to read everything Norah Lofts ever wrote. Her voice was phenomenal, poignant and unforgettable. I just finished “Jassy”. Published in 1945, it’s in first person from five different perspectives, including—wonderfully surprising for the time—that of a lesbian.
Who, or what, are your biggest inspirations when it comes to writing?
A love affair with the English language’s quirks, a never-ending wonder of individual words, combined with every good book I have ever, or will ever, read!
What are some of your favorite things to do when you’re not writing? Any other special talents you would like readers to know about? (keep it clean!! lol)
Uh-oh. Guess I better keep all the pounding and hammering stuff to myself then. *grin*
Seriously, I love doing home improvements. Besides being a darn good carpenter, I’m a fair hand at plumbing, electricity, plastering and painting, too. I’m proud to say my forefathers each changed this house into what they wanted it to be, and being female not withstanding, my mother learned, then taught me, to do the same.
Laughter for its own sake is way up there, too. In the same vein, I’m known to go into the home improvement center, tap the display, and innocently ask some strapping clerk, “Would you please tell me about your power drill?” Childish? Sure. Fun? You betcha. Sort of the grown up girl’s version of “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?”
What do you like most about being a writer? What do you like the least?
I look at writing like sculpting a human. First, I chisel out the basic shape. Then I go through and add the bulkier contours of meaty muscle and tissue. After I’m satisfied that that story tells all I want it to tell, I smooth and scrape, tweak the details, add foreshadowing pigments and similes that are dependent on the whole.
That said, hacking out the basic shape is the part I least enjoy. The smoothing and scraping, though, are what pumps me full of adrenaline and drives me to find just the right word or just the right sentence.
Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
First and foremost, don’t let the prevailing industry attitude that “prolific is best” ruin good storytelling. Some of the best authors, now and in the past, have only written a book a year, and some even a book every five years. The time needed for each book is unique, so don’t skimp on what it requires simply because others feel the need to churn out a novel a month.
Other than that, just have faith in yourself. Refine, hone, practice and don’t be afraid to pat yourself on the back once in a while. Do listen to those with more experience, but don’t tailor your voice simply to fit someone else’s opinion. Be true to your muse and your muse will be true to you.
Can you tell us about ‘the call’? The day your first book was contracted?
I think I called or emailed everybody who ever supported my writing over the years. Although my memory of the actual notification is lost in a hazy mass of excitement, I will always remember the size of my phone bill because of it!
Please tell us what you have planned next? Any more books on the horizon?
There are two sculptures in progress at the minute.
The first is a traditional, deny-the-attraction romp with the above-mentioned frustrating hero. Tentatively titled “Homebodies”, if a book can be of an author’s heart, this one is of my hell—yet that designation has certainly created challenges I hope readers will enjoy!
The other, also mentioned before, is a darker tale with a touch of domination, (both maledom and femdom). Called “I Spy”, it’s about a modern Mata Hari, told first person.
Please share your website with us.
Certainly! www.DeborahBoyer.com is the result of the computer geek in me trying to get out. There you will find excerpts from my books, both juicy and tame; a selection of my poetry; a free short story (which sparked Alex’s character for Rock Paper Scissors); and last, but certainly not least, a popular section called Brain Candy, featuring a dozen or so delectable photographs of the male form.
Are there any final thoughts you would like to share with us?
Only that I look forward not only to writing more books, but reading ever greater works through the wonderful wealth of creativity that, in today’s “guaranteed blockbusters only” paper pub environment, only the internet can provide.
And thanks for giving me the opportunity to answer your questions, Lori, it’s been a lot of fun!
WOW, Another sizzling hot interview with one of your favorite authors. Thanks so much for dropping by and sharing yourself and work, and Coffee Time Romance also wants to Thank Ms. Boyer for chatting with us today.
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