Welcome Karenna Colcroft

I'm extremely please to have the lovely and talented Karenna Colcroft with me here today.

1. How long have you been writing? What inspired you to pick the pen up one day and create characters that capture the imagination?

I wrote my first story when I was five, and I’d been making up stories for a year or two before that. I’ve always had a big imagination, and since my real life wasn’t always great, stories were both an escape and a way of keeping my imagination from driving me insane.

2. What influenced you to get published? How long did it take? Can you tell us the name of your first published work?

I’d wanted to be published since I was very young, but didn’t have the confidence to submit things, or the self-discipline to revise things enough to submit them. I did submit a couple of things over the years, which were rejected and on which I subsequently gave up. My first publication, which wasn’t romance at all and is under my real name so I’d prefer not to talk much about it, was accepted in 2000, when I was 30. My first published erotic romance, Ask and You Shall Receive, came out in 2009. (It’s currently unavailable as rights have reverted to me.)

3. Most people envision an author’s life as being really glamorous. What’s your take on this? Can you tell us something unglamorous you did within the last week or so?

Glamorous? I wish! There isn’t much glamorous about sitting in a small room staring at a small screen for hours on end while children argue in the other room or repeat, “Mom!” half a dozen times, and/or while listening to my hubby playing online role-playing games behind me. Some people in my real life know that I’m an author (mostly they know about my young adult books, not about the Karenna Colcroft stuff), but few of them read anything I’ve written. I think the most unglamorous thing I’ve done this week is cleaning out our cats’ litter box.

4. What do you do when you’re suffering writers block?

I usually have two or three projects going at the same time, so if I’m blocked on one I switch over to a different one.

5. What would you like to share with new writers? Any suggestions or advice?

Take your time, learn your craft. Don’t be in a rush to get published. Polish your manuscript to the absolute best you can make it, and then find a beta reader or critique partner or group to help you improve it even more. When you are ready to submit, do your homework when choosing a publisher. There are plenty of reputable companies out there, but there are also a lot of scam artists and companies with good intentions who just don’t know what they’re doing.

6. Looking over the past year, what has been the best moment for you in your writing career?

There have been a lot of great moments, but I would say the best was when I received my first private fan email, about my novel Salad on the Side.

7. If you could change one thing that you have written, what would it be?

The first two erotic romances that I wrote, because at that time I didn’t know as much about writing as I do now, and there are a lot of details that were left out, and some not-so-great description. Fortunately, I have rights back on both of them, so now I’ll have the chance to change them.

8. What are you working on now? Can you tell us a little about it?

Right now I’m working on a shifter romance novel titled Beta Test, about a werewolf pack beta who discovers that his mate is human. Although this one is a heterosexual romance, it’s set in the same universe as my M/M romance Salad on the Side. (I have the publisher’s permission.)

9. Are you in love? Have you ever been?

Completely and totally. I met my husband in an online dating chat room in May 2008; ten days later, we met face-to-face at a party and the connection was instant. We’ve literally been together since that night. We moved in together in June 2009 and were married in April 2010. He’s my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, and a partner in everything. He’s also incredible with my two kids from my first marriage.

10. What do you hope to achieve in life and when will you know that you have been a success?

As far as writing goes, I hope to earn enough money to really help with household expenses and buy a car. When I have the new car, I’ll have been a success in that. As for the rest of my life, I hope to be the best mother and wife I can be, and the measure of success for that will be my children as they grow into adulthood, and how much longer my husband tolerates me. LOL

Want to find out a little more about Karenna and where you can find her? Read on!

Bio
Karenna Colcroft is the alter ego of a normally sedate wife and mother. She began writing when she was five years old, and started writing erotic romance in 2006 on a challenge from a friend. Since 2009, Karenna has had numerous titles published by publishers including Pink Petal Books, Ellora’s Cave, MLR Press, and Passion in Print Press. Karenna lives in the northeastern US with her two children, her real-life romance hero husband, and two cats. 

You can find out more about Karenna 
on her website, http://www.karennacolcroft.com, 
friend her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/karenna.colcroft,
or follow her on Twitter @KarennaColcroft.

And now for the good stuff. An exciting tease from her latest book!

Karenna’s latest release is the contemporary novella Help Around the House, released September 1 from Pink Petal Books http://pinkpetalbooks.com. 

Two years after the death of her husband, Jodie thinks it’s time to move on. And who better to move on with than Todd, the next-door neighbor who has stood by her and helped her with everything from snow removal to her two children? 

But Jodie isn’t completely sure she’s ready to become involved with Todd. Todd, who has been divorced for several years, barely remembers how to be in a relationship. If the two of them want everything to work out, they must agree on what they want and work through their pasts to build a future together.

Excerpt:

Without waiting for his response, she took off the cami and set it aside, then touched the front clasp of her bra. She hadn’t undressed in front of a man other than Royce in so long that she’d forgotten the awkwardness of the first time undressing in front of a new partner. Now she remembered. Todd had called her beautiful, but he hadn’t seen all of her yet, and she wasn’t sure she wanted him to. She wasn’t fashion model material by any means, and since she’d lost Royce she hadn’t been as attentive as she could have been to staying in shape and eating well.

“Keep going,” Todd urged. “I want to see all of you.”

“Then it would only be fair to let me see you,” Jodie pointed out. She might not feel as awkward about her own body if Todd was nude as well.

“Good point.” Todd sat up and stripped off his T-shirt. His chest had sparse hair a slightly darker red than what he had on his head, and the muscles were more obvious with no clothing covering them. His belly was also a little more prominent, which made Jodie feel better. Neither of them had perfect bodies. That shouldn’t matter.

“Your turn,” Todd said, his eyes gleaming mischievously.

“I didn’t know we were playing a game.” Quickly, before she started doubting herself again, Jodie unclasped her bra and let the straps fall from her shoulders. She stifled her urge to cover her breasts and instead leaned back on her hands, giving Todd the full view. “Am I winning?”

“No, I think I am.” Todd stared at her appreciatively and reached toward her, though he stopped before he touched her. “Yeah, as long as I get to look at you like this, I’m definitely winning.”

The idea of making a game out of undressing struck Jodie as a little immature. She wanted to take their lovemaking seriously. On the other hand, that wouldn’t have been very Todd-like, and the play took her mind off how weird she felt about taking her clothes off in front of him.

Playing with Todd this way turned her on more than she would have expected.