Author Interview with Vijaya Schartz

I love the Borealis books from Desert Breeze and have posted recommendation on both Borealis I and Borealis II.  When I read that Desert Breeze will be releasing Black Dragon, a new Borealis novella by Vijaya Schartz on October 1 I wrote and asked if she would do a short interview.  She agreed and here are my questions and her answers.  

  

 1.  Desert Breeze will be releasing BLACK DRAGON, a Borealis Universe novella, on October 1, 2011.  Can you give us a preview of what to expect?

I always write strong heroines, so you can expect a futuristic girl wielding some sophisticated futuristic gun. She is a security officer on the Borealis Space Station. This time, the hero is a sexy rogue, a smuggler and a gambler, with a dark secret. The setting is this aging space station at the edge of conquered space, where all the Borealis Universe stories take place.

This time, a gambler is cheating in a den of the Borealis Space Station, and Lieutenant Zara  Frankel intends to catch him in the act. She always gets her man, but this one could prove more than she can handle. Captain Czerno Drake, code name Black Dragon, has come undercover, to break his innocent uncle from the most secure penitentiary in the galaxy, the Inferno, on this spinning bucket of bolts orbiting a sorry planet. He will stop at nothing to succeed, even enrolling the help of the lovely straight arrow TPP enforcer. When Zara realizes that she’s been used by a shrewd but seductive rebel, her reaction surprises everyone, most of all herself.

2.  I am fascinated by the craft of writing and the different approaches authors take. How do you structure your stories and what is you typical writing day like?

I write every single day, at least six hours. I started writing as a pantser (who writes by the seat of the pants) but when I signed contracts on series, for books I had to write fast on stringent deadlines, I realized I had to plot and outline my stories before hand, so I could write them faster. Now, I do a little bit of both. I know where the story is going, I know my main plot twists, but as I write, the characters develop and the story evolves in an organic manner from the characters.

3.  Who or what inspires you in your writing?

Everything I see, breathe, taste, hear… Often I get ideas from dreams. My favorite childhood authors were Jules Vernes, Victor Hugo, (I was born and raised in France). Later I loved the Nineteenth Century Romantic literary period. I loved the classics in school.  Then I fell in love with the likes of Sommerset Maugham, Hemmingway. But my great love is and always will be Science Fiction. 

4.  When you are not busy writing what are some of your hobbies?

I love cats, I have three at home and I take care of several abandoned cats in my backyard. There are just too many forsaken animals in these difficult times. There is at least one cat in every single book I write. In BLACK DRAGON, it's a white Angora named Marshmallow. Sometimes it's a large feline, a tiger, a jaguar, a lioness, like in the Chronicles of Kassouk.  I'm also known for jumping out of perfectly good planes in free fall, rough water rafting. I used to surf, but I now live in Arizona. I do miss the ocean and the waves. I still like to travel whenever my deadlines allow it, which is not very often these days. But I have no complaints. Writing is my life, and I love what I do.

You can find out more about me and my books at www.vijayaschartz.com.

Great Interview.  Thanks for doing it.  As you can see I also love cats.  I now have pictures of both of mine taking their leisure in my bookshelves.   SFR is my favorite and I am looking forward to Black Dragon. 

Vijaya is holding a contest on her website to win a pdf copy of Black Dragon.  Just click on CONTEST at the top right of her website main page to enter you name at http://vijayaschartz.com.