Kendal: I’m Thrilled you are letting me interview you. Thank you for his chance April. To fill in our RI readers, you and I have been paired up to blog on Tuesdays here at Romantic Inks. So mark Tuesday’s on your calendar, cause you don’t want to miss what we have to say! (I can feel the pressure to be witty and charming…maybe those can be your days April!
April: I’m not sure about witty but I will try :>. If nothing else, we’ll get to know each other better.

Kendal: So, tell us about yourself? What do you write?
April: Currently, I’m working on a smart contemporary about an undercover hacker who is trying to save her employers company. She’s in love with her boss and things get pretty heated… It gets pretty steamy. But I also like to write paranormal where I can really get spicy AND have fun with nontraditional elements like telepathy and powers.
I also have a young adult book I’ve written and am working on revising about a modern girl who is prophesized to protect a set of magical objects. She and her orphan sibs all have to work together to save themselves with the help of a boy who was raised in a secret society in Russia. Sebastian and Sarah are two of my favorite characters.

Kendal: How (when/why) did you start writing?
April: It’s a long story. Let’s just say I’ve been writing as a copywriter and technical writer for 12 years, hiding from myself the fact that what I really wanted to write all along was romance. I finished my first book nine years ago but didn’t get serious about being published until two years ago. Since then, I’ve completed four books and am almost done with my fifth. Now I’m honing my skills and working hard to get published.
As I go, I add and change as needed, constantly updating and revising my outline. The details can change dramatically from one day to the next but the outline pretty much stays the same.

Kendal: What has been your biggest hurdle as a writer?
April: Getting beyond my ego. Like we were talking about last week. So much of the problem with writing is my own internal dialogue. I find if I ignore myself and just immerse myself in the writing… I get farther.
The second worst offender, the feeling that I already know something. This is such a huge flaw but I think so many people suffer from it. And it keeps me from seeing where I’m going wrong. That’s one reason I make it a point to be completely flexible with critiques. I take all the advice in and really have to set aside my ego and realize the these people are seeing what I cannot.

Kendal: If you could write for any publisher, who would your dream publisher be and why?
April: I would love to write for Harlequin but a close second would be St. Martin’s Press. Harlequin for my contemporary (there’s just few who can compete with HQ) and St. Martin’s for paranormal (they are so cutting edge and were one of the first publishers to jump online with paranormal romance). Scholastic or Little Brown would be fantastic for my young adult.

Kendal: Name 3 Guilty pleasures you have.
April: Books – all kinds/at least two a week!
Chocolate. Need I say more :>
DBSK (Dong Bang Shin Ki also known as Tohoshinki). I have preordered almost all of their albums since I was introduced to them in 2006. What can I say? They’re uber hawt, talented, and I love watching them dance. I have their concerts as well as albums. I think I’ve seen every video of them ever on youtube.com … There’s a reason they have the largest fanclub in the world – even though I don’t even speak Korean or Japanese. Maybe I should have put this first.

Kendal: Name 3 famous people you want to meet?
April: JK Rowling – an absolute must. I would love to be her BFF!!!!
Sherrilyn Kenyon… again, being her BFF would be great! She’s the most awesome lady. I’ve heard so many thing about her. And meeting her in person was just fantastic. She even insisted on getting a picture of both of my kids because my son has the same name as one of hers.
DBSK – OK. There’s five of them: Junsu, Micky, Jaejoong, Changmin, and Yunho. Don’t ask me why (or to choose)…I wrote it out and had to delete it because it would take up pages :>

Kendal: Is there anything else that you’d like to add?
April: No I guess that’s about everything I have. It’s great to be on here with you, Kendal. I know Tuesdays are going to rock. And honestly, I don’t have much to say about me – ask me about my characters next time and I’m liable to ramble on and on and on.
Of course, if you’d like to talk about DBSK, I can do that too :>

Kendal: Thanks so much for your time April, did you want to give our readers a little heads up to what you”ll be posting next week on Tuesday, March 10?
April: EEEEKKKK… I haven’t thought that far ahead. UM… I guess I should think of something. Soon. Oh, OK. I know. Summer Camp Ruined My Life: How My Insanity Started. Basically giving you insight into how you, too, can become like me.
No? OK. UM. My Dreams of Lie To Me are Coming To Life. I’ll talk about how often dreams are such a great inspiration for stories and how even ordinary things are inspiring too.

Kendal: I really look forward to reading your next weeks post.

To RI readers: If you aren’t already in the know about our month long raffle, please peek around the Romantic Inks website and check out the great prizes we are raffling off at the end of the month! Buy your tickets today!