Guest author - Denise Agnew

[charlie_cochrane]

I'm delighted to host Denise today. We're both Samhain authors and chat at the Samhain Café every few months about our historicals, although today Denise has her contemporary hat on.


What did/does it feel like watching your books leave the nest?

I have to admit that because I'm an "old" author and been around a long time in the publishing world, I have a tendency to forget to celebrate each new book as it comes out. I know, horrible! I have to remind myself to celebrate finishing that first draft, too. So I have a tendency, when I finish a first draft (before it even goes to a beta reader and my critique partner), to just launch into thinking about the next book. Really there should be chocolate, wine, and/or a treat like a new book to read or a movie or something. :)

Why do you pick certain settings or eras?

Since I'm a totally "write-what-blows-my-skirt-up-at-the-moment" writer, I just latch on to an idea/concept/character/era because it fascinates me. There's no real forethought to it. I'm a rebel that way. :)

Are you character or plot driven? What do you do if one of your characters starts developing at a tangent?

I'm both character and plot driven. Sometimes I get a plot idea and then the characters evolve from that idea/situation. Sometimes a character comes first. Since I'm basically a pantser when it comes to writing, it isn't a problem at all if one of my characters decides to develop weird things and go on tangents. I always know it will somehow fit into the story I'm creating. The worst thing I've done is try to make a character fit into something/some situation that it doesn't want to.

If you were in a tight corner and had to rely on one of your characters to save you, which would it be and why?

Oh wow!!! Great question. Well, either Tynan the Scottish warrior in my time travel, Bridge Through The Mist, or Terendius the Roman Centurion in For A Roman's Heart. They are both big, hunky, capable warriors who could kick ass and take names. :) They are brutal in some ways and so they wouldn't hesitate to save me.

If you had no constraints of time and a guarantee of publication, what book would you write?

I do this every day of my life. I have no constraints of time or guarantee of publication and I'm always free to write whatever I want. And I do. :)

Is there a classic book you started and simply couldn't finish?

Excellent question! And yes. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. Okay, I did finish it when I was in Junior High School way back in the day. It about killed me, though. I just didn't like it.

What’s your favourite gay fiction book? And why?

Now you've got me. I have to admit I haven't read a lot of gay fiction. But what I've read of Jonty and Orlando makes me want to read more of them.

What's your next project?

I'm finishing up a World War 2 romance novel. After that I'm finishing up a dimension travel trilogy (romance) that I started some time ago. After that, a book set in Indonesia during the eruption of Krakatoa. After that, a book set in Pompeii. :)

Denise's latest is Blackout.