Giveaway and Interview with Amanda J. Greene–Author of Caressed by Moonlight

First of all, thank you so much for doing this interview and for sharing with my readers.
You seem to have an extremely full schedule with being a full time college student, a job, a husband, and a cocker spaniel. How on earth do you find time to write?

Coffee is my best friend. My life is very busy and I try to write whenever I can.  I do a lot of commuting for work and school, so I do most of my brainstorming while driving. It is tough, but I get by.I hate having to press pause on my creativity or click the shut down button on my laptop when the ideas are flowing. I have to write my books chapters, pages, or even paragraphs at a time. But, school is almost over, I work part time and I like to spend as much time with my husband as I can. He is in the military and is gone about six months out of the year if not more. I am able to get a lot of writing done while he is gone: it takes my mind off him being in Iraq or Afghanistan.


Is this the career you’ve always envisioned or is this something that developed later in life?


I only fantasized about being a romance author. The idea of a writing career has always been in the back of my mind, but I did not give it much thought. Writing is a hobby, an outlet for my imagination, or a relaxing escape from work and school. However, over time, things changed. School is still very important to me and I am close to graduating with my B.A. But I would love to write full time and maybe someday I will.


What authors do you follow and who, if any, have influenced your work?

The two authors I follow most are J. R. Ward (paranormal romance) and Johanna Lindsey (historical romance). These authors have wonderful writing styles and great sense for character and plot development.

Kudos on your choices! Both are masters of their respective genres. How did you come up with your characters and do they behave for you?


Characters just like some stories, come to me from…I don’t really know how I come up with them. I draw inspiration from everything. Most times, I will be listening to the radio and a song will come on, it could be new or a long time favorite, and a scene will pop in my head. I’ll see the characters acting out a scenario. Once I have created a character and developed their past, I’ll begin to piece together their story. I make rough outlines of how I want a book to develop, but I let my characters take the lead. They mold and shape the story, giving life and excitement to the book.  Sometimes, I get so caught up in writing and get swept away by the scene and before I know it, my characters have done something or said something that I had not planned on. Like I said, I only make a rough outline, a loose guide of how I think the story should go and what should take place. Some of the best moments in my books were not planned, they just happened – like in life. The best moments are hardly ever planned.


What surprised you most about writing Caressed by Moonlight?


What surprised me the most when I was writing this book was how hard it was to come up with an ending. Truthfully, I didn’t want the story to end. It took me months to figure out how I wanted to bring Dorian and Victoria’s love story to a close.
Awwwwww! May I just say, your months of agonizing paid off beautifully.
Soooo, what’s in your TBR stack right now?

A few of the books I have in my TBR pile:
Lover Unleashed: J.R. Ward
Ecstasy: Jacquelyn Frank
Once Upon a Threesome: Lori Perkins
Finding time to read is even harder than finding time to write.


You’ve got three goodies there. Which leads me to my next question…If you could spend a week hanging out with ANY literary character, who would it be and what would you be doing?


…That is a tough one…I am going to pick Rehvenge from J.R. Ward’s Lover Avenged. I love bad boys and he is the ultimate bad boy. Vampire with a mafia side – sign me up! I could use a little bite of excitement and danger. Plus, he is extremely yummy and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do with him. (Wink wink)


OOOooo, yes, with those amethyst eyes of his…..mmmm. Wait, I’m off track, back to the interview. What question do you dread getting asked on an interview?

How did you come up with the idea for Caressed by Moonlight? Or any similar question. The reason being, I don’t remember. I wrote the original draft of Caressed by Moonlight over ten years ago when I was in middle school. Those questions are tough to answer.


Middle school! That is seriously impressive. What would you like to say to people about to read your book?


Caressed by Moonlight is a historical paranormal romance set in the early 1800’s. Dorian is a vampire king, who will do anything to save his people from the witches that hunt them. Victoria Kingston is a young woman fallen on hard times and needs to find a husband. Neither was looking for love. I would like to say that I hope you enjoy it and come to love the characters as much as I do. I am excited about the upcoming release of Caressed by Night, Rulers of Darkness #2, and I would like my readers to be as well.




*waving hand* I am!! This is what’s next on your horizon?

I am currently working on Caressed by Night, the second book within the Rulers of Darkness series. I have also got two other series planned, I am dusting off a manuscript I wrote back in high school, and I am also working on a young adult paranormal novella. I’m struggling to stay focused. My imagination is pulling me in so many different directions. I really need to find more time to write and hopefully with my graduation, I will. My goal, for now, is to release 1 to 2 books a year.


Wow! You definitely got it going on girl. (I can say girl because I’m waaaay old) Thank you again for giving me the time for this interview. I know you are extremely pressed for time.


Thank you for having me on your site.


Amanda J. Greene is an erotic paranormal romance author. When she is not writing, she can be found playing the role of a full time university student, who works part time.
She lives in Southern California with her very supportive military husband and their sweet cocker spaniel.
For more information about her upcoming books, click here

You can also find her at : Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter

My Review
                                      
Publisher: self
Published: 11/29/2010
 Buy here
Rating: Salad








I did not do a synopsis of this book because Amanda described it far better than I could ever hope to, but here are my thoughts on what I read.

Normally I tend to stay away from Regency romances because the heroines are under such societal restrictions, it just makes my blood boil and the old left eye twitch. Victoria proved to be a wonderful exception. Although she understood the need for a possible loveless marriage, she went about it in a very intelligent and practical manner. She was no whimpering miss. Victoria took a lot of HARD knocks and handled them with grace, dignity and intelligence. I greatly admired her resilience and her ability to think on her feet. She stood by her decisions on honored her responsibilities without the "oh, poor me" whine. Yay!!! She was also ready and more than willing to explore her sensuality. (another big YAY!!)

 Dorian was under a tremendous yoke of responsibility. His primary duty was to save his people. He was also under a curse, and he knew the chances of finding his mate were infinitesimal. So, when he first encounters Victoria, he attributes his fascination to extreme lust. Silly man. Of course, in typical man-like fashion his is in a state of ultimate deniability. Bed her and leave her was his plan. Hah! Not this chickie! She has a backbone. So accept your fate and enjoy the fabulous sex....oh, and go kill some bad guys. They are the fly in the ointment.......the bastards.

Ms. Greene's style of story telling was very reminiscent of the great Johanna Lindsey and Catherine Coulter. She had a firm grasp of what would intrigue and hold the readers attention. her characters were entertaining and likable. The romantic episodes were steamy to say the least, and I am looking forward to seeing a lot more from this young, talented author. There are some VERY interesting secondary characters I would LOVE to see more of. (hint, hint) I can give a very honest and straight forward WELL DONE on this book. For me to enjoy a Regency is truly a remarkable feat.

Amanda has generously offered a copy of her first book of the Rulers of Darkness series, Caressed by Moonlight to be given away to one very lucky person. Just follow the prompts and cross your fingers.