A Short Sexy Spring Romance

Spring has always been my favorite time for new romances and reading new romance novels. Today our guest is Anna Durrand, who started out writing romance as a teenager.  She is an award-winning writer, who is also a freelance librarian, and an audiobook addict. She specializes in steamy romances featuring spunky heroines and hunky heroes, in settings as diverse as modern Chicago and the fairy realm. In her previous life as a librarian, she says she haunted the stacks of public libraries but never met any hot vampires hunting for magical books. Welcome, Anna, and please tell us a little about your publishing journey and how you got your first book published.

The first novels I wrote, back in high school, were romances -- though I didn't recognize it at the time. Though today I also write as Anna Durand, I started out over a decade ago writing under my real name (Lisa A. Shiel). After publishing several books in a paranormal adventure series, I slowly realized all my novels included romantic elements and those were the parts I enjoyed writing the most. So I dusted off a book I'd written in 2001, the paranormal suspense romance Willpower, and cleaned it up for publication. It was released in 2013, and since then I've focused on my romance writing, winning seven awards so far. In 2015, I finally worked up the courage to delve into erotic romance and I've never looked back.


What is the story “behind” your latest book? Where did you get the idea for it?

Tempted by a Kiss is an erotic romance short story about best friends who discover they share a

scorching passion for each other. This idea came about when I saw a call for submissions for a romance anthology about underground clubs. The club theme inspired my basic plot for the story: Mel has gone to a raunchy underground club to find a one-night stand, but her best friend Adam shows up to stop her and to make a shocking offer. The anthology wound up being canceled due to lack of submissions, but the editors encouraged me to submit the story elsewhere, which is how it ended up with The Wild Rose Press.

What do you like best about your heroine and hero?

I love Mel's spunk and Adam's desperation. Yes, I love a desperate hero! He's also strong and compassionate, but his desperation to stop Mel from making a terrible mistake is what drives the story forward. It also molds Adam -- an infamous womanizer -- into a sympathetic character we can root for.

What is your writing process – outlining or just writing?

I never outline. Been there, done that! J I let the story stew in my brain until characters and even whole scenes coalesce in my mind. That's when I start writing things down -- bits of scenes, character traits, plot twists, etc.

Do you have any advice for a beginning writer?

READ. I can't tell you how many newbie writers I've encountered who don't read at all or only read one or two books a year, at most. You must read the genre in which you write. Period. I utilize audiobooks as a way to increase how much I read, because reading not only teaches me what I like and don't like in a story, it also shows me what's popular and spurs new ideas. I'm constantly thinking, even with books I love, "Gee, I would've taken the story in this direction…"

What is your next project?

I'm finishing up the final edits on Dangerous in a Kilt, an erotic contemporary romance about Erica, an American girl with life-altering problems who meets Lachlan, a hot Scot on vacation from his mysterious past. They meet in the same underground club where Mel and Adam from Tempted by a Kiss came together, but with different results. Lachlan offers Erica four weeks of sex and companionship, with no strings and no personal questions. But things get a little complicated… Big surprise, right? This book will be the first in the Hot Scots series, where romance blooms from the culture clash between spirited American lasses and sexy Scotsmen.

How can readers get in touch with you?

Website: http://www.annadurand.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnnaDurand

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnaDurandFiction
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/annadurand
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107125218319320313523
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/Anna_Durand/
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.com/author/annadurand

Please give us a blurb on Tempted by a Kiss: 

Mel Thompson just dumped her cheating ex after two years together. Now she's determined to understand the allure of casual sex by having a steamy fling of her own at a notoriously raunchy underground club. When her best friend, Adam Caras, catches on to her plan, he makes a surprising offer to derail her. If she wants a hot fling, he'll give it to her.

Who better than Adam, renowned lady-killer, to demonstrate the erotic pleasures of a one night stand? Sex could ruin their friendship, but after a soul-searing kiss, Mel fears one night may never be enough.

Buy links:
Amazon: http://amzn.com/dp/B017TO8SSA
The Wild Rose Press: http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/wildcatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=182&products_id=1077
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1122930086?ean=2940156677351
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/tempted-by-a-kiss
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/tempted-by-a-kiss/id1061465692?mt=11
All Romance: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-temptedbyakiss-1935885-149.html

Thank you, Anna, for being our guest today.  Any comments or questions for Anna?