Hi, Angelica.
You participate in several weekly features (Tantalizing Tuesday, Flasher Fiction Friday) Do you prepare them in advance? How far?Well, I do love writing the Tuesday teasers and the Flash Friday’s but I’m afraid they are always rushed, last minute posts! That’s not to say I don’t still give them lots of thought (while I’m writing them) and take care over them, I do, but being very short pieces they really don’t take long to write. That’s the fun part, short and sweet (or sexy) but no need to agonize over the plot! I enjoy being part of the group too, there’s real camaraderie amongst authors.
Of course, I am an irregular participant in those flash pieces as well, and it's true, the lack of lasting commitment makes them fun. Like a one-night stand. LOL How do you find the authors you feature on your blog?
A lot of my featured authors are visiting me as part of blog tours which they have pre-arranged through Lucy Felthouse. Then there are those that have either requested a visit or I’ve enjoyed something they’ve written and I invite them over to talk about it. I get to know a few people through Six Sentence Sunday and, of course, the networking sites.
Is blogging a chore, or something you enjoy?
I enjoy my blogging but I’m not a slave to it. There are so many things I could blog about but I try to stay focused on my writing. Finishing writing projects and editing chores have to take priority and it would be so easy to get sidetracked and just have fun! I believe that it is important though to feature other authors and to showcase your writing ability through small posts. It gives your readers an insight into who you are and shows them snippets of your writing style.
I agree, part of the reason my blog is set up the way it is. Do you follow many blogs? Which ones do you recommend?
I do follow quite a few but it would be unfair of me to recommend one author over another. Some really helpful blogs for writers though, that I always, always read are:
She writes (currently under maintainance)
Writers beware
Joanna Penn (The Creative Penn)
These are all valuable sites for aspiring and successful authors.
How do you choose topics for your blog posts that aren't part of weekly features?
Well I feature other authors on my blog and I shout about my latest releases. Then there are times when I just start thinking about something and wonder what other people think, so then I will write a blog post and maybe ask a few questions. I don’t blog everyday because I don’t have time, but I usually do four or five a week.
Lots more than me! I think I'm averaging three. What are you working on?
At the moment I am finishing off a Christmas anthology with 5 or 6 stories I have written especially for the Christmas season. I am hoping to have this finished by the weekend and up for sale next week. The last anthology I released was ‘Park ‘n Ride’ and holds four stories about voyeuristic sex, in particular ‘dogging’ (having sex in cars with people watching!)After experiencing the dogging scene and finding it thrilling in the first story of this anthology, one couple want to push the boundaries even further to achieve ultimate thrills in the sequel. The third tells the story of naked dancing and a whole lot more beneath the light of the moon and the fourth has an ‘outdoor’ couple being disturbed during the act by some very strange noises. Just how far will these couples go to achieve maximum voyeuristic thrills?
Whoa, sounds dangerous and interesting. If you have any questions for Gemma, please leave a comment! Here's an excerpt from Park 'n Ride (also on Smashwords).
They set off in the direction of the car but paused about 50 yards from it. From somewhere behind the trees came the low sound of music. Danny focussed on the sound, it wasn’t too far away. Was that cheering? Gripping Amber’s hand tightly he turned to her excitedly.
“Want to investigate?” he asked.
“No, Danny please let’s go back to the car, l don’t like it here.”
Danny looked towards the white Mazda and then back towards the thicket. He was sure that it was cheering he could hear now that his ears were adjusting to the sound. Squinting, he thought he could see a faint, flickering light. He sniffed the air.
“Can you smell smoke?” he asked.
“Danny please, I’m scared, let’s just get out of here.” Amber pleaded.
“Look,” Danny lowered his voice to a whisper, “What if l take you back to the car and then come back and take a look? You can lock the doors, I’ll be ok.”
Amber sighed. It wasn’t what she wanted at all, but she could see the excitement in Danny’s eyes glowing brightly, reflecting the white light from the moon. She nodded her agreement.
Anything to get back to that car.
