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~ Barbara Sheridan and Anne Cain ~

 

 

Award winning author Barbara Sheridan has written several paranormal and historical romance novels. Her works include Bittersweet Surrender, All Or Nothing and Timeless Wish.


Dragon's Disciple is Anne Cain's first collaborative effort. She's written several short fantasy and horror stories, and is a freelance graphic artist. Anne's cover art can be seen books by Samhain Publishing, Cobblestone Press and Loose Id LLC.

 

Hello Barbara and Anne. Thank you for joining us today. Could you each tell our readers a little bit about yourselves?

Barbara - I've been writing for a long time and had my first book published way back in 1999. I've mostly done paranormal and historical romance and have also done two short contemporaries all with traditional male/female relationships.

Thanks to my younger daughter I became a fan of Japanese animation and pop culture and somewhere along the line I morphed into "Aging Uber Fangirl" who trekked 800 miles (round trip) by bus just to see a very cool Japanese rock band in their first solo US concert in 2006.

Anne - Thank you for having us, Deborah. :) By trade I’m a graphic artist and I’ve been doing covers for ebook publishers for about a year now.  I also love to write! As a team, Barb and I have written four books that are available now and have a couple more in the works. On the solo front, I’ll have a short story coming soon from Samhain Publishing.

How long have you been working together?

Barbara - It's been going on 2 years now.

Anne - We’ve been writing together since 2005, and the experience has been such a blast.

The books that you have collaborated on, including Orange Moon and The Dragon's Disciple, have really set tongues wagging. Are you pleased so far, with the responses that you've received?

Barbara - O_o Tongues wagging about our stuff? Really?  I must not be on the right email loops or checking out the right blogs because I haven't heard much talking about our stuff outside of reviews - which have been fantastic btw. We're so happy reviewers are enjoying our books and characters.

Anne - Very, very pleased! Everyone has been so supportive, from fellow authors who’ve read the books and loved them, to readers who join our Yahoo group. As fun as it is writing the stories, their kind words make the experience extra special. And we always love hearing from folks, so we really encourage people to drop us a quick line to say hi.

On one of your forums, one reader happily noted, that your work was far removed from "the bodice rippers of my girlhood". Do you think that attitudes to romance stories are changing? And if so, do you find it an easy task to keep up with those changes?

Barbara - The biggest change I've seems that readers and publishers are more open to different kinds of stories. Back when I began reading romances in high school, the stories were all basically "sweet" and fell into two camps historical and contemporary. Now we've got different types of paranormal, erotics, and alternate pairing beyond the typical male/female.

Anne - Romance seems to be a very dynamic section of the industry as of late. Authors are writing way outside the box, creating stories that span a variety of genres. There are romances with paranormal elements, horror, sci-fi, fantasy – you name it. But I don’t think that makes it more difficult to keep up with Romance; if anything that allows for more creativity since the sky’s the limit as far as plotting.

Your collaborated works are of a specific genre. For readers not familiar with the Yaoi genre, could you briefly tell us a little bit about it and why it appeals to each of you personally.

Barbara - Anne's really the expert here, but for me Yaoi is bigger than life—the emotions run deeper, the sex is as much fantasy as realistic and the men are ultra sexy.

Anne - Most m/m writers agree that there’s a lot of appeal to writing stories about two men falling in love: if one guy is hot, two guys mean twice the fun. Yaoi takes that convention and adds to it, creating a very fantasized portrayal of the relationship between two male lovers. The men are always extremely beautiful, and the plot rarely deals with more serious issues that can arise in homosexual relationships. It’s not supposed to be a realistic depiction, but one that’s fun, sexy and geared for women readers especially. I love Yaoi for the aesthetics and it’s fantasized nature; in real life I don’t think too many guys could last long during the kind of sex our boys have—but it works in our stories ‘cause it’s yaoi! *lol*

Though your characters are male, do you give any of them your own personality traits? And if so, which character is most like you?

Barbara - I seem to be the one more drawn to having characters lapse into these angst-fests and pining away for something or someone they don't have.

Anne - Hmmm. I can’t really think of which of our characters might be most like me, personality wise. These boys end up taking a life of their own, with identities that are really unique to them. As far as quirks a character might have, some of those come from taking a quick look in the mirror. For example, Barb and I love Jasmine tea and it just so happens most of our characters do too.

 

Anne, your artwork is very beautiful. Do you find it an easy task to convey beauty and sensuality through art?

Anne - It can be pretty challenging, actually—especially when creating covers with stock photos. Sometimes I’ll find the model sexiest pose, but he’s making a goofy facial expression. Or vice versa: really hot face, but tepid body. So it takes a bit of time and work to really come up with something that has both elements of beauty and sensuality.

 How long will you usually work on a piece before you are satisfied with it?

Anne - This is something that varies greatly. For photo covers, it takes me about a day’s work to get it just right. Hand-drawn/painted pieces can take much, much longer—sometimes up to a week of working on it for a few hours everyday. But it’s always worth the effort when the authors see it and are thrilled with how their cover looks, and feels wonderful to hear all the great comments from folks.

As far as your drawing is concerned, Anne, who has been the biggest influence upon you?

Anne - I have such an eclectic collection of favorite artists who have inspired me with their work. Artists like John Picacio, Ashley Wood, Brom and Kazusa Takashima, for example. In real life, it’s my sister who encourages and inspires me.

 

Barbara, I see that you have also been collaborating with your daughter. Are you able to tell us a little bit about this project?

Barbara - Yes, thank you for asking. The book is called Mirror Mirror and it will be out around May 12^th by Mardi Gras Publishing. Since it' may be of interest to younger reader (mid to late teens and up) I'm using a different author name—Chloe Michelle.

My daughter Victoria is pretty much responsible for the book.  I began watching one of her favorite animes—Rurouni Kenshin and became fascinated with the characters and was totally blow away to find out that some of them were actual historical figures. My favorite was a former samurai --Hajime Saitou. In the 1860's he was part of a Kyoto peacekeeping force called the Shinsengumi. Online I came into contact with a number of other RK fans also interested in the history behind the Shinsengumi and we've put together what  I think is the most comprehensive website in English on the subject.

Being the Uber Fangirl that I am I often wondered what it would be like to see how these guys stacked up to their pop culture portrayals and thus the character of Emmi Maeda was born. She goes to Kyoto with her godfather Jake Hillhouse who is coordinating stunts for the period film that's something like The Last Samurai.  Emmi gets a walk on part as a high classed courtesan and when a fierce storm caused the movie studio to be evacuated Emmi finds herself back in old Kyoto.

A bit of trivia-- Jake Hillhouse was an important secondary character in my first published book Timeless Wish.

In addition to being the force behind the inspiration for Mirror, Mirror my daughter Victoria as did the fantastic cover art (which she is now wanting to change—such a perfectionist that child. I can't imagine where she gets it *grins *). She's also been aske dot do other YA covers for Mardi Gras.

As far as your writing is concerned Barbara, who has been the biggest influence in your life?

Barbara - I suppose it would have to be my late mother. She would often pick up those Little Golden Books on her way home from work and she's definitely the one that made me a reader which eventually led me to wanting to try my hand at my own stories.

Both my parents were deceased by the time I finally made those first sales to Berkley/Jove and I've always wondered what they'd think of having actually done "something useful" with the mountain of books cluttering up the place. I didn't go to college so I have no formal training in writing beyond having been an avid reader.

Ladies, what is the most valuable piece of advice that each of you have been given?

Barbara - I can't remember who wrote it but the best advice I came across was a quote that went something like a professional writer is an amateur who didn't give up.  It's so easy to get discouraged in the writing business and want to chuck it all and even though I still have those moments each time I read someone has enjoyed my work it makes all the disappointment easier to handle.

Anne -  “Read everything you can get your hands on.” That’s something my grandma told me when I was maybe six years old, and it’s the best advice I’ve received yet. All the good things that have happened to me have stemmed from my love of books and reading. :)

And finally ladies, what are your hopes and aspirations for the next twelve months?

Barbara - We've had a lot of ups and downs with our Dragon's Disciple series and I'd love to see all the books we've written so far become available. And I'd so love to see them sell very very well.  Well enough to grab the attention of the stodgy folk in New York who seem to think that "no one" can connect to or wants to read about Asian lead characters who are gay or bisexual and who happen to be written by Caucasian women.

Anne - To keep on writing and creating lovely covers for some of the best publishers in the business! I’m also saving up to buy a new laptop because I’m running this poor PC to the ground. *lol*

Barbara and Anne, thank you so much for sharing your time with us today.

Interview conducted by Deborah Kimpton
Sensual Reads & Reviews
March 2007


 

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