Interview with Susan Hanniford Crowley

Hi Susan, thanks for being here with us!!

I'm excited to be here.

Do you have a favorite holiday?

Halloween. My family is really into it with decorating and costumes. You know, the usual digging of graves, putting in stones, hanging ghosts from the trees.

So, you are associate editor for Space and Time Magazine. What is that like? How do you approach reading and critiquing other people’s work versus writing your own?

An associate editor at a magazine reads and then rejects or sends forward with recommendations to the Fiction Editor. If he likes it, it goes on to the Editor-in-Chief who buys the stories. I approach every story with the expectation of loving it. Unfortunately too often that's not the case, and I have to send a rejection letter. If a person is so close they might get in if they changed one section, I discuss it with the Fiction Editor. If he agrees with me, then I send a detailed letter telling the author exactly how to change it and to get it back to me yesterday. I'm aware not all associate editors at other magazines are as specific in their help to the author as I am, but knowing what it's like to be in the author's shoes, I do what I can to help. In reviewing other people's work, I often clearly see mistakes I've made in the past and can be line by line specific in what to do to fix it. Generally I don't critique every submission, as there isn't time and there are so many submissions.

Speaking of your work, can you tell me about A Vampire for Christmas?

A Vampire for Christmas published by Tease Publishing LLC is about Trevor Stenwood, a sophisticated New York vampire, who finds himself tongue-tied every time he's near the woman of his dreams. This is very bad as he's an Arnhem Knight vowed to protect supernaturals from harm, and Georgia Blake is a Harmony who is marked for death by demons. He has messed up so much with Georgia that she thinks he's a stalker. A Vampire for Christmas is available right now at All Romance Ebooks http://www.allromanceebooks.com

Can we see an Excerpt?

Sure.

It wasn't the job Georgia longed for, but it was something. As she stepped out of the coffee shop a few minutes after eleven, a passerby grabbed her purse.

"No," she shouted, clutching the leather strap. He pulled so hard, she toppled over. But Georgia remembered her lessons at the dojo and struck at the robber with her feet. He tripped sideways.

Then he pulled a knife. In a blur, the strange man from the store window had one foot on her attacker's hand and the other on his throat.

Georgia scrambled to her feet and in a fit of rage yanked her purse free then punched her rescuer in the jaw.

He swayed a bit but remained steadfast on her attacker. Shocked, Georgia rubbed her knuckles. She'd broken boards with that fist, so it should have had more impact.

A siren later and the police arrived. They arrested the mugger, and the questions began. Georgia was very interested in the stranger's answers.

"Your name, sir?" asked the female officer.

"Trevor Stenwood."

"Occupation?"

"CEO of Stenwood Garments."

"Could you tell me, Mr. Stenwood, what happened?"

"I was just walking by when I saw this woman being robbed."

"He was stalking me," Georgia interrupted.

"I was not."

"Yes, you were."

The officer glared at him with raised eyebrows. "Were you?"

"I just wanted to ask her out to lunch."

The officer turned her attention to Georgia.

He just didn't seem very threatening now.

"I'm sorry if I scared you," said Trevor.

He seemed so sincere. Georgia smiled.

"I’m sorry I hit you."

"You struck him?" The officer turned to Trevor. "Do you want to press charges, sir?"

"No." He chuckled. "Do you have anymore questions, officer?"

"Where can we contact you, Mr. Stenwood?"

He gave her his business card.

She turned to Georgia. "Ms. Blake?"

"I work at Donut Haven in the morning, and I live at 328 Cedar, Apt. 3B."

"Phone number?"

"I don't have a phone."

"Thank you. We'll be in touch."

Trevor smiled. "So where would you like to go for lunch?"

Georgia's heart pounded like a drum. She was about to say something when she realized the sleeve of her new coat was torn. "I can't believe I ripped it."

"I know an excellent tailor who could repair that in no time."

Before Georgia could respond, a dark sedan pulled up and Trevor Stenwood opened the back door. She slid across the soft gray, plush upholstery and he climbed in beside her. A panel of glass separated them from the driver.

"Keith, Mr. Robers, please." The car pulled away from the curb and into the traffic.

Georgia's thoughts took a moment to catch up with events. Why did she get into a car with a stranger? Trevor sat a distance away and made no move to get closer.

Without giving too much away, can you tell me what you’re working on now?

I'm working on the sequel to A Vampire for Christmas in addition to my other novella When Love Survives. These two as well as my novel The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais are all part of my Vampires in Manhattan series. I'm working on the next novel too. All adventures. All vampires. All romance.

You’re such a big supporter of other writers. Personally, I can’t imagine launching a book without coming to Nights of Passion. Tell me why you like working with other writers so much.

In my humble opinion, writers are the most interesting people in the world. Not only do they tell great stories but they come from diverse backgrounds, which is often just as interesting as their books. And they are all committed to a common goal of getting their stories out to world. It's a bit like knighthood; they're that devoted.

If it's all right with you, Rebecca, I'd like to tell everyone about a huge event happening from Feb. 13-17 on Nights of Passion blog. We're celebrating the blog's birthday (Feb. 14) by having lots of romance authors guest blogging and doing giveaways. If you're a published romance author out there with a book to promote and you'd like to be part of this huge celebration, please, email me at onlyladyknight@yahoo.com and put Blog Birthday Party in the subject or else you'll end up as spam. I just wanted to get that in.

Where do your ideas come from?

I'm a very aware dreamer. I dream all my stories and wake up in the morning and write as fast as I can every detail. Some of my stories take weeks of dreaming to finish. Then I research all the parts and fill in even more. A friend of mine recently suggested I use a minor character from my novel The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais. I hedged on that one. Then I had a dream with that character, so yes, it will be a book.

I always ask everyone the next two questions:

Tell me about your muse. What is she like?

My muse is more like an editor, who tells me what works and what doesn't. He actually pushed me to write about vampires. Sorry, my muse is a he.

Finally, what do you do to combat writers block?

I get writer's overwhelming. I usually have too many stories coming in at once. I have a notebook where I write each summary if that happens. When stories start to collide and I need a break, I make jewelry. Working with beads allows me to focus on the strongest concept. Then I go back to writing.

Thanks for being with us Susan. We’re so glad to be able to have you here!

It was great being here. Ask me any time.

To find out more about Susan Hanniford Crowley, visit

Her website: http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com

Her Nights of Passion blog: http://nightsofpassion.wordpress.com