The PP gals welcome: author Karilyn Bentley

Tell us about yourself. How long have you been writing? Thank you for having me here today. I'm so excited! I've been writing since 2001 or 2002. I remember sitting in my then cube and thinking that I needed to find something to do so I could sit home and eat bon-bons. I had these stories running around in my head and decided to put them on paper. Still haven't found the bon-bons. :) But I have a bunch of nice, invisible friends that like to talk to me.

How did you get from  research coordinator to writing romance? Apparently, I'm an overachiever, as I think I already answered this in the previous question. :) If you must know, I did not start out writing romance. I'm not sure what you would call what I first wrote (it's hiding in the closet now), but although it had some romantic elements in it, it wasn't a romance. I hadn't read a romance in years b/c I thought them silly. Then I picked up one of Sherrilyn Kenyon's at a book faire at work and was hooked. Didn't realize it was a romance until I was partway in and it was so good I didn't put it down. Once I realized the genre had changed and had paranormal critters, I started reading all sorts of romance. Always heard that you should write what you read, so there you go. Romance story coming up. Of course, thinking of the story took some doing. :)

Who is your favorite author(s) and why? This changes, but currently my favs are J.R. Ward and George R. R. Martin. Maybe I have a thing for initials. Ha! I like JRW b/c her dialogue rocks and her characters are gritty and you just can't put down the book. My friends call them the crack series b/c we read them over and over and over, well, you get the picture.

Tell us about your new book. In a world where men can become dragons, Thoren is one of the most powerful. As a shape-shifting Draconi, Thoren wants nothing more than to continue searching for Halfling children, and returning them to Draconia. The last thing he wants or needs is a mate-until he meets Keara, an outcast unaware of the power that lies within her. Keara doesn't know what to make of Thoren or of the magic he practices. She learned early to keep her magic hidden-her witchy red hair and green eyes are burden enough. When Thoren offers his hand in place of a forced marriage with Lord Simon, Keara jumps at the chance to leave her town behind. But she fears Thoren will shun her when he discovers the truth about her abilities. Can Thoren convince Keara she is his lifemate, or will her secret talent be the wedge that drives them apart?

“I know enough to realize she denied you.” The stranger growled at Lord Simon, his voice gentling as he turned to Keara. “She will take me though, won’t you?”

  Keara locked her gaze on the stranger, drawn by his green eyes that looked so much like her own. She had never seen green eyes on anyone else, but knew what they meant. Remembered what her grandmother had told her about them.

  “Green eyes are the mark of evil, girl,” the old woman liked to say. “Be wary of them.”

  The wind whipped the stranger’s hair about his face. A chiseled jaw topped by firm lips that whitened around the edges and a long straight nose comprised a face tightened in anger. His compelling eyes bored into hers.

  She couldn’t stop staring at those eyes, all the while his fingers continued their steady pattern against her mark, sending sensuous feelings coursing through her veins.

  A stranger or Lord Simon? The man whose touch sent zingers of pleasure throughout her body, or the possibly crazy, but socially acceptable man who might have her best interest in mind. Did she actually think that?

There was no choice. It took two tries to get the words out of her dry mouth.

 “I’ll take you.” She lifted her chin toward the stranger and said a silent prayer he would spare her life.

 What is the appeal of writing romance? I like the fact that a happy ending is a requirement. And that no matter what happens to your hero and heroine, they will always get together in the end.

 What kind of writings turns you off? I'm all about the happy ending. If a story doesn't end happily, then it upsets me and I won't read another story by that author again, even if I loved the story up until that point. Head hopping also turns me off when done often. Certain violence turns me off and I can't read the book, even if the bad guy gets it in the end.

What stops you from writing? The TV? Chores? Life is the big one. I work a FT job, so making time to write takes some effort. I'm not as disciplined as most writers.

How do you get your ideas? Sometimes someone says something that triggers an idea, a what-if. Other times I just get an overall idea and then the details are fleshed out as I write the story. What is your writing day like? I come home from work, exercise, eat and try to get in an hour of writing. On the days I'm off, it depends. Sometimes I can get 3 or 4 hours of writing and other times I'm lucky to get 10 minutes.

Can you share three writing tips? Nothing original. These have all been said before. Butt in chair, hands on keyboard. Never give up, never surrender (Galaxy Quest); When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Fill in this blank: Your ideal fictional hero would think you gorgeous if you turned into a dragon and breathed fire. (That's a hard one' so, I pretended that I was my heroine Keara. I hope you'll excuse it. :

How much do you love cake? Umm, I've been known to eat an entire one in a sitting. I guess that would be a lot of love there. :)