WATCH OUT: Denysé Bridger

SC: I want to welcome you all to another edition of Watch Out. This week I’m excited to bring you author Denyse Bridger. Welcome to Watch Out, Denyse, it is so great to have you here.

Thank you so much, Savannah, it’s a pleasure to be here with you and your readers!

SC: For the readers out there who might not know about you or your work, can you please tell them a little about yourself.

I’ve been writing professionally for the past 8 years, and prior to that I was writing fan fiction for about 20 years. I don’t like to stick to any one genre, so I write all over the place and have picked up quite a few awards over the years, so I guess I’m doing something right! I’m also totally in love with Italy and it often influences my work, settings, and heroes. This year I was delighted to make it onto the roster of Ellora’s Cave, too, with a super hot story called “Hide and Secret” and I’m in the process of writing a prequel and a sequel to it!

SC: Can you tell us a little about your current release?

Well, this has been a strange year for new releases because they’ve frequently come out in multiples. At the moment my latest releases are a retelling of Cinderella called “Glass Slippers and Jewelled Masques” which was part of the Grand Opening for New Dawning International Book Fair. It’s been on their best-seller list since release, so I was thrilled. The series is Twisted Fairy Tales, and it was my second fairytale book. Tonight (19th July) I have a new book released, an historical Western, so the cowboy lovers should really like this one! It’s a revised reprint that hasn’t been available since 2006, and it’s called “Winner Take All” from Moongypsy Press.

SC: The publishing industry is constantly changing; do you think that eBooks will one day make paperback books nonexistent?

Awful as it may sound, I certainly hope not, but I think it’s getting more and more apparent that the industry is going in that direction. I love eReaders, but it’s still not the same as opening a wonderful new book and settling in with those pristine pages… Plus, we may NOW be totally electronic in publishing, but so many, many books are still only in print, and if they never do make it into digital form, imagine what will be lost?

SC: You have published many books in all different genres. Do you find some genres harder to write than others?

No, not really. The stories come easily to me, often too easy, and I’m happy writing anything that is a good, entertaining read. Historical settings have long been a favourite of mine, so I love writing Westerns and Victorian era tales – both of which I have done and enjoyed. My Victorian set is among my best work, at least in my opinion. Plus, I’ve inadvertently fallen into the paranormal genre, as well. I was never really an avid reader or fan of vampire fiction, but I seem to have a knack for creating vampire fictions that people really like! *lol*

SC: Out of all the books you have written so far is there one you would consider being your favourite?

See, that’s a really hard one. My favourite book is different from what I would say is my best book. Favourite is probably my novel “As Fate Decrees”, because that was a major accomplishment for me and my first major release in paperback. My other favourite because I think it’s one of the best written is one called “Out of Hell” that is set in Victorian London, and the hero is a police inspector haunted by the Ripper murders. He also happens to be an opium addict and clairvoyant.

SC: What do you do to unwind when you are not working on a new book?

Read, at the moment I’m just devouring the JR Ward Black Dagger Brotherhood series, my first vampire novels in years. I also love to walk in the local park, and bake, so I’m totally boring!! Music is huge with me, too… it’s on around me constantly, and I often have Radio Italy Live streaming on my computer while I work. At the moment I’m using a wonderful little WP program called ZenWriter that enables you to listen to very meditative music while you write against peaceful backgrounds – mind’s a foggy forest at night! It’s a really nice little program, and only $10 in price, so I use it a lot and love it!

SC: Some writers push the boundaries when it comes to their stories not for the story itself but for shock value. Do you think that in today’s market shock value has any impact?

It saddens me that so many writers are doing this, just to sell a few more books. A good story is still the thing that all of us should be striving for. The more “shocking” the content gets the more desensitized people become and that isn’t really a good thing. Sex sells, sure, but there is TOO much at times, and little of it good for story-telling. I’ve gotten tired of reviewers who judge the “success” of the story by the sexual content, not the story, and you know, it’s really discouraging when you read a review that states in so many words, I liked this book but would have been happier if the sex had been hotter, more frequent, whatever… That really doesn’t give the quality of the story its proper due in so many ways.

SC: The best part about being an author?

The wonderful people we meet and become friends with from all over this world – for me that is the BEST part of it all. And, we get to entertain people and take them to places where good wins and love is forever, and passion is valued. Escape and fantasy is a wonderful gift, and if we as authors can do that for people, help them forget the hardness of reality for a bit… that’s a really fabulous thing!

SC: If you could step into the shoes of one of your characters who would you pick and why?

That’s a tough one, really. So many great characters to choose from. I like a lot of my characters, but if I had to pick one it would probably be Bethany Bradshaw from the Devane mysteries because she is gracious, elegant, and strong as steel in all the right ways. She’s a perfect foil for Michael, and they adore each other.

SC:  What are your 3 favourite words?

Love, fantasy, and passion.

SC: What do you do to keep your stories fresh and different?

I think it’s the characters who make the stories unique because if they’re strong personalities and possess their own style and intentions and morality, each time you write, you will create something that is fresh and new. I try to write in new worlds, which is why I create fantasy as well as romance, because you get to world build, make new rules, create new laws and cultures. Within the earth-bound tales, it’s the people who can make even the same situations different by how they handle them – characters are like real people, they’re all unique and they all respond differently based on their situations and interactions and personalities.

SC: After being in the industry all these years do you still have things you find you struggle with or are a challenge?

The only thing I struggle with perse is the constant evolution of promotional work. There are SO MANY new publishing houses now, and everyone is trying desperately to get their product noticed and their authors recognized. So, keeping up with the market itself is my biggest challenge. And of course we go back to the shock-sex that so many indulge in, and I refuse to go there, so…

SC: When you are working on a story do you have any habits, maybe the TV playing or music?

Most of the time I have music playing. I find it not only inspires, it relaxes, and often times it enhances the scenes I’m working on. I also like to have a cup of tea beside me when I work!

SC: Is there anything you’re currently working on that you can give us a taste of?

Absolutely! This is from a novel I am getting ready to submit, it’s called “Grande Amore” and it’s set in Italy.

GRANDE AMORE:

“Would you like to watch a film?”

The table had been cleared, and she’d declined coffee. They were now relaxing in the airy living room. The lighting was muted, soft and glowing from recessed fixtures that gave the room an intimate atmosphere that was tranquil and comfortable.

Jillian accepted the Club Soda he handed to her and tried not to react with a tremor when Riccardo sat next to her on the leather sofa, close enough that the heat of his body seared every nerve ending she possessed. She’d been hyper-aware of him since he’d kissed her, ever nuance of his voice, every casual smile, it all made her feel like an earthquake had been given life inside her.

“I don’t speak much Italian,” she laughed.

He grinned and winked. “I know. Do you have a favourite movie?”

“Old ones, mostly. Do you have Casablanca?”

“Of course. Most of my film collection is classics,” he added with a smile.

He rose, went to the video cabinet and a few minutes later came back to the sofa with a remote control in hand. He tossed some well-stuffed cushions into the corner of the couch and smiled.

“Let’s get comfortable.”

He bent down and removed her sandals, then sat next to her and shifted until he was lying behind her. When he took the glass from her hands and set it on the coffee table, then drew her down and back against him, Jillian thought the tremors that were shaking her insides were going to explode outward. If he knew how badly she was trembling in his arms, he made no indication of it.

The movie came to life on the large screen after a few buttons were pressed and Riccardo tossed the remote control onto the coffee table. Jillian tried hard to focus on the timeless story. She was conscious of Riccardo at her back, the warmth of his chest pressed to her, the weight of his arm draped over her waist, the long length of his legs next to hers. His hand seemed to cup the injury at her side, and the sizzling heat from his touch was like the centre of a fire shooting outward along her veins. The light, cool scent of his cologne invaded her senses on another level, and she felt every breath he took like it was part of her.

“You’re not enjoying the movie very much,” he murmured into her ear. “Relax.”

“You’re not making it easy,” she whispered before she could think to hold back the words.

“Why is that, carissima?”

Jillian barely suppressed the urge to squirm against him. His voice was like warm honey pouring over her skin, and the heat that enveloped her in his arms was igniting an inferno that was centered low in her body.

“I don’t think this was a good idea,” she said, her words shaking very slightly.

Riccardo shifted again and she didn’t resist when he pressed her back to the smooth, creaking leather of the sofa and looked down into her eyes. His fingers stroked her injured side for a moment, then he let the exploring touch move upward. Jillian’s breath caught and her heart fluttered wildly at the first caress of his hand smoothing over her breast.

“Open your eyes, bella,” he purred when she tried not to look at him.

His thumb brushed over the bud of her nipple, making it tight and hard, and she stared at the darkened depths of his eyes, amazed that this incredible man clearly wanted her. She reached up, let her finger trace the smiling curve of his mouth, then she drew him down to meet her kiss, totally unprepared for the intensity of his passion as he covered her mouth and coaxed her tongue into an erotic, ageless dance. She arched upward, seeking more intimate contact with him as she tangled her legs with his.

Riccardo pulled away from the kiss with a soft murmur, words gentle and powerfully charged, words uttered in the seductive language he knew best, Italian. His lips rained kisses on her face, her eyelids, the curve of her cheeks, then he sought the wildly beating pulse at the side of her neck. When his tongue tasted her skin, stroking softly, matching the caresses of his hands over her breasts, Jillian knew she had lost any ability to refuse him anything.

She didn’t know the words he whispered, but her heart knew them, and understood. He was telling her he wanted her, that to him, she was beautiful. All the things no other man had ever told her…

SC: What is the best advice you ever got with regards to writing?

Write. Believe it or not, that simple. Best-selling Canadian author Nancy Baker who writes amazing dark fantasy and vampire stories. I interviewed her once and she said the thing most new authors get messed up with is that writers write, they don’t talk about it – they do it! It’s true, too – it’s so easy to get caught up in the talking about it that you find you’re actually not doing the job!

SC: Any advice for new writers out there?

Write the story first, then worry about where you’re going to submit it. Once it’s done, move on and stop rewriting your past work or you’ll never get away from it. Each story will be better than the last, but no book will ever be perfect. If you keep that in mind, you’ll be a lot happier with your work and how it’s accepted.

SC: Where can readers find out more about you and your work?

My website is undergoing reconstruction at the moment, it’s being given a facelift after being pretty much the same for the past 6 years. So, here are my links:

Denysé Bridger

WEBSITE: http://www.denysebridger.com

BLOG: http://fantasy-pages.blogspot.com

Sensual Treats Magazine: http://www.sensualtreats.webs.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/denysebridger

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/denysebridger

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/denyse.bridger

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/Romance.and.Fantasy

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003LUHE96

Thanks so much for having me here with you today, Savannah!!

SC: It is my pleasure….

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