Riptide Day Six - Andrea Speed

Good morning. Welcome to day 6 of the event. Today we have Andrea Speed here for a sitdown. Please enjoy!

How long have you been writing?

An insanely long time. I think unofficially since I was seven, but I didn't get serious about it until my teenage years.

What made you decide that you wanted to put yourself out there to publish?

Basically friends encouraging me. It's as simple as that.

Before you started, had you done any fanfiction? If so, what fandom?

Yes. Buffy/Angel and the X-Men films. I actually crossed the universes, and it was a lot of fun.

Are you in agreement that writing fanfiction is a great way to practice ones craft, why or why not?

I'm of the opinion that just about any writing you do is good. Playing in someone else's sand box is easier than creating your own themes, but I'd use it as a tool to just get out of your own head for a while. You can't live on candy alone, and you can't live on fanfic alone either. But I have no problem with it at all.

What is your favorite subgenre to write?

Horror. Love horror.

Is there one that you haven’t tried that you see yourself doing in the future?

Not at the moment, but that's only because I really don't think too much in terms of genre when I'm actually writing. It's a story. People can slap on whatever genre labels they like.

Would you ever write a hetero romance? Why or why not?

I haven't done it, but I have no objection to it.

What is your opinion on the “chicks with dicks” analogy? In your opinion, is it wrong for your males to be emotional or romantic?

Wow. Offensive on so many levels. I think emotions are specific to character and not gender. I know there are people who are hung up on this, who think “women only do this” or “men only do that”, and the only answer I have to that is: get out in the world. The world and people are far stranger and more diverse than you realize. And if you have your own hang ups about your emotional/gender expression, fine, I hope you deal with them, but don't pin it on other people.

Your first published book?

Infected: Prey, through Dreamspinner Press.

I’m of the opinion that erotica doesn’t have to be real all the time to make a good story, what are your thoughts?

Real? What is real exactly? I mean, sure, there's porn real, TV real, and real life real, but it comes down to a matter of taste. Some people love pistachio, and others prefer strawberry. Whatever you like, it's all good.

Riptide specific questions

Tell me what made you decide to hop on board with this brand new publisher?

They asked. Ha ha! It's funny 'cause it's true.

What is your release that you have coming out with them?

Pretty Monsters. Here's the blurb:

Josh knew the night shift at the Quik-Mart would be full of freaks and geeks—and that was before the hell portal opened in the parking lot. Still, he likes to think he can roll with things. Sure, the zombies make a mess sometimes, but at least they never reach for anything more threatening than frozen burritos.

Besides, it’s not all lizard-monsters and the walking dead. There’s also the mysterious hottie with the sly red lips and a taste for sweets.

Josh has had the hots for Hot Guy since the moment he laid eyes on him, and it seems Hot Guy might be sweet on Josh too. Now if only Josh could figure out whether that’s a good thing, a bad thing, or something in between. After all, with a hell vortex just a stone’s throw away, Josh has learned to take nothing at face value—even if it’s a very, very pretty face.

This title is #1 of the Josh of the Damned series. You can buy Pretty Monsters at Riptide Publishing http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/pretty-monsters-josh-damned-1

In your opinion, what is the difference between Riptide and any other publisher that has just started?

I think their commitment to promoting their authors is outstanding.

Where do you see the publisher in the next 5 to 10 years?

Hopefully a major publishing house with a big swinging (metaphorical) dick.

Fun questions pick at least 3

Name one celeb that you wish was gay and why?

Deborah Ann Woll, because she's so pretty. Not that she'd ever date me, but the option being there would be nice.

Do you feel that celebs who are gay or bi should come out the closet?

I think they should, but having said that, it's deeply personal decision, and I can imagine that some people would be uncomfortable/adverse to doing it. Which is their choice.

The character you identify with?

I'd like to say Roan here, and it's true, but if I was perfectly honest, the dark side of me identifies a lot with Holden, who can be utterly ruthless. More than readers know to date. (Although the next book takes the gloves off. In fact, I fear some people will really dislike him afterwards, but those are the breaks.)

 www.andreaspeed.com

http://twitter.com/#!/aspeed

Giveaway - Choice of Infected: Prey or Making Contact.

General blurb: In a world where a werecat virus has changed society, Roan McKichan, a born infected and ex-cop, works as a private detective trying to solve crimes involving other infecteds. He does his best to survive in a world that hates and fears his kind… and occasionally worships them.

Excerpt (from Infected: Life After Death):

As Roan grasped his upper arm firmly, trying to staunch the flow of blood, he wondered how he'd gotten himself into this mess.

Maybe the problem was this was another male lion, one not inclined to fold, but also, he could smell illness coming off of it—it wasn't right in body or mind, and therefore it was not assessing threats correctly. The panicky people didn’t help either; their fear was sharp in the air, and it was making Roan salivate just as much as the lion growling in the alley.

“Roan—” Dylan asked pleadingly, visible in his peripheral vision.

“Get away!” he snapped, and as the lion took a step forward, Roan took a step toward the cat as well, roaring a challenge that made its ears flatten against its scalp. It knew he was injured, but it also had to know he was still stronger than it was. Its mane was predominately black, making Roan wonder if it was a black-haired man under the transformation, although such a characteristic wasn’t always a sure bet. He was a good-sized guy, though, at least six feet, somewhere around two hundred and fifty pounds.

How had this happened? He had been meeting Dylan for coffee before Dylan went to work—that was all. Innocent as could be. Then he heard a woman scream, a truly genuine scream of horror, and he came charging around the corner to find a man under attack by a lion, which had him on the ground and was gnawing his forearm like a turkey leg. Roan didn’t have a chance to finesse this, and of course he wasn’t armed, as he had closed up the office for the day. Not that it mattered—there was no way he‟d open fire on a cat anyways, and certainly not with civilians around.

Roan did what he had to do. He charged the cat and tackled it, ripping it off the man and sending them both rolling out into the street as he yelled at Dylan to get the man inside. Cats, being a hell of a lot more flexible than people, were hard to keep hold of at the best of times, and this was a big lion, slippery with blood and its own fevered sweat. It twisted violently in his grasp as a car’s tire just missed their heads by inches, and it sank its teeth into his arm, tearing through the flesh like paper.

A mistake. On the cat’s part, as Roan had been holding back his instincts quite well, but now, with the pain ripping through his body, his own cat instincts had broken out. He threw the cat bodily away, so hard that it hit a parked Lexus with an audible thud, making it rock on its shocks and leaving a huge dent in its side door. The cat landed unsteadily on its feet, shaking its head, as Roan struggled to hold in the cat instincts wanting to emerge. He felt his jaw shift, heard the bones crack, and tasted blood in his mouth as his teeth ripped through his gums, but the most troubling thing was he wanted to rip its fucking throat out. He could almost taste its flesh in his mouth, and he wanted it as badly as he had ever wanted anything. It was a desire so electric he wanted it to sweep him away.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_274