July’s Featured Author
Susan Bliler
I am so excited to start this monthly series off with one of
my absolutely favorite authors, Susan Bliler.
Ms Bliler has brought us so many great books, from her much-loved Skin
Walkers to her Territories series and so many in between.
I believe that my favorite book, so far (I have to
say that because she is constantly writing and who knows what she will create
next) is Gauge. There is just something
about the way he takes complete charge of a situation and the way he knows that
he has found his family, affliction or not.
Yummy!!! (I admit, I totally went
and re-read this book while I was writing this.
It is my favorite after all.)
Gauge (Skin Walkers
book 8)
Really, I haven’t met a Susan Bliler book yet that I don’t
love, and I do own them all. Have you
read her book Devour? Umm, yumm! Another hot alpha male who manages to get his
lady love out of a bad situation. Okay
it was really her cooking at first, at least that is what he is telling
himself, well and he thought she was a guy.
But the HEA is exactly what we would hope it would be.
Devour
I could go on about Ms Bliler’s books all day, but I really
think it’s better to let her speak for herself.
(Seriously! How else will you get
a chance to see what she is really like?)
So, let’s get down to the question and answer session.
When
did you first realize you wanted to be an author?
I was in middle school when I started writing. I’d write stories for my mom for Christmas,
and I thought writing would be a fun job but didn’t think it was possible for
someone like me. It wasn’t until I was
in my mid-thirties that I decided to actually give it a go…still thinking that
success in writing didn’t happen for people like me. My goal was to sell 300 copies of my first
book, Territory in its debut month. It
sold 3,000 in the first month and I was shocked.
How
long does it typically take you to write one of your books?
About a month and a half. I get writer’s block in winter a lot so it
may take up to two months. Sometimes if
I’m on a good jaunt, I can knock out a quarter of a book in a day. (Contented sigh) I love those days.
Do
you usually write one book at a time or do you find yourself working on
multiple books as your muse takes you?
I’m always working on more than one project. Probably too many. Sometimes it gets confusing keeping
characters straight. But I’ve learned to
go where my muse leads. If he wants me
to work on one project when I want to work on something else, I defer to him.
What
is your work schedule like when you are writing?
Pretty laid back actually. I get up late, usually by 9am. I do some house chores then grab a banana and
a protein shake for breakfast before I hit my home office. The first part of my day is spent answering
e-mails and messages. I follow that
with promos and other housekeeping stuff before I take a break and hit the
gym. I start actually writing at 2pm
because I feel like that’s when my mind is most open. My word goal is 2,000 words per day and I
don’t get to leave my office until I hit it.
Sometimes I’ll take a break to cook dinner for my fam, but after that
I’m right back in the office to finish my word count. Honestly, if I’m focused enough I can get my
word count out in 2 hours.
What
would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Feeding my fat face. It’s ridiculous really. I’m addicted to these Crunchmaster Multi-Seed
Crisps. I eat them all while I
write. I’m addicted and can’t stop, and
now if I’m sitting and thinking through a plot line my mind goes, “Hmm,
crackers would help.” (I had to stop
writing this to go get crisps.) FML.
Where do you get your information or ideas for
your books?
Reading.
I’ll read a book and like the storyline but not like the direction the
book went. I’ll lie in bed and think
about how I’d do the storyline different or how I’d want it to end. I change up characters and plot and go my own
way and next thing I’ve got a totally different book. I stick to what I know though. All of my books are centered in Montana. I don’t like to write about places I haven’t
been because it takes a ton of research.
In Skin Walkers: York, they went to the Philippines. I had to do a ton of research.
When
did you write your first book and how old were you?
Hmmm, book?
I’ve been writing stories forever, but I’d have to say the first book I
wrote was in college. My twin and I were
bored in the cafeteria and she asked me to write her a story. All growing up we shared a room and she’d
always ask me to “tell her a dream”. I’d
tell her stories and end at a peak in the story before telling her to finish it
on her own in her head. When she asked
me to write her a story in college, it was basically her asking me to tell her
a dream. I didn’t have a laptop then so
I wrote the whole thing in red ink on notebook paper. It was called Zintekia Red about a warrior woman
who was captured by an enemy. To this
day I have no idea where that book wound up.
What do you like to do when you are not
writing?
Well, I’m from Montana and it’s freezing and dark
here more often than not so we do a lot of drinking, LOL. The population of my town in 60,000 so it’s
either go out to eat, go the movies, or hit the pub. Not many options, but the pack and I like to
socialize so it works. Plus when you
work from home, it’s nice to get out of the house.
Summers in Montana are a different story though. Montana summers are more beautiful than any
other place on earth and we try to enjoy as much of it as we can in the short
window we have. Our fav summer activity
is floating the river. We put in our
float tubes up stream, load up drinks and music, and then lazy drift down the
mighty Missouri, soaking up the sun, for about 2 hours before we port. There’s a pizza joint on the river right
where we come out, so we stop and have pizza and beer on the patio while our
clothes dry. It’s the best!
If it’s not summer and I’m not drinking, then I’m
usually laying on my couch reading. I
don’t watch too much TV. When I do it’s
the food network. I love Beat Bobby Flay
and Chopped. I was addicted to Game of
Thrones too, but (sniff) it’s gone.
1 What does your family think of your
writing?
My sister and my step-mother are the only two
members of my family who have read all of my books. I get it.
People either read or they don’t.
Even though most of my pack doesn’t read my books, they still think it’s
cool. They’re really supportive and
proud and brag a lot just like a good family should.
What was one of the most surprising things
you learned in creating your books?
I was most shocked that people actually liked my
writing. I submitted my first book to
Harlequin and got shot down. They said
they didn’t feel there was an audience for the type of book I had written
(Territory), but like I said, I read a lot, so I knew they were wrong. My sister encouraged me to self-publish which
was scary as hell. My biggest fear was
that my writing sucked. You know, like
those people that go on American Idol and have no idea that they can’t
sing. It was terrifying, but so worth
it.
Prequel (Territory Series
book 1)
Out
of all of the books that you have written, which is your favorite?
Skin Walkers: Conn.
It was the first book I published in my Skin Walkers series and was the
beginning of something huge. It gave me
my Stalkerz. Most of my readers are
addicted to this series, and it’s my favorite too.
Conn (Skin Walkers
book 5)
What do you think makes a good story?
I only read romance and for me there has to be
buildup. It’s the suspense that makes
the romance worth it. I don’t like when
the two main characters hook up in the first few chapters. For me, the story is over once that happens
unless there is some epically good writing to keep me interested.
As a child, what did you want to do when
you grew up?
I was going to get a job on the Love Boat until it docked
at Fantasy Island where I planned on getting a job as a maid in the hotel. Yup!
Big goals, LOL.
Wow! Just imagine if
this fabulous lady would have boarded the Love Boat. There might have been No Skin Walkers, No
Territories, No Hunt, No Prince of Cats.
Yikes!!!! That’s enough to make
me shed some tears. Luckily for us, she
stayed on Terra Firma in Montana and her dynasty was born.
Be sure to stop by Ms Bliler’s website and Facebook page to
give her some love. And you can always
click on the books throughout the post to head over to Amazon and start your
own collection. Including her newest release.
Tallius (Spoils of
War book 2)
Ms Bliler, thank you so much for being our first Featured
Author of the month. I am an
ever-faithful member of the Stalkers and I can’t wait to see what your next new
book will be.
Happy Reading
Sydney
Be sure to send me an email (sydneyn06@yahoo.com - Subject: Susan Bliler book OR instant message me on my FaceBook page) to be entered into a drawing for a signed copy of Gauge!
This drawing is run by Romance Reader's Guide to Passion
This drawing is run by Romance Reader's Guide to Passion
Next Month's featured author:
Reina Torres
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