Interview with Renée Vickers

I have fellow Noble Author Renée on my blog today. Her Debut Novel Sly's Surrender is coming soon from Noble.


Hi Renée, so glad you could make it.

Hi Doris, thanks so much for having me on your site today! To those who don’t know me, I’m R. Renée Vickers, call me Renée.  I’m a new author expecting my first official literary baby towards the end of the month. Sly’s Surrender is set to be released on November 21^st. So right now I’m just making some rounds, getting to know everyone and having a grand time with it.

Such an exciting time. 

So, tell me, what made you write ‘this’ story?

Sly’s Surrender is a contemporary M/F BDSM story about a very empowered restaurateur, Sly, who is very much accustomed to being in control. She succeeds at everything and is at the top of her game but there is still something missing. She decides to hand her control over to her (very sexy) partner Jake for a change.

I wrote this as a challenge by a good friend of mine, and well known author around these parts, J.S. Wayne. Until the challenge I’d written a variety of poems and short stories but only a very small fraction would have been considered romance. Writing erotic romance was even on my radar at the time. But I was at the point where I felt I had a good base of skills and wanted to expand.  Some ideas got tossed around and I admitted I wasn’t shy about writing explicit material, I’ve just never had the opportunity to really go at it. So, the challenge to write a M/F BDSM piece with a 3,000 word minimum threshold was laid down and I jumped on it.

Glad you did, the story sounds great!

Describe a typical day’s writing for us

I work a full time day job and have a family so my writing time typically happens in the last 2-4 hours of my night or at any time on the weekends. Half of the time I’m curled up on the couch with my netbook on my lap and headphones blaring everything from Atreyu to Volbeat in my ears, the other half is spent at my desk. It doesn’t matter where I sit really as long as I have my headphones. Then once I’m done puttering around with my networking or promotions, checking email and social networks I get to work. Some days I’m focused, others – not so much. The internet is a real distraction and I have a profile on my netbook where I’ve disabled nearly everything just so the temptation’s gone.

What inspires you?

Different things inspire me at different times. Sometimes it’s music while other times inspiration attacks me after a long conversation with a good friend. I’ve often been woken out of a dead sleep when my muse attacks. More often than not though, I find great inspiration while reading the work of others. I have a hard time tearing myself away from writing to read because the plot bunnies gang up once I put the book down.

If you weren’t a writer what would you be?

Good question. I’m not sure. I wear many hats but have been pursuing creative opportunities for as long as I can remember. I always thought I was going to be an artist and went through school for fine arts. But as life happened my life has taken different paths though I’ve always done art and other creative activities as hobbies. But I’ve never been so obsessed with anything more than writing. I want to grow creatively in this field more than I ever wanted with anything else and hope one day I can quit my EDJ and pursue a life as a recluse writer.

Do your characters ever surprise you?

Often! I’ve had a few that have had a life of their own. I know that’s the point with creating characters but there have been times when I’ve handed them their game plan and they’ve ripped it to shreds and went their own way. What do you say to that as their creator especially when their moves worked out better than you imagined? It’s usually a happy surprise.

Sounds very familiar, mine are forever going off on a tangent, lol.

What could you not do without when you’re writing?

I have two things that I must have for writing, everything else is secondary: my Sansa Fuse MP3 player and my SkullCrusher Skullcandies headphones. I could be in the middle of Time Square, or worse a daycare center and as long as I have my tunes I’m good to go. They’re not for inspiration, they’re for focus, like blinders. Something about a good heavy metal tune gets my brain working on the straight and narrow.

What words of wisdom do you have for the aspiring authors out there?

Never quit. Next to parenting, writing well is the most difficult and rewarding thing I’ve ever tried to do. Be humble, there will always be someone better than you so if they offer advice, take it. And last read as much as you can. Those are the three pieces of advice that I’ve found invaluable.

Wise words indeed, couldn't agree more.

Where do you see yourself in ten year’s time?

In ten years my children will all be out of high school which means that will be around the time we’re planning on moving to Tallahassee Florida. This is definitely something we’re looking forward to because not only is Tallahassee and the surrounding area beautiful, but that’s where my husband’s family and many of our friends are. As far as writing, I hope to be doing what I’m doing now, except better and faster. And maybe doing it without an EDJ, that would be nice.

Fingers firmly crossed for you .

Do you have a favourite quote?

Mahatma Ghandi is one of my favorite people to quote. This is my favorite of his, followed closely by his Seven Deadly Sins: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

What other books can your readers look forward to?

I have several projects in the works and hope to not be too long in getting them out. My focus is in the paranormal fantasy and science fiction areas of the romance genre. I also like working with Asian and SubAsian mythologies so I hope to have a piece or two coming out soon with those themes.

Sounds interesting!

And finally can you share an excerpt with us?

It would be my pleasure to. Here’s an excerpt from Sly’s Surrender.

“Hey, sexy.” Sly’s smooth voice purred just behind Jake, just as her fingertip caressed from his chin to his jaw in one long motion ending up just behind his ear. Shivers ant-marched down Jake’s body. In that instant Jake knew. This is why. All of the anger, indignation, and embarrassment fled his mind as she wrapped an arm over his shoulder and down his chest. As her hot breath caressed his neck, her honeyed voice flooded his mind. “I hope you haven’t been waiting too long.”

It took everything he had to not swallow, to show no outward reaction to what she was doing to him with these miniscule teases. This was just another game to her. She’d make him wait until he’d be ready to walk out, until he was so mad he couldn’t stand it and then she’d show up making him switch gears. Just like that. He shot a quick glance at Tony, who watched this dance out of the corner of his eyes pretending like he was too busy toweling off a pristine glass to notice.

When Sly’s tongue flicked Jake’s thick, silver-hooped earring he lost what small shred of control he had, albeit for a fraction of a second. He could feel her smile as her cheek rested against his neck. A prickling flash of anger growled in some dark recess of his mind.

She moved to half-lean, half-sit on the vacant stool next to him and he had to strangle a gasp threatening to break. If he hadn’t, his body would have given away just how badly he wanted her. This was high-stakes poker and so far the house was winning. Sly wore a tight black corset. Though no doubt made of the finest and most sturdy materials, the bone-rib garment threatened to break under the flood pressure of her ample bosom. It must have been a custom piece because it slithered down her slim waist with precision. No department wares could hope to cope with a curvy form such as hers. He noticed the striking color contrast as the thick black material lay against her flawless, smooth. Ivory-colored skin.

As his sight drew down, he soaked in just how short her layered black and burgundy diaphanous skirt was. She couldn’t sit down without flashing her all to the world. Jake gulped, carelessly abandoning any desire to restrain himself. Seeing his reaction, Sly barked a throaty laugh. He refused to look up until he saw his favorite pair of strappy black, four-inch stiletto heels. When he came up for breath he found her glossy wine-colored lips slithering a Cheshire pattern across her gleaming teeth and humor glistening in her hazel eyes. Oh, how she loves this game.

I am loving that excerpt. This is going on my to read list!

Thank you very much for having me here today, Doris. I enjoyed our time together and the opportunity to share myself with your readers.

Thanks for popping over  Renée, it's been a pleasure.

Come and visit  Renée on her blog here. She would love to have you visit :-)