Today we have the fabulous Mina Carter, fellow Ellora's Cave author, answering a few writerly questions and giving some info about her newest release.
Interview: Mina Carter, Author
Do you have any
rituals when you write? A certain pen to chew on, a particular drink, or
something like that?
- I have a rough group of rituals depending on the situation. I cannot do anything without coffee and my preference is for Nescafe expresso, in a mug. So kind of a huge caffeine hit there! I don’t like filter coffee, has to be instant (yeah, I’m a heathen ;) ). I always do a brainstorm for a scene before I write, jotting down what I ‘see’ in the location, the sounds and smells and then a basic outline of the action in the scene and any dialogue. Then I write. If I’m pushed or struggling with a scene, then all my rings have to go on (heavy silver ones) and I have a particular album (Robert Johnston’s Tombstone by Thunder) which goes on loop. It’s like white noise I’ve listened to it that often.
How do you edit a
manuscript? On your computer, by making notes on an e-reader, or do you print
out a copy and attack it with a good ‘ole fashioned red pen?
- I always edit on the computer, using track changes. Any paper in our house is a candidate for my daughter to draw on. Including my scene notes. Most have butterflies and hearts on them. I use shorthand for the more risqué words as she can read now.
If you could send a
message back in time to yourself as you’re writing your first book, what would
you tell yourself?
- Less is more, go for conflict and torture the characters. When I started writing I shied away from really getting in there and hammering the characters. Now all bets are off.
Do you have a
significant other, and if so, do they read your books? What do they think of
them?
- I do, I’ve been married for fourteen years this year but my husband is dyslexic so he doesn’t read my books. He’s listened to bits I’ve read out (particularly my latest story as it’s about Rugby and my husband used to play). Generally he’s pleased as punch and tells everyone what I do and write.
Who is your favorite
character in the book you’re currently promoting? Why?
- Currently it’s Johnny from Aries Revealed. He’s a cyborg pretending to be a human stripper pretending to be a cyborg. He’s a loveable rogue, until the woman he loves is threatened, then…let’s just say you don’t want to get in his way. He really believes in an eye for an eye, and loses one during the course of the story to save his woman.
Where can we find you
online? Website, blog, social media links.
- Website: www.mina-carter.com
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/mina.carter
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/minacarter
- Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/minacarter77/
Aries Revealed (Aries)
Johnny makes a living on the strip circuits. His most popular routine is as the Aries 7000. Bronzed and oiled up, he pretends to be the scourge of the universe, one of the deadly and outlawed zodiac cyborgs. But Johnny isn’t a stripper playing a cyborg. He’s a cyborg playing a stripper.
Milly, freighter captain, has had a thing for the sexy stripper for months. But when Johnny, the subject of many of her hottest fantasies, asks her out to dinner, she runs. All is not lost, a chance encounter yields an Aries 7000 sex-bot, hers for a weekend of pleasure.
It seems too good to be true. Sex with the man of her dreams, without risking her heart. Only her bot has some secrets, secrets that could save her life when the past returns to haunt her.
Available NOW from Ellora's Cave
