Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Interview with Author Cynthia Woolf

Today, I'm pleased to feature an interview with Indy Author Cindy Woolf. Not only does she have a really cool name (okay, so I'm biased!), but she also writes really cool romances.

Cindy was born and raised in Colorado and lives there still, so it is no surprise that she writes western romances. Her book Tame a Wild Heart is available on Amazon in both print and Kindle editions. She also has a fantastic science fiction romance series called The Centauri Series. But I'll let her tell you more...

AC: How long have you been writing?

CW: I started writing seriously in 1990

AC: What made you start writing? Did anyone inspire or encourage you to write?

CW: I wouldn’t say anyone inspired me to write, but my family definitely encouraged my efforts. My husband is my biggest cheerleader.

AC: Plotter? Pantser? Or something in between?

CW: I’m a definite pantser. If I plot the story, it’s done and I don’t need to write it. LOL Of course, this causes me no end of sagging middles and writers block, where I don’t know where the story is going. When that happens, I just start writing, something, anything. Just to get the process started.

AC: Please share some of the highlights of your writing journey thus far.

CW: My biggest highlights have been to be published. To actually have my book out there for people to buy and more importantly, they like it. The reviews have been good and all three books have been well received.

AC: Any advice you’d like to give unpublished or recently published writers?

The best advice I can give is WRITE, WRITE, WRITE. You can’t publish what you haven’t written. Get a good editor, have covers done that you like. And don’t wait for a publishing house to tell you what to write. Write what you love, write how the story comes to you. You can always go back and change it but let it out first.

AC: Please tell us about your current release/project. What’s next for you?

My latest book is CENTAURI TWILIGHT. It is Book 2 in the Centauri Series. Below is a short excerpt. My next book is CENTAURI MIDNIGHT, Book 3 in the Centauri Series. I hope to have it out in January 2012.

Excerpt from CENTAURI TWILIGHT

From Chapter One

Anton needed an escape. All this happiness made him nauseous. In the last two weeks since the announcement of his brother Darius’ wedding to Audra, Queen of Centauri, he’d witnessed more kissing, smiling and cheerful familial festivities than he could stand. Now the ceremony was finally over. All he had to do was manage to not look as grim as the bitter taste in his mouth made him feel, as he survived these last few hours of dancing and merriment.

Taking advantage of a lull in the festivities, Anton pulled Darius and Audra aside. “I’m leaving tonight.”

Audra took his hands in hers, the soft fabric of her wedding dress brushed against his legs. He forced his feet to remain planted. No need to offend his new sister by moving out of arms reach. “Are you well enough to leave?” she asked with a frown. “This isn’t going to be an easy mission for you.”

Anton used the one argument he knew Audra would not stand against. “Sweet sister, I’m well enough. The sooner I leave, the sooner I’ll find Jondalara and bring her home.”

Audra leaned up and kissed his scarred cheek. “Anton, how will I ever be able to thank you?”

Regardless of his own internal agony, it had nothing to do with Audra and Darius. He couldn’t stop a genuine grin escaping. “Name this baby after me.”

Audra slumped against Darius. “Baby?”

Darius held his new wife close to his side. “What baby?”

Anton smiled then chuckled. Should he be upset that his brother had made love to his lifemate, even though she was to have been Anton’s bride? Maybe, but he could not. It was too difficult to find your lifemate and impossible for a Coridian man to resist her once he found her. “It appears you two already had your wedding night.”

Audra’s hand automatically went to her stomach. Nothing was showing, there was no bump, not that it would have shown under her wedding dress anyway. “But, but...how could you know? I don’t even know yet. I mean I haven’t…” Audra sputtered, unable to voice the words.

Darius laughed, rich and loud, uncaring that he was drawing attention to the three of them. “It is one of his gifts, Sweetheart. Ask my mother sometime what happened when he was five and told my mother to expect me.”

Oblivious to everyone else, Anton knew they were in love. Audra leaned again into Darius and he wrapped his arms around her. “A baby,” she sighed and rubbed her stomach. Then she turned back to Anton, the happy bride gone and only the Queen remaining. “I don’t care what it takes, bring my sister home.”

Audra had found Anton half dead in Zelton Slavarien’s dungeon after escaping Slavarien herself. She was resourceful, his sister-in-law. He’d been beaten to within an inch of life and tortured in many other ways by Slavarien who wanted to know where Audra was.

He heard the doctors, while he was in the med tech unit, say how lucky he was. That a few more hours and the damage would totally have been irreversible and he would have died. He wished he had, along with the rest of his company of soldiers. They’d been sent to bring back Zelton Slavarien for trial, but just outside his citadel a trap had been laid. One designed to capture Anton and solicit information from him in any way possible. Torture was the preferred method employed by Slavarien.

She’d saved what was left of his miserable life. He’d do this one thing for her before he let the darkness and guilt over losing his men in the ambush, claim him. He and Darius both knew the odds of survival were low, of finding the princess even lower. But he’d demanded the mission anyway. The planet Delaz was a long way off, a lifetime from the world he knew. And a return to the dominion of the evil Slavarien family.

None of it mattered.

He’d find Jondalara or die trying. This was the one thing that Audra wanted above all else, the one thing he could do for her to repay his debt.

“I will, Your Majesty. I will bring her home to you.”

AC: OOOO! Can't wait to find out what is in store for poor Anton in his attempt to rescue Princess Jondalara!

Thanks so much for being with us today Cindy, and for letting us have a peek at Centauri Twilight!

Please leave a comment and be entered into a drawing for a copy of the set of both the Centauri Series books, CENTAURI DAWN and CENTAURI TWILIGHT.

CW: Thanks Aunty Cindy for letting me blog with you today.

AC: My pleasure!

Now it is your turn. Do you have a question for Cindy about her books or her writing process? What other stories have you read, seen or heard in which the hero must rescue a Princess? Star Wars? Shrek? Any others?

I think Anton will be in for a few surprises! What about you?


15 comments:

Cynthia Woolf said...

Thanks again for letting me blog with you. I look forward to reading all the comments.

Helen said...

Hi Cynthia

What a great excerpt I really need to read this series sounds awesome I too want to find out how Anton suceeds in his rescue attempt.

I do love a good rescue and especially if I know there will be a HEA.

Loved Shrek and Star Wars LOL.

Do you find it hard to junp between the westerns (which I also love) and the science fiction or do you write them at the same time?

Thanks Aunty Cindy for inviting Cynthia along today I always love finding new authors

Have Fun
Helen

Only 5 more sleeps till Santa comes

Unknown said...

Cindy, I too am a Pantser and have many blocks while writing that stop me for weeks at a time. How do you not let your personal life interfere
with your writing?
I'm looking forward to reading your newest book.
Thank you,
Kay Alber

Carol said...

Great excerpt, Cynthia! I'm interested also, to know if writing different genre's is easy for you.

Cynthia Woolf said...

Hi Helen,
I'm glad you liked the excerpt. I find that writing both sci-fi and westerns is not that hard. I do write them at the same time. I have four books that I'm writing and/or editing right now. Two for my sci-fi series and two westerns that are sequels to TAME A WILD HEART.
Thanks for commenting today.

Cynthia Woolf said...

Hi Kay,
Our personal lives always interfere with our writing. I'm lucky in that my husband is very supportative of me and lets me write. He does, however, make me quit at the end of the day. I'm such a fanatic, that I'd spend 18 hours a day at the computer if he'd let me. LOL

Thanks for the comment and I'm glad you enjoyed the excerpt.

Cindy

Cynthia Woolf said...

Hi Carol,
I wouldn't say that it's easy to write in to different genres but it does keep me on my toes. I have to keep a 'bible' for the sci-fi series, all the different words for things, which planet their on.
Centauri Midnight is the next in the Centauri series. I hope to have that out by the end of January. I have a sequel to TAME A WILD HEART called Tame the Wild Wind that I hope to have out the end of February. Then in June, I have a short story coming out in an anthology from WG2e (Writers Guide to e-publishing).
Thanks for your comments.

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Welcome Cynthia!

BIG THANX for being my guest today and I see we already have some great comments!

Thanks to all who have stopped by.

AC

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Hi Helen,

I LOVE a good rescue too! LOL! Right about now, I need some brave prince (like Anton) to jump in and save me from the holiday madness! ACK! 5 sleeps til Santa?!?! ACK! ACK!!

AC

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Morning Kay!

I really appreciate you dropping by during the busy holiday season! This Cindy is a notorious pantser too. Maybe it is something with the name. ;-)

And I must echo Cindy's reply. Our personal life always interferes with writing. But we just have to KEEP GOING with both of them! :-)

AC

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Carol,
GREAT question! Thank you for stopping by the blog today.

I've never tried to write in different sub-genres at the same time and am not sure I could pull it off. Kudos to Cindy for managing such a feat!

AC

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Hey Cindy,

You are VERY lucky to have such a supportive hubby! Nice that he makes you take time for YOU. He's a keeper all right. ;-)

AC

Patricia said...

Very nice interview Aunty Cindy! I'm not a science fiction fan, but the western sounds cool! I'll take a peek at it next time I'm on Amazon.

Thanks for sharing ladies. And good advice Cynthia.

Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Thanks for stopping by, Patricia!

Yes, I think Tame a Wild Heart sounds right up your alley! ;-)

AC

Cynthia Woolf said...

Hi Kay! Cindy told me that you are the winner of the copy of Centauri Twilight. Please send me your contact information, including your mailing address because it is a paperback book. Email me at cindy@cynthiawoolf.com or at woolfcindy@aol.com.

Thanks,
Cynthia