Guest Author Interview: Sidney Ayers

Alexis: Hi Sidney. Welcome to Happily Ever After Thoughts. Thank you so much for coming. Your first book was an erotic romance I believe. Can you tell us why you moved to Paranormal Romance?                                                                              

Sidney: Thanks for having me! Wings of Desire, although erotic, still has some paranormal and fantasy elements as well. I’ve always planned on writing in both the mainstream and erotic genres, though.

Alexis: I think it’s great that you have been published in both :-) And your newest romance was released this month, Demons Prefer Blondes. How does this book fit into the Demons Unleashed Series?

Sidney: It’s the first book in the series. It stars Rafe Deleon who is a Paladin demon who’s sent to Earth to retrieve the Arca Inferorum (Chest of the Damned) before it ends up in the wrong hands. Lucy Gregory is an unsuspecting hairstylist who inadvertently opens the chest and unleashes a legion of demons and subsequently unlocks her own succubus nature.

Alexis: Wow! That is very creative. Where did you get the idea for this story?

Sidney: The initial idea came from a picture, but the story wasn’t completely mapped out until I attended the 2008 RT convention in Pittsburgh where I learned Judi McCoy’s Post-It Note plotting technique. Basically a group of people help plot scenes using Post-It Notes. A stack of Post-Its end up being pivotal scenes which end up connected into an entire book. It’s a fun and rewarding process.

Alexis: Ah yes, I’ve heard great things about Judi’s Post-it Note plotting process. So what are your favorite traits of Rafe and Lucy?

Sidney: Rafe is extremely devoted to the Paladin cause, yet he is also devoted to his family. Lucy is pretty sarcastic and down-to-earth.

Alexis: Okay, so being a paranormal, what kind of research did you have to do for this novel?

Sidney: I used a couple demonology books that I ordered online and also perused several websites to glean information. Most of the other stuff I just made up. That’s one of the bonuses of writing in the paranormal genre—You can make your own rules.

Alexis: Yes, I can see that as a definite plus. When can we expect the next book and do you have any other romance novels in the works that we can look forward to?

Sidney: Demons Like It Hot, the sequel to Demons Prefer Blondes comes out in December. It stars Serah San Germano, Lucy’s best friend, and Matthias Ambrose, a mercenary with a dark secret. I am currently working on book three, Demon Happy, which is scheduled for a June, 2012 release. I do have a short story available for Nook, Kindle and on Smashwords, "An Absolute Mess," which is an absolute nonsensical fantasy parody in the vein of Mel Brooks.

Alexis: This is great. A lot more of your work for us all to enjoy  When did you decide to infuse your romances with humor? Was it simply the way you wrote or a decision you made?

Sidney: It was a little of both. I decided to rekindle my writing passion by joining a round-robin romance novel contest sponsored by Avon. Several of us decided to use a few of our entries to write parodies. I sent our regency couple on several madcap adventures, including characters like Scooby Doo, Jason Voorhees, and Napoleon Dynamite. The Scooby Doo parody included the other great Napoleon. Hey, it wouldn’t be a Regency without some mention of him, right?

Alexis: Absolutely right. Well, thank you so much for visiting Happily Ever After Thoughts. We like talking about romance novels here and learning about the amazingly creative authors who write them :-)

Sidney: Thanks for inviting me Alexis. It’s been a blast!

Alexis: If you are interested in finding out more about Sidney’s books, got to http://www.sidneyayers.com/ I love the colors on this website, by the way :-)

And don’t forget to comment for your chance to win that $15 gift card to Amazon and a copy of Sidney’s Demons Prefer Blondes!

Check out this excerpt:

"Let's do this," Lucy said, pulling from their friendly embrace. With a quick lick of her lips, she focused her attention back to the chest.

As if a golden orb had surrounded it, the chest glowed. Regardless of what she knew to be wrong or right, her body ignored her conscience. Lucy took slow, almost sensual, steps toward the box. Her lips spread into a devious smile as warmth enveloped her. Never had she felt so alive—save for the day she dropped out of med school. Her stomach twisted in knots and her insides throbbed. She had to touch it, and no one would stop her.

Serah's concerned voice faintly echoed in her mind. "Lucy, are you okay? You're acting strange." She reached out to grab her hand.

"I am fine," Lucy gritted out, digging her nails into Serah's palm. "I know what I'm doing." The bad thing was she actually did, but she had no idea how she knew.

"Ouch, that hurts," she yelped and pulled her hand from her superhuman grip. "We should forget this, Lucy. Something isn't right."

Lucy turned to face her friend and narrowed her eyes, her glare challenging. With a wide calculated grin, she reached up to brush a stray hair from Serah’s brow. "No, Serah. Everything is just right."

With that, she slammed her palm into the handprint and closed her eyes.

Alexis: Did I mention that you may want to comment for your chance to win that $15 gift card to Amazon and a copy of this awesome book?