interview with Suz
Okay ladies, everyone got their Santa hats and candy canes? Today, my very good friend, Jo Davis and I are taking you on a little field trip.
We've got a bus right outside the Lair to take us over to the holiday party at Fire Station Five. That's right, the A shift team will be waiting with big smiles to serve us cookies, egg nog, and hot cider as we mingle! And if we've been really good this year, they just might play Santa and hand out a few gifts for us to take home! (Sorry, ladies, you can't wrap a firefighter in a big red bow and take him with you.) Step this way, single file now.
What's that? No, Sven, I don't think we need you, Paolo, the hockey hunks or Gladiators to tag along as bodyguards?No, The Goddess Sangria and Ms. Davis will not get "mauled by the hunky firefighters"?wellll? you do have a point?.the firefighters might get mauled by some of our feistier Banditas and Bandita buddies, (yes, I'll keep a watch on Tawny, Jeanne, Kate and AC), but that's just a chance we'll have to take?Oh, okay, we'll let Demetrius drive the bus, but only if he goes unarmed.
**Geesh, the male egos around here!**
Everyone in their seat? While we make the trip over there, let's quiet down and talk to Jo about her newest release.
Suz: Okay, so for the final installment of your Station Five Firefighters, RIDE THE FIRE, we get to see the story of Captain Sean Tanner, Jo. He's been an overriding character throughout the series. Can you tell us how you came up with his character and why you let his story build throughout?
Jo: Sean, as well as the other guys, introduced themselves to me when I first started the series. When I began writing chapter 1 of TRIAL BY FIRE, Sean came to life for me in a big way. I knew immediately what had happened to this man, that he'd tragically lost his wife and two children in a car wreck-though I didn't know why this had happened to him. Was there a sinister reason, or was it really just a senseless accident? I wasn't sure. I did know that Sean's book would be the one my readers were waiting for, and so was I.
It wasn't until I wrote the end of LINE OF FIRE (Tommy Skyler's story) and the very last scene began to flow from my fingertips (our villain Jesse Rose is coming to town and makes phone call that makes the reader sit up and take notice!) that I said, "Oh my God, I know what happened to Sean's family!!" But Sean doesn't know it yet, and oh, this man has got to pull himself out of the gutter and take charge of his life again if he's going to make Jesse pay and win the woman he loves.
As an aside, I want to point out that I wrote "Sean and Jesse's story" at the beginning of each chapter, beginning when they graduated from high school, then joined the Marines, and continued through the years to show what happened between them and why Sean's best friend turned against him. I felt the reader deserved to know what happened in "real time" without it being relegated to backstory.
Suz: Eve has had a flame for her captain for quite sometime. How has she had to deal with his pain and reemergence in RIDE THE FIRE? How has this affected the team's dynamics?
Jo: Eve and Sean have always had a relationship of mutual trust and respect. For Eve's part, that trust and respect took several major hits throughout the series as Sean slid deeper into alcoholism and depression, and he began to make mistakes on the job. She's torn between loyalty to the strong leader and friend he used to be and disappointment and sadness because of the wreck he's become. Sean's biggest mistake cost a good firefighter his career in the field, and now he's got to win back not only Eve's trust, but the confidence of the entire department.
In addition, Eve has been in love with Sean for years, and their teammates have started to pick up on the tension between them. The guys love both Sean and Eve, but none of them are exactly thrilled with the man/woman attraction going on with their two friends. They're worried, and rightly so. All of this makes for a flammable cocktail that's going to ignite sooner or later?
Suz: You've become very intimate with each of the firefighters and their significant others. Was there one story that was harder to write than the others?
I'm happy to say that my readers totally "got" Julian, loved him to death, and he remains one of their favorite heroes to date, second only to Lieutenant Howard "Six-Pack" Paxton. I'm not sure anyone will ever top Howard, but who knows?
Suz: Any chance we'll get to see more sexy firefighters again? Any new guys pop up here that you might like to give a HEA?
Jo: This is a question I get frequently in readers' emails and in talking with folks. (Ignores the "duh"-you-get-it-from-me-too look Suz is giving her.) I'd love to write stories for A-shift's newbie, Clay Montana, as well as for B-shift hottie John "Val" Valentine. And I get a lot of requests for Detective Shane Ford to get a story, too! I don't have these in the works yet because my publisher wanted to take me in a new direction, but I never say "never"!
Suz: What are you working on for 2011? I hear there are two new series in the works!
Jo: You heard right! This is the "new direction" I mentioned before. I'm working on two new paranormal series that will debut in 2011. For those of you who enjoy your paranormal reading with a liberal splash of the erotic, I've started writing my new series, LORDS OF PLEASURE. This series is contemporary vampire erotic romance about four brothers who are sexy vampire lords and run an adult resort in New Orleans where anything goes. Yum! The first book, TEMPATION AT TWILIGHT, is about Soren Fontaine, our vampire lord who never recovered from losing his true mate. He's willing to do anything to have her back in this life, and he makes a desperate, unfortunate bargain with a voodoo priestess in order to make it happen. Now he's trapped in erotic bonds of his own creation, forced to hide his love from his beautiful mate, the one woman he can never truly have? TEMPTATION AT TWILIGHT is scheduled for release from NAL Heat in November 2011!
The other series that will debut in 2011-and I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself!!-is called ALPHA PACK and features a of team of special ops heroes who are shifters with Psy abilities, and use their powers to track the world's most dangerous predators. Each of our heroes will find his mate, and each will be hotter and more dangerous than the last. I'm pleased to announce that the first book of the series, PRIMAL LAW by my alter-ego J.D. Tyler, featuring wolf shifter hero Jaxon Law, is finished and is set for release from Signet Eclipse in August 2011! This promises to be a sexy, action-packed series filled with sizzling shifter heroes (wolves, big cats, etc.) that you won't want to miss. My new website, www.JDTyler.com will be live in 2011 as well. Keep an eye out on my Jo Davis website, www.JoDavis.net, for more news.
Suz: That sounds so exciting! I know our readers can hardly wait. Well, here we are at Station Five! Everyone, go right in through the open bay and in through that side door where the guys have the party waiting. Hey, there's Sean waving us inside! God, what a sexy hunk of a man. Here we go, grab some goodies (The goodies on the tables, ladies! Hands off the men!) and let's talk to Sean and some of the others about what's been going on lately.
Jo: Hi, Sean! Thanks for inviting us to share in the holiday cheer!
Sean (with a sexy smile): You're very welcome. It's great to have you lovely ladies here.
Jo: I see that every shift has their stockings and menorahs hung on the wall with everyone's names on them. How cool. We've been wondering, is there something special on your Christmas wish list this year?
Sean: Yeah, the stockings are a tradition we started a few years ago. The guys really like hanging them up. What's on my list? Hmm. I think I'd like a pair of new saddles for when Eve and I go riding. But that would be a gift for both of us, not just me.
Suz: Nothing wrong with that! It's nice when couples buy something they can use together.
Eve (grinning at her hubby-to-be): Aww, what a great idea, honey. Guess I can take back what I already got you.
Sean (teasing): Hey, don't be hasty. Who says we only get one gift? (then to Howard "Six-Pack" Paxton): Hey, Six-Pack!
Howard (stuffing a cookie into his mouth and surrounded by gawking women): What? I'm busy here, man.
Sean: What's on your Christmas list? Inquiring minds want to know.
Howard (not even hesitating): I want a vintage Pez dispenser. Something rare and collectible.
Sean (rolling his eyes): Figures. He's got a weird Pez fixation.
Julian Salvatore (chiming in): I want a new black leather jacket.
Zack Knight: Jeez, you are so predictable. Of course you'd want something slick to wear so you can admire yourself in the mirror.
Julian (curling his lip): Well, what do you want, geek? A new set of pens and a calculator?
Zack: I'll have you know that I've asked Santa for a rare first edition fiction book. Something in mystery, thriller, sci fi or whatever.
Tommy Skyler (teasing sarcastically): You don't want much, huh? Me, I'm keeping it simple. I don't want anything special, but I'm going to surprise Shea by taking her to New York for New Year's Eve! We're gonna party `til the sun comes up, then go back to our hotel where I'll-
Suz: Whoa, we probably can guess how that scene ends! Anyway, thank you all so much for having us here and making us feel so welcome.
Sean: It's our pleasure. And as a special thanks, we have a gift for each of you ladies. They're holiday grab bags we put together. Some of them have gift cards, some have bath gel and lotion, and a few have Jo's autographed books in them.
Suz: Thanks so much! I know our ladies will be thrilled.
Now, let's just mingle and enjoy the rest of our visit, shall we? So many firemen, so little time?
So Banitas and Bandit Buddies, What are you hoping Santa will bring you this year? Or, what is the most memorable holiday romance you've ever read that leaves a tear in your eye and a smile in your heart? AND AS A SPECIAL BONUS, tell Jo which Fire Station Five book has been your favorite and why for a chance to win one of the following gifts, courtesy of Jo and the guys of A-shift: An Amazon online gift card, Bath and Body Works products, or a set of all five Station Five books, autographed! There will be three winners, one for each gift listed. Good luck!
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