Nicole North
Nicole North writes sensual and erotic romance novels and novellas.
She lives with her husband in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, but wishes she lived in the Scottish Highlands at least half the year.
Her debut romance novel is published with Red Sage Publishing, and was released on July 15, 2009.
Please join us while we chat with Romance Author Nicole North.
HRC: Welcome Nicole! Let's get started - your debut novel, part of an anthology: Secrets Volume 27 Untamed Pleasures, is a Time Travel romance. Please tell us something about the characters and their story.
Nicole North: My story (a novella) in this anthology is called Devil in a Kilt. A trip to the Highland Games turns into a trip to the past when modern day psychology professor Shauna MacRae touches Gavin MacTavish's four-hundred-year-old claymore. What she finds is a Devil In a Kilt she's had erotic fantasies about for months. Can Shauna break the curse imprisoning this shape shifting laird and his clan before an evil witch sends Shauna back to her time?
HRC: Sounds quite sexy! Can you tell us what inspired you to write this story?
Nicole North: Thanks! I love to go to Highland Games and one time I had the opportunity to inspect closely and even pick up a two-handed Highland sword (aka a claymore.) I decided it would be a wonderful way to send a modern day woman to the past.
HRC: The Hero sounds very unusual. Can you tell us more about him? How did this character come to you?
Nicole North: Gavin MacTavish from Devil in a Kilt (in Secrets Volume 27 Untamed Pleasures) is a 17th-century Highland Chief who is cursed by a dark witch. Gavin has pale blue eyes, long black hair and a slash scar down one side of his face from forehead to jaw. He's a hot, sensual man during the nighttime but at dawn he instantly shape-shifts into a large black hawk. More than anything, he loves his clan and wants to protect them and lead them. But they fear him so much, most of them have fled. They believe he's possessed by the devil. Of course, he isn't possessed, merely cursed. He's misunderstood and lonely. He'll do almost anything to break the curse and bring his people home. But marrying the beautiful woman who appears in his bedchamber in the middle of the night is no hardship. Still, they have many obstacles to overcome before the curse can be broken.
HRC: What made you decide to become an author, let alone decide to write romance?
Nicole North: I fell in love with romance in high school. The stories allow me to escape and I love the happy endings. They give me an uplifted feeling, like anything is possible. I'd always had a creative bent, so I gave writing a try. Once I started I was addicted.
HRC: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Nicole North: Never give up! It is an incredibly difficult business to get into. Competition is fierce. But if it is your dream to have a career as an author, dig in your heels, keep improving your craft, believe in yourself and your stories and go for it.
HRC: What is the creative process for you behind writing a romance novel?
Nicole North: First, I'll get the germ of an idea, then usually I'll see a scene playing out in my head, like a movie, and it requires little work on my part at that point. The work comes after that when I figure out the characters backstories, how they came to be here, what they've experienced up to this point. I ask them what they want, what is their goal, etc. Once I know as much as I can about them, I brainstorm things that could happen to them. More scenes and ideas will come to me and I start writing.
HRC: What would you say is the most difficult thing about writing?
Nicole North: The words don't always flow swiftly. Sometimes the muse is asleep or abandons the author completely. That's when writing feels like you're pushing a giant boulder uphill. Thankfully these times are few and far between.
HRC: What would you say is the most rewarding thing about writing?
Nicole North: Watching my characters and the world I created come to life on the page. If reading a book is escape and fun, then writing a book is ten times the escape and fun. It's just very rewarding to see all those pages and all those words that I put there. And it isn't just ink and paper; it's a whole new world. Real people I created and fell in love with. And they have the power to move other people. I can make readers laugh, cry and feel all sorts of emotions.
HRC: When you get that longed-for chance to relax, do you have any favorite hobbies or activities you enjoy?
Nicole North: Yes, I enjoy hiking on mountain trails and bicycling. I love taking pictures of beautiful scenery and landscapes. If I could, I'd go to Scotland several times a year. It's the most beautiful and magical place on earth.
HRC: Are there any works in progress you can tell us about?
Nicole North: After Devil in a Kilt, I wrote and sold Beast in a Kilt which is a sequel about Gavin's friend Torr. Most recently and still a work in progress, is the third in this series, Scoundrel in a Kilt, about Brodie. All three friends are cursed Highlanders, and shapeshifters of different sorts. They all live in 1621 Scotland. I love incorporating Scottish myth and legend into my stories... which these three have a lot of, plus magic, witchcraft, etc. And two of them are time-travels.
HRC: Thank you Nicole, it was a treat visiting with you today!
Nicole North's book can be purchased at eredsage.com (direct link)
and at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com, powells.com,
amazon.ca, booksamillion.com
Please visit Nicole North at www.nicolenorth.com
and fierceromance.blogspot.com/
and myspace.com/nicolenorth
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