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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Wednesday's Writer - Elysa Hendricks


I'm very pleased today to introduce the very talented Elysa Hendricks and find out a bit more about her latest contemporary fantasy romance Cupid's Apprentice.  Before we get onto that, however, I gave her a bit of a grilling about her writing in general and am sharing her responses to my questions below:

Q: What inspired you to write your first novel and did you always know your genre would be romance?
A: I've been writing for so long now I can't quite remember what "inspired" me to try writing a novel. I do remember my hubby teasing me about the number of romances I read, telling me I should write one myself. So one night I just sat down and started writing what I thought would be a short contemporary romance. When the heroine turned out to be a winged, telepathic alien who stows away on a passing Earth ship, I realized that while I loved romance, I also enjoyed stories with something "extra." That first book is hidden away under my bed guarded by killer dust bunnies.
Q:  Like me you seem to cross genres a little - does this reflect what you like to read yourself?
A: I'm a voracious reader. I'll read anything from historical non-fiction to bizarre futuristic fiction. Westerns to mysteries. Inspirational to fantasy. I tend to gravitate to stories that deal with people and their relationships, and I'm a sucker for a happily ever after ending, so it's not surprising that my books tend to be various sub-genres of romance. I have written straight sci-fi stories and have a children's series I've been mulling around in my head.
Q: When it comes to romance, do you have specific views on what should and shouldn't be included in romance novels?
A: As long as the story centers around people (m/f, m/m, f/f, etc.) falling in love, and includes a HEA or happy for now ending, I'm open to pretty much any flavor of romance.
Q: Has any part of yourself crept into the heroines of any of your romances?
A: I think most writers include parts of themselves in all of their characters, either the parts we have, the parts we wish we had, as well as the ones we wish didn't have.
Q: What is the most desirable characteristic you've bestowed on the hero of your latest romance?
A: I give all my heroes a sense of humor. That's what made me fall in love with my husband and has kept me in love with him for over forty years. Strength, honor, courage are all important in a hero, but without a sense of humor they don't appeal to me.
Q:  Do you think you'll always write in the same genre and style or do you have desires to experiment and if so, in what way?
A: I think I'll always write romance of some kind, but I also want to try other genres of fiction. Some of the fantasy and sci-fi ideas I have don't lend themselves to romance, and there's the children's series I want to do. I love trying new things, stretching and challenging myself - at least with my writing. In "real" life, not so much. :-) My motto is: Boring is good. Excitement is vastly overrated.

Thanks, Elysa.  Some thought-provoking answers there.

Now here's the blurb from Cupid's Apprentice:

To earn her wings, Cupid's apprentice Medarda "Dar" has until Valentine's Day to match two-time Loser Laura Quinn with Boring Brian Hoffman. When Dar's love arrow goes astray and hits the sexy PE teacher Flynn Sullivan instead things get interesting.

Laura loves teaching high school in the small town of Council Falls, but knows it's only a matter of time until her famous mother shows up and the quiet life she's created comes crashing down around her ears.

PE teacher Flynn Sullivan's been interested in the shy history teacher for a long time, but it isn't until they're forced to chaperone the Valentine's Day dance together that he gets the opportunity to make his dreams come true.

With time running out can one bumbling Cupid's Apprentice bring together a Jock and a Brain?

Excerpt:
In the excitement of Rachelle's near fall and her reminiscing about her failed love life Laura missed the rest of Sarah's announcement. Laura sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was chaperone a couple hundred hormone driven teenagers, but once Sarah spoke there was no appeal. Even the district superintendent didn't try to override the woman.

"Guess we're stuck on love and booze patrol duty together," Flynn said.

"What?" Laura's head snapped up.

"I'm the other facility chaperone." His dark eyes sparkled with repressed humor, probably at the horrified expression she knew was on her face.

"That's nice."

"You know we'll have to coordinate with Sarah and the student committee about the refreshments and decorations?"

"Of course." Oh no! That meant hours spent in the man's disconcerting company. How would she keep from making a complete fool of herself?

"How about we get together tomorrow night to discuss things?"

Without thinking, Laura nodded. Tomorrow was Friday. They could meet in her classroom.

"It's a date then. Dinner at Max's." He mentioned the diner in town. "I'll pick you up at six"

A date? With Fabulous Flynn? In town? Where everyone would see them? The thought sent another wave of heat up her neck. Her lunch forgotten she ducked her head to avoid the laughter she knew lurked in the man's eyes and scrambled to her feet. "Yes. Right. Okay," she managed to mumble.

"That wasn't nice, Flynn." She heard Jared chide his friend.

"What did I say?"

Damn if the man didn't sound clueless. She bolted out of the room.

Well that certainly makes me want to read on, how about you?  Cupid's Apprentice is available from:


And here's a little bit more about the author:

Elysa Hendricks is 5'6" tall. She has brown eyes and curly hair. She's an author, a wife, a mother and a daughter. Everything else is subject to change without notice. If you want to know more about her books visit her at her web site: http://www.elysahendricks.com or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elysa-Hendricks-Author/137316289643103



11 comments:

ManicScribbler said...

A great interview and intriguing excerpt, Elysa - thanks so much for taking the time to tell us about Cupid's Apprentice. It sounds great and I wish you the very best of luck with it.

Elysa said...

Thanks so much for having me here to visit today. There's nothing I enjoy more than talking about writing (and myself as boring as I am.)

One of my goals for 2013 is to write a short story for each of the major holidays. CUPID'S APPRENTICE is the first and I'm working on my St. Patrick's Day story LUCKY'S LEPRECHAUN. Wish me luck we're also in the process of selling our house and relocating to Florida. :-)

Cynthia Woolf said...

This sounds like a fun read. Good luck with it.

Anonymous said...

Great interview, Elysa. Good luck with the children's series in the future. Will you use a pen name for that? Love the book cover and excerpt.

Elysa said...

I'm not sure what I'll do as far as a pen name when (if?) I ever get to writing children's books. I'm getting too old to remember different names. :-)

CH said...

I enjoyed reading this intriguing interview. What an imagination this author has. Along with what sounds like a great sense of humor that's a winning combination!

Su Halfwerk said...

The excerpt and blurb were so good, I just bought a copy of Cupid's Apprentice from SW.
And there's nothing boring about you, your book, and answers. I love meeting new (to me) authors, so...nice to meet you, Elysa.

Elysa said...

Su,

Thanks! Hope you enjoy Cupid's Apprentice. Glad to know I haven't bored you. :-)

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Elysa said...

Lynette,

Looks like Anonymous posted a link to a Porn site. Hope no one clicks thru to it. :-(

ManicScribbler said...

So sorry, Elysa. I have deleted it - as I normally do with this sort of spam. They are usually blocked but sometimes creep through the filters - especially since I removed the Captcha (because people complained they couldn't get past the codes to leave comments).
Thank goodness you were on the ball. You can certainly come again! :)

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