Meet Author Brynna Curry

 

 

Sometimes I wonder how my fellow writers do it. Writing, careers, family. My interviewee today does it all so perfectly. She also writes great books. Here to tell us all about herself, her life and the stories she pens is Brynna Curry.

Susan Palmquist (SP)-First of all, that’s an eye catching graphic on your Web site. Is it your design and tell us more about it.

Brynna Curry (BC)-Thanks. The ‘Brynna Curry’ header is actually the cover banner on my second book To Take Up the Sword cropped and resized. So I must give Renee Rocco all the credit on that one. *smiles*

The background for my website varies with the seasons and holidays. I like to change things when the mood strikes me, so I maintain the site myself.

SP-You’ve had a full and what sounds like exciting life. Has it influenced what type of stories you write?

BC-Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it exciting, lol, but certainly full of life lessons. I was a teenage mother, starting college right out of high school. Discovered I hated Cosmetology and wanted to remember my son’s baby years. I dropped out and went to the school of LIFE lol, working as a waitress, cook, housekeeper, maid (at a lake resort) and finally a secretary.  The various working environments offered constant interaction with people from all over the country.

 Sometimes I catch myself remembering a face or situation from years ago and twisting them into a storyline. I always worried a little when I’d walk into a motel room to clean that I’d find a dead body behind the shower curtain. Never did. (Thank goodness) But it would make for a great suspense novel beginning….Hmmm.

SP-You mention squeezing in writing with raising your family and work. It’s something many writers juggle. Any tips for finding time to write.

BC-Some days it’s absolutely maddening trying to find time to write or even just to finish the simplest tasks. My family is very demanding. My son is a junior in high school, so we’re starting the college/scholarship applications process with him. My girls play volleyball on their school team and the older one is a varsity cheerleader as well. She inspires me, truly. I always tell people if you love something, you make time for it. She manages to go to every game and practice for both sports, and keep an A/B average. She’s tired, but she loves to cheer and play so much, she makes time for it. Just thinking about her schedule makes me tired, lol.

Writing is like that for me. It’s not something I do because I can, rather because I must. I stay up late, get up early, and write on the weekend when I could be doing other things, while I’m cooking etc. I’ve cut out TV (with the exception of new episodes of NCIS, White Collar and re-runs of Dragon Ball Z. I’m an anime fan.) Even if I only have five minutes, I try to do something constructive with whatever project I’m working on.

SP-You write under two names. Which came first and any particular reason for choosing to do that?

BC-Howl Raven. lol.  I had this idea for a shifter novella, but once I started writing it, I realized my hero, Howl, just would not be tamed. Gypsy Moon turned out to be a lot steamier than Earth Enchanted. Since I’m trying to build a brand with ‘Brynna’, I wanted to keep the hotter story under a separate name.

SP-Tell us about the types of stories you create under the name Brynna Curry?

BC-Brynna’s stories are full of magic, light paranormal elements, suspense and are predominantly romance novels, sensual or sweet but never erotic. Most everything I write falls under this category.

SP-How about stories penned as Brianna Roarke?

BC-So far, Gypsy Moon is the only story I’ve given the ‘Brianna’ name to. Brianna’s stories are hot, dark paranormal, as in shifters, vampires, in more of an urban setting.

SP-I know this is going to be a tough question but if someone told you from now on you could only write under one of those names, who would get the ax?

BC-I have to say Brianna.  I chose the name as a deviation of Brynna and I may drop the second name as time goes on.  That depends on a lot of things, of course, so for now I’m stepping back and finishing the Elemental Magic books before I visit Brianna’s world again.

SP-Paranormals have been hot for awhile now and readers seem to love them. Anything you feel has been overdone? Anything you’d love to try but not got around to yet?

BC-Werewolf (or other shifter) vs Vampire (or any other paranormal creature) in a romance, ie heroine can’t decide who she’s madly in love with. Now there are plots this can work for. (ie menage, something I won’t write, but will review on occasion if the story really grabs me.)   Still I think if you look at it in new ways with a twist, nothing is really overdone.

Personally, I love vampire romances and can’t wait to try writing one of those. I’ve started one actually, but I’m waiting to finish it until I can give it my full attention.

SP-What’s your latest release and tell us about it?

BC-My latest release is To Take Up the Sword. Here’s a bit about the book.

Tag:  Missing diamonds and a killer on the loose…will a schoolteacher and FBI agent escape with their lives and hearts intact?

Blurb:  After the acquittal of Gueraldi’s right hand and favored killer for hire, Ashton Smythe, Special Agent Gabriel Spiller takes time away from his work with the FBI. Having failed in his mission to avenge his lost would be lover, Serena Roarke, Gabe returns to Alabama in search of the missing diamonds needed to reopen the investigation and to lay low from the death threats he’s received since Smythe went free.

Almost two years after her sister’s death, Leannan O’Neal feels the loss of Serena more now than ever. A secret meeting between them before she died left Lea with an ugly figurine and nothing but questions. Hang-up calls at work and a trashed house reminds her of the card Serena gave her. “If you find yourself in trouble, go to him and only him” were the last words her sister spoke to her.

With Smthye out for revenge and hot on her heels, Lea goes on the run in search of Serena’s ‘Angel’, but how long can Gabe keep her alive, and is the cost worth more than her life?

Excerpt:

“Where did you get this?”

 “Serena gave it to me before she was murdered. She said if she didn’t or couldn’t come back for it, I was to give it to you and only you. Otherwise, mum’s the word.”

 She watched as Gabriel laid the statue on the kitchen table and got the meat mallet out of a drawer by the sink. The garishly painted face was in pieces before Lea realized what he was going to do. “You broke it! I know it was ugly, but…”

 He pulled a velvet pouch through an opening at the bottom and shook the contents out on the table.

“My God.” She hissed in a breath. “Are those…”

  “Yes, the missing diamonds.” He turned toward her. “The last of Gueraldi’s men went free because of these. You had them all along. I could charge you with withholding evidence.”

“Not if I didn’t know about them, and I can promise you I didn’t.”

 “Ms. O’Neil.” Gabe cocked his eyebrow. “You’ve got to be kidding me. She had to have told you.”

 “Leannan, but you should probably call me Lea, seeing we’ve become so well acquainted. And no. She didn’t. I knew something was bothering her, but she wouldn’t talk about it. Just that she couldn’t involve Jack. I never guessed she’d hidden something inside the statue. How could she have done that anyway?”

  “Ever seen Romancing the Stone?”  “Only a million times. It was Serena’s favorite… Oh.”

 “Exactly.”

 A loud crack interrupted the conversation. Glass shattered from the window behind him. Lea screamed. They’d found her. “Did I forget to mention them?”

SP-What’s next for you?

BC-I’m anxiously awaiting the release of Wait for the Wind: Elemental Magic Book Three coming January 17, 2011 while I finish the fourth and fifth books that will complete the series. Sea’s Sorceress and Fire’s Ice are scheduled for release April 18, 2011 and August 15, 2011 respectively.

It’s been a pleasure visiting with you today. To learn more about my books and to see what I’m working on now, visit my website http://brynnacurrybriannaroarkebooks.webs.com/