Author Interview and Giveaway: MK Mancos

Today I am very pleased to introduce MK Mancos - writing under the names MK Mancos, Kathleen Scott and Kate Davison - she is the author of a number of books, including:

The Host: Shadows (2008)
By a Silken Thread (2009)
Scythe (2010)

MK Mancos began her storytelling about the same time she acquired language skills.

When faced with nightmares as a child, the pediatrician instructed her mother to read her stories before bed. But being the precocious child she was, she wanted nothing but unadulterated tales by the Brothers Grimm. The battle raged between MK and her mother over suitable bedtime material, until MK was forced to begin telling herself tales before going to sleep. Thus began the lifelong love of books, stories, and lives not her own.

After living for years in the Midwest and Deep South, MK now resides in New Jersey with her wonderful husband, Dave, and a feisty dog named, Lily.

Welcome to MBB and thank you for taking time out of your schedule to answer a few questions.

Thanks for having me here, Michelle. I love talking about writing and books. It's my favorite topic.

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Telling you about myself is a little trickier. First of all, I'm the luckiest woman alive. I've been married to my best friend, Dave, for 17 years. He's also creatively inclined. He's a comics writer, artist and now training for voice over work. Our home life is never dull. We laugh constantly. Commiserate frequently. I can go to him to bounce ideas off and he get's it. We are both rabid sci-fi geeks and documentary junkies. We also have a passion for British Sitcoms. I've worked in the allied healthcare field for about 20 years, and while I can write the hell out of a trauma scene, I don't think I could ever write an entire book set in a hospital, though I've learned to never say never.

2. Your books span several genre's, with themes of science, sorcery and sex - is your writing process different for each genre?

My process variations have more to do with a story's length than the genre. If I'm writing a novella, I very rarely, if ever, plot things out ahead of time. I might know roughly where I'm going, but not necessarily how I'm going to get there. If I'm working on a novel, I plot and work from loose outlines. (What I call a prose outline). I may or may not stick to the outline, but it helps to know if I have enough material to work into an full-length book.

When I comes to genres, I can switch pretty quickly without problem. I write about four or five titles at a time, spanning from erotic sci-fi to category romantic suspense. If I get stuck on one story during a writing session, I switch to another. I've often had people ask me how I keep from getting the situations confused. To me, it's easy because the books are so different, the situations and charaters' goals so varied that it's not difficult. What I do find sometimes is sitting with the cursor blinking at me while I try to remember the character's name. : )

3. Do you have a particular writing space and routine?

I'm lucky enough to have my own office in my home. My husband's office is upstairs, so we really aren't in each other's space when we write. We do have an unspoken agreement though, once it's time for dinner and relaxation, we adjourn to the living room and work in there. Even if just to be in the same room. It seems to work for us. I love my office, but for some reason this spring, I'm finding it hard to write in it. (I think because my desktop computer died and I'm using my laptop for everything.) Being more portable and the weather being as lovely as it is right now, I want to take the dogs outside, sit on the porch and enjoy the outdoors while I work. Actually, that kind of works better since there are less distractions outside. I can pretty much tune out the neighborhood and just listen to the music of the birds and insects. Love it.

4. Where do you find your inspiration?

Anywhere and everywhere. I might see a documentary that sparks my interest. I might read an article in a magazine (Scientific American, Archeology, and Fate Magazine are all gold mines of ideas.) I also have very vivid and real dreams I can pick through. My novel Immorati (available now from Wild Rose Press/Black Rose) came from such a dream. I have ideas for a romantic suspense triology that came from a tiny snippet in a dream that had to do with seeing lights blinding the driver in a rearview mirror. Such a little thing to get a three book idea from! I think finding inspiration is mostly about hearing or seeing something, reading a blurb in an article and finding a kernal you can blow up into your own idea. Just take it and run it like a kite caught in the wind. Let it fly. I read an article once in a women's mag about a woman whose husband told her on their anniversary that he had fallen in love and wanted to have an affair with another woman, only to find out the woman in question was a lesbian. So, the affair was a no go. He decided he needed his wife's forgiveness and then proceeded to tell wife what was wrong with her. The poor woman was devastated. She got up from the table and left...but ultimately took the joker back. I read that, slapped my forehead and said, "Oh, no. No. No. No." - That night I wrote down an idea where a woman goes through similar, but her revenge on her faithless spouse is to divorce the man and have a very passionate affair with a younger man. I turned the wounded kitten into a cougar. Rawr! That's the way the story should have ended.

5. Are you a reader in your free time and who are your must reads?

I'm an avid reader across several genres. Right now, I'm going through my shelves, bags and boxes (I have books tucked everywhere) and reading the books I've had for years and never quite got to. For must reads, I hit Jayne Ann Krentz, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Julie Garwood, Linda Howard, Elizabeth Lowell.

6. What are you working on now?

Right now, I'm working on a fantasy/sci-fi erotic romance, titled Bad Religion. The full was requested by Loose-ID. A sequel to my Samhain release, High Octane, titled Water Mark. A sequel to my Liquid Silver soon-to-be-released, Private Negotitations, titled, Intimate Weapons, and the sequel to my Samhain novel, The Host: Shadows, titled, The Host: Bloodlust. I'm hoping to finish the sequel to Immorati, titled Corpesetti within the next few months, and begin the sequel to Scythe titled, Second-Hand Death. - My plate is full, but I still have other stories I'm working on here and there. Ones I need to tweak and get sent out other places. I don't think I could ever work on only one book, I think my head might explode if I tried.

As you can see, Ms. Mancos is one busy lady - but that just gives us readers more books to read and enjoy. :)

Ms. Mancos has generously offered one commenter his or her choice of book from those books she has written. Be sure to leave your email address - as I will be forwarding that email address to Ms. Mancos. For a sneak peek at the titles Ms. Mancos has available stop by her web sites:

http://www.mystickat.com/

http://katedavisonromances.com

Giveaway is open to all followers of this blog - however, if the winner is outside the US they will get to choose from Ms. Mancos' e-book titles only. Contest will run through Monday April 19, 2010. Winner will be chosen using Random dot org - and will be announced Tuesday April 20, 2010.

Good Luck!!