Guest Author: Maya Banks

Maya Banks is an author that I’ve heard about, but only recently read. After reading Stay With Me, I started glomming her backlist. Her new book, Be With Me, has recently been released. You can read my review here.

So please give a warm Book Binge welcome to Maya Banks!

Book Binge: Can you tell us a little bit about your first sale?

Maya Banks: I really don’t ever get tired of this story and I tend to get a bit long winded 😉 So bear with me. I started out writing historicals and had an agent offer representations with those historicals. We shopped the first but I knew she wasn’t the agent for me so I made the very difficult decision to fire her. Then the editor who had loved my historical so much and had worked with me on revisions left the publishing business. Then if that wasn’t enough, the editor she passed my manuscript on to also left. I figured the powers that be was sending me a pretty strong message lol. I took a little time off and then decided to reinvent myself and go in a different direction. I loved ebooks and I wanted to take a break from agent hunting and have fun writing again. I started working on Colters’ Woman and I also had an idea for a trilogy of connected novellas that was burning a hole in my head. As my inroad to epublishing, or my guinea pig experiment I should say, I first sold a contemporary story I’d written a couple years before (Seducing Simon) to Samhain and finding that I liked my experience there, I then sold Colters’ Woman.

I was also working on that novella that was consuming my brain and when I finished it, I somewhat nervously sent it to Amy, expecting her to tell me it was a complete piece of shit. She called me and said that if I didn’t submit it to agents, she was going to hurt me. I still wasn’t ready to dive back into the NY publishing scene, and to be honest, I always thought when I did that I’d go back to historicals. Still, I figured it couldn’t hurt, so I made a very short list of agents to query and decided that if one bit, fine, but if those six passed it wasn’t meant to be.

One of the agents read the novella and called me on a Friday to offer representation. She told me that Cindy Hwang at Berkley was taking it home to read over the weekend. Monday afternoon she called me with an offer. I was gobsmacked, because, well this wasn’t really the way I planned it. Ironically enough, the call came on the same day that Seducing Simon, my first ebook released.
A bunch of books later, here I am 🙂

BB: Your newest release, Be With Me, is a bit unconventional. Is it difficult to write a book like that?

MB: Be With Me was the easiest book I’ve ever written. It literally poured out. It was my longest book, too. Well over a hundred thousand words. I finished it in about 5 weeks. The characters were very vivid in my mind. I knew them well. They were real, and their interaction was real to me. It was a lot easier than a lot of my more traditional books for sure.

BB:What made you want to write books that have more than one hero?
Hmm you know I’m not really sure. I love the dynamics. I love the potential for emotion and angst. As odd as it may sound, for me, the sex is secondary. I realize I’m writing “erotic romance” but the sex still has to teem with emotion and it has to be “right” for the characters or I can’t really get into it. I can honestly say that the emotional dynamics are why I write stories with more than one hero. Having written a story with two heroes that didn’t have a single sex scene in it, I can back up that statement 😉

BB: What would you consider your best book?

MB: Oh that’s tough. I think I must have terrible judgement because invariably, the books that *I* feel are my best or at least better are usually the ones that readers hate and the books that I think are just meh are the ones readers love or garner praise etc. I really loved For Her Pleasure. I don’t think it was my best book by any means but a lot of people hated that one.
I guess if I had to choose, I’d say that Into the Mist was my best book.

BB: Do you have a favorite of your books?

MB: I know a lot of authors say they can’t choose a favorite or they’ll say that whatever book they’re currently working on is their favorite. If I’ve ever said that, I was lying. In fact a lot of times the book I’m currently working on I hate with a passion. Not always but it’s definitely not a case of loving everything I write. So hmm my favorites are definitely Into the Mist, Long Road Home and Be With Me.

BB: What’s your writing schedule like?

MB: Insane? Right now it’s very hectic. I have several short deadlines but I’m hoping to catch a bit of a break after Feb 1.

BB: Do you outline or just let the characters take you where they may?

MB: Outline would signal some sort of organization, no? Organization is not my friend. Honestly if I ever tried to plot out or outline a book, I’d lose all interest in it. Part of the excitement and joy of writing for me is not always knowing what happens next. I write like I read another book, not knowing until I get there.

BB: What advice would you give aspiring authors?

MB: I’m as clueless now as I was before I was published. I didn’t suddenly acquire the keys to the kingdom with a contract. The only advice that I strongly believe in is not to let other people write your book. I’m extremely protective of my voice and my style. Whether the book fails or succeeds, I want it to be because of me, not fourteen critique partners.

BB: How long from when you first started writing did you publish your first book?

MB: I started writing “seriously” in 2002, so it took four years.

BB: Who is your favorite romance author?

MB: I love Sharon Sala so much. I made a complete ass of myself at RWA two years ago at the signing. I ran over, my name badge flapping (because really who the hell would know who Maya Banks was anyway?) and told her how much I loved her. I also love Elizabeth Lowell. I mean damn. She’s a goddess. I want to be her when I grow up. Julie Garwood. Sigh. She’s my favorite comfort read. I also love JAK’s contemporaries, Susan Mallery and Catherine Coulter.

BB: If you could recommend any book right now (yours or another author’s), what would it be and why?

MB: You’re making my brain hurt! Saving Grace and Honor’s Splendour by Julie Garwood. To the Ends of the Earth by Elizabeth Lowell and also her “Only” series. Sharon Sala’s Out of the Dark and Remember Me. All of these books have deep emotion in common. It’s what I try to incorporate in all my books and what I love most in any story. These women just shine in these books.

BB: What’s your favorite romance to re-read?

MB: See above lol. All of those are my “comfort” reads and I read them over and over.

BB: Since it is the holidays, here are a few holiday related questions. 😉

BB: Do you have your Christmas shopping done?

MB: Oh hell no *sob*

BB: When do you get your Christmas tree?

MB: Day after Thanksgiving every year.

BB: Do you go all out on decorating, or are you more subtle?

MB: Definitely more subtle. Im doing good to get the tree up

BB: What’s the best part of the Christmas season?

MB: I adore Christmas music. I love the old favorites like Andy Williams, Perry Como, Chet Atkins, Bert Kaempfert. Im not that crazy about “contemporary” Christmas music. I love Christmas trees, hot chocolate, sweet baby hugs and snuggles on the couch

BB: What’s the worst part of the Christmas season?

MB: Watching other people lose their minds and common sense. I don’t even like to venture out of the house for that very reason. I have a deep prejudice against dumbass people.

Lightning round:

BB: Pepsi or Coke?

MB: It’s all coke in the south lol. Sprite is coke. Dr. Pepper is coke…Pepsi is coke.

BB: Coffee or Tea?
Sweet iced tea!

BB: White or dark chocolate?

MB: Not a chocolate fan. Give me caramel!

BB: Rain or Snow?

MB: I love both equally. I love rainy days, but I also love a good snow fall.

BB: Mountains or beaches?

MB: There’s no reason to choose lol. I live very close to the beach and I go to the mountains every chance I get. One of my favorite places on earth is the Rocky Mountains but I never turn down a chance to go surf fishing.

BB: Shoes or purses?

MB: Lol. I don’t own a purse and my “shoe” collection consists of a pair of slip ons, a pair of hunting boots, a pair of heels I’ve NEVER worn and a pair of tennis shoes. I’m afraid I’m not much of a girl when it comes to the “accessories”

BB: Thanksgiving or Christmas?

MB: Actually for me, Thanksgiving and Christmas is one big long Holiday time. I’ve always thought of Thanksgiving as the beginning of Christmas because we’ve always bought our tree at Thanksgiving and a lot of the talk at Thanksgiving revolves around Christmas plans. New Years marks the end of the “holiday season” and the tree comes down on Jan 2.

Maya has generously offered a copy of Be With Me as well as two copies of her upcoming release, The Tycoon’s Pregnant Mistress. All you have to do is leave a comment in this post.

Thanks again to Maya for being with us today!

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