Please give Brita Addams a warm welcome!
First of all where are you from?
I was born and I grew up in Upstate New York, but have lived in Louisiana for many years. I lived in New Orleans (yes, we lived there during Hurricane Katrina) but moved to western Louisiana a couple of years ago, to be nearer to one of our daughters and her family. Now our youngest daughter has moved into the area as well and our son is only a couple of hours away.
What do you like to read?
I love biographies, anything concerning history, particularly American and British history and I love historical romance. I confess I have read some military romance and loved it. I am really into male/male romance now, vampires as well.
Right now I’m reading a lot of books on Hollywood in the 1920’s and ’30’s. Research for a book I have in mind.
What do you love about being an author?
Having always been a person who enjoys creativity, my imagination has always worked overtime. I think being an author allows me to channel that imagination into my characters. I love creating situations and walking my characters through them.
Where do you get your inspiration?
My family is tremendously inspirational. My husband particularly has unflaggingly supported my decision to write seriously and produce the best possible stories. We discuss plot and feasibility, realism etc. My youngest daughter is also helpful. She’s brilliant, a prolific reader and she isn’t afraid to tell Mama that something doesn’t work.
Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
I get names from my own family tree as well as old census records, but as far as characteristics, I really don’t focus on that at all. Each story calls for a unique set of characters and I’d feel funny about creating a character around someone I know and love.
That said, I wrote An Evening at the Starlight and based the story loosely on the story of my great Uncle Roy and Aunt Dorothy. However, the characters are from my imagination as I didn’t know Uncle Roy at all and Dorothy only as a frail woman of 82, not at all her young counterpart in Starlight.
If you could meet a paranormal being or character of your choice with no safeguards, what/who would you choose and why?
I love to meet my characters from Love Immortal, Laurent Kinsdale and Sebastian FitzHugh. They are complicated. Laurent is a deep thinker and has learned from Sebastian that sometimes things are quite as complex as Laurent makes them out to be. Sebastian is a bit more carefree, while quite serious when that is called for.
What are your favorite books to read?
My preferences change. Right now, I am reading a lot of male/male erotic romance, but I am crazy about Lisa Kleypas and Mary Balogh as well. I love historical romance, which is also what I write.
My love of history is long-standing. I devour history books, particularly American and British, which is why most of my novels are set in England.
Because I write time-specific historicals, research is a must, but for me, that is no problem. I love learning new things and seem to with each bit of research I do.
Aside from your successes in the writing industry, what in your life has given you the greatest sense of accomplishment?
Well, my husband and I have raised a daughter (now an adult), who was born with a physical disability. She can’t bend her arms or legs. That has never kept her from accomplishing what she set her mind to, as seems to have been born with a healthy dose of determination as well. That’s not to say we’ve not had challenges associated with her disability, mainly, how to raise two other children with the same sense of normalcy they’d had before. They are much older – 14 and 10 years older, so they’d enjoyed years of what we all thought of as a “normal” life.
We determined early on, not to adjust our world to her handicap, any more than need be, but rather, to have her adjust to living in a non-handicapped world. She had to clean her room and do certain chores (she loved to wash dishes). She always took her school work seriously, which is probably why she graduated from college, then went back for another round. She has always felt nurtured and cared for, of course, but is now grateful for the lack of concessions. She’s quite independent, something the doctors warned us she’d never be.
To see her as the happy, smart and lovely young woman she is, there isn’t anything else I’ve ever done that can match that.
She’s a writer too, with her first book due to come out in the next month. Can we say “bursting with pride?” BTW – Her name is Lindsay Marene Ordone and her book is Most Eligible with Decadent Publishing. It’s a sweet romance about a guy, a writer, who is roped into a TV reality bachelor-type show. There is humor and angst, and a very, very, good story.
What are your current projects?
I’m writing more installments for my Romeo Club collection at Riptide and I’m researching a book set in 1930’s Hollywood. I’m a Hollywood trivia buff and a story has been buzzing around in my head for quite some time. I think it will be fun to write and hopefully fun for my readers as well.
Can you tell us a little about your latest release?
I have several at the moment. I’ve mentioned An Evening at the Starlight. Here’s the blurb for that:
John has a hard time forgiving and forgetting, and his wife Christie’s tired of trying.
Doe and Royal’s love story reaches through the years and gives hope to a young man who’s lost hope in his relationship. An Evening at the Starlight and a tale of a once in a lifetime love that wouldn’t die might be exactly what John needs to move past the hurt and cherish the love he has.
Then I have A Minute After Midnight. Click the titles to read an excerpt and to purchase.
A fateful decision haunted Logan Chalmers for years. A high school reunion brings Reid Wright back to the old hometown, but will Reid even remember Logan or has he moved on to the bright future they were to share?
Following the rejection of the man he’d loved for most of his life, Reid moved away to seek his fortune. The hurt and anger allowed him to move on, but years later, only thoughts of Logan could bring him back for the reunion – that, and timeless desire.
Both these novellas are a part of Noble Romance’s Timeless Desire collection.
Then I have Romeo Club #1: Surprises at Riptide Publishing. I plan to write several of these six-thousand word shorts. They are pure, unadulterated gay erotica and a great deal of fun. Each one focuses on one man’s particular fantasy kink.
Here’s the blurb from Surprises:
Are you willing to put yourself in our hands?
Smart, successful, handsome, and thoroughly sick of the club scene, Don ventures into a popular upscale dating service. Aroused and intrigued by the boldfaced sexual queries on the Romeo Club’s application, he finds himself embellishing one answer after the next. Don thinks he’s taking control of his fate, but when he’s done, he ends up turning over a lot more than just his questionnaire to the dominant Adonis who runs the service.
In a private back room, beneath the snick of handcuffs, the slide of silk over his eyes, and not one hot mouth but two upon his skin, Don learns just how much more than matchmaking the Romeo Club has to offer a guy who doesn’t mind a few surprises.
Click the title to read an excerpt and purchase Surprises.
You can also pre-order the second installment, Romeo Club #2: Rubbed the Right Way, which will be released on December 5. You’ll never think of erotic massage quite the same way again.
Is there anything else you would like to say to our readers?
Thank you for reading my stories and I hope you’ll always find something of interest.
Please visit me at some of these places:
Thank you so much, Tracy, for having me. I hope you’ll ask me back again.
T: Absolutely, Brita! I loved having you – you’re welcome to visit any time!
Giveaway: One lucky commenter will be able to select any book from Brita’s backlist! Does not include Romeo Club books and the newest releases, A Minute After Midnight and An Evening at the Starlight. All other books are available. Contest ends Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7:00pm (pacific)
