Gail R. Delaney and the tug and pull of intense attraction

·       Gail, I have read and loved your Phoenix Rebellion books. Why did you decide to write speculative fiction?

I'm not sure I actually chose to write it. J  Several years ago, I wrote contemporary romance and romantic suspense, but I hit a wall after finishing a book. No matter how I tried, none of the ideas in my head wanted to work.

To feed my muse, despite not being able to find a good story, I jumped into writing fanfiction (for those that don't know what fanfiction is, it's when an author writes stories based on television series and movies) just to keep myself writing. In a years time, I wrote about 200,000 words of fanfiction based on a science fiction program.

Three of my critique partners started poking at me, saying "Why don't you just write sci fi?" I didn't think I could do it. But, eventually, I listed to my wise friends and actually took some of the storylines I couldn't get to work in a contemporary setting and found they worked great in a futuristic setting. 

As far as the sensuality rating, I will admit I used to write much more detailed than I do now, but that was prior to gaining control of my own work. I was pushed for years to write hotter, write more detail, more explicit... but it's not my preference. I love the tug and pull of intense attraction, and I don't deny that to my characters. But, I don't feel the need to write (or read) every moment of intimacy between them. IF it happens at all in the book, I'd rather convince the reader beforehand of the intensity between them so they can assume everything that goes on behind closed doors.

 

If I was a first-time reader of your books, which one would you recommend I start with and why?

 

If you are a fan of science fiction, then begin at the beginning as they say. The Phoenix Rebellion Book One: Revolution ... then work your way up to Janus. My books are not created as stand alone stories, but ongoing arcs of story with a cast of characters. So I recommend reading them in order. Phoenix Rising has its own set of storylines, but much would be clearer and sharper if you read The Phoenix Rebellion first.

I noticed that your books don't stand alone - I couldn't put one down and you resolved a great story but also set up the next one. I couldn't stop reading! Much of that interest comes directly because you have written such great characters. Tomorrow I hope you  will tell us more about your latest book, Janus. Now where can your readers find you?

http://www.gaildelaney.com I have a blog there... when I post. I have two Facebook pages, one for writing in general...
http://www.facebook.com/AuthorGailRDelaney
and one specifically for the Phoenix series
http://www.facebook.com/PhoenixGailRDelaney