Maya Banks-Interview with the Author

TRC:  HI Maya and welcome to The Reading Cafe. It is a pleasure to talk with one of our favorite authors.

Maya:  Thanks for having me. It’s my pleasure 🙂

TRC:  Many authors begin their journey to publication as at younger age. Who or what inspired you to start writing?

Maya:  There are two parts to my writing history. I began writing full length novels in sixth grade. But it’s not as if I ever said to myself “I want to be a writer when I grow up.” Because for me, writers were such huge rock stars. They were beyond my realm of understanding and comprehension. It was like a pipe dream to even imagine being an author. So it was very much something I did solely for my own enjoyment.

Fast forward twenty years later (or nearly 20) after I’d had my third child, and I hadn’t written anything since high school! It was then that I decided to pursue writing more seriously and actually make a career out of it.

TRC:  What is the title of your first published book? Looking back, would you change anything about your first publication?

Maya:  Seducing Simon was my first published novel. And no, I wouldn’t change anything. I’m a big proponent of understanding that if things in the past hadn’t gone exactly as they did, then my present would be a much different place and I’m very happy with my present!

TRC:  What do you find is the most difficult aspect of your writing career?

Maya:  Having to grit my teeth and let a lot of things go. It’s really hard especially when you know someone is dead wrong but also realizing that it’s pointless to even dwell on the matter.

TRC:  Congratulations!! HIDDEN AWAY has been nominated for a 2012 RITA award. How were you informed about the nomination? What does the RITA nomination mean to you?

Maya:  For this particular book it means a lot because it was a book that was very difficult to write and it caused a lot of trickle down difficulties with subsequent books as well. It took a while to get back on track because it took a lot of mental effort to make the book what I wanted and I was really exhausted afterward!

TRC:  What challenges have you encountered in the development of your different novels?

Maya: I’m my own worst critic, so just getting the book to a stage where *I’m* satisfied is the hardest part.

TRC:  SWEET ADDICTION is your latest release in the Sweet Series. Please tell us something about the premise.

Maya:  Sweet Addiction is simply about making the biggest sacrifice possible for someone you love. It’s about going against everything you think you know about yourself and have resolved in the past and realizing that in order to make the person you love happy that you have to make those ultimate sacrifices.

TRC:  How many books do you have planned for the Sweet Series?

Maya:  Just the six that are currently published. There will be a spin off series starting in 2014, but it will be quite different than the Sweet Series and not as highly eroticized.

TRC:  How do you address any comparisons to the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, in regards to the BDSM/Dom/Sub storylines?

Maya:  Since I haven’t read 50 Shades, I don’t address the comparisons at all. I do what I’ve always done which is continue to write books that interest me and intrigue me. I’ve been writing them since 2006 so any comparisons that are made are inaccurate anyway.

TRC:  PILLOW TALK is your May 2012 release and can be found in the anthology-Four Play. Would you please tell us about your latest short story?

Maya:  Pillow Talk is a friends to lovers romance (one of my favorite tropes) between an already established couple and their two roommates. When the main couple play out some of their fantasies, things get really hot, but they also realize that some things are better left in the realm of fantasy.

TRC:  Which do you find more difficult to write-an short story where the introduction, plot and conclusion must come to a quick completion or a full-length novel and why?

Maya:  Writing is never easy no matter what format or length. I don’t find one easier than the other because so much depends on the storyline and characters. Some BOOKS are easier than others but it’s completely random as to whether the occasional “easy” book is a novella or a full length novel.

TRC:   COLTER’S PROMISE (e-novella short story) is your new release in the Colter’s Legacy series. Would you please tell us about the premise?

Maya:  Colters’ Promise is a much asked for look at where the Colters’ are now and an update on each of the couples that were featured in the first three books. It also sets up the last book in the series, Colters’ Gift, which releases in April 2013.

TRC:   ECHOES AT DAWN is book 5 in the KGI series. Would you please tell us about the premise?

Maya:  Echoes at Dawn is Rio and Grace’s story and it’s very closely connected to Whispers in the Dark which featured Grace’s sister, Shea. The two sisters have been on the run, pursued for their telepathic and healing abilities. The story arc that began in Whispers in the Dark is completed in Echoes at Dawn while the two books fit in the much wider range of the KGI series.

TRC:  EXILED (a novella) can be found in the August 2012 anthology CHERISHED with Lauren Dane. Will you please tell us about the premise?

Maya:  Exiled is an over the top, really yummy heightened reality (as my editor calls my stories) story of an exiled prince and the beautiful young woman he’s been obsessed with ever since their paths crossed four years earlier. He summons her to the island where her every fantasy is rendered in exquisite detail. As well as a few of his own.

TRC:  NEVER SEDUCE A SCOT (September 2012) is another historical romance. Please tell us about the premise?

Maya:  Eveline, the heroine, is based largely in part on my husband. Or at least her condition. She’s deaf and has perpetuated a deception within her family to protect herself from an unwanted marriage with a neighboring ally. When the king forces a union between her clan and their most hated foe, she’s thrust into a hostile clan who wants nothing to do with her or anyone bearing her name. But the hero is fascinated with her and despite his best attempts to remain reserved around her, he falls hard for his new wife.

TRC:  Which genre do you prefer to write and why?

Maya:  I don’t have a preference. What I love most about what I do is being able to switch from contemporary to historical so I never get bored. I love being able to go between genres and write the stories that I’m eager to tell without being constrained to one specific niche.

TRC: How much research is involved with the historical aspect of this particular type of novel?

Maya:  Lots of traveling, reading, ordering research books and digging for really obscure facts.

TRC:  Many authors bounce ideas and information between each other or family and friends. With whom do you bounce ideas?

Maya:  I do a lot of bouncing off my Beta reader. She’s pretty good at listening and adding ideas I haven’t thought of.

TRC:  What are you currently working on?

Maya:  The next Scottish historical, Highlander Most Wanted

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LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food: Barbeque

Favorite Dessert: Caramel Heath Bar Pie (or anything caramel)

Favorite TV Show: I rarely if ever watch television!

Favorite Movie: uhhh have no idea. See above lol

Last Movie You Saw: I think it was one of the Harry Potter movies I took my son to see.

Dark or Milk Chocolate: Not much of a chocolate fan but I really detest dark chocolate so if I’m going to eat it, it has to be milk chocolate

Favorite Flower: Anything orange

Last book that you read: an ARC of Nalini Singh’s Archangel’s Storm

Last vacation destination: Last family vacation was to Ireland

TRC:  Maya, we would like to thank you very much for taking the time to answer are multitude of questions ;). Your different series and books keep our TBR piles and shelves full. We look forward to reading all of your new releases. We wish you all the best.

Maya:  Thanks again for having me. It was fun!