Writer Wednesday: Daisy Banks and A Perfect Match

I’m thrilled to have Daisy Banks visiting today. Her new book is called A Perfect Match. Join me and let’s see what writerly secrets we can persuade her to reveal.

Good morning Daisy! I’ve got my coffee and am ready to chat. I see you’ve got yours as well. Now that we’re settled in, how about letting us in on some of your writing secrets, eh?

Thanks so much for inviting me to the blog today, Flossie, it is a pleasure to be here.

1. What is your genre and what inspired you to write in it?
I write in the fantasy, paranormal, historical genres. My latest book, A Perfect Match, is a futuristic story with more than a touch of sci-fi. I read in these genres as I grew up and I still read them, they are where my heart lies.
I love reading and if I am not writing you will probably find me reading.
The inspiration to write came when I had an illness that meant I couldn’t do my day job. My imagination needed an outlet and I began to write. The odd thing was, when I recovered from that illness and went back to work the stories faded away. Now, I no longer do a day job the stories fill my mind.

2. Those are my favorite genres too. Tell us about your writing schedule and habits.
I write every day if I possibly can. I start my day with a cup of coffee and deal with the little tasks like my business emails, the face book page update. Twitter, Pinterest and my blog. I keep that to a schedule as it’s too easy to get distracted and discover I’ve spent half the morning in tweet conversations. Shower, dress another cup of coffee and then I work, either editing or writing or sometimes a combination of both. If I have publisher edits they are always done first, no matter the lure of a new story. I work the rest of the day with a break for lunch and I stop about teatime, most days, though there are some days I just write until I can’t write any more.
I tend to keep odd hours. I am often up before 5A.M., so sometimes I crash mid afternoon and sleep. If I do that then I can end up writing much later in the day.
As to the drinks, morning is coffee, even if its 4AM, followed after 3 cups by herbal stuff through till lunchtime. I like the red berries tea. In the afternoon, I drink tea, but no more than two cups. I enjoy red wine too.
I often listen to the radio as I work, I find classical music helps with the inspiration sometimes.

3. You’re an early bird! Kudos for that. I also admire that you go for the herbal in the afternoon. I’m a Vivaldi fan myself, and so I’m with you there with the classical music. Tell us what you love most about your latest book.
I had so much sheer fun writing A Perfect Match. The clash between the hero and heroine was entertaining to deal with. They come from very different backgrounds. Their enforced marriage could have been a disaster, as the leader of the Carnag assembly hoped, but with courage, this couple overcame the initial difficulties.
I enjoyed world building too, I had to write a new religion, a political system that might be seen as credible and a social code too. I will remember working on this book for those things among others.

4. What was hardest for you in writing your latest book?
The thing I found hardest was showing what I could see. The story rolls like a movie in my head. I can see the city, the houses, the countryside such as it is in this world, I struggled to try to make the images clear to readers. I hope I succeeded.

5. The movie reel is a wonderful perspective! Who is your favorite secondary character in your latest book and why?
One of the secondary characters is Raisa, she is Anwell’s personal slave and full of all kinds of wisdom. Raisa is very protective of the young woman she calls ‘Child of my heart’. In one place in the story I was very glad she was so protective. It might sound a bit crazy but Raisa brought tears to my eyes.

6. Aww, Raisa is  a special person. What historical period would you most like to visit and what would you do there?
I have a love of the 18th century, a time of evolution, of wonderful discoveries, and I would enjoy seeing some of those. I’d like to be a map maker charting the world. However, as always with any notion of going back in time, I’d want to be healthy, protected against the dreadful diseases that afflicted the population. I am certain I would hate the fashions of the era and the brutality in everyday life. Saying that I’d still like to see some of that era.

7. If you could be a mythological or fantasy being, who or what would you be and why?
This is too cruel! I want to be a mermaid. I want to be a fairy who could grant wishes, but I think I would be a dragon. As a dragon I’d live under a mountain and make sure I had access to the sea, because if I was a dragon I’d be able to sing and write as much poetry as I liked. I mean, who is going to tell a dragon their poetry is no good?

8. Daisy, our local RWA chapter consists of mermaids and a couple of mermen! Now tell me–chips, chocolate cake, candy bar, or cheesecake?
I think chips means what I call potato crisps. I rarely eat sweet things, but I love peanuts, potato crisps, savory biscuits, best of all is a plate of crackers with cheese and pickles accompanied by a glass of cab sav.

9. Chips it is then. On another note, if you knew the apocalypse was coming, what authors/books would you take with you to your bug out location?
All of Shakespeare, Dickens, DH Laurence, Hemmingway, Oscar Wilde, Chaucer, Tolkien, Fielding, the Country Kitchen book are all musts. I’d take Keats, Ted Hughes, the forecast for moon tides for the next half century, anything from Stephen King that doesn’t have a clown in it, everything from Michael Moorcock, all Douglas Adams works, Alfred Lord Tennyson, the Mabinogion, all the Greek and Roman legends and plays, the Bronte’s stuff, oh my. I guess I would still be packing books when the apocalypse hit.

10. What stories do you have planned for the future?
Presently I am finishing edits for my sequel to Timeless, To Eternity, a paranormal story with Lyrical Press which should be out soon. I have a fantasy romance contracted with Lyrical Press and will begin the editorial process on that as soon as To Eternity is finished.
I am in the process of writing a historical story, with a very adventurous heroine. I’m having fun with that as she breaks so many rules.
There is also a short story I am completing for a special project. There are a couple of other things but they are at a very early stage and I can’t say too much about them at present.

Excerpt from A Perfect Match

Raisa’s eyes gleamed in the low light. The old Netherling sat beside her, clasped her hands, and squeezed hard. “You were not mentioned by name there. It would have made little difference if you had been. All of them are fearful they may lose their place. Lord Chardel becomes more erratic by the day. I’m afraid many will go along with any of his wishes, rather than risk his displeasure. You have no choice, my lady. You cannot refuse the explicit command of the leader of the Carnag. To do so might endanger your life. Your family may suffer, if they attempt to gainsay His Eminence.” Raisa’s dark gaze held hers. “You must obey.”

“But I’ve never even met Commander Varon. Everyone knows arranged marriages were prohibited years ago. They make a mockery of all the Temple encourages.”

“Mistress, it makes no difference.” Raisa spoke quick, so soft and low Anwell strained to hear. “His Eminence believes his views challenged by Commander Varon. There is a history to their relationship. Lord Chardel doesn’t trust the commander, and to defend his rule, he has gifted the hero of the Carnag a youthful, noble wife. You are the commander’s reward for the latest water discovery, and…” Raisa glanced toward the closed door before continuing in a whisper, “Are meant to give the commander the early opportunity to breed with a true-blood Astan female.”

“Breed?” Her heart rhythm raced.

“Yes. You’ll no longer be a member of the Temple or under the charge of its rules of chastity.” Raisa leaned closer, her voice lower still. “I have heard whispers that in private, Lord Chardel is outraged Commander Varon boasts of breeding with his Netherling companion, and worse: the commander has openly encouraged other young members of the Carnag to do the same with theirs. So, to stem what might become a tide of rebellion,as well as counteract the thought of interbreeding, His Eminence is determined to prove Astan females are quite capable of successfully producing healthy offspring.”

“But you know it’s not true,” she said. “Despite all our prayers in the Temple, birthrates have declined to near naught in the last twenty years. Many Astan wives have tried and failed. Some have died in the process.”
Raisa nodded. “But remember, they are all far older than you. Any female who devotes the first twenty-five years of her adulthood to the Temple is bound to be less fertile than one who is in the flush of youth. I say it is only common sense, despite Astan ideals. Commander Varon has openly encouraged all the younger males in the Carnag to experiment with impregnating their pleasure slaves. He says many of the young Netherlings are intelligent therefore they are perfect breeding stock, as they are ready to reproduce early.”

Her icy fingers locked together and shook, along with the rest of her. “What if I don’t breed?”

“We’d better see you do.”

Blurb
Daisy Banks whisks you into a futuristic world, where you might fight for water, or offer up your freedom and become a slave for the promise of enough to drink.

Passion and politics ripple through A Perfect Match where the enmity between the government leader, Lord Chardel and Commander Varon, head of the Astan water acquirement fleet, is at flashpoint. The enforced marriage of Anwell Nastor, a young Temple adept, to Commander Varon, not only breaks Astan religious rules, but could break untried hearts. This cruel ploy meant to silence Varon’s opposition to current circumstances in the city-state brings unexpected results. Through careful manipulation of the news links, Varon and his bride become the city’s most adored couple, but danger shadows their steps.

Join Anwell and Varon as they discover the power of A Perfect Match on their perilous journey in a world full of dangers and political intrigue.

Links
Blog http://daisybanks.wordpress.com/
Website http://daisybanksnovels.yolasite.com/
http://twitter.com/DaisyBanks12
Facebook http://on.fb.me/18iRC35
Pinterest http://bit.ly/16sF1XG
http://amazon.com/author/daisybanks