Interview with Pamela Palmer

Interview with Pamela Palmer, our second author for LLC 2013!

Hi, we are Aurian from Boeklogboek and Maia from www.boekenlijstjes.blogspot.com, and today we have best selling author Pamela Palmer visiting us here in Utrecht, Holland.

 

Of course you want to know, what is LLC 2013? It is short for Autoren Love Letter Convention 2013, which takes place in Berlin, Germany, on May 25 and 26, 2013. Pamela Palmer is one of the American romance authors attending. We had a blast this summer, so we immediately bought the tickets once they became available for next year’s convention.

Our guest is Pamela Palmer, author of numerous paranormal romance novels. I have read only one so far, but there are more on my shelves waiting and I am very certain they will be read in time for LLC.  I did enjoy the one Esri book I read, I especially liked the world building. Maia, you have read some of her Feral Warrior books?

Yes Aurian, and those warriors are hot shapeshifters! Mmm sounds just like my kind of read Maia!

Aurian:       Welcome to Utrecht, the Netherlands, Pamela. Have some hot chocolate with whipped cream, and some Dutch cookies.

Pamela:      Thank you for having me, Aurian and Maia!

Maia:         Can you tell our readers who might not yet know you or your books, a little about yourself? Something that is not in your official bio (which is at the bottom of this post).

Pamela:      I’m a full-time writer, the author of more than a dozen paranormal romance novels, and a New York Times, USA Today, and der Spiegel bestselling author. The two series I’m currently working on are the Feral Warriors, a shape-shifter romance series, and the Vamp City series, which I’m calling a multi-book romance. The Vamp City series will be 4 or 5 books long, but will tell the story of a single couple. Continuing characters, in other words.

LL Convention questions

Aurian:       Could you tell us why you are attending a convention in Berlin, Germany, Europe? Have you been there before? Or other places in Europe? Were you surprised at being invited to a convention this far away?

Pamela:      When I first heard about the Love Letter Convention, I thought it sounded like a lot of fun. When I was invited to attend, I was delighted. I hear from many fans of my Krieger des Lichts books (my Feral Warriors in German). The opportunity to meet some of them was something I didn’t want to miss. I’ve been to Europe a number of times and am always excited to return. Berlin, though, will be a brand new experience.

Maia:         The convention is in Berlin, a beautiful city. Are you planning to do some sightseeing? In Berlin or even in the rest of Europe?

Pamela:      Yes, I’ll absolutely be doing some sightseeing. My husband will be coming with me, so we’ll be exploring Berlin and possibly one or two other places while we’re over there. My husband Keith has travelled extensively in Germany and Europe on business, so we haven’t decided whether we’ll try to hit one of the many places he’s told me he wants to show me, or visit somewhere that’s new to him, too.

Aurian:       There's a lovely group of authors coming this year. Do you personally know any of the other authors present?

Pamela:      I’ve only had the pleasure of meeting a couple of them at conferences, but I’m looking forward to meeting the others, too. It looks like a great group!

Maia:         The convention promo and books are in German. Will it be possible for you to bring some English books and/or swag?

Pamela:      I’ll definitely bring some swag. How much depends on what I can fit in my suitcase!

Book questions

Aurian:       I really enjoyed A Warrior’s Desire, in the world of Esri. What made it fun, was the totally different world. For instance, the trail of flowers that followed Charlie, or that food would grow on demand. How did you come up with this?

Pamela:      I have no idea where any of this comes from! : ) Honestly, my imagination is constantly in overdrive. I’m delighted you enjoyed Charlie’s book! I had so much fun writing it, coming up with a world completely different from our own, then dropping a Navy SEAL in the middle of it.

Aurian:       There is a 4 year gap between Dark Deceiver and A Warrior’s Desire. Why was that? Is there any chance of a reprint of the first two books, as those are no longer available?

Pamela:      The Dark Gate was the first book I ever sold, bought by Silhouette (now, Harlequin) Nocturne. After I’d written the first two books in the four-book Esri series, my agent sold the first three Feral Warriors books to Avon (Harper Collins). When Harlequin came back for the last two Esri books, I had to schedule them after my Feral Warriors deadlines. That accounts for part of the delay. The rest comes from Nocturne’s small publishing schedule (just 2 books per month), which often results in a backlog of books to be published.

                  I doubt they’ll be reprinted, but all four Esri books are available for Kindle. (I just checked and they’re on Amazon.de.) The Esri series, in order: The Dark Gate, Dark Deceiver, A Warrior’s Desire, and Warrior Rising.

Maia:         I’ve read the first book in the Feral Warriors series. Desire Untamed. It was a rollercoaster ride of a plot, but, I have to admit, I was really annoyed with Lyon. In my opinion, he did not explain things enough to Kara, preparing her for what would happen. Why did you make him so secretive?

Pamela:      Lyon was afraid that telling Kara too much would overwhelm her. And it probably would have. But the way he went about it, telling her things only when he had to, didn’t work for him either. Lyon is the chief and used to issuing orders and having them followed. He was over his head dealing with a scared young woman who thought herself human. And he made a lot of mistakes.

Maia:          The hero of Heart’s Untamed is called Zeeland. I am curious, this is a Dutch word, and the name of one of our provinces (states). How did you come up with it, and does it have a meaning in English?

Pamela:      I didn’t know that! I originally called him Zealand, but I was afraid Zea would be mispronounced. Zee was simpler (as a nickname). As for why I came up with the name at all, I was trying to find a naming culture for these immortals that was slightly unusual, or at least not entirely American mainstream. Some of the other Therian male names I used in that story: Ryland and Grayson.

Maia:          What is next on your writing schedule?

Pamela:      I’m currently writing the eighth Feral Warriors book, which will be Wulfe’s book. My second Vamp City book, A Kiss of Blood, comes out in the U.S. in June.

Personal questions:

Maia:          We both have enormous TBR mountain ranges, how big is yours? And what do you plan on reading next?

Pamela:      Oh, yes, my TBR pile is about to topple, too! I’m actually about to start re-reading the entire Feral Warriors series. I don’t do this with every book, but every now and then I read them when I’m starting the next book to make sure I don’t forget anything.

Aurian:       What would you be if you could not be an author?

Pamela:      I started my professional life as an industrial engineer with IBM. If I weren’t an author, I’d probably still be an engineer.

Aurian:       Who are some of your favourite authors? Do you still have the books you loved reading as a young girl?

Pamela:      I have some of my favorites, a selection of children’s books and Nancy Drew mysteries, but we moved so often when I was a girl, that it was impractical to keep much. Some of my favorite authors now: Nalini Singh, Larissa Ione, Anna Campbell, and Sarah MacLean.

And now for some fun quick questions:

Are you left-handed or right-handed?

Right

What is your favourite movie, and which is the last one you saw in the theater?

My favorite is the Lord of the Rings trilogy (I can’t choose just one!). The last movie I saw in a theatre was Skyfall, the latest James Bond movie.

Are you a morning person or a night owl?

If I could choose my own schedule, I’d be a night owl. But I get up at 6:45 every morning to make my husband’s breakfast and lunch, and to see him off to work.

What famous author, dead or alive or undead, would you love to meet and why?

Oh, that’s a difficult question! There are so many of them, but I’d probably have to say JK Rowling.

I grew up in the Air Force. No, no, I didn’t wear little fatigues or salute my parents (although I have a snapshot of me attempting to do push-ups beside my pilot dad at age four), but as anyone in a career military household knows, it’s not just a job, it’s a life that includes the entire family and one that can provide some unique experiences. At a year old, I thought any man in an Air Force uniform was my daddy. At nine I received a government-issue set of dog tags, and at ten I rode an elephant in Bangkok and later watched an earthquake ripple like ocean waves across our front yard in the Philippines.

Unlike a lot of authors, I didn’t grow up wanting to be a writer. I didn’t even want to be a pilot like my dad. I wanted to be an astronaut. I spent hours alone in my room either reading, watching Star Trek, or imagining other worlds filled with magic, strange creatures and dashing space pirates. The dream followed me to college where I studied engineering with plans to head for NASA when I graduated. But at nineteen I woke up to the reality of the modern space program and the stars finally fell from my eyes. The Space Shuttle was never going to take me where my imagination wanted to go.

Instead, I graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Industrial Engineering and went to work for a major computer manufacturer. I still devoured books (almost exclusively romances) and even tried writing one, but after the first exciting chapter I had no idea what to do with my characters. I thought I couldn’t write. In hindsight, I simply had no idea how to plot.

I set aside the dream of writing for a few years while I had babies, though I continued to create stories in my head. Then one night as I did the dinner dishes, one of those daydreams became too big to keep in my head. I had to write it down. This time, however, thanks to the recent opening of a brand new library down the street, I discovered a wealth of books on plotting and character development and realized I could learn how to turn scenes into books and craft entire stories. The process was neither fast nor easy, encompassing four manuscripts, half a dozen partials, and eleven years of hard work before I sold my first book. Fortunately, I had a lot of encouragement along the way. With my very first book I finaled for Romance Writers of America’s most prestigious award for unpublished writers, the Golden Heart. Each of my subsequent books also became a Golden Heart finalist, the third winning the award outright. The fourth, through the Golden Heart, sold.

Now I spend my days in those fascinating worlds filled with magic, excitement and dashing heroes, and my evenings with my real-life hero and two wonderful kids.

Where to find Pamela?

     website:  http://www.pamelapalmer.net/index.php

     twitter: @Pamela_Palmer

     facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PamelaPalmer

Pamela’s latest books are

In English: A Love Untamed (26-12-2012) and A Kiss of Blood (25-6-2013)

In German: Krieger des Lichts: Ungezähmtes Herz (8-2012) and Ungezähmter Kuss (2-2013)