Lisa Beth Darling Interview and Giveaway

Today we’re here to introduce you to another amazing author, Lisa Beth Darling.

She is the winner of more than 20 awards for her previous works in the Stargate SG-1 and House, MD fandoms, including the prestigious Blue Moon Awards and White Board Awards.

Leaving fandom stories behind and returning to her roots as an all-original hard-hitting author of dark and gritty romance today Lisa brings conflict, passion, love, and suspense to unique couples through her full length novels. Never one to shy away from the less pleasant things in life, and instead believing it is in the Darkness where Character is created, determined, and defined, her heroes and heroines have their love tested by demons from within and without.

I Hope you all enjoy the interview and don't forget to enter the give-away!

Lisa is giving away, 2 e-book copies of her book

"The Heart Of War" 

Good Luck Bloggers!

Do you relate your stories about Greek Mythology to your own experiences or to the experience of your audience?

Like Greek Mythology itself, I hope my stories relate to the Human Experience. I draw a little from my own life as most writers tend to do but, since I don't want the stories to be about me, I add in a little of 'this' and little of 'that' until it bubbles and brews nicely.

Who is your favorite character to write? Can You Share with us a favorite line or passage?

Ares, I love working with him because he can be such an over-the-top ass about things and I don't often to get to actually do that in life.  Most of us don't although there are many times we'd like to.  He can also be very tender and sweet.  He'll never be the typical Knight in Shining Armour he'll always be my Black Knight.  One of my favourite lines of his is in this exchange where Alena asks if he thinks he's cute because he's been being a wise-ass to her and Ares says:

 “Cute?” Ares mused and stroked the beard on his chin.  “Cute?  No.  Cute is for puppies and teenage boys.  I am devilishly handsome.”

You really put the heroine, Maggie (Alena) through the wringer in this series, what was your inspiration for her character? 

I put all of my heroes and heroines through the wringer that's just SOP with me. When I first started toying around with Alena she was this hot 23 year-old chickie—typical romance novel stuff. I'm one of those annoying Muse Authors so my characters talk to me all of the time, when we're really cooking they *never* shut up.  Ares didn't really go for the first version of Alena. I kept hearing the song 'Hey Nineteen' (Steely Dan) playing over and over in my head; "Hey, nineteen, we can't dance together, no we can't talk at all." It didn't take too long to realize that some little chickie with almost zero life experience wasn't going to hold his interest very long and certainly not over the course of the next few thousand years of his life.  She had to be older. She had to be wiser. Most of all she had to have something to offer Ares other than sex.  In 'talking' with him, I discovered that I didn't want her to be the stereotypical hottie that always needs 'saving' by the hero anymore than he did.  Since I am a Muse Author, my characters tend to just walk up to me in my head, introduce themselves, tell me that we're going to be working with each other for a while and 'let's get started, shall we?'  The Cosmos sent me Alena, that's when her named changed as well. We were going to go with 'Maggie' throughout the story but when her character changed so drastically so did her name, it became more grown-up like the character.  As to the rest, I just follow along wherever the story goes I go, even when it stresses me out or makes me push the envelope in ways that I might not want to.  It's good for the Writer and the Reader to be challenged and dared to go into dark places that they might otherwise fear to tread.

Many mythological stories are complicated, what do you do to make them more understandable?

I don't find them complicated. I think all Mythology and Religion in general is based on the Human Experience.  Every God and Goddess represents an aspect within every human being. The stories are just told in bigger and bolder ways so that mankind has something to look up to, to aspire to, and relate to, as he goes about the day-to-day tasks of living Life on Planet Earth. Other than to put Mythology into more modern vernacular and try to stress the emotions behind them I don't do anything to make them easier to understand.

You have some really evil characters in this series, which character(s) are the most difficult to write, and why?

Zeus and Aphrodite are the hardest to write. History teaches us that, for the most part, both were benevolent but in my stories, they're not so much within the "OF WAR" series.  They think of themselves as being benevolent but they have a very 'Me First' attitude.  Once they get what they want they'll be nice to you...if there's anything left of you, that is.

How does Ares' wolf side relate to your Greek Mythology storyline? (just wondering, I was a bit confused, at times it slipped my mind that he can transform into a wolf.)

In Ancient Greek Mythology, Ares started out as the Lord of the Forest and All Things Wild and Free.  He sort of got stuck with 'God of War' as time went on because he had an understanding of war and did not have an aversion to it. A lot of mythology relates the raven to Ares, which comes into play in the story line with "Child of War-A God is Born"  with his Son, Raven. However, other stories relate the wolf to him.  Personally, I just like that better. I think the wolf is an excellent totem for Ares God of War so that's what I went with.

Authors usually have morals to their stories. What are some of the morals you have used in the stories you write?

I'm not Aesop so I don't really do 'the moral to the story'.  If there's anything I want readers to take away from my books it's that no matter what Life throws at you or how bad and dark it gets there is light at the end of the tunnel. You can get through it. You can get to that light. Never surrender.

What three words best describe your  "Of War Series"?

Divine kick-ass rollercoaster.

If you could inhabit the life of one literary character and dive into their world for just one day, who would you choose and why?

 Andy Dufresne from "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" better known to the general public as just "The Shawshank Redemption".  Andy has a very quiet strength, he's extremely intelligent and cunning, and above all, he has the patience of saint! He went through hell but he never gave up and he never lost his humanity. I suppose, if I had my way, I'd rather dive into his world after his escape and while he's living in Zihuatenejo but I'll spend a day in "Shawshank" too if I have to.

When you have a free day with no responsibilities looming overhead, and your only mission is to enjoy yourself, what do you like to do for fun?

I'll let you know in a couple of weeks!  My job just ended and I haven't had a vacation in ages.  My adult children may move out next month. I might actually find out what it's like to have a 'free day with no responsibilities'.  I'm looking forward to it.  Other than that, I do love to take photographs mostly of old abandoned places.  I also try very hard to garden in the nice weather. I try. I don't always succeed but I try.

TO WIN ONE OF TWO EBOOK COPIES OF 

THE HEART OF WAR

JUST ENTER TO RAFFLE COPTER FORM BELOW! 

 really, how much easier can I make it? LOL!