Z. Allora Author Interview³
1) Tell us 3 fun facts about your writing history
I rushed to turn in edits of the first edition of With Wings during a typhoon while cowering in China because it was rumoured that we’d lose the Internet for weeks. I sat huddled in a chair, away from the windows amid falling plaster from my ceiling while the wind whipped and rain pounded the windows.
I write from experience. So yes a baby tiger bit me and it HURT. Every place I’ve set my stories in I’ve visited or I lived in. I hung out with ladyboys in Bangkok and Pattaya, been to BDSM clubs, and sex shows.
I watched hours and hours of Adam Lambert and Tommy Lee Ratliff kissing across the global on YouKu (China’s version of YouTube) during the song Fever. It created the “what if” that became my first series (The Dark Angels).
2) Describe your writing style in 3 words
Sexy Yaoified Romance
3) Name 3 of your literary influences
My mother’s love of romances and the happiness she got from them encouraged me.
Shakespeare
JR Ward
4) Share your 3 favourite books
Mists of Avalon by Marion Bradley I loved it so much I took over a year to read it.
Love Slave by Beatrice Small brought me back to the joy of reading after I loss my mom.
The Brotherhood of The Black Dagger series by JR Ward was one of the reasons I began writing m/m.
5) What are your 3 essential writing tools?
Scrivener: I’d never been able to finish a story without this organized writing program. It allows me to see everything as I jump around and it keeps all my character details straight… er, together.
Tea: I’m powered by English Breakfast.
Quiet: I can’t write with talking around me. Silence or white noise is necessary.
6) Where are your 3 favourite places to write?
In my living room on my love seat facing my dragon tapestry.
In Germany when the weather strands me in the hotel.
Starbucks… because I love being a cliché!
7) Name 3 items on your writing wish list
I’d love to give people happiness and hope with my stories along with the belief that everyone deserves a happily ever after (whatever that is for the individual).
I want to mobilize people to promote equality in their world.
I want to tease out the variations in all spectrums and validate individual differences.
8) What are your top 3 tips for aspiring writers?
Know your priorities. If you want to sell books write what’s selling in the market. If you want to write your heart’s song and it doesn’t have a built-in audience don’t be surprised when it doesn’t rock it you to the top of the lists but be thrilled you wrote what you needed to write. (Mind you it’s awesome if you’re in a place to do both but most of us have to choose.)
Know what your brand is and be true to it. It’s no surprise if you pick up a Z. Allora you’ll get a sexy fun read with a happily ever after. It’s who I am and it’s what I’ll give the reader every single time.
Know your audience and feed them. If I published a bittersweet tale of misery my readers would call 911 because would clearly be in need of medical assistance. Buying a book is a contract between the reader and author >>> if a reader buys a romance it better be a romance.
9) Tell us 3 of your writing plans for the year ahead
I just began writing The Temple of Heaven. It’s been chasing around my head for about 5 years. (Jordon Davis is grown and demands his “deflowering”)
Secured and Free (BDSM ménage) will be released in late spring/early summer.
I’ll be in edits for Made in China: The Great Wall the second half of the year. The story is set in Suzhou China where I lived for six years.
10) Tell us about your latest release
The Craving released Feb. 3rd 2016. It’s a space opera/sci-fi romance… heavy on the romance and light on the propulsion drives.
The craving is an undeniable urge that drives K’Dane citizens to find their life mates—if only to sate their uncontrollable physical longings.Thrilled at being named a Chosen, Phoenix Dotir leaves K’Dane to become an artist-monk who will create dimensional art capable of changing worlds. Living by the monastery’s Principles of Purity will surely help him overcome the craving. But he never accounted for star chaser Zadra Solav.
Zadra doesn’t believe in rules and makes his own future. Fate separates him from the man he loves, but one touch renders him helpless to his own desires. Bonding with a monk is forbidden, and Zadra’s family sends him to deep space to avoid disgrace. Unable to give up, Zadra must find a way reunite with his Chosen.
Tormented by enforced separation, Initiate Riva Quinton struggles with his vow of chastity and risks all to rescue his lover. Together with his Eros, he stows away on board a star craft to follow his heart.
Four men defy destiny and tradition for love… but their love is a crime punishable by death.
Giveaway
Prize: 1 x $10 DSP Gift Card To enter, comment below on your favourite sub-genre Z. Allora will chose a winner at random
Z. Allora believes in happily ever afters for everyone. She met her own true love through the personals and has traveled to over thirty countries with him. She’s lived in Singapore, Israel and China. Now back home to the USA she’s an active member of PFLAG and a strong supporter of those on the rainbow in her community. She wants to promote understanding and acceptance through her actions and words. Writing rainbow romance allows her words to open hearts and change minds.
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