Angela Knight Interview

Angela, Welcome to Deb's Author Interviews. We are glad you could stop by to chat with us.


Tell us a bit about yourself. Your background, family, etc...


A.) I’m from South Carolina – which is probably not news, since most of my books are set there. I’m 45, and I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was 9 years old. My husband is a lieutenant with the local county Sheriff’s Office, where he’s chief hostage negotiator and a polygraph examiner. We have a 21 year old son who loves World Of Warcraft and works as a carpenter. I also spent 10 years as a reporter, covering everything from murders to school board meetings. (Which have more in common than you might think.)



For our readers unfamiliar with your work, please tell us what kind of books you write.

I write extremely sexy paranormal romance featuring vampires, werewolves, dragons and fairies, in various combinations.



Tell us about some of the jobs your have had before becoming a full time romance author. Did you have a favorite or worst job?

My favorite job before becoming a full time novelist was being a reporter. I loved going out and meeting all kinds of people. I use that experience in my writing now. I was also a television director for a religious broadcaster for a couple of years, which was basically my worst job. I liked working in television, but my female boss was, shall we say, difficult.



Looking at your backlist, I was amazed at how many books and stories for novellas you had written. Not only are you a prolific writer, you write for several different publishing houses. Please tell us who they are and what kind of books your write for each.

I started out writing novellas for Red Sage’s Secrets anthology. Red Sage started publishing erotic romance in 1995, before anybody else. Then I wrote for Renaissance E-Books – one book, now out of print. And after that, there was Ellora’s Cave. Then I got discovered by Cindy Hwang at Berkley, who asked me if I’d like to submit anything to her. And I also write for Changeling and Loose-Id, both e-book companies.



Does it get confusing or complicated when so many different places are wanting books from you? Especially when they all want something different? Do you work on more than one project at a time? Do deadlines ever run together?

Well, it can be extremely challenging, especially when the deadlines get close. I can only work on one book at a time, though I can do galley edits and first drafts of different projects. Galley edits are pretty mindless – you’re basically looking for typos on the finished book.



How do you keep up with all the important details, such as character traits, timelines, names, etc., especially when you are writing a continuing series? I would think it would be terribly hard to keep all the details straight from one book to the next. Do you keep a notebook or use a computer program to help keep up with all the little but important details? Have you ever gotten things mixed up and have your readers ever caught it?

LOL! I WISH I was that organized! No, I just go back and check the earlier books for those kinds of details and pray!



I understand that you wrote and illustrated your first book, The Mouse That Went To The Moon, at age 9. Do you think your first book was already showing your talent in writing space, paranormals, and futuristic books? I'm hoping you had no idea what erotica was at that point.

LOL! Well, I guess THE MOUSE THAT WENT TO THE MOON was an indication of the way my career would go. I mean, there was a lot of fantasy and science fiction in that idea.



I know your first published work was actually for a sci-fi comic book. How did you get started writing for the comics and was it a big transition for you to change genres and write romance? Did you always want to be a romance/erotica author or did you expect your writing style to go in a totally different direction?

When I first started out in my twenties, I wanted to be a science fiction writer. CYCOPS, the comic book story, started out as a short story. My sister took it to a comic book convention and gave it to a comic book publisher. He read it and thought it would make a good series. So he put me in touch with a fantastic editor, who basically taught me how to write. But the bottom fell out of the comic book market soon afterward, and I decided to go back to writing fiction. I had become a romance junky by that time, so that’s what I decided to write. I didn’t have any success until 1996, when I found a flyer for SECRETS. That’s when I discovered I had a talent for writing erotic romance.



What was your first published romance/erotica work and when did it come out? Was it published in ebook format or was it in print? What was it like to see your first published work? I know I would have been majorly excited. Is it as exciting when your books come out as ebooks instead of in print? I know I love having that book in my hand.

My first novella was published in SECRETS Vol. 2 in 1996. It was called “Roarke’s Prisoner,” and I really got a kick out of holding a copy of that book. You’re right – that’s a large charge!



How many books do you have out now? And how many more do you have in the works? Can you give us any hints of things to come?

I have more than 20 books in print, counting the novellas and short stories. Six novels now. I’m writing number 7 at the moment – MASTER OF DRAGONS, the fifth in the Mageverse series. It stars the sidekick from MASTER OF SWORDS, Kel, who is a shape-shifting dragon warrior. I’m also contracted for four books after that. I think my next one in the Mageverse series will probably be a werewolf book – a return to the kind of suburban crime stuff I did in JANE’S WARLORD and MASTER OF THE MOON.



In September 2006 you had a release from Berkley called Captive Dreams that you wrote with Diane Whiteside. Tell us about this book. Did you enjoy working with Diane on this project and do you have any more projects planned together for the future. I sure hope so because this book was awesome!

Oh, Diane is my best friend. We’ve been critique partners for years now, and we love working together. I’m not sure when we’ll do another joint project, because we’re both contracted out the wazoo for the next couple of years. But I’d love to do another project with her.



As to the book: Captive Dreams is about a pair of novelist sisters who don’t realize that their heroes actually exit. The two men are tired of being tortured by their “creators,” so they kidnap both women and take them back to their own universes. Lots of sex ensues!



Your latest book in your Mageverse series, Master of Swords came out in October 2006. How many books in this series now and how many will be in this series? I'm hoping for many more! How did you get the idea for this exciting series? Was it based on any real people or events, now or from history?

Five books in the series so far, and I’m not planning to end it any time soon. The idea for the series came about because Cindy Hwang at Berkley wanted a vampire series from me, but I didn’t want to do the same vamps everybody else was doing. So, since I love Arthurian legend, I decided to turn the King Arthur stories on their heads. I made Arthur and his knights vampires, and his ladies witches. Then before I knew it, I was writing about fairies and dragons and werewolves too, which keeps the series interesting. I hope!



Do you enjoy writing one type of book more than another? Is it easier for you to write a novella or do your prefer the single title full length books?

Novellas are easier because they’re shorter. But on the other hand, you can really cut loose in a novel in a way you can’t in a novella. It’s tough to get a really intricate plot AND a lot of sex in 100 pages.



Who comes up with the idea of putting authors together for novellas? Is it the publishing house or do the authors ever decide they want to write a book together. Are your novella stories all theme related to the other stories in the books or are they all totally different?

Each writer decides what she wants to do. Red Sage generally lets me write whatever I want. With Berkley, sometimes Cindy Hwang will call me and say, “We’re doing a vampire anthology,” or “We’re doing an anthology called OVER THE MOON. We’d like you to be in it.” Then I try to come up with an idea I’d like to write.



How long does it take you to write a book? Does this include research or revision time?

Generally, it takes me about five months, including revision time.



What kind of research do you do for your books? Do you research before you start writing or do you do it as you go along? Is research something you enjoy doing?

I usually do interviews with people who do the particular job I want to write about. For example, when I wanted to do a book about werewolf drug dogs, I interviewed a K-9 officer. I find out everything I can about the job, and then maybe I call the person and ask more questions. Then, if something else comes up while I’m writing, I may go check my facts on the Internet.



Tell us what kind of writer you are. Are you a plotter and outliner or somewhat more relaxed in your writing style?

No, I’m a plotter. I have to have at least some idea where I’m going, or I can’t write at all.



Is there any other type of book you would like to write?

I’d like to write science fiction one of these days – but only if they’ll let me write sex scenes!



Give us an example of a typical day in your life. Do you keep to a specific writing schedule?

I usually wake up around 6:30 a.m. or so and then write for three hours. I can knock out 10 pages, then I go work out or do some art or something while I try to come up with ideas for the next day’s work.



What was the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?

Don’t quit. If you quit, you’ll never succeed.



If you had one piece of advice to give to a new writer, what would it be?

Don’t quit. Other than that, use the internet as a way to learn your craft. Write short stories and share them with people. Submit to e-book companies. When you get good enough, take a shot at New York. And most of all – DON’T QUIT.



Angela, thanks so much for stopping by to chat with us! Please come by anytime!

Thank you for interviewing me.

Hope you enjoyed this interview with Angela Knight. You can learn more about her at
http://www.angelasknights.com. Be sure and try her newest books, CAPTIVE DREAMS with Diane Whiteside, and MASTER OF SWORDS, the latest in her Mageverse series.

Watch for my latest interview with author andn agent Deidre Knight.