S.L. Thank you for having me. I am so grateful to Brandi and you for giving me this opportunity to reach more potential readers.
Well my name is Sindee Lynn and I grew up in a small town in Virginia. Growing up there wasn’t a lot to do unless you had access to a car so that’s really when my love of reading began. I have an aunt who used to bring me bags of Harlequin Romance novels when she came to visit- back then they had the almost cartoon-like characters on them. Reading became my escape. And man did I become a world class traveller. By the time I turned 14 I had been to Italy, France, Australia, several Mediterranean Islands and to almost every state in the US and Canada. Those books are still at my childhood home today on a shelf my uncle had to build for them because he was tired of them being all over the house... lol. Today I work full time, take care of a very active teenage daughter all while trying to further my writing career. Things can get hectic to say the least.
K.S. Any interesting writing quirks or stories you would like to share with my readers?
S.L. I don’t think I have any real quirks. I mean I’m sure that at 12:30 am everyone has a fresh pot of coffee brewing in their kitchen while their walking around talking to themselves trying to work through a tough scene. Or have that special play list with nothing but rap music on it for when you start working on those steamy love scenes. Lol… So no I don’t think I have any interesting quirks.
K.S. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer? What sparked the desire to pen your first novel?
S.L. Probably at 13 because that’s when I sat down and decided I was tired of just reading books I wanted to write them too. I wish I could locate that notebook now. It’s probably got my NY Times Bestseller in it… The desire to start writing comes from wanting to give others what I gained from reading. Reading has always been an escape for me. It was my way of seeing the rest of the world while lying in my bedroom. Even now it’s my way of getting away when I can’t just hop on a plane for that much needed vacation. I want to give people a getaway for a reasonable price … lol… for the price of a paperback or an e-book you can escape to some other place. It’s the cheapest vacation going.
K.S. What genre do you write?
S.L. That’s tricky because I write in several different genres but I have a love of 2 in particular: paranormal and interracial. If I had to choose I would have to go with paranormal because let’s just face it there’s just something sexy about creatures of the night.
K.S. What would you say has inspired you most in your writing career? Or, who is your favorite author and why?
S.L. There are 2 authors who come to mind immediately for me as far as inspiration goes – 1 who started it all off - Anne Rice and her Lestat series. I mean whoever would have thought you could love someone who kills to survive – that’s where my love of vampires all began for me. Over the next several years vampires began to slowly begin slipping into my romance novels so I was in heaven and then I picked up a book by Sherrilyn Kenyon (smh). When I read it it was in a series about shifters and it was ne of four short stories but that was all it took. I was hooked and when I discovered her Dark Hunter Series – let’s just say I have been a fan ever since. The world she has created with that series is nothing short of amazing to me. Every time I pick up one of her books I become immersed in their world and that’s what I want my readers to experience.
K.S. What does your family think of your writing?
S.L. Lol… imagine if you can a small town country girl telling people at the age of 13 she wanted to write romance novels for harlequin… too funny. I don’t think anyone believed me. I don’t think I believed it could ever happen. Well I might not be at harlequin, just yet, but I am definitely on my way. I waited until my first book cover was on my publisher’s website to show my dad. He just kept coming back to it and looking at it. It was great. I think they are finally all on board with this being my chosen career path.
K.S. What was one of the most surprising things you learned while creating your book?
S.L. It was probably more so things about myself than about what I was writing. I think it finally hit me that I could do this. I could create something people wanted to pay money for and miracle of miracles I’m good at it.
K.S. What inspired you to write your novel?
S.L. I wanted to see if I could put a new spin on it. I mean there are so many vampire romance novels out there nowadays – there’s almost a separate isle for them at the book stores now but I wanted mine to be different. And I think I succeeded and it all started a simple question – If I were a vampire what would the perfect world look like. The first thing that came to mind was never having to hunt for food. So that started me thinking what if humans just volunteered for the job. Where would they go? Would there be an official process in place? And it just kept going from there.
K.S. Can you tell us a little about your novel?
Synopsis
Four years ago Jenna James signed up for the donor database with fanciful thoughts of lying in the arms of a vampire. Now four years later, she finds herself wishing she had never heard it. How depressing is it to think not even a vampire will have sex with you to survive? Feeling lower than she has in ages, Jenna is convinced she’s finally ready to remove her name from the list. That is until she opens her door to find her fantasy standing on the other side.
Syrian Roskonovich is next in line to be the king of vampires. But nothing in his years of training could have prepared him for the betrayal of his blood brother and his donor. It’s been months since he’s properly fed, living only on the synthetic blood his people create when he finds himself in a strange city holding on to his sanity by a thread. His only hope is in the database he helped bring to life but has failed him in the past.
Snippet of Jenna’s first meeting with Syrian….
Ding Dong…..
Jenna looked up from drying her hair. Who could that be? No one ever just dropped by her apartment. She headed towards the door slowly, trying to think if she’d made plans with Nehri and had forgotten. Then she remembered Nehri had a date tonight. She recalled trying to be excited for her earlier in the week when she’d first told her. Passing a mirror on the way to the front door, Jenna half expected to see her skin color changed to green. She blew out a breath of disgust. She was happy for her best friend. Honestly she was. But Nehri was so damned gorgeous with a perfect size six body that never changed no matter how many chili cheese dogs with extra chili and cheese she consumed. While she on the other hand, all she had to do was look at one and she gained five pounds without any of the pleasure of consumption.
Ding Dong …..
Hastening her step, Jenna decided it had to be someone who just had the wrong door or something. Glancing through her peep hole, she blinked several times before stepping away from the door, her hand to her pounding heart. She cautiously stepped back to the door and took another look. Though her view was distorted she could tell two things. The man on the other side of her door was absolutely gorgeous and he was most certainly at the wrong door.
Ding Dong ….
Startled she jumped back. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. Glancing down at the ratty bathrobe she wore her face flamed with embarrassment. Nervous fingers ran through her still damp hair but were met with tangles. She tried to tell herself it didn’t matter because he wasn’t looking for her anyway but it still didn’t keep her from wishing she’d had an opportunity to attempt to comb her long locks. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door to find herself staring at a wall of muscled chest. Slowly her gaze slid up until she met the silvery gaze of the man staring down at her. Instantly she knew he was not human.
“Are you Jenna Marie James?”
Unprepared for the effects his voice would have on her Jenna found herself unable to respond to his question. She could only stand there, staring up at him. Her brain had apparently taken a temporary leave as it tried to wrap itself around the fact that standing before her was her most secret of fantasies and he was asking for her.
“Excuse me but are you Jenna Marie James,” he repeated.
Coming out of her trance enough to nod her head, Jenna stepped back to allow him entry into her apartment.
K.S. Where can we find your novel?
S.L. You can purchase my novel from several different places.. naturally from my publisher’s website in either print or e-book format at www.passionatewriterspublishing.com, www.amazon.com, as well as www.barnesandnoble.com.
K.S. Do you have a website, fan site, or Blog that we can visit?
S.L. I have recently begun working on my website and hope to have it up and running shortly so currently the only way to reach me is via Facebook - you can look me up by my real name: Cynthia Yates, Richmond, VA or email: sindeelynn@yahoo.com.
K.S. Do you have any closing advice to aspiring writers?
S.L. I guess the best piece of advice I can offer is also the hardest to follow sometimes and that’s not to give up on your dream. I know it sounds corny but I am living proof. I grew up in a small town called Blackstone, Va – look it up on a map… lol. Who would have thought I would be on a virtual book tour for a book I wrote and got published and people are buying. It’s surreal. And my last piece of advice would be to find those friends or family members who won’t allow you to give up on yourself and what you want to do. Surround yourself with them. Draw off of their energy when you don’t know if you can go on. They won’t let you down.