EQ Welcomes Diane Leyne!

Exquisite Quills Welcomes Diane Leyne for our Author Interview Series

EQ: Welcome to EQ! Tell us a little bit about yourself! 

Diane: I, my name is Diane Leyne.  I’ve been writing erotic romance for almost a year now.  I love to read.  I also love photography and travel.  I’ve been to more than twenty countries and hope to visit twenty more.  In May, I visited St. Maarten for the first time, and made it a jumping off point for the Libertine Island books.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to combine the two passions in the future.

EQ: What was your defining moment as a writer? 

Diane: I’m still pretty new at this.  I’ve made a couple of failed attempts to write a few times in the past, but last Christmas, I decided that, this time, I was going to finish and submit a story and I did.  In fact, I can be a bit OCD, so when I sent off the first novella, before I even got an answer back, I wrote and submitted three more.  I can’t tell you how exciting it was to get that first acceptance email from Siren.  I was at work and just over the moon with happiness.  I guess this is a long way of saying that my defining moment when I took a chance and, to paraphrase the words of Nike, “Just did it”

EQ:Describe how you came up with the plot of your novel. 

Diane: I have the basic plot in my head when I start writing, but not much more than that.  I know the beginning, I know the ending, and I know a few scenes in the middle.  For example, with “Claimed by Wolves”, I “saw” the scene where Samantha punishes Gabe for spying on her by putting a collar and leash on him and parading him through town and in front of his brothers.  He wanted to play the pet dog, so she decides to let him, but following her rules.  I usually figure out each section when I’m in transit to or from someplace like work.  I find that walking and riding the subway are great opportunities to work out the next section of the plot and then when I get home, I and start writing it.  Often, the characters go in directions or do things I didn’t expect when I started writing and I just have to go with it.

EQ: What kinds of female characters do you prefer to write? 

Diane: I like to think my female characters are strong women.  They don’t need a man or men to complete them.  They are with the men because they love them and their lives are fuller with the men in them, but they aren’t half a person or incomplete if they don’t have a man.  Even if they are subs, they don’t allow themselves to be pushed around, except, of course, during a scene.  Outside a scene, they are equals. The men may be protective, but they don’t give orders for day to day living, or if they do, the women set them straight.

EQ: Tell us a little bit about your most recent release.

Diane: My newest “Taken by Wolves”.  It’s the fourth in the Call of the Wolf series. 

I’m really proud of the “Call of the Wolf” series.  I’ve included serious topics in books before, but the “Call of the Wolf” books, even the first which is, in my opinion, quite funny, deals with issues of trust and taking a chance between Samantha and the McAllister brothers, particularly the Alpha, Gabe, whose trust issues spark the humour, as Sam won’t let him push her around. 

In the second book, Alex, the Alpha, is a wounded war vet and Lena, the Mate he walked away from, is the only one who can help him when he returns, but he’s ashamed to show himself and his injuries to her.  In the third book, the Penelope and heroes are dealing with a Mating Ceremony that won’t work and is a kind of allegory for infertility.  Their monthly attempts at the ceremony are turning sex into a chore and the frustration of failure is tearing them apart.

In book 3, there was also a sub-plot with a fire that was likely arson.  I revisit this in “Taken by Wolves”.  The fire was deliberate and part of a series of crimes against shifter.  Hate-crimes.  Samantha’s brothers come to town to see her and check out her Mates, but they have a second purpose.  They are tracking the purp who has now caused a death in one of the fires he has set.  In Harmony, they meet Ginger and fall hard, but they have a job to do, as well, and it has to come first.  The stakes escalate when all the signs point to the fact that the bad guy may live in Harmony and Ginger could be at risk.

Find out more about Diane Leyne and her titles:

Call of the Wolf 4, Taken by Wolves

 

http://www.bookstrand.com/diane-leyne