Joy Nash 50 Days 50 Books Giveaway!

Before the fun begins I guess we should go over the rules. Ya, I know. Joy Nash will be giving away a signed copy of Immortals: The Crossing to one lucky winner. Plus it is not just for the US people, she has told me that she will ship anywhere. To enter the contest, all you have to do is comment here on this post.

Since I was going to let one of my kids pick the winner I had to have a second prize. If not, it would have gotten ugly here very quickly. So, as a second prize I will be offering a chance to win a $20.00 gift certificate to Amazon.com. To enter this contest, just head on over to BitenByBooks.com, pick a book and leave a comment. Link it to here in a comment. Easy baby!

Not only do you have one chance to win but two!
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Now for the fun! I was able to ask Ms Nash some questions about her writing and enjoyed her answers. I hope you do as well.

Good morning Ms Nash, how are you doing this morning?
Normally I'm doing great in the morning, since I'm a morning person. I try to do most of my writing in the morning, except near a deadline, when it's pretty much around the clock. Right now, for me, it's afternoon--that's when I get to email. And I'm doing fine!

How are you keeping up with your 50 Days 50 Books Giveaway? Are you having fun yet?
As I type this, the giveaway starts in four days, and I'm just starting to get around to people's blogs. Should be fun!

Did you always know that you wanted to be an author or did you have another dream?
When I was young, I loved to read more than anything and thought about being a writer. I was never encouraged in that direction though, and ended up in a much different field, though still a creative one. Over the years I wrote some (bad) poetry and began a couple books that never amounted to much. It was only after I was home with three young children and needed a new creative outlet that I decided to try to seriously write a book for publication.

How long did you write until you were finally published?
Besides the doodling over the years, I started writing romance seriously in 2000, joined RWA in 2001, and was very lucky to sell my first book in 2004.

When you sit down to write, is there a ritual you have to do before you start?
Sort of - on a great writing morning, after my kids get on the school bus, I make a second (or third) cup of tea and sit down at my laptop to write. If I'm smart, I don't look at email or a news website first. I write for three hours until my dog comes over to beg for a walk. I walk and work out some story problems in my head at the same time. Then I come back and write all my ideas down.

Now to your wonderful books *BG*. What is your favorite couple that you have written?
Oh, that question is always so hard to answer. It's usually the couple I'm working on at the time, because I'm really caught up in their drama.

What character is more like your personality?
They are all my personality, actually. Which I guess means I have a very mild case of multiple personality disorder, lol! I think it was Harrison Ford who said something like he was an actor because he wanted more than one life. That's how I feel about writing. You get to pretend to be everyone.And you get as much time as you need to think up a snappy comeback!

Do you have anything new in the works? Inquiring minds want to know.
At the moment, I'm polishing up a contemporary romance/women'sfiction, something a bit different from my paranormals, which I'll bereleasing under a new pen name, Joy Rizza, in June 09. It's called A Little Light Magic, and is the story of what happens when a girl with no family meets at guy with too much. Watch the anticipation page on my joynashwebsite for details. After that, I'm continuing my Druids of Avalon historical paranormal series, with Silver Silence in Oct 09.

Did you pick this genre to write or did it pick you?
I really love everything paranormal. When I first started writing, I thought I'd write straight fantasy. But then I discovered paranormal romance and fantasy romance cross-genres and I was hooked.

When you have a moment to sit down and breathe, what kinds of books do you read?
I read everything, but my real stress busters are non-magical historicals. I love anything by Liz Carlyle, Lisa Kleypas, and Brenda Joyce. The more angst ridden and tortured the heroes are, the better. The other thing I read a lot of is young adult novels, to keep up with my kids.

Do you have any tips for those aspiring authors out there?
Butt in chair, fingers on keyboard. You really can only learn writing by doing it. Also, try to figure out what it is about your favorite authors' books that makes you love reading them. Character? Plot? Realism? Fantasy? Pacing? Then use the knowledge to make your own stories better.

Now for the most important question of the day, what color does a Smurf change when you choke it?
Ha! Probably red, I'd say :-)Joy