Clare took the pen name London from the city where she lives, loves and writes. She juggles fiction with a frantic family life and waits for the far distant day when she can afford to give up her day job as an accountant. She’s written in many genres and across many settings, with short stories published both online and in print anthologies. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama, with a healthy serving of erotica, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic and sexy characters. Clare currently has a fantasy novel in the process of publication, two more nearing the submission stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them amongst the frantic family life.
Clare’s website : www.darkpearldiva.com
Clare’s blog : http://claredivatoo.livejournal.com/
****Getting to know Clare:
Tell us about your upcoming release and what you hope readers will enjoy about it.
Hi there – just want to reassure people this ISN’T an April Fool’s joke, I am really here, and I am chatting to you today LOL!The excitement for me at the moment is the release of The Gold Warrior at Dreamspinner Press, a novel that I first started a couple of years ago and finally see in print. I’m still squeeing from the thrill of being on Amazon! And Hot from the Press, the news for you all today is that I’m in the final round of edits for the sequel, The Twisted Brand, which is scheduled for release in June.Two instalments of fantasy romance heaven!
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
LOL I don’t know when I’m not working, with a full time job, husband and 2 teenage sons, and various other organizations that we help out at! But I suppose my one personal treat is to write. Obvious, right?
What season is your favorite and why?
I love spring. I love the fresh but dry weather, and the daffodils – my favorite flower – and the sense that things are growing and starting again.
What would we find on your bookcase if we looked? What is one of your favorite authors?
Well you’d find my book LOL, no seriously, I have a huge jumble of stuff, I keep meaning to sort it, and also a lot of books I haven’t read yet. There’s a lot of manga, and thrillers and humor and crime novels.
I’m reading a Carl Hiassen at the moment, I love his witty, sardonic style. I want to write like that one day!
What was the last book you read (e or print) and did you like it?
In print, I read Regeneration by Pat Barker, about Seigfried Sassoon and his tour of duty in the British army during the First World War. Superb, lyrical writing, beautifully observed dialogue, very sensitive writing.
In ebook, there are two books that have struck me most in the last week or so. One is Bard of Pain by Dusk Peterson, a superb, shocking, striking novel in an alternative world about a singular and initially unsympathetic torturer in the military. But the development of his life and his beliefs is an amazing epiphany.The other is After Anna by Theda Black, a not-comfortable read in some ways because it deals with bereavement and the complex but passionate relationship between two men left behind, but I enjoyed the rich, tense, emotional writing very much.
What makes a good book?
The characters, no doubt in my mind. I’ll notice if a setting is weak or poorly written, but the main thing that keeps me going through a story is the bond I create with the characters and my care for what happens to them. I love dialogue for that, too.
What’s the most interesting thing you’ve ever done?
Written a book LOL. Well, I’ve also won a sporting tournament, sung with a live jazz band, made Barbie frocks and kissed Lennox Lewis (on the cheek), so there are other things in the running!
Boxers or briefs?Boxers. Preferably black.
Ben Affleck or Matt Damon to save the world?
Ben Affleck. Poor Matt never got to smile much all through the Bourne movies.
What else would you like readers to know about you or your work?How much I’ve enjoyed getting to know readers and other authors and joining the fiction community out there! It’s definitely a benefit of net publishing – I love the contact. And feel free to contact me any time! J
Where are you published?
At Dreamspinner Press www.dreamspinnerpress.com
The Gold Warrior/Ghost of Christmas yet to Come/Special Offer/Come Together
At Eternal Press www.eternalpress.ca
Masquerade/Secret Santa/Just Like Scrooge/My Own Wings
Thanks for coming! J
Thank *you* for hosting me, it’s been a lot of fun and I hope I’m getting better at these things as time goes on!
