Another Newcomer

Lee, thanks so much for inviting me to be here - and for the fun interview we did. I'm waving to everyone from Vancouver, BC, which is normally known for its rainy winters. Right now the city is reeling in shock from 2 days of snow. I'm dealing with the issue by staying inside where it's warm!

I’m Susan Lyons, and I write sexy contemporary romance. After way too many years to count, and about a dozen short story sales, I made my first book sale in June of 2005. I’ve now sold 4 books and 1 novella to Kensington Aphrodisia, so it’s been a wild and wonderful year and a half.

It’s interesting being published by Aphrodisia. It’s an amazing line, with incredible diversity. There are werewolves, threesomes, futuristic, Goth, BDSM -- and then there’s me. One woman, one man, nothing incredibly kinky. I’m pretty “plain vanilla,” among my fellow authors.

But then, to me, what I’m really writing is romantic women’s fiction. My books are about friendship, family issues, work dilemmas, and basically, about finding yourself. I deliberately chose to write about heroines in their 20s because I think it’s such an amazing time. You’re not a girl any more, and you’re trying to figure out who you’re going to be as a woman. How are you different than your parents and how are you the same? What are your values? What do you want out of life -- and out of love?

My 4-book series has been branded by reviewers as The Awesome Foursome Series, because that’s the name the four girlfriends call themselves. They’re kind of like the women in Sex And The City, but younger and less jaded. They get together weekly for food, drink and lots of chat -- often about the men in their lives. In each book, each of the girlfriends gets her own romance.

And it’s true, I don’t believe in closing the bedroom doors. To me, sex -- even if it’s a one-night stand -- is a very significant, meaningful act. I want to know what my heroine and hero do, think and feel. So yes, I’ve been told readers often need cold showers, or can’t wait for their hubbies to get home from work! Reviewers have characterized my books as “combining sizzling hot sex and real emotional depth” (Joyfully Reviewed), and said my “sex scenes are graphic, sexy, and inspiring [and my] multilayered characters have a vibrant emotional impact” (Romance Reviews Today).

You can check out my books (and short stories and photographs, plus view a movie video of The Firefighter) on my website at www.susanlyons.ca -- and while you’re there, enter my monthly contest.

That brings me to the subject of firefighters. Why, you might ask? Well, because one of my website contest prizes is a firefighter calendar. Firefighters are a theme with me, right now. My August book, Hot in Here, has a firefighter hero and so does my upcoming February novella, “Hot Down Under.”

Before I wrote Hot in Here, I knew my heroine was going to be Jenny but I didn’t know what kind of hero to give her. Except that he had to make her face her identity issues -- i.e., to what extent was she a good Chinese daughter, and to what extent a modern Western woman? It turned out my book club (another 4-gal group) was keen on firefighters and wanted to attend an open house. In the rush to meet my contract deadline for Champagne Rules (the book before Hot in Here), I figured I didn’t have time for this little excursion. Ooh, unless…Jenny’s hero was a firefighter. So, that began my research into firefighters.

They’re amazing. True heroes, quietly risking their lives on a daily basis. And just all-around good people. They’re willing to take time to teach kids. They’re patient with old ladies who call them out in the middle of the night because they can’t open their pill bottles. And they’ll also sit down and chat with a fiction writer! One group even gave me Earl Grey tea in the kitchen of their firehall.

My monthly website contest is an opinion poll, where I ask a different question each month. One month, it was “what’s the sexiest occupation for a guy?” And you guessed it, the hands-down winner was, “a firefighter.” They’re strong, fit, brave, intelligent -- and honestly, don’t you think they’re recruited in part for good looks?

Hence, my collection of firefighter calendars. Of course the first I gave away had to be from Vancouver, BC, my home town and the city where Jenny’s hero, Scott, works. Stockpiled for down the road is one from Queensland, Australia, where “Hot Down Under” is set. And in between, I’ve just enhanced my collection with calendars from Calgary and Edmonton, gathered personally from some of the calendar models when I attended “Taboo, the naughty but nice sex show.”

A sex show, you may ask. Yeah, I was curious and a little inhibited, but three of us writers agreed to be featured authors at the Chapters booth, and to present seminars on “Writing Hot for Fun or Profit.” It was actually a great experience, and there were almost no people wandering around in black leather with spiked dog-collars. Honest!

Other women came home with souvenirs like bustiers and sex toys, but for me, it was firefighter calendars.

Before I became a writer, I never imagined I’d be sitting in a firehall kitchen or attending a sex show, but wow, have my horizons expanded. Can’t wait to find out what comes next.

Thanks again, Lee, for inviting me to be here.