Author Interview and Giveaway: Eden Winters.

Our author of the month for June is Eden Winters and we were very pleased to invite her into the clubhouse to answer some questions. Over some Pimms - well what else do you have in this hot summer weather ?- I asked her about her books and her writing.

BMBR: Our book of the month this month was Naked Tails, which was a hugely fun read, and that leads to our first question: Why possums? Of all the creatures out there what drew you to choose possums as the heroes of your story?

EW: At the time that I wrote the story I lived in a very remote home surrounded by woods. Skunks, possums, deer, squirrels, and foxes were all my neighbors. The fall that year was particularly cold, and a four-footed local decided to winter at my place.

The first night I awoke to scratching in the walls I was terrified, thinking whatever it was could get in. I slept with the lights on a few nights, with a weapon always handy. I asked the landlord to come by and together we reached the conclusion that the critter was a possum that liked to get into the walls, crawl into the water heater compartment, and snooze in warmth.

I eyed the panel over the water heater. What if I opened the panel and the possum jumped out and bit me? And what if it was really the weak link in the chain of the local possum shifters? And what if the vet in town was really their leader? Yeah, an author’s mind works like that.

While kicking around these ideas, I attended a conference hosted by Dreamspinner Press, and shared a limo ride with Carole Cummings, P.D. Singer, Andrew Grey, and few others. I tossed out the idea and they had a great time giving me suggestions for my possum shifters: “Oh, and when they get scared, they fall over!”

Ironically, the place where my possum adventure occurred is called “Possum Kingdom” which I used for the name of the town (I just moved it to a different state.)

BMBR: What is your favourite genre to write?

EW: I write strictly m/m at the moment, and thrive on action adventure, like in my Diversion series, but I also enjoy contemporary, paranormal, and sci-fi. Oh, I have tried my hand at comedy too.

BMBR: Any future projects we should look out for?

EW: I’m re-releasing the first book in the Diversion series, to be followed by book four, Manipulation, which should be ready this fall. In September, Dreamspinner will release my rocker/opera star novel, A Matter of When.

BMBR: Any plans for future shifter books? Because the unicorn shifter market is sorely lacking. *hint hint*

EW: Unicorns! Hmm… I’ll have to consider that. I do have notes and hope to soon work on a young adult trilogy featuring a bird shifter.

BMBR: What are your favourites - meerkats or prairie dogs?

EW: Both!

BMBR: What is the best thing about being an author? And the worst?

EW: The best? All the great people I meet. The worst? Having to go to the EDJ when I want to stay home and write!

BMBR: If you could go back and give you 16 year old self some advice, what would it be?

EW: You are all you need, and yours is the only behavior you’re responsible for. Don’t let people change you—be your own work in progress.

BMBR: What is your guilty pleasure?

EW: If you saw how many pairs of shoes I own, you might plan an intervention. So I have to say: acquiring footwear.

Thank you so much for visiting Eden, it has been a real pleasure.

Eden has kindly offered up an e-book copy of each of her Match shorts (The Match Before Christmas, Fanning the Flames, A Lie I Can Live With) as a give-away prize set. If you would like to be in with a chance of winning a copy please comment below with (1) a means of contacting you such as email, Twitter name, etc., and (2) the type of animal you would be if you were a shifter and why. The give-away closes at 12pm pacific time on Friday 27th June and a name will be picked at random then. 

Of course we couldn't let Eden visit without giving her a caricature of her Unicorn alter-ego, so here she is, the beautiful Plum Lovely Lady....