Interview with Shoshana Evers

I met Shoshana at an HVRWA chapter meeting and heard her read from a work in progress. I was taken by her facility with words and knew she would soon be published. She recently sold her first story to Ellora's Cave. I'm pleased to interview our latest soon to be published author.


1. What's your genre or do you write in more than one?

I write erotic romances. I’ve tried my hand at other genres, but I
think this is my niche – at least for now.

2. Did you choose your genre or did it choose you?

Hmmm. Well, my first stabs at writing erotic fiction were written
privately, meant for my husband’s eyes only. He suggested that I try
to get published. After a few of my less sensual romance novels were
rejected, I decided to see if anyone liked the super sexy stuff. And
that’s what sold. So I don’t know if I chose erotica or it chose me.

3. Is there any genre you'd like to try? Or is there one you wouldn't?

There’s nothing that I wouldn’t like to try, but there’s probably
things that I shouldn’t try. I don’t have the patience for things that
require tons of historical research. So as much as I love to read
Regency romances, I probably won’t be writing one anytime soon. I
found out the hard way that historical knowledge does not seep into my
writing via osmosis from reading other novels.

4. What fiction do you read for pleasure?

I read a lot of erotica, specifically erotic romance, and even more
specifically BDSM flavored erotic romance. I also read memoirs and
thrillers and anything someone tells me is a good read. I find pretty
much all reading to be enjoyable. If I don’t have a book to read at
the breakfast table I will literally read the labels on food and read
junk mail just so I can be reading!

5. Tell me a bit about yourself and how long you've been writing,

I just turned thirty, and I’ve been writing since I first learned how
to read and write. So, I was five. My first “books” were handwritten
and three pages long, but I would always write “Chapter One” at the
top of the first page, with the intention of writing a very long book.
Of course, one of the hardest things about writing a novel is
finishing it, so I had a lot of false starts until I was about twenty
years old, when I finally wrote a novel through to the end. It was
absolutely a piece of garbage, but at least it was complete. Since
then I wrote another three novels to completion, and it was the fourth
one that sold.

6. Which of your characters is your favorite?

I think I fall in love with each of the Heroes I write, and I relate
to the Heroines. Picking a favorite would be like picking a favorite
child, so I can’t.

7. Are there villains in your books and how were they created?

Sometimes I write villains, but if you asked them they would say that
they are the good guys. No villain thinks he’s the bad guy. Everyone
has to justify his behavior to sleep at night.

8. What are you working on now?

I’m working on two pieces right now. One is an erotic romance
tentatively titled “Hollywood Spank”, and the other is a short story
I’m hoping will work for Christmas. That one’s going to be less erotic
romance and more like erotic fetish fun.

9. What's your latest release and how did the idea arrive?

“Punishing the Art Thief” will be released by Ellora’s Cave, hopefully
before October when Romanticon 2010 will be held. I don’t have an
exact release date. The idea for that book came when I was perusing an
FBI website (don’t ask) and learned that there are several famous
paintings - including Rembrandt’s only seascape - that were stolen in
an art heist in 1990 and they are all still missing. I started
wondering where that Rembrandt was… and that’s when the idea started
to come together.

10. How does your latest story start? Give us an excerpt of the
opening 400 to 500 words.

This is the as-of-yet unedited opening to “Punishing the Art Thief” by
Shoshanna Evers, to be released by Ellora’s Cave.

Melissa Dwyer had never actually seen the dark stone mansion before
because it was set so far back off the road. The party guests arrived
for the fundraiser via a long, winding private drive and left their
Mercedes and Porches for the hired valets. She knew that Westchester
County, a half hour north of Manhattan, had a lot of rich folks.
Melissa had just never been invited to mingle with them before.
And she wasn’t invited now, either. She wore the same long, sea green
satin gown that she wore whenever she crashed a black tie affair. Her
curly brown hair was swept neatly off her lightly made up face. She
looked like she belonged. As far as Melissa was concerned, she did.
She probably loved art a whole lot more than any of these other posers
who were just there for the hors d’oeuvres. Why shouldn’t she go to
the grand unveiling of Mr. Hamilton’s new addition to his personal art
gallery? Just because she wasn’t able to pay a thousand dollars a
head, even if it were for Hamilton’s charity du jour, didn’t mean she
couldn’t appreciate the artistic beauty of a good painting.

Mr. Hamilton may have been old, but he had excellent taste in art. The
walls of his estate were adorned with a tasteful mix of classic
works—originals, Melissa had no doubt—and talented new artists.
There were several men milling about wearing sunglasses and dark
suits, talking into radios in hushed tones. Mr. Hamilton had spared no
expense to protect his private collection. One of the security guards
kept looking over at her. Did she really stick out so clearly as
someone who wasn’t supposed to be there? Melissa turned away and tried
to blend with the throng of guests heading for the main hall.

But the security guard tapped her shoulder. Melissa nearly jumped out
of her skin before arranging an aloof smile on her face and turning to
him. Her heart sank as she realized that she was busted. The worst
part was that she had really been looking forward to seeing Mr.
Hamilton’s new pieces. “Yes?”

The security guard smiled. She wasn’t expecting that and the sight of
his grin made the fake snobby society smile she had put on turn into a
genuine smile. This guy was an intensely good looking man. He had
dark, closely cropped short hair and olive colored skin. He looked
like he was about her age—mid thirties, maybe? “Sorry,” he said. He
lowered his sunglasses and looked at her with intense green eyes. “For
some reason I thought you looked familiar.” The glasses went back up.
She could feel him assessing her beneath his dark glasses, and she was
suddenly very aware of the fact that he was a man. Beneath his gaze
she felt almost like prey, waiting to be eaten up. A vision of those
strong, powerful arms holding her thighs apart as he licked her slowly
filled her mind and she had to turn away before she blushed. She
didn’t even know his name. She’d have to find out.

“I’m pretty sure I would have remembered you,” she said.
*****