Interview with Sara Bennett

previously featured May 2005

1. Welcome, Sara, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you discovered that you were meant to write such sexy and steamy novels?

Thanks for the invitation. Well I’ve been writing for a long time now but I didn’t always write romance. In fact when I started I didn’t realize I would one day be writing sexy and steamy novels, but there were signs. Every book I wrote seemed to have a romance in it, and gradually the romance began to take up more and more space in my story. When I signed up with Avon it was as if I’d been set free to write the way I’d always wanted to.

2. Can you tell us a little bit about your latest release, Lessons in Seduction?

Lessons in Seduction is the first book in a trilogy set in the Victorian era. The stories revolve around the three Greentree sisters who were kidnapped as children and discover they are the daughters of Aphrodite, an infamous courtesan. Lessons in Seduction is the story of Vivianna Greentree, a patron of a school for poor orphans. After discovering the perfect place for her school, Vivianna learns that the owner of the property is going to demolish it. She is determined to persuade him otherwise, using whatever means she can. Even seduction. But Vivianna needs some advice, and who better to give it than Aphrodite!

3. What is your favorite time period that you have written so far?

I don’t really have a favorite time period, they’re all interesting and different.

4. Do you have a favorite hero/heroine that you created?

At the moment I’m very fond of the Greentree sisters and the men they fall in love with. I’ve just finished Rules of Passion, the second book in the series, Marietta’s story. Max, Lord Roseby, is the hero of the book and I’d have to admit he is almost my perfect hero.

5. How did it feel when you won that short story contest? It must have been very exciting.

It was a shock, I didn’t think I had a chance, and then it was in the local newspaper and everyone knew. A real thrill, and a validation for me, too. I realized I wasn’t just wasting my time with dreams that could never come true.

6.Writing novels, I would think is very difficult, and your life sounds hectic, how do you manage it all?

I honestly don’t know. Sometimes when a deadline gets close I start to panic, and there’s always a point in writing a book when I think it’s awful, but somehow I pull it together. My husband is marvelous, he does all the things I don’t have time for.

7. What do you do immediately after you have completed a novel? Any special celebrations with family/friends?

Usually we open a bottle of champagne. I think a writer needs to celebrate every step, to remind herself how lonely and difficult a task it is to get published and to stay there. Sometimes my whole family go out to dinner if it’s a big celebration. Once I bought a garden seat so I could sit and enjoy doing nothing for a couple of hours.

8. What advice would you give an aspiring writer?

Keep writing. Learning to write isn’t a matter of taking How-to courses and reading How-to books, although they help. It’s a matter of practicing, and when the knockbacks come, picking yourself up and trying again. The more you write the better you get at it, as simple as that.

9. What is your favorite part about writing?

I have two favorite parts. The first is when I start a new book and it’s all new and exciting and I feel like anything is possible. The second is when the book is almost finished and I’m doing the final couple of read-throughs, and suddenly the story comes alive for me—the characters are real people, the places are real places, it’s no longer just my creation.

10. What is your favorite comfort food?

This might sound strange, but oatmeal! When I’m feeling tired and down and I just want to hide away and watch a movie, I make myself a bowl of oatmeal. Lots of honey and milk. It always comforts me.

11. Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

The answer to this question seems to change from day to day. At the moment I’m thinking Green Darkness by Anya Seaton, probably because I’m working on my own paranormal series.

12. I see that you have written a paranormal, what made you decide to write one, and can you tell us a little bit about it?

I love reading about the paranormal. Some of my Australian books, written under the name Lilly Sommers, have a paranormal flavor so it’s not new to me. I was looking for an idea that brought both my paranormal and historical interests together, so the Eternal Warriors series was born. Avon liked the idea, and I’ve signed a contract for three books, due out in 2006. The first is set in the Scottish Highlands, with a hero from the 18th century and a present day heroine.