Interview and GIVEAWAY with author Zenobia Renquist

Ellora’s Cave Feature Month

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Reader’s Edyn

Interview and GIVEAWAY with author Zenobia Renquist

What’s up peeps? I am continuing my Ellora’s Cave Feature Month today. Remember, the author may have been previously published with EC or is currently published with EC. Either way you will be learning an awful lot about the Ellora’s Cave authors this month. I hope you will continue to join us for this exciting adventure! You are sure to find it very entertaining! So let’s get on with it!

My next EC author is Zenobia Renquist. Here is her bio from the EC website.

**BIO**

Zenobia Renquist lives in her imagination. She is an Air Force brat turned Air Force wife, which means she’s accustomed to travel and does it whenever possible (so long as she doesn’t have to fly). Her favorite pastime is torturing her characters on their way to happily-ever-after for the enjoyment of her readers.
On the few occasions her muse flees the scene of the crime, Zenobia likes to read (comics, manga and romance), go to the movies, play a few levels of whichever puzzle game has hijacked her interest or experiment with a new chain maille weave.

Please help me welcome:

**ZENOBIA  RENQUIST**

**INTERVIEW**

How has your life changed since becoming published?

I have perfected the art of Hurry Up and Wait. Authors are always in a hurry to submit a manuscript they know won’t receive an answer – either way – for a least a month if not more. I’ve also learned not everything will get done. While I’m writing, dinner won’t get cooked, the dishes won’t be done, and the fridge might sit empty for a few days.

Sounds familiar and I am not even an author. LOL What is your typical day like?

After my usual wake up routine, I sit down to write. I have to get my writing out of the way before I check my email or sign into Facebook or else it’ll never get done. There’s always something happening in the writing world that distracts from writing, so that’s the first thing I do with my day. After I write until a good stopping point (ie – my muse and/or the characters are no longer talking to me), then I do my internet routine of checking mail, promoting my releases, and just hanging out.

Darn the distractions. I know exactly what you mean too! *nods* Tell us a little about your current release PET’S PLEASURE.

I wanted to explore how a woman from Earth would react to being kidnapped by aliens and then forced into being a pet. Not a BDSM pet, but an actual “dumb animal” type of pet. Of course, Starling – the heroine of Pet’s Pleasure – didn’t react well to this. Her reaction, Bekion fighting his attraction to her and the need to keep her safe from Bekion’s sadistic younger brother is the premise of the whole story.

Fascinating! I bet that was an entertaining and challenging story to write. Any upcoming projects you would like to tell us about?

I have several projects slated for EC Blush, but nothing at a stage where I can talk about it yet. I can say that the stories I have planned will still be in the SciFi Romance genre.

Good to know. What that translates to peeps, is keep yo eyes peeled! How do you keep in contact with your readers?

I have my own Yahoo group, as well as an FB fan page, and readers can usually find me on the publisher’s loops as well. Then there’s always my blog, my website, and my newsletter.

Yahoo Group

Facebook

EC Chat

EC Blush Chat

Blog

Website

Newsletter

Wow! You are crazy active virtually! What is your favorite thing about this book?

My favorite thing about PET’S PLEASURE would have to be the interaction between Starling and Bekion. They get into the most spectacular arguments. I had so much fun writing them and then reading them out loud.

Arguments are generally conducive to a more explosive and passionate relationship. I love them when they are written into the scenes the right way. What’s next for PET’S PLEASURE?

Well I hope my sales do well enough that it’ll be in print soon. I want to send a copy to my Granny. She’s a fan of my books and she would love to get a copy of this one.

Really? How cool! Any special quirks or habits when writing?

I like it quiet except for instrumental music or a movie I’ve seen so many times that I can tune it out. Because of that, I have a really weird sleep schedule so I can be up when my husband has gone to bed.

*whispers* I do a LOT of reading after DH has gone to bed. We have an abnormal schedule around here also. How do you celebrate when you finish a novel?

I give myself permission to not write for a day or two. I usually can’t last much longer than that. But it’s my guilt-free time to veg in front of the computer and bask in the fact that I finished.

Well deserved, I say! What are you reading now? Any favorites you tend to go back to?

I’m in the middle of the manga series Zombie Loan. I’m a HUGE manga/anime fan. My manga collection rivals most bookstores so far as shelf space is concerned. I also read a lot of American romance novels. I tend towards paranormal. Give me a hunky vampire or a hot shifter any day of the week. My absolute favorite book of all time will forever and always be Black Lyon by Jude Deveraux. The way the hero and heroine interacted and how their relationship eventually evolved into love is the epitome of the Beauty and the Beast archetype and that’s my favorite fairytale.

I.Love .Deveraux. The Black Lyon was great. Although I dislike how the belt gets lost later on and surfaces in the Velvet Saga with basically no explanation as to how it ended up with Alex. Made me go – What the? Huh? Any advice you’d like to share for aspiring writers?

Question every aspect of your plot and character development or else someone else will do it for you and they might not be as nice. Play devil’s advocate with your plot. Pick it apart the way you would a book you’re reading. Don’t be afraid to be harsh with your work because that’s what makes it better. On the flip side, don’t spend so much time nitpicking your story that you never get it published. You can’t find everything and there will always be something someone didn’t like. Do the best you can to put out the best book you can and then let what happens happen.

Interesting piece of advice considering my comment about Deveraux. So J.D. – What gives with the unexplained belt mystery?  … LOL ~ What is one thing you know now that you wish you had known when you first started writing?

I wish I had known about RWA’s program for unpublished authors and all the contests available to them. I knew nothing about that. I knew about RWA, but I thought it was published authors only. I figured that was something I should join AFTER I got published not before. If I could go back and clear up that misconception, I would.

Huh. I didn’t know and I bet a lot of others wouldn’t either. Thanks for sharing! Do you have any other hobbies or interests besides writing?

As I said already, I’m a manga/anima fanatic so I collect both and indulge in them as much as I can. I also dabble in knitting chain mail and weaving. I own an inkle loom that I haven’t paid attention to in months and I’ve recently discovered Kumihimo braiding. Very fun. I also like doing jigsaw puzzles. Pastoral scenes and landscapes are my favorites. It adds a level of difficulty that guarantees I won’t finish the puzzle three hours after taking it out of the box.

Knitting chain mail you say? Wow! And what the heck is Kumi-lala braiding or whatever it is called? Time for random questions … Salty or Sweet?

Sour

Oh sure. Alter the answer completely why don’t you. *grins* Alcoholic or Non-alcoholic?

Non-Alcoholic

Same here. *raises hand* The lightest light weight evah! Me! What is your favorite holiday?

Halloween

Spooky! Favorite place you have ever visited?

Osaka, Japan

Nice! Opposites: 1 thing that never fails to make you happy and one thing that never fails to make you see red.

The Hamster Dance song always makes me smile no matter what. Being lied to will always piss me off faster than anything else.

*shudders* Is that like the chicken dance? Boxers or briefs?

Boxer briefs!

Well done! M&M’s or Skittles?

Skittles

Long hair or short hair on a guy?

LONG!!

Feel strongly about the hair, do ya? Favorite midnight snack?

Tostitos Hint of Lime Chips

Urban Fantasy or Paranormal Romance?

Paranormal

What? No changing the options? I thought you’d come up with something like Paraban Fantamance . Geeze! Tell us one random piece of information that you could have lived your whole life without ever knowing?

Panda poo smells like lemons

Stares at the audience. **blinks rapidly in confusion** Did she just say … did she really … perhaps I need glasses. Um … okay then.

I want to thank Ms. Renquist for appearing today and for taking the time to answer my questions. Ms. Renquist has several books out with a few different publishing companies. If you visit her blog at the link included in the interview, you can check them all out. But for today, I would like to share her first Ellora’s Cave title with you.

**PET’S  PLEASURE**

SciFi Romance (Mainstream, Interracial)

**BLURB**

The love of a good owner is hard to find.

Starling envied the easy life of pets…until she became one. Kidnapped from Earth and sold to the highest bidder, she now belongs to an alien king. But she doesn’t want to be his pampered possession. She wants Bekion to see her as an independent woman with needs and desires of her own.

Only deviants break the laws barring sexual relations between owners and their pets, and King Bekion has no intention of succumbing to simple lust. But the long nights with Starling’s lush body pressed tight against his take a toll. Her strength and intelligence make it difficult for Bekion to remember Starling is human—and forbidden. He knows it isn’t right but he can’t stop thinking of his pet and all the pleasure he could give her, even if it costs him his crown.

**EXCERPT**

Bekion asked between clenched teeth, “If you are so desperate for sexual partners, perhaps I should agree to Lady Idruc’s suggestion and couple you with Ladrow?”

“You do and you won’t have to worry about assassins because I’ll be the one who kills you in your sleep.”

He believed her. The threat was serious and so was she. He backed down—figuratively and literally. He sat on the bed with a long, tired sigh. “I have no intention of giving you to Lady Idruc’s pet, Starling. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“And you have no intention of sleeping with me either.”

“No.”

“Then why do I have to stay in your room? Give me a room of my own or let me sleep with Nausic. That would make his job easier.”

Though said in an offhand, innocent manner, her words reignited the full force of Bekion’s anger. “Your place is in my room.”

“Your closet, you mean.”

“You put yourself there.”

“I wouldn’t want to tempt you into bestiality.”

He pushed to his feet and stalked toward the door. “You’ll remain in my chambers until Lady Idruc and her pet leave tomorrow.”

“Whatever.”

He turned back but regretted it. Starling stood in her panties and nothing else. She’d stripped off her dress while his back was turned. He swallowed, trying to wet his suddenly dry throat.

Starling glanced at him. “Did you want something?”

Bekion turned his back once more and left the room. “Furielle, see to her,” he barked as he passed the woman.

Starling yelled something in her mother language. Bekion started to face her but Rois yanked him to the side. He felt the wind of a small vase speeding past his cheek. It crashed into the wall exactly where his head would have been if Rois hadn’t moved him. Bekion glared at Rois for laughing, which the man tried to cover with a coughing fit.

Bekion and Starling needed distance so they could both calm down. The recess he called had ended five minutes ago, so he headed for the throne room. He didn’t have to explain his tardiness to anyone. But he hated setting a bad example.

“She has a strong arm,” Rois said, amusement still coloring his voice. “She threw that vase from the inner chamber doorway. It had some speed on it too. I almost didn’t get to you in time.”

“Silence, Rois.”

Buy Links

Ellora’s Cave        Amazon        Barnes and Noble

All Romance eBooks        Kobo

So what do you think? If you liked that blurb, or you want to know more about Ms. Renquist, please visit her website. And if you are interested in her books, support her and buy herbooks. You can find out more about the mentioned Ellora’s Cave title by clicking here: Zenobia Renquist.

Please feel free to leave a comment or question for Ms. Renquist in the comment section below. We love hearing what you think and finding out what you want to know! AND Ms. Renquist has generously offered a digital copy of {ET’S  PLEASURE to two lucky commenters. That’s right! I said TWO winners! Just fill out the Rafflecopter form to be entered! And answer her question!

**QUESTION**

Do you believe aliens exist? Why or why not?

**FREE READ ALERT**

Ms. Renquist also has several FREE  READS on her website. Just click here to view the page. There are a few tabs toward the top of the page that allow you to navigate to the other stories.

**DA  RULEZ**

Two commenters will be drawn at random to receive a digital copy of PET’S  PLEASURE, by Zenobia Renquist. Must be 18 or older to enter. Contest open to international so long as you have a valid e-mail address! Reader’s Edyn and participating author are NOT responsible for lost or damaged items. Anyone may be disqualified at any time so be sure to follow directions to avoid disqualification. No substitutions allowed. Contest ends July 1^st at midnight MST. That means you will have through June 30^th to enter. When the clock strikes midnight on the 1^st, the contest will be over. Winner will be contacted by e-mail. Winner will have 48 hours to respond, or a new winner will be chosen. Odds of wining depend on the number of entries received. Be forewarned! *serious face* Those who enter and do not follow the tasks properly will have their entries removed. *peers closer* Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I. Will. Check. Them. Not trying to be a pain, Sorry.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Until next time …

HAPPY READING!!!