Summer Alan
...Hot Reads

Q. I heard you just sold another story to Cobblestone Press. What can you tell us about it?

A. Hello Kris! In case I forget to tell you later, I had a really good time tonight—ah, Pretty Woman reference—gotta love that. Meanwhile, the new story: it's called Two Men and a Truck, and it's a M/F/M ménage romance. Here's the blurb: Josie is burned by one man and decides to leave town until two men show her how it feels to really burn.

Q. Are you often inspired by things you see while on the road? (I noticed you are a wanderer of sorts.)

A. Inspiration comes more often than not by things I see around me, things people say, stuff I read. The vegetable scene in Bone Deep was a direct result of overhearing a man and woman talking at a party. The hard part is remembering it long enough to get somewhere I can write it down. It is pretty tough to carry on a dinner conversation with people when all I'm thinking is, "That's such a great idea! I've got to write that down!"

Q. How did you get started writing erotic romance?

A. I'd been writing for a long time, typical romance stuff, then one day, I wrote this story (Isosceles Triangle) that was smoking hot…much hotter than anything I'd ever written before. I had no idea what to do with it. I even tried to give it away to someone else for them to submit under their own name—I'll tell you that story when I know you better. Ha! A writer friend of mine convinced me that I was insane and that I needed to send it to someone. So, I took her advice, didn't give it away and finally did submit it to Deanna at Cobblestone Press. She bought it in 3 days, which is still a record for me. Of all the stories I've written and published, it remains my bestseller. I got in touch with my "inner kink" and have been writing it ever since.

Q. What's your writing process? Are you a plotter or a more organic writer?

A. I'd say I'm more of a panster than a plotter. I like to go with the first spark of an idea and see where it leads.

Q. Are you working on anything new? What can you tell us about it?

A. I've recently finished the first draft of my first sequel, a follow-up story to Isosceles Triangle. I haven't come up with a title for it yet—I've been calling it "Cyber Sex" until I come up with something better. I'll get it edited one of these days and submitted to Deanna.

Q. I noticed "Isosceles Triangle" is a sci-fi book. What attracted you to that genre?

A. The title for that story didn't come to me until the very end of the first draft. I don't know what you know about triangles, but an isosceles triangle is one with 2 equal sides and 1 side of a different length. It seemed to fit the situation well with 1 male scientist, the clone he'd created of himself and the heroine. I went back at the end and gave the scientist the middle name of "Isosceles."

But that doesn't really answer your question, does it? Sorry. Why do I like sci-fi? Who knows? Why do I like martinis? I just do. They are fun and they make me feel good. Not much of a reason, is it?

Q. Which of your books was the hardest to write and why?

A. Surprisingly, I wouldn't say any of them have been hard to write. I just try to focus on the conflict and the underlying attraction, and the rest kind of turns out how it turns out. Writing for me is really about having fun—a means of escape from reality. If it gets hard, I take a vacation until the urge to write more comes to me.

Q. Tell us five surprising things about Summer Alan!

1—I have an alter-ego. If you meet many writers, you'll probably find a lot of us do.

2—I only write the hot stuff…writing a non-erotic romance doesn't interest me—nor am I especially good at it.

3—I don't know how long I'll do this. I have plans to visit the pyramids in the near future, and I can almost see myself staying there. I was born to be a Pharaoh.

4—I love trivia.

5—Writing has opened up a world to me that I didn't know existed—and that world is a blast. The world of the mind populated by amazing writers who at heart, are really interested in only one thing: telling a great story.