PG answers the Naughty Nine

Hi, everyone. I’m PG Forte—former Jersey Girl turned California Girl. And don’t you wish you all could be...? Okay, maybe you don't.

I write in a variety of blended genres including erotic romance, paranormal, romantic suspense and urban fantasy. To date, I've set most of my stories in my adopted home state. All except for my newest release, Iron, which flat out refuses to play by the rules. Kinda like me…

1. If you had to choose only one form of chocolate for the rest of your life, what would it be?

You know, I generally have a very hard time answering questions that ask me to pick just one best thing—no matter what the thing in question is. Pisces is a mutable sign. We’re changeable. And I really hate being pinned down…well, metaphorically speaking, anyway.

This, however, is a no-brainer.

I cannot live without Vosges Haut Chocolat Red Fire Bar. It’s simply one of the best things ever invented. It’s dark chocolate, but only 55% cacao, which is nowhere near as dark as some of my previous favorites—Dagoba’s Eclipse bar with its 87% cacao, NewTree's Sexy (dark chocolate and ginger) with 73% or even Scharffen Berger’s Mocha Bar (a mere 62% but with the most delectable ground coffee crunchiness that totally makes up for it).

Bet you didn’t know I took my chocolate this seriously, huh?

The Red Fire Bar is made with ancho and chipotle chilies and cinnamon. It’s wonderfully spicy, not too sweet, and so damned good I don’t even care that it’s not organic. Which, trust me, is a very shocking thing because, normally, I’m all about organic.

As Nick Greco (from my Oberon series) once observed about his ex-wife, “Her idea of roughing it is having to make do without organic chocolate.”

*sigh* I can so relate!

Oh, and Kelly and Meg? This link’s for you:

http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/category/bacon_and_chocolate

Yes, ladies, you read that right. Vosges also makes Bacon Bars! They come in either milk or dark chocolate, so pick your poison.

2. What author got you started reading or writing romance?

I guess I’d have to credit either Georgette Heyer or Victoria Holt with that. We had a house fire when I was twelve and lost a lot of stuff—like the whole second floor. One of the things someone donated to my family afterwards was a box of Georgette Heyer paperbacks.

In retrospect, I have to say WTF? My sister and I had no clothes beyond what we were wearing! Of course we’d need books, right?

Well, yeah, actually. Come to think of it…I did need books. So, I guess it worked out after all.

A few years later, I picked up Victoria Holt’s Pride of the Peacock in a doctor’s waiting room. One of the naughtier things I’ve done in my life was to take the book home with me so I could finish reading it. And I didn’t feel even a little bit guilty either.

What? It was too good to put down! Plus I brought it back. Later. I think.

3. What's the naughtiest thing you've ever done.

You mean the book thing doesn’t count? All right, all right, let’s see… The naughtiest thing I’ll admit to having done (since this is a public forum, after all) is making love in a little league dugout.

No, not during a game. That would just be icky.

It was in the off-season, middle of the day, with no one around. But it was in a park (Or do I mean field? Well, whatever you call it…) where my husband had played ball as a kid. So, I guess it was the fulfillment of some kind of adolescent fantasy—his, obviously.

Mine would have been under the boardwalk of just about any beach on the Jersey shore….except that would mean sand, wouldn’t it? Which is why I think that one will remain a fantasy, thank you very much!

4. What do you like best about the heroine in your latest book?

By ‘latest book’ I assume you mean the most recently released. And that would be Aislinn from my first (and possibly only) historical-paranormal erotic romance, Iron.

Aislinn is very pragmatic. When the book opens, she’s in a very tough spot, through no fault of her own, but she doesn’t go around wailing about what might have been and she doesn’t waste time assigning blame. She just figures out what she needs to get by and then she sets out to get it—by whatever means necessary.

Maybe she needs to trick Gavin (the hero) into helping her, and maybe she even feels bad about that, but it’s what she needs to do, so she does it. However, she will always make certain she pays him back. Because even when her life is on the line, it’s important to her that she keep faith with herself and that she stay true to her own sense of who and what she is.

She’s Fae. She’s Daoine Sidhe. She’s Lady Aislinn Deirbhile, daughter and sister to faery queens. And, personally, I think she’s damned awesome.

5. What is a must have in your writing routine?

A plot? Seriously, I don’t know how the pantsers do it. I can’t get started until I know where I’m going to end up.

But, yeah, the internet is a really nice addition. Oh, and coffee. Coffee is totally an essential.

6. What was the most interesting thing you learned in researching your most recent release?

Irish! Okay, I only learned a very little and most of it has slipped from my entirely-too-sieve-like brain, but it’s such a beautiful language and I loved delving into it.

I absolutely adore languages, but unfortunately I can never recall more than a handful of words in anything other than English. The language circuits in my brain are, apparently, fully occupied with just the one language.

7. You're marooned on a tropical island, what sexy celebrity and comfort reads would you want with you?

Like Kelly said, I don’t really fantasize about celebrities. Dream about them, sometimes, yes. Dream about them in tandem…well, okay, let’s not go there. I’ve confessed to enough naughtiness for one day. Gotta leave something for later, don’t you think?

Anyway…can’t I just arrange to be marooned on Erin’s island? I’d really like that. On my own, I’d never have thought of something like a shirtless Matthew McConaughey reading aloud. But, damn! How perfect is that? And, now that it’s in there, I just can’t get it out of my head.

The books are even harder. Can’t I please just have a solar powered Kindle? Fully loaded, of course. I’m thinking 1500 books would last me a while. I’d make him read sloooowww.

Also, at risk of sounding completely conceited, I’d really want to have my own books with me. I’m blaming the fire. I think that really exacerbated my latent pack-rat tendencies. Also, much as I adore reading, I like writing even more, and if I had my own books with me, I could stay happily occupied tweaking and re-writing them…probably for as long as I needed to. Plus, I know for a fact they’d sound really good read aloud with a southern drawl.

8. Do you listen to music when you write? If so what's your favorite, or does it change from book to book?

Oh, yeah, music is very important when I’m writing; especially for those times when I need a little help in tuning out the ‘real world’. Each book has its own soundtrack. Each character, has his or her own song collection as well—depending on their mood, my mood, the type of scene I’m working on—whatever. I’ll actually collect songs for a new book before I start writing it.

Right now I’m writing a Christmas-themed story, so I’m listening to a lot of Christmas music. Fa-la-la-la-la…

9. What's your favorite writing procrastination trick?

Googling for new review sites, because who knows how many might have cropped up in the last ten minutes? Downloading Amazon’s free mp3 of the day. Messing around with my website. Checking my email. Checking my email again. Checking one of my other eight email accounts, even though I don’t use any of them very much. Searching for a different song—‘cause this one’s no longer doing it for me. Eating more chocolate. Shopping online for LUSH Cosmetics…

The list is endless.

And, as Kinsey said, I love hearing from readers—you’re the reason I do what I do. Well, other than to make sure Matthew and I have enough books, of course. We’ll need some way to keep ourselves busy until we’re rescued, won’t we? I don’t know what else we could find to do on that island. I mean, hello? Sand!!

Now, here’s a little info about Iron, available at Liquid Silver Books:




A blacksmith with a tragic past, a faery princess with an uncertain future and a love that burns like iron…

Nineteenth century Ireland. Blacksmith Gavin O’Malley is a bitter man, with a heart as hard as the iron he forges. He wants his life back—the one that was stolen from him the day his wife died in childbirth—taking their firstborn son with her.

When Aislinn Deirbhile, an immortal, shape-shifting fae, arrives on his doorstep, he knows he’s in luck. For Aislinn can give Gavin everything he’s been missing: A devoted-seeming wife in the image of his beloved Mairead, and children who are sure to outlive their father. Now, all he has to do is find a way to keep her—without losing his immortal soul in the process.

But Aislinn has an agenda of her own. On the run from a vengeful fae lord who’s vowed to either make her his or end her existence, she knows the iron that allows Gavin to take her captive will also keep her pursuers at bay. In order to put herself permanently beyond her enemy’s reach, however, Aislinn will need something more. She’ll need to win Gavin’s heart and convince him to willingly part with a piece of the very soul he’s trying to save.

Read an excerpt here: http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com/books/ironexcerpt.htm

PG Forte
Love without Limits, Romance without Rules!
Website: http://www.pgforte.com
e-zine: http://www.openzine.com/oberon
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pgforte