My Interview with Sloane Howell
Thank you so much for doing this interview with me. I am
a huge fan of yours and I literally love every book of yours. I have yet to
dislike anything that you have written. I think you are pure genius and I can't
wait to see what your next project is.
No problem at all.
I'm happy to answer any questions you have. Thank you for the kind words and for reading
my stories, although I think you may be being generous with the term "genius"
but I'll be humble and accept the compliment.
Glad to be here and thanks for introducing me to your readers.
Where is your favorite place to write?
Hah! I
mostly write in my recliner with a laptop.
At least with the first draft anyway.
I usually have reruns of some show playing in the background, right now
it's How I Met Your Mother. I can't have
dead silence, I'd go crazy. Once I'm editing
I usually go to my office where I have two monitors. I'm not really an adventurous writer
though. If I were writing about people
banging while out in public I'd be nervous that someone's grandma was looking
over my shoulder the whole time. Even
more frightening would be that it was turning her on.
What is the last book you read?
The last book I read was 1984 by George
Orwell. I usually read it and Brave New
World once every year. I really wish I
had more time to read, but I make myself read at least one book per month. Damn toddlers keep you busy wanting food and
attention! They're so needy! (kidding of course)
What is your favorite genere as an author?
Well, I definitely enjoy writing erotic
romances. Love is a powerful thing and
there is so much potential for conflict which is what really generates a good
story. People are complicated and nothing
makes someone act more irrationally than love.
It makes the characters interesting and relatable. The sex ain't bad either. It's nice knowing that your words are getting
someone heated up when they read your work.
I would be lying if I said I didn't love writing comedy though. I usually try and mix a fair amount of it in (who
doesn't love to laugh?). I just love to
write though and I'll be happy writing anything even if I end up a poor,
penniless peasant living in a cardboard box.
Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until my kid is grown up before I can
achieve the derelict lifestyle I've always dreamed of. So I work a day job to pay the mortgage.
What is your favorite genre as a reader?
I love to read science fiction and dystopian
novels. I love getting a glimpse of what
an author thinks the future will look like, the world building, technologies,
etc. If I had to choose one genre that
would probably be it. But honestly, I
love to read just about anything. Give
me a distinct voice, good characters, and a good plot and I am happy.
If you have 3 wishes what would they be?
This is a tough question. I'm assuming my first wish can't be to wish
for a million wishes? Right? My first wish would be for my son to be
healthy. He has an autoinflammatory
disease and once a month has fever episodes that sometimes last up to seven
days. He'll run fevers over 105 degrees
during them. It kills me every time it
happens, knowing there is nothing I can do but comfort him. In reality I would probably use all of my
wishes on that one thing. New York Times
bestseller wouldn't be a bad second wish.
Being able to quit my day job and write full time would be a third. The last would probably happen with wish two,
but I wasn't given a strict set of rules to go by. I over analyze things if you can't tell. It's my cross to bear.
What is your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote, let me think... I'm not a big quote person, but I know a
few. Probably "If you can't explain
it to a 6-year-old, you don't understand it yourself." - Albert
Einstein. I think it's so true. Many people bloviate about this and that or
give pedantic (I'm doing it myself by using the word "pedantic"),
elaborate, and often unnecessarily complicated explanations of things just to
show off their intellect, or feel superior to someone. I can usually tell if someone actually
understands a concept by how easily they can explain the topic. Usually the person who does the first is
speaking on a subject matter they aren't an expert in and usually the most
humble and quiet people are the ones who actually know what they're talking
about. They often give very simple but
effective explanations.
How did you come up with The Panty Whisperer?
Great question! If I'm being honest I write under another pen
name and was doing an interview with Hugh Howey. I had asked him something along the lines of
ways to be a more effective author. He
said to branch out of your comfort zone, write something you wouldn't usually
write, challenge yourself. So I figured,
why not write some erotica? It had never
even occurred to me to try before. I had
read a few erotic romances so why not?
So I conjured up the idea of a short story where basically there is a
guy whose talent is sleeping with women.
Not just getting notches on his bedpost, but a guy who has this innate
need to pleasure women sexually, fulfill their fantasies. Sure, the sex is great, but it's giving the
women what they want that really does it for him, knowing they'll remember him
the rest of their life. Think back to
him when their marriage gets dull later on or their sex life is in a rut. The memory of being with him will be what
drives them out of it.
I honestly didn't think much would come from it but I
started getting messages on Twitter and emails from readers wanting more. The erotica/romance crowd are voracious
readers and I honestly fell in love with the readers and the genre. So much so that it's primarily what I write
now. Who would of thought?
What is your next project?
Well, right now I'm just trying to fight for
any time I can get to write the rest of The Panty Whisperer series. I'm really enjoying writing it and if I don't
give these readers something they may hunt me down and torture it out of
me. But I have a few ideas kicking
around for a new series. I'm a huge
baseball fan so I've been thinking about some kind of series with a minor
league baseball player who makes it to the big leagues and of course he has a
love interest. We'll see where it goes
from there.
What advice would you give to an up and coming writer?
Read, write, read some more, and keep
writing. If you're writing for the
money, it's the wrong reason. There are
plenty of better ways to make some cash.
Hammer out that first draft and then polish the crap out of that turd
until it's a diamond. Never think you
have it mastered, there is always something new to learn to make you better.
If you were stuck on a deserted island and you could only
have 3 items what would those items be?
You're making me think too hard.
I kid of course. I would
definitely want my laptop, a gun, and internet access. Yeah, I could probably get by with those
three things.
Coming July 28th!!!
