Interview with Frances Pauli

Roarke by Frances Pauli

Published by Devine Destinies

Short Science Fiction Romance

Blurb: They have to be lying when they tell her she was dead. With no memory of her past, and no idea who she actually is, Nora has little options. Alone, and at the mercy of the Mercenary Defense Conglomerate, she searches for clues into her past, and the truth about her supposed demise.

If she is a prisoner, robbed of memory and held against her will, then she must trust no one. If she has, in fact, returned from the dead, then who could possibly help her? Armed with only her wits and her inexplicably sharpened senses, she is forced to play along, to search for the holes in their story, and to piece together the flashes of memory that serve only to taunt her.

But the visions seem to confirm the impossible. The man who is supposed to be her fiancé seems bent on confusing her, and the one person she is desperate to be near may very well be responsible for her death. If the silent Roarke is her enemy, why do her visions draw her closer to him? And why, when nothing else seems remotely familiar, does Nora find herself remembering, or wanting to remember only him?

Author Bio: Though she always held aspirations to be a writer, Frances originally chose to pursue a career in visual arts. Her stories, however, had other plans for her. By the time she entered her thirties, they were no longer content existing solely in her head. Compelled to free them, she set aside her easel and began to write in earnest

She currently resides smack in the center of Washington State with her husband and two children. When not writing she dabbles in insane things like puppetry, belly dance and playing the ukulele. She collects rocks, and is a firm believer in good wine, fine chocolate and dangerous men.

Her short fiction has appeared in Alternative Coordinates magazine.

More information on Frances and her writing can be found at www.francespauli.com

She offers a free online serial at: http://spaceslugserial.blogspot.com

As part of a blog tour, I had the opportunity to interview Frances. It's surprising how much we have in common.

On your website, you have a couple of books out and several more coming out this spring. Tell me about them.

My short story, The Alien Embrace was printed in two parts in the Summer and Fall issues of Alternative Coordinates magazine. The first novel in my Urban Fantasy trilogy, A Moth in Darkness, is due to be released in the fall. It’s set in a world where the boundaries between the Faerie and Mortal worlds have opened. My protagonist is a woman who has strong ties to the Fey races but suffers from an addiction to faerie food and reveling. This summer my futuristic romance, The Dimensional Shift, comes out. It features a maid who is hired to work in a hotel for inter-dimensional travelers. The sequel to Moth in Darkness is scheduled for release next summer, and of course, there is Roarke out now.

You mention romance in your descriptions. Do you write primarily romance or is it more of a sub-theme in your stories?

Most of my stories have at least a romantic sub-plot. I grew up reading Speculative Fiction, but sneaking over to Romance section from time to time when no one was looking. So I love mixing the two, but in some cases the book is definitely a Romance, and in others the love story is secondary.

I'm enjoying your free serial - Space Slugs (http://spaceslugserial.blogspot.com). What prompted you to write it?

Slugs is so much fun. I think of all the things I work on, the freebie is my favorite. I originally wrote the story as an incredibly short puppet play. I built a few of the puppets, in fact, and as I went along, the story kept expanding. When I started writing seriously, and decided to try a free serial, Slugs stood up and said, “Ahem, pick me please.”

You mention in your introduction that you have small children. With my own kids, I know how disruptive they can be. How do you balance writing and family?

Is hiding under the couch to write considered balance? Seriously, I steal writing moments every chance I get, but they come far too few and far between for my tastes. You learn to write in short sessions and to keep focused even when too much time passes between them. I also whine a lot and have a husband who takes what I do seriously and helps out…okay sometimes I have to cry a little. We’re lucky enough to have Grandma nearby as well, and she helps me squeeze in those mandatory work days when things absolutely have to be done on time.

I have to ask, what are your favorite bad 80's sci-fi movies? I'm also a fan with an extensive collection. What do you find most appealing about those movies?

My all time favorite would be SpaceHunter with Peter Strauss. I also love and own Ice Pirates, which may very well be one of the best of the worst. Honestly, I think the beauty in campy films comes from not taking themselves too seriously. They’re fun, and fun is rarely a bad thing in my book. There may be some nostalgia involved as well. I am a child of the 80’s. (where the good music comes from)

You write mainly science fiction, right? Where do you see the future of publishing in twenty years? Fifty? Five hundred?

That’s a can of worms waiting to be opened. I talk about this a bit on my blog, but usually only when I’m feeling “rant-y.” I think publishing will evolve, like all things do. Maybe it’s even a little overdue, in fact. And while I don’t believe that our generation will ever give up their print books, I have to lean toward the camp that says, eventually there will be a generation that does. Hey, I write Speculative fiction…I like to speculate. Print won’t go away easily, and it may exist for a very long time as a novelty. (Before the howling starts, I don’t think we’ll live to see it go away…) Still, I’m a Star Trek fan. I love the idea of the data pad—the slim, shiny all in one tablet. Even better if I can use it in space. If you still can’t imagine a world without print, hang out with some really young people—the ones who live by their I-pods and their hand held games and use their cellular phones to surf the internet. I believe we should be more worried about whether or not future generations will read than about how they will read. Personally, I think if stories plan on surviving, they’d better fit into that hand-held data pad.

Anything else you'd like to add?

We are running a contest along with the tour. Everyone who comments on the blogs gets an entry into the drawing. The more blogs you visit the more entries you get. You can find the details at my webpage: http://francespauli.com

Thank you so much for having me. It’s been a true pleasure.

Thank you, Frances Pauli, for allowing us to peek into your life.