Larissa Ione

INTERVIEWED: October 2007


Please tell us about yourself :)

A: First of all, thank you for having me! I’m thrilled to be here. J Let’s see…well, my name is Larissa Ione, and I write steamy contemporary stories for Red Sage and Samhain, and dark, sexy paranormals for Grand Central Publishing (formerly Warner Books). I also write erotic s/f paranormal romance for Bantam Dell with partner Stephanie Tyler. Together, we write under the name of Sydney Croft.

I’m an Air Force veteran, a meteorologist, a professional dog trainer, and have also been certified as an Emergency Medical Technician. I really like to stay busy! Now that I’m published, however, I’ve gone to writing full time, since writing is a great career for someone who moves every two years with my husband’s military career.

Please tell us about your journey to becoming a writer.

A: Well, I started writing when I was very young – I completed my first novel at the age of 12. But I didn’t start getting serious about it until about 5 years ago. I joined a fantastic critique group full of some very talented authors including Lydia Joyce and Alison Kent, and eventually started submitting my work. I got *thisclose* and then went through a devastating event – hurricane Katrina. My family and I lost everything.

We were homeless, and my son and I had to live with my parents while my husband, who is in the U.S. Coast Guard, stayed in Mississippi and lived on his ship while he served out his tour of duty. In the months following Katrina, I had given up on writing. But the writing community came to my aid, and the power behind their support was amazing – enough so that I started writing and submitting again. Within a few weeks of gearing back up, I’d sold to both Red Sage and Bantam Dell.

It’s crazy, but I truly believe that everything happens for a reason – if not for Hurricane Katrina, I honestly don’t know if I’d have gotten published. If I had, I don’t think the direction I’d gone in would be one that would have made me happy in the long run. Katrina gave me a sense of freedom when it came to taking chances with my writing, because my thinking was that I had nothing left to lose.

What is your favorite thing about being an author? Is there anything you absolutely detest?

A: I love, love, love hearing from readers. It’s so awesome to know that you gave someone a few hours of entertainment, and that they enjoyed the story.

I detest editor revisions. Even though they ultimately make the book better, they really stress me out! Each set of revisions makes me strive harder to write a better book the next time, so the revisions will be lighter.

Genres - which do you love to read and which do you write? Are there any you would like to
try in the future that you haven’t yet attempted?

A: I read everything, but my favorite genres are fantasy, historical fiction, erotic romance, and paranormal romance. I write paranormal romance, and the contemporary romance I’ve written always features a medical hero or heroine. I’m fascinated by the medical field and actually became an EMT so I could get my facts straight *g*.

In the future, I want to write a Star Trek novel. That’s been a dream of mine for years!

Who are your publishers? How did you come to submit your work to them?

A: Red Sage – I submitted to them because I had a couple of novellas that needed homes, and ever since Red Sage started up ten years ago, I’ve loved the anthologies. Samhain – Again, I had a story that needed a home, and I’d heard such great things about them. Turns out the great things are true. The company is so well run and so accessible to authors, and they have the BEST covers!

Bantam Dell – After Katrina, Stephanie Tyler and I discussed writing something together (which was something I’d brought up before, but we never followed through on). Basically, I was in an “I’m never writing again” stage, and she was trying to get me out of it. Months earlier, while I was evacuating from the storm, she’d felt helpless, was worrying about me, and she started a story about a Navy SEAL who was also running from a hurricane. But she couldn’t get past the first scene. So she sent it to me and ordered – yes, ordered – me to write the next scene. I did, and Riding The Storm was born. We sent it to her agent (who is also mine as well) and within two weeks Bantam Dell had made an offer. It was amazing!

Warner – After I came out of my Katrina funk and started writing again, one of the stories I’d developed in my head was basically Buffy The Vampire Slayer meets E.R. – remember my love of all things medical? So between writing books with Stephanie for Bantam, I worked on my Demon E.R. series concept. A year ago, my agent sent the proposal out, and Warner snapped it up. We’ve renamed the series “Demonica,” and each book will have a different title following the Demonica part of the title.

Many of your books are published with traditional print publishers. Do you know whether they will become available as eBooks? Would you like them to be?

A: The Sydney Croft titles are definitely available as ebooks, and I believe that the Red Sage titles will also be available soon in e-format.

Recently, you have branched out into the world of e-publishing and now count Samhain Publishing amongst your publishers. What are the differences between the different types of publishers? Is there something in particular that you like and/or dislike about each type?

A: I love how fast e-publishing is. Print publishing can be so sloooow. On the other hand, it’s a great feeling to walk into a book store and see your book on the shelf. What’s so great about Samhain though, is that a few months after releasing in e-format, the books go to print.

Please tell us about your collaborative partnership. How did it come about? Is it difficult to work with someone else on a book?

A: Well, I mention some of how it came about above, but to expand on that, I have to say that we’d talked about collaborating for a long time. Okay, I was the one who kept saying to Steph, “We should write something together!” She thought I was crazy, I think. But we enjoyed each others’ work, we got along really well, and our writing was very similar. So when we tried writing together, it really worked. The funny thing is that our agent says our individual voices are VERY different, but she can’t tell who wrote what in our Sydney Croft titles. For some reason, our voices blend together well – I think it’s because we’ve given Sydney her own style and persona (which kind of makes us feel like we have multiple personalities).

And yes, it can be difficult to work with someone on a book. I know, because I’ve tried with other people. But Stephanie and I work together very well. The Croft books are the easiest and most fun novels I’ve ever written. The energy between us while we’re writing is incredible.

Are all/any of your books related or part of a series? If so, how did the premise of the series occur to you? Do you enjoy writing standalones or series books equally or do you have a preference?

A: All of the Sydney Croft books are related through a secret paranormal agency called ACRO. The first three novels (the Storm books) are a series that wraps up at the end of the third book. The next three will be connected to the ACRO world but won’t be connected by major plotlines like the first three are.

My Warner books (Demonica) are a series as well, connected by an underworld hospital. The first two will share a minor subplot and the third will be a little more standalone. I really do prefer writing series over standalones, because once I develop a world and get deeply into it, I want to stay there. The desire to immerse myself in a world is why I generally prefer series movies over standalones.

Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring authors?

A: There comes a point for many writers where they’ve reached *thisclose,* where they are doing well in contests, where the editor rejections are personal and not form letters, where they might be getting revision requests, and where they feel like all they need is that tiny little push to get over the publishing hump. Here’s that push:

Don’t polish your manuscripts to death. Yes, I realize this goes against everything you’ve heard, everything “The Rules,” say. But trust me, you can edit the life right out of a story. I sold when I finally threw caution to the wind and let my real self come through – without a gob of editing and polishing. What I began to submit was a bit raw, a bit edgy – it was my true voice. Darker than my earlier works, for sure.

Do your family and friends know that you are a published author? What has been their response?

A: My family and friends are thrilled! My mom buys all my books and gives them to all her friends, though she does tell them they aren’t allowed to read the Sydney Croft titles!

Please tell us about your recent and upcoming releases.

A: In September, the first of Sydney Croft’s Storm series, Riding The Storm, released. It’s the story of an ex-Navy SEAL who has the power to control the weather, and the woman who has to help him harness those powers. The story has been described as “erotica meets the XMen.”

Also in September, my Samhain title, Snowbound, released. Here’s the blurb:

Thanks to a devastating medical diagnosis, ski patroller Sean Trenton has endured two years of celibacy. Two long years that have chipped away at his confidence. Now, with the career opportunity of a lifetime on the line, he’s ready to remedy the celibacy situation, and sexy snowbunny Robyn Montgomery is just what the doctor ordered. Unfortunately, the last thing reliable, intense radio station manager Robyn Montgomery wants in her suddenly turbulent professional and personal life is a thrill-seeking former Olympic skier — even if he is a total hottie. She’s had it with guys who hog the spotlight and leave her in the shadows. So why is it that even an icy blizzard can’t temper the combustible heat between them?

In December, my second Red Sage release, Wet Dreams, releases in Secrets Volume 21 – Dark Passions. It’s about a Homeland Security agent who finds himself on the high seas with a woman who knows how to rock the boat *g*.

Where do you interact with readers on the net?

A: At my blog, www.LarissaIone.com/soapbox, and at Writeminded’s blog, www.Writemindedblog.com

Also, readers can join the Writeminded Reader’s group to interact with me and all of the published authors at Writeminded – Stephanie Tyler, Amy Knupp, Maya Banks, and Jan Kenny. (http://groups.yahoo.com/adultconf?dest=%2Fgroup%2Fwriteminded_readers%2F )

What is the reader response to your books?

A: So far, it’s been great! And I love to hear from readers, so please feel free to contact me at Larissa@LarissaIone.com

Where can we find out more about you, your books and anything else you've got going on?

A: My websites are a great place to start!
www.LarissaIone.com
www.SydneyCroft.com

There’s also my Myspace pages:
www.myspace.com/larissaione
www.myspace.com/sydneycroft

Thank you again for having me, Elizabeth!