Emily Veinglory Spotlight

A native of New Zealand, Emily Veinglory is a cauldron of creativity. In addition to writing books and poetry, she's a talented artist and photographer. Today, of course, we'll focus on her writing. Her genre of choice is specific: homosexual romance with paranormal or fantasy elements. Released in May, The Sculptor's Muse, has something in common with the story I just sold to Ellora's Cave, A Man of Vision, both heroes being sculptors. I love finding things I have in common with authors that I spotlight. Let's find out if you have anything in common with her!

Which of your characters would you like to meet? Why?

Oh, probably Giffen (Maewyn Prophecy series, Loose Id) because although he is a bit of a smart ass he is based on and old flame who I would be happy to run into any time, any place.

I see that you have written about shapeshifters and are a vampire enthusiast. If you could be a shapeshifter, would you? What about a vampire?

I always freak people out by saying I would be a were rat--not turning into a giant rats but a swarm of normal-sized ones with super intelligence. At about this point in the conversation they tend to remember they left the oven turned on or some urgent appointment. I think that rats are the coolest animal alive.

What is the most unusual place/situation in which your characters have had sex?

I am a terrible traditionalist. In a recent story they are having sex quite normally on the sofa when they TV news shows that the police are swarning towards the house to arrest them...and they still have trouble stopping. That was sort of an odd sex scene. Oh, and one where the man was about to get eaten by a werewolf girl and had to turn her on sexually to avoid being dinner. The weirdness in my sex tends to be psychological not geographical.

You write gay fiction, a market that seems to be getting quite popular. If you could be a man for a day, what would you do?

Hmm. I really prefer the fantasy to the reality. I would certainly do a lot of private, um, research--to see what things feel like. I have had very vivid dreams about being a man and having sex as a man, but I do wonder how realistic they are....

Please don't think I'm asking this next question with a snarky attitude, but do you have gay male friends you rely on for research?

I have only a couple of aquaintances who are gay and they do not know I write--so, no. I use my imagination, common sense and the internet. It is a balance anyway between writing characters who are realistic but who also satisfy the romance genre requirements.

Do you have tattoos? If so, what/where are they? If not, where would you get one and what would you get?

No. I am not really interested in tattoos because my tastes change very quickly and I couldn't pick anything I would like next year, let alone for the rest of my life. I also don't like how they look when they age and bleed out a bit. I did think about geting a small rat because I love rats and it is my Chinese [zodiac] animal, maybe on the small of my back so it would just show with low jeans.

Tell me something about you that very few people know.

Um, I am extremely allergic to tamarillos (it's a type of fruit). Boring, but true.

Name some of your favorite books.

The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox, Swordpoint by Ellen Kushner, the autiobiographies of BF Skinner and my collections of Cavalier poetry and poetry by New Zealand writers.

The big decision you're currently wrestling with is…

What jobs to go for, my current contract runs out in about a year and I need to plan ahead if I want to stay in the U.S.

Tell me about your work-in-progress.

I always have several. Freelance--a sci fi adventure with a bioengineered male prostitute; To Love in Fall (for Cobblestone)--Wiccan M/F romance from the male point of view; The Temptation of Sebastian (for Torquere)--a Boer war veteran accidentally awakes an old god; Coming In (for Loose Id)--a young man moves back to his home town and finds his old flame is stil there, and still in the closet; and Son of a Bitch (for Torquere) a redneck werewolf meets an uptight big city executive... oh, and a few others.]
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See what I mean about her being a creative cauldron? Wow. I can only work on one, maybe two, manuscripts at a time. Kudos to Emily. As always, I thank her for being my guest and invite you to visit her website and blog.