Beth Kery Interview and Giveaway

Q. What should your readers know in general about all of your books before they buy them?

A. I would like them to know that I put my all into my books–every one. An intense love story is a top priority for me, but so is rich characterization, an interesting plot with some good twists, and a compelling, emotionally fulfilling relationship between my hero and heroine. My books are far, far from being conventional, but I do have to say that readers who enjoy traditional romance in addition to erotic romance will likely find a nice blend of the two genres in my work.

Q. What inspired you to write erotic romance?

A. I love romance, but the only stuff that used to be available was always…lacking, to say the least. I think women are a lot more complex in their sexuality and in what they find appealing in regard to romance than most of the population–including a lot of women–have realized.

Q. What are your heroes and heroines like?

A. My heroes are definitely dominant, alpha males but they are each complex and different in their own way. My heroines are diverse as well, but I would say one common similarity is that they are very strong, psychologically speaking. They aren’t Buffy the Vampire Slayer types but they are all fearless and unstoppable when it comes to down to danger, getting what they most desire or keeping their loved ones safe. One of the themes of my writing is the complementary aspects of the hero and heroine—how their characters fit together like a puzzle or template. He is drawn to her psychological/emotional strengths and she grows under the influence of his more physical, bold masculinity.

Q. Do your stories always have a happy ending?

A. Yes!! (I love that answer!)

Q. Is the series “Because You Are Mine” being written as one long book broken into smaller pieces for release or can each story stand alone?

A. Because You Are Mine is a serialized novel, so that means it’s one novel released in weekly installments. It’s an old idea—it’s how Dickens was first released, for instance—but I think it’s a great time to be bringing it back because of reading technology and social media. People can have the ‘part’ delivered every Tuesday for eight weeks, allowing people to consume it as they would a television episode. With social media and the Internet, it’s then possible for people to share reading experience all at once, just as they do television shows. It has the potential to be something fun and unique. 

Q. Have you written the whole thing?

A. Yes, it’s all written. As soon as I finish these questions, I’ll be reviewing edits on the final three parts and making small changes on the ending. Very odd, to be doing that when the book begins to release in two days. Usually a book is finished six months to a year before it comes out. An author is usually working on something entirely different by the time the book releases. Doing things this way gives an sense of immediacy and freshness to the whole process. I feel incredibly submersed and involved in Because You Are Mine. For instance, I was at the Romance Writer’s of America conference this week promoting Because, and I’m still working on the final parts of it. It’s been a very invigorating publishing experience, and I hope readers can sense the excitement in the written word. I’m so thankful that Berkley asked me to take part in this innovative project and that they’ve been so supportive of the process.

Q. Did you write “Because You Are Mine” knowing it would be released in pieces and did that change how you wrote it?

A. Yes. Berkley approached me with the idea. It was planned to be serialized from the start, although we were tweaking things here and there. It was a new way of doing things for all of us. The writing process was interesting. Because of the fast-paced schedule, editors had to be really involved in getting back quick feedback. I would send in chunks at a time, get back fast edits, and then move on to the next parts. At times, I was doing edits on the first parts while writing the last parts. Berkley was great about my panic moments, where things had to be changed in the already edited and formatted parts when I realized a detail had changed later in the story. My editor would say, ‘don’t panic, Beth, we’ll get it changed.’