Sherri Hayes - Interview and Giveaway

I have an exciting news for you guys! We have Ms. Sherri Hayes the author of Slave (Finding Anna 1) in here. She agreed to do an interview.. so let's get started shall we?!

Interview:

Please tell the readers something about yourself. (Not really a question, more of an introduction.) Something we don't know yet.

I'm 34 years old, and live in Ohio with my husband and three cats. I started writing fiction about four years ago, but I've been reading romance since I was 14. When I'm not writing, I'm usually working on the woodworking business my husband and I own. I also love singing. My mom has a picture of me standing up in church when I was 4 years old singing This Little Light of Mine. 

Slave is a very different and emotional romance, what inspired you to write Slave?

My Finding Anna series, of which Slave is the first book, developed from a mixture of my new interest in reading D/s romances and what was going on nationally at the time. You may remember the news stories on the woman who was freed after spending 18 years in captivity. Following that, there were news stories everywhere about human trafficking. I began wondering what would happen if I mingled the two.

Did you have a hard time writing it? Which part of writing it did you hate the most?

The hardest part for me was starting. I’m not sure you’d classify this series as ‘normal’, and I wasn’t sure how people would react to it. I knew that if I were going to write it, I would have to have a complete understanding of my characters and their motivations. But once that was laid out, everything else fell into place. As far was what I hated the most… That’s simple. Editing. Of course, I think you’d be hard pressed to find a writer who loves editing. lol.

You're main characters are very complex and intense, can please describe your personal feelings for Anna and Stephan? Describe how you come up with these characters? Their strengths and weaknesses and what you love most about them?

I love Stephan and Anna. They are both amazingly strong characters. The reader gets to see some of each character’s strength in Slave, but we are only touching the surface.

I wanted Anna to have a strong sense of self-preservation. This is a woman who’s spent the last ten months being held captive after all, and where I wanted the story to go couldn’t happen if she were utterly and completely without her sense of self anymore. Anna’s biggest weakness also stems from that strength. She’s learned to rely on no one but herself for a long time, so she has difficulty in communicating what she needs to someone else, mainly Stephan.

Stephan is a little more complicated. lol. We don’t find out a lot about his background yet, but he’s been through the emotional wringer himself. I love that he is a genuinely good person. What he did for Brianna wasn’t out of character for him. His biggest weakness, though, will be letting his guard down. As I said, we really don’t find out a lot about him in Slave, even from his own thoughts. He holds a lot inside, and it will be interesting exploring that as the series continues.

What are your personal feelings regarding the BDSM lifestyle? I just really want to ask you that question! lol.

You really did, did you? lol.

Throughout the course of writing this story, I’ve met Dom, subs, Masters, and slaves. Some have become really good friends. There are parts of BDSM that I find fascinating. One of those things is the intensity of the relationships. Because of the nature of what BDSM is, couples especially tend to develop a bond that is rarely repeated in a more traditional setting. You begin to see this in Slave as Brianna’s trust in Stephan grows.    

When did you start writing romance? How did you discover that you have a talent for writing?

As I said above, I only started writing romance about 4 years ago. I didn’t write anymore in school because I didn’t think I was very good at it. English was always a subject I struggled with mainly because of spelling. My second grade teacher actually told my parents I was going to fail her class two weeks into the school year because my spelling was so bad. Needless to say, my spelling has improved, but it is still something I struggle with. Thank goodness for spell check and editors!

My first foray into writing was on-line. I was a big fan of a show on television, but didn’t like the direction they were taking with the main love interest. And as so many fans do now a days, I decided to write my own ending. I was a nervous wreck posting it, and had no idea how people would react. The site I posted on was dedicated to this particular show, and while it is by no means as massive as fanfiction.net, it still held a number of stories and some of those from very talented writers. By the time I was finished writing, my story was the eighth most read on the site and people were encouraging me to continue writing.

 You must have been very elated when Slave got published. Can you tell us how you got Slave published?

I was. As I said before, Stephan and Brianna mean a lot to me. I really wanted to tell their story. Slave is my second published novel, so it was easier than you’d probably think. My publisher loved my first novel, Hidden Threat, so when I pitched my Finding Anna series to them, they jumped at it.

If Slave is going to be a movie, who do you see playing the lead characters?

I’ve actually been working on posting some visuals for my readers over on my blog www.findingannaseries.blogspot.com. Stephan, Brianna, and Ian’s pictures are up so far.

Stephan – Parker Gregory

Brianna - Felicity Jones

Ian – Peter Hermann

You and your readers will just have to stay tuned to my blog to find out who I pick for the remaining cast of characters. ;)

Let's do the fun part!

Favorite part of the body?
Breasts


Favorite book?

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (who doesn’t love Jamie!)

Last movie you've seen? 

I have no idea. It might have been Eclipse. We don’t go to the movies often.

The movie you are dying to see now? 

Breaking Dawn part 1. Yeah. I’m a Twihard. lol.

If you're going to heaven, who would you take with you? 

My husband.

If you're going to hell, who would you take with you? 

mother-in-law.

First person that comes into your mind when the word "SEXY" is uttered?

David Boreanaz.

What can we expect in the next book of the series. Can you give us, the overly excited readers, something to look forward to? Is it going to be more emotional than the first one? More angst maybe?

The next book is going to deal with her trying to figure out what she wants, where to go from here. She has a long way to go, and it won't be easy. I will say that the 'adult content' will increase in the next book. Also, we are going to get more of a look at what her life was like before Ian. It should be another emotional ride.

And there you have it, people! We know a little more about this awesome author! Thank you Ms. Sherri Hayes for letting me do thins interview and for being game in answering all these questions. I hope your next book would do well.


Read my review on Slave here

But if you guys think that is all, you're all wrong! Ms. Sherri Hayes and her publisher are very nice and generous enough to let me do a giveaway!