Ella Drake is a writer of dark paranormal and fantasy romance. She has been published with Carina Press, Ellora’s Cave, Liquid Silver Books, Lyrical Press, and Samhain. Her print release THE FORBIDDEN CHAMBER is a wonderful, sensual, darkly fantastic Historical Paranormal. Her futuristic titles- JAQ’S HARP and BRAIDED SILK-, are described as Futuristic, Twisted Tale, Biopunk. Her most recent release is TAME THE STORM, a paranormal romance released through Ellora’s Cave.

Latest Release:

Ellora’s Cave

RK: When did you start writing and why did you choose romance?

ELLA: In the mid-2000s after I had my last child, I’d been taking literary classes with heavy, emotionally wrenching themes. I needed something different and in my search, I found Science Fiction Romance from a few smaller presses—and in a huge plus, they were ebooks. I could sit in the dark with the baby while he went to sleep, and still read books on my Pocket PC (this was before the Kindle). For the first time in my life, I found this niche that felt like home. I started writing the stories I wanted to read and never looked back.

RK: You write many paranormal/fantasy/ and speculative settings. What makes these sorts of tropes appealing to you as a writer?

ELLA: Since I was born, I was surrounded by my father’s SFF bookshelves. The first movies I watched in the theater were Star Wars and Alien (yes, I was too young to see that one, but I did anyway). I played D&D with my brother. My earliest favorite books were Nancy Drew, The Hobbit, The Sword of Shannara, and Pride & Prejudice. I don’t know how I could have avoided marrying the tropes of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Romance. After all, in some way, many Romances are derived from Beauty and the Beast. What better way to create and deconstruct the beast, our hero, besides making him one in truth?

RK: Writers are often told to ‘write what you know’. How often do you borrow from your own real life experiences in the stories that you create?

ELLA: I haven’t actually taken any of my life events and included them in my stories. I have taken life truths, things I’ve learned about our world and how we live it, and included those. Knowledge of certain subject matters, of how we create relationships and friendships, of how children behave, or how emotions affect us. But no, I can’t point to a scene and say, “that happened to me like that.”

RK: What is your writing routine? Do you have a set time or word count each day? Do you have a special place that you write?

ELLA: This has changed as family life has evolved. Today, I basically have the school year/work day. I have to take off summers. Only essential author things happen then. I don’t have a set word count unless I’m writing new and it changes depending on the type of book I’m working on. So if I’m in the first draft stage, I target 2 to 5k words a day.

RK: Could you tell us a little about any upcoming releases?

ELLA: My next release is coming soon from Ellora’s Cave. SEDUCE THE FLAME is the next installment of the Cinder Mated series and features Ray Cinder, a fire mage and his heroine, Clarissa, a water mage who are facing the aftermath of a traitor to their para-talent organization while working through their own tumultuous relationship. Think X-Men meets Christine Feehan’s Ghostwalkers.

RK:  If you were given a magical weapon to wield in your fight against evil, what would it be? Who gave it to you?

ELLA: I’ve often said I wanted the Time-Turner from Hermoine in Harry Potter. I think because I could see all the practical uses for it. But I guess if I were fighting true evil, something that would shine the light on truth. It seems all true evil in a fictional and real life sense, hides from the truth.

RK: If you had to choose between time travel and interstellar travel, which would you pick? Why?

Such a hard decision! But I think time travel. I’d love to go back in time to visit some of those real events in history and witness them first hand! And oh, to see a Scotland Highlander back in the day. Let’s be honest. Interstellar travel would be cool, and would have some exciting moments here and there, but really, all that space going by the window might end up feeling like one long, never ending car trip!

Find out more about Ella Drake at her site or follow her on Facebook and Twitter.