Well as you all know that I recently reviewed an ARC copy of Shayla Black's recent release Tempt me with Darkness, which came out on Tuesday, August 26th. So when I finished reading it I thought that I really have to get an interview from Shayla because I wanted to know a bit about her, her writing and her Doomsday Brethren series. I was lucky enough to get a short interview with her because she is very hard at work writing the second book in her new series Doomsday Brethren. To recap here is a link to my review of Tempt me with Darkness and here is the short interview with Shayla Black:

Phoebe Jordan: When did you know that writing romance was going to be the thing that you would do with your life?

Shayla Black: About ten years ago, after I first published, writing consumed me. For years, I’ve been wanting to transition to full-time writing, but have had other obligations preventing that. As of this fall, I’ve been able to clear some of those obligations from my calendar and am devoting more time to writing than ever. I love what I do!

Phoebe: What was the first fiction, that was not a homework assignment in school, you ever wrote? And do you still have it with you?

Shayla: Goodness, you’re crediting me with having been bitten by the writing bug at a young age. Nothing could be less true. I didn’t even read a book for pleasure until I was 19. I realized later that it had to do with WHAT I was reading, not the fact I was reading in general. No offense to Misters Steinbeck, Salinger or Shakespeare, but they just didn’t hold my attention the way romance novels did. Heck, if I’d read Jane Austen in school, I think I would have been thrilled…but alas, it wasn’t until college when someone put a romance in my hands and I’ve been hooked since. To date, I’ve sold every novel I’ve finished. I have a rough draft of 5 chapters of a book I began writing shortly after I took up pen…or computer, as it were. A recent glance at that book assures me it will never see the light of day.

Phoebe: How much research do you have to do for your novels, especially for your Doomsday Brethren series and did it take you a long time to gather that research?

Shayla: Research is something I do on an as needed basis. I’m an avid collector of non-fiction about London, British history, historical clothing, etc., so I have a lot of that knowledge in my head. I’m also a great Googler and have UK peers who have been kind enough to assist me with some of the research and dialects in this particular series. Other than that, I don’t do a lot of research up front. I tend to wait until I run into a section of the book that requires it, then go forth. Research is nice…but I’d rather be writing.

Phoebe: How did you come up with the Doomsday Brethren series and how many books are you planning to write for the series?

Shayla: The Doomsday Brethren series has been brewing in my head for about a decade. In 1996, I started the first book, and then put it aside when I realized I just didn’t have the skill yet to write it. A few years later, after I was published, I took it out once more, and again realized I wasn’t ready. I dusted it off again about two years ago, reworked a bunch of it—and sold the first three in the series. This is near and dear to my heart, and I’m really hoping that readers enjoy it. Currently, I’m under contract for 2 more Doomsday Brethren books. SEDUCE ME IN SHADOW and POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT come out back to back beginning October 2009. I’m writing them as we speak! In my head, I have at least 7 books in this epic to tell, so I’m hoping that readers want to come along for the ride.