Interview with Emma Petersen, author of BRANDED
by Ann Cooke

RRT:    Tell us more about Emma Petersen -- the woman behind the author. We'd love to know some fun facts that aren't already available on your website.

Emma:    Hmmm...fun facts that aren't on my website. Let's see, I'm a huge country fan! I love Garth Brooks! I love the beach and have lived close to it my entire life, except for one miserable year I spent in Vegas. Even the fabulous shopping couldn't stop my beach withdrawals. I was born and raised in Southern California where I live still. I live a very glamorous life, sharing a tiny shack on the beach with my fat boy kitty cat, Duchess. (LOL! Don't ask)

RRT:    Please tell us about your ebook, BRANDED.

Emma:    Branded is what I call my cowboy story. It's about Ty and Jenny, who've spent too much time fighting their attraction to each other. And when it wasn't their own stubbornness keeping them apart, it was circumstance. A tragedy has bought Jenny back home after a prolonged absence, and now there aren't any walls for Ty to hide behind. He has to face his feelings for Jenny and it scares him. So he makes mistakes and we can only hope they aren't mistakes that can't be rectified.

RRT:    How did you come up with the idea for this story?

Emma:    When I was in high school, I devoured romances. I actually had to start traveling to libraries in nearby cities to find books I hadn't read. I didn't know much about genres, but I knew what struck a cord with me. Historicals and cowboy stories. I remember reading a Harlequin by Linda Howard (and I really wished I remembered the name!) and she made her cowboy seem so...well let's just say he was really good at being bad in a good way. When I started BRANDED, I wanted to write something as homage to all the great cowboy stories I read. Besides, is there anything sexier than a cowboy?

RRT:    What is your writing routine?  Do you write every day?

Emma:    Even if it's a paragraph or two, I trying to write everyday. Sometimes I go to my local Starbucks, put on my earphones, and type 'til my fingers are sore.

RRT:    How do you handle life's many interruptions?

Emma:    I work around them. Writing is my life. It's been my dream from the first time I picked up a romance novel, so I do what I have to do to nurture my dream.

RRT:    What sort of research (if any) was involved in writing BRANDED?

Emma:    I would like to say I visited ranches, interviewed a lot of yummy cowboys, but sadly there were no hot cowboy interviews, just me relying on my imagination.

RRT:    What do you enjoy about writing erotic romance? 

Emma:    I love writing the interactions between men and women. The dynamics of a relationship two people may have thought started as sexual but all along there was a spark of something else driving the need for them to be together. 

RRT:    What can readers look forward to from you in the coming months?

Emma:    On October 6th, I have a Shifter story coming out with Cobblestone for Octoberfest. It's about Maya, who is the Primul leader of a Dragon Clan. Eric is her lover and her arch nemesis. LOL! I know, how can two people be lovers and archenemies? Guess you'll just have to read DRAGON'S MATE to find out.

After DRAGON'S MATE, comes FINDING PARADISE, which I wrote with my sassy critique partner, Crystal Jordan. It takes place in the jungles of Peru, only it isn't the weather that has our hero and heroine all hot and bothered!

RRT:    What do you like to do when you aren't writing?

Emma:    Shop! I love it! And with the internet, I have access to my favorite shops 24/7. I also spend a lot of time on Romance Divas (www.romancedivas.com). The divas are the most supportive group of women on the face of this planet, and I can guarantee without them I wouldn't have accomplished half of what I've accomplished! Love ya, Divas!

RRT:    How may readers contact you?

Emma:    They can visit me at my website, www.emmapetersen.com, or on my blog: www.emmapetersen.blogspot.com