Get to know Lisa Beth Darling

Can you tell us a little about how you started writing; was it something you have always wanted to do?

It's something I've always done, ever since early on in elementary school, I showed an aptitude for writing and knew it was what I was going to do.

What do you consider to be the key elements of a great story?

Conflict creates Drama, for me those two are always first.  The Romance isn't 'second', I wouldn't like to say that, but the romance doesn't bubble and come to fruition if it's never tested. It just sort of lays flat on the page.

Could you tell us a little about how you develop your characters? Who has been your favorite character to write? The most challenging?

I'm one of those lucky writers who lives here life with a Muse (day in and day out).  We have a mutually beneficial partnership.  He throws out orders, I tear them apart, we bounce ideas off each other, constantly try to one-up each other, and in the middle of all of that chaos the 'magick' happens. 

Ares is the character I have lived and worked with the longest—16 years now—so he's my favorite and the most challenging because of his nature.  I tend to be the peace lover and he's the butt-kicker.  Together we balance each other out although it's quite maddening at times.

Have you ever found that you didn’t like your Hero or your Heroine? If so, what did you do to change that?

When we first meet Ares he's a pretty unlikeable guy, he's very grumpy, he's arrogant, he's a bit spoiled.  Then again, he's a god so…what do you expect? LOL

He grows and evolves throughout the story, he learns about himself as he learns about his love-interest, Alena and realizes that being a god is awesome but it's good to have a heart too.

If you were to start again, with the knowledge you have now, what would be the first thing you do?

Again, I'm one of those lucky people, I wouldn't change a thing or do anything differently.

Can you tell me a bit about your most recent/upcoming release?

This series will continue with the second novel "Child of War" on December 31, 2011.  Ares and Alena will bring their son, Raven, into the world and he's going to upset the status quo on Olympus.

Is there a genre you haven’t done that you would like to explore in the future?

I've always wanted to write a vampire story but I think I'll stick with the Olympians for now.

If you could throw a party with any five people (living or dead) who would you pick and why?

Stephen King, John Lennon, Kevin T. Smith, Janis Joplin, and Jacqueline Susann.  I want to talk writing with Stephen and Jacqueline, philosophy with John and Janis, and Kevin…well, he gets to stay until long after the party's over. ;-)

Do you listen to music when writing? Do you feel like some stories write themselves a soundtrack with specific music? If so, what book and what kind of music influenced it?

Music is a huge influence on my life, I'm always listening to my iTunes…or Pandora, I really like Pandora. I also have the strange habit of listening to my local radio station while I write.  I think the songs help on many levels, and yes, often they provide much needed inspiration.  I just chalk those times up to the Muse making his opinion known.

What are your thoughts on love scenes in romance novels, do you find them difficult to write?

They're the best!  I often find myself chomping at the bit to get one when I know it's coming up.  Love scenes are the scenes where the Muse and I are freest to do anything and everything we want.  We often get quite lost in them.

What are some of your favorite things or hobbies to do?

I like to cook, nothing fancy, just good old American Yankee cooking.  I try to garden, I love to grow things, we have a lot of deer and other critters which makes it difficult.  I also take photographs of the sea and old abandoned buildings.

Who are some of your favorite authors, and if we were to visit your home, what books would we find on your bookshelf, end table, floor or e-reader?

I have a 5 shelf glass and wood book case that holds nothing but Stephen King, just about every single hard cover he's ever written and some rare paperbacks. A few of them are even signed.

If you could be any character of any book or movie, who would you be?

This is going to sound so horribly cliché and romantic but….'Vivian' in "Pretty Woman".

Where can readers find you on the web?

FaceBook http://facebook.com/lisabeth1
Blog: http://lbdarling.wordpress.com
Website: http://www.moonsmusings.com/lbdarling

 Sneak Peek into The Heart of War

Now available at Moonsmusings.com

Blurb: Inside the Heart of every Warrior breathes the Soul of a Hero--even within The Heart of War.

Meet Ares God of War, the greatest Warrior the world has ever known. He's moody, grumpy, dominant, ravenously sexual, and above all, built like a Greek God.

Suspected of killing his Daughter in-Law, Psyche, and long in exile from Olympus, the solitude of Ares' secluded Greek Isle is interrupted when Magdalena MacLeod a plucky little Fey washes up on his shore after believing she's been shipwrecked. It's not mere fate that has brought the unlikely couple together yet it may be what tears them apart.

Branded with a golden chastity belt bearing the mark of Cernunnos, Celtic God of the Forest and Death, Alena has been on the run from her husband the Great Horned God for 200 years.

When the Olympians discover her presence on Ares' island, they send Apollo to the island while Ares is away with orders to bring her to Olympus. With nowhere to run and strikes a bargain with the God of War--her virginity for his protection.

Ares sees a sweeter deal; her in his bed and himself back in his rightful place on Olympus among the Gods. If it means turning Alena over to Zeus afterward, well that's of no consequence to him...is it?

After Alena proves herself to the God of War in battle and in his bed, the Ares must choose between his Divinely Dysfunctional Family, his pride, and Alena.

Get lost in this sweeping dark saga of lust, rage, revenge, and redemption. Battle Ancient Gods while falling in love with Ares God of War and Alena MacLeod. They share a love that will rock the world from the heights of Olympus to the Celtic moors, but will it be enough? Will love triumph, or will revenge and rage win the battle for the Heart of War? 

EXCERPT:

Ares stood there listening and watching.  He did not believe she was telling the truth but at least in her own mind, the story she was concocting was not a lie.  She had been in Africa at a refugee camp but after that, behind those stormy eyes, her brain was scrambling to fill in the rather large and important missing piece of her life.  Why was it missing?  Who stole it?

"…people were shouting…there was a crash…then an explosion…."

"And who bound your hands?  Why?"

Maggie looked down at her bandaged wrists and then her eyes began to dart around from the ocean to Ares to the bandages and the flora and fauna around her.  She swam and it was hard with her hands bound.  So very hard.  Several times, she had gone under certain she was going to drown.  "I don't know."  She confessed in a hushed whisper.  "Please, just let me off this island."

Ares shook his dark head with a small amount of sympathy as he stared down at her.  "I can't do that, Alena.  I can't let you leave."

"Alena?"

"I don't like 'Maggie' and 'Magdalena' doesn't roll off my tongue.  Since you're going to be here for, well, the rest of your life, I think I will call you Alena."

"You must have a boat."

"No boat," Ares grinned.  "I don't require one."

"Oh, yeah, right, you think you're a God." She muttered.

Ares was not sure what it was going to take before she believed him.  "Thirsty, Alena?"  He asked snidely and held his empty hands in front of her eyes.  "Nothing up my sleeve--oh, that's right; I'm not wearing a shirt."  He said cheerily as he gazed down at his own torso.  "Ready?  Look closely now, I don't want you to miss anything."

Before her bewildered eyes, in one of his hands, from thin air, appeared a crystal goblet, sweat running down the glass indicating the coldness of the contents within.  "How did you do that?" She looked up at him with wide wonder as he held the cup out to her.

"I am Ares. This is my home. You are my guest for a long time to come."  He watched her take the cup from his hand and hold it to her lips. She drank deeply of the water inside.  "You can wander around here all you like, if I were you I'd stay away from the south end of the island.  Dangerous and wild creatures reside there.  When you're ready, you come back to my cave, when you're satisfied that this is all real, we will talk further."

Right in front of her he simply disappeared.  Maggie dropped the crystal goblet in her hand; it crashed to the rock at her feet shattering to bits and pieces of sharp glass.  "I am crazy."  She muttered and then began to cackle wildly until the sound filled her ears and her heart with dread.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH6KtA5tIw0&feature=player_embedded

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Book also available on:
Amazon.com-- http://www.amazon.com/Heart-War-Lisa-Beth-Darling/dp/0615424686/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293629750&sr=1-4
Kindle--http://www.amazon.com/The-Heart-of-War-ebook/dp/B004DCB3CA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1299078563&sr=1-1
Nook--http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Heart-of-War/Lisa-Beth-Darling/e/2940011870002/?itm=4