Interview with Gracen Miller

First off, a big THANK YOU to the bloggers of Wicked Thorn and Roses for allowing me to join their home on the internet. I look forward to getting to know all of you.



Tell us a little about yourself.

*straight faced* I’m a self-made millionaire. *laughs* Okay, okay, you got me, that’s my dullest fantasy. My spiciest fantasy is…Tsk..tsk…tsk…I am so not sharing that with you. *grins* Seriously, I’m an obsessed writer and a part-time paralegal masquerading as a mother to two very active boys. Both my boys are black belts in Tae Kwon Do, so I’m not a soccer mom, but a karate mom and all the other sports in the rainbow that involve hitting someone (i.e. basketball, football, karate and I think that’s about it, but that’s enough, right?). Basically, I’m a shuttle bus between sporting events. I’ve been married for 16…no 17 years to my best friend from high school. Yeah, corny, but true. Anything else you want to know, just ask. I’m pretty open, so long as it’s not about my spicy fantasies. ;-)


Please list places we can find you online…websites, myspace, facebook, blogs, etc.

My publisher: www.firedrakesweyr.com
My website: www.gracenmiller.com
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/gracenmiller
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1219953540&ref=profile


Is there anything your family or friends pick on you about?

*coughs* No. I’m perfect. *looks around innocently* What? No one ever believes me! *grumbles no one told me I was going to be confessing everything here* My husband and two sons are always cracking blonde jokes about me. First off, let me mention I am NOT a blonde, but my husband and both of my sons ARE blondes. The “why” they make blonde jokes, well…um…*cringes*…must I really confess that—Look! There’s a purple elephant in the room with a green monkey cart-wheeling across his back! *laughs* Did I distract you away from the question? *grins hopefully* Guess not. Okay! I admit sometimes it takes me a moment to process stuff. My defense…they’re all guys and they speak “guy lingo” and sometimes that’s a bit confusing for the lone non-blonde girl in the household. So, maybe they’re speaking “blonde guy lingo”. Yeah, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it! =)


When and why did you begin writing?

I’ve been writing since my elementary English teacher (sixth grade) forced us to write a story. I went home grumbling that night about the homework. How dare she make us use our imagination! *gasp* Shocker! We had to broaden our minds. *another shocked gasp* It had never been required before. I wrote about an evil race rising up from Atlantis determined to take over the world. *laughs* It was horrid stuff, but what I discovered was so much more important and life changing. No, I’m not being dramatic. I found a world of open-ended possibilities. Pardon the analogy, but writing is little like playing God. I live through them, I maneuver their lives…er…okay my muse is shouting that SHE maneuvers their lives, so basically I’m just living through them and being the muse’s puppet. I can create and become characters that I would never dream of being outside my mind. I can be gusty, bold, deadly and really, really passionate to name a few. Writing helps me find the peace of being whomever I want, whenever I want and it is the best escape from the overwhelming realities of life. For me, I don’t need drugs to create euphoria because there is nothing better than the high I get from writing.


When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Sometime in high school I realized I wasn’t just a student, I was a writer. At that time I was writing lots of sappy and dark dreadful poetry. Also a girlfriend and I would create characters and write about their lives, passing them back and forth. Typically, she and I were sisters in the stories, but we would meet that special someone, fall in love and have babies. *rolls eyes and gags self* When one storyline was exhausted, we would start another set of characters and follow the same theme. By the end of our writing together, we had five different storylines. Really, I’ve always been a romance writer. I just didn’t realize that until later.


What inspired you to pen your first novel?

I knew by my senior year of high school that I wanted to write books for a living. I just got sidetracked by life and jobs. My first novel was written during a particularly difficult time early on in my marriage. We didn’t have kids, I was bored to death with life, with jobs, and I wanted some excitement back. All my husband and I ever did was sit and watch television after work and I was bored to tears. So, I sat down at the computer and started writing. I still have the novel. It’s horrid, but it was my first accomplishment and I’m proud of that. It also saved my marriage. Strange thinking, yeah, probably, but it is true. Writing that novel gave me the excitement I needed to be happy again with my marriage and with my life. I’ve learned over the years, writing keeps me happy, keeps me ground and believe me, you don’t want to be around me when I’m going through a long dry spells in my writing. I become demon possessed.


What genre are you most comfortable writing?

I love paranormal and it’s easier for me to get into the evil/dark spirit of things when writing paranormal. I grew up reading and watching everything horror genre I could get my hands on, so I am a dark girl in a lot of ways. I’m not a comedic writer. I wish I could write comedy, but my sense of humor is so dry, what I find funny others do not. And what others find funny, I’m rolling my eyes over. So, paranormal is my comfort zone.


What are your current projects?

Well, even though I love paranormal, I just subbed a sci-fi romance novel, based upon warring races and what was necessary to create peace. My girlfriend that I wrote all those stories with in high school challenged me to get out of my comfort zone and actually gave me the idea. So, I don’t have any idea how well it really works, but we’ll see when I hear back from subbing it. *bites nails* I’ve got two other books I’m about to sub as well, both in the paranormal genre. And I’m working on two different books, Demon Eyes and Dragon Blood. Obviously by the titles, they’re paranormal. Did I mention that I like the paranormal? *winks*


What are your hobbies?

Hobbies are not listed in order of preference: Writing, family, chatting with friends on forums and watching Supernatural on Thursday nights. I am obsessed with that show. It gives me my paranormal fix and it has two dreamy guys. *sighs*


What is one thing you could never live without?

Oh, wow! This question is so limited. My first thought was writing. Then my second thought was, “Wait! Sex!” Then I felt all guilty because I didn’t think of my family first. *kicks air* I am SO not letting my husband read this. *laughs* Actually he might approve of the second thought. *winks*

If anyone wants to know something about me, please ask away. I’m an open book just waiting to be read. :D