Quick Six Interview
with Sci-fi/Romance author Nikki Sinclaire
1. Hi Nikki! Would you be so kind as to tell us what type of stories you write?
I'll be happy to! The short answer to your question is that I write Sci-Fi/Romance with a pinch of Erotica (did I say pinch?), but there's a lot more to it than that.
I’m very particular about the Sci-Fi/Romance sub-genre, as I believe that it encompasses everything that I consider fun and exciting in a book. A Nikki Sinclaire novel has to be a story about first and foremost, romance with a "happily ever after" ending. It is about the characters and their relationships to one another.
Growing up, I was an avid Star Trek (the original series) fan. The show's special effects were novel and extremely expensive for their time. They were sophisticated enough, in fact, that their cost eventually led to the show’s cancellation. The gadgets on the show were clearly ahead of their time, and I would argue, gave us a glimpse into the future we're living in right now. Do today’s tablet notebook computers remind you of Nurse Chapel’s electronic note pad? Was that a floppy disk, CD or DVD that Mr. Spock kept loading data into his science station from?
Star Trek's special effects, however, served as the backdrop for the real story, they weren't the main event. The story of the relationships between the characters was what the show was all about. Spock’s lack of emotion, versus McCoy’s criticisms, paired with Scotty’s love for the ship and all led by Captain Kirk’s Alpha Male, agressive leadership style.
My novels follow that same style. Reading The Virtual Man, the first book in my new Virtual Reality series, readers, will be exposed to luxury starships, futuristic weaponry, sophisticated gadgets, nano-technology and cybernetic implants. All these “gadgets”, however, are part of the setting for the story, not the main event. The book is really about the relationships, emotions, passions and struggles of the characters. If I were to change the setting and move the story to 21st century Earth, all the plots, sub-plots and characters would still work. Yes, the book is set 500 years in the future, but the beautiful thing about it is that we fragile, flawed and stubborn humans really haven’t changed much in all that time. Love is still able to move mountains while greed and jealousy are still motivations for betrayal. Our needs aren’t going to be any different in the 25th century than they are right now in the 21st century. We all want to find that special person with whom we can share our life and it is no different in my 25th century existence.
The last thing I want to add is that humor is interweaved throughout my stories. My characters can be grumpy, sarcastic, impish or outright ornery. I believe that when the going gets tough you can either cry about it or laugh about it. I find laughter, particularly at the most unlikely of times, much more pleasant.
2. What are you reading right now?
Okay, you got me! I am reading two books at the same time, depending on my mood. I am reading a regency by Liz Carlyle titled Never Romance a Rake and I am also reading Lara Santiago's Little Red Rides the Wolf. I am strictly a romance novel reader. I don't have a lot of time to read, so when I do, it better be fun, inspiring and entertaining.
3. I hear music in the background…what’s playing?
Well, being a 70's child you will usually find me listening to 70's music. I have a friend who claims that when the clock struck one minute after midnight on January 1, 1980 I turned my radio off permanently. In my own defense that's not true since I do listen to a great deal of 80's music, such as what is playing right now, which is Call Me by Blondie. You could have just as easily caught me listening to Donna Summer, Kiss, Tavares, and the list goes on and on. I enjoy all kinds of music to include country western, southern rock, heavy metal or disco. The only thing you will never catch me listening to is classical music.
4. Do you have a favourite naughty word?
Well, let's see, since my writing tends to lean towards the erotic, I keep lists of appropriately descriptive words for both the male and female "genitalia" that I refer to depending on the context. of what I am writing. I tend to prefer, however, the more traditional "pussy" and "cock", so I think I'll declare it a tie and call them both my favorite naughty words.
5. Is there a word or phrase that absolutely makes you cringe?
YES! The phrase "to be perfectly honest with you" drives me nuts. It is a waste of breath. If you're telling me you're going to be honest with me right now, just this once, does that mean that the rest of the time you're lying to me? Or perhaps it means you are about to lie to me, but you want me to believe you.
6. Be honest: What are you snacking on?
Well, "to be perfectly honest with you..." [insert innocent grin here] Nothing! You believe me don't you? I am on my 7th Diet Coke of the day, though. Does that count?
Promo time! Flog your wares. Any exciting new releases? How can readers find out more about you and your work?
Yes, I am incredibly excited about my new book, The Virtual Man, which was just released October 23rd. It is an extremely funny, yet emotional and passionate story about two people who are thrust together by a quirk of fate and the underlying currents that lead the hero, Derek Hart, to be convicted of a crime he did not commit, while at the same time someone is trying to murder Tiana Weiss, the heroine. The plot involves betrayal, revenge, and a quest for power that is motivating an alien race to exterminate the very race they descended from. Humanity. Once they both discover that they are pawns in the much larger picture that threatens Earth's very existence, they set out to survive, fall in love and save the galaxy, not necessarily in that order. LOL.
The Virtual Man, is the first of a series of five books that I am calling, as I mentioned earlier, the Virtual Reality series. The book is available from Bookstrand Publishing at http://www.bookstrand.com/product-thevirtualman-13920-192.html. If your readers would like to learn more about me, my contests or the philosophy behind my writing I would encourage them to go to my web site at www.nikkisinclaire.com. If they just want to chat with me, they can also reach me via e-mail at nikki@nikkisinclaire.com.
Thank you so much for chatting with me today.I'm going to have to turn my girlfriend Sweet on to your work; she's a sci-fi fanatic. (I always say "trekkie" but she tells me the proper term is "trekker"...) She has a knack of incorporating Star Trek into just about every conversation we have, and any time she needs to illustrate a point using an example, it's bound to be drawn from Star Trek...or Deep Space Nine because apparently they're not the same thing. Don't ask me! All I ever watched was The Next Generation because I had a huge crush on Patrick Stewart. (Ok, I still kinda do...)
Thanks so much for the interview, Nikki!
gigi
