Romance author Sherri Browning Erwin’s recent release Jane Slayre adds another title to the growing.jpg)
phenomenon of “classic mash-ups”. Erwin’s entry combines her beloved Jane Eyre by co-author
Charlotte Bronte with the twist of paranormal romance. Visit Erwin's website at : www.sherribrowningerwin.com.
Here’s the teaser for Jane Slayre:
Jane Slayre, our plucky demon-slaying heroine, a courageous orphan who spurns the detestable vampyre kin who raised her, sets out on the advice of her ghostly uncle to hone her skills as the fearless slayer she’s meant to be. When she takes a job as a governess at a country estate, she falls head-over-heels for her new master, Mr. Rochester, only to discover he’s hiding a violent werewolf in the attic—in the form of his first wife. Can a menagerie of bloodthirsty, flesh-eating, savage creatures-of-the-night keep a swashbuckling nineteenth-century lady from the gentleman she intends to marry? Vampyres, zombies, and werewolves transform Charlotte Brontë’s unforgettable masterpiece into an eerie paranormal adventure that will delight and terrify.
The Q&A:.jpg)
Q: What made you want to become a romance writer?
A: I’ve always wanted to write (since my older sister won a reading award in Kindergarten and I plotted ways I could best her accomplishment) and I’ve read romance since I was 12 and used to sneak them from my mother’s bookshelves. It fit that once I became serious about writing a novel, it was what I loved to read, a romance.
Q: How would you describe your type of book?
A: My natural inclination is to have a witty aside for any given situation, so that makes it onto the page. Comedy is one consistent element in all of my books, but they aren’t light. The comedic elements come in to balance emotional situations. Poignant is a good word.
Q: What makes your stories unique compared to other romances out there?
A: I like characters who make the less obvious choices in life. My characters’ voices are very strong and I prefer to let them capture attention on page one, and run with it. You won’t necessarily know if you love them or hate them right away, but you know you want to follow them along and see what happens next.
Q: Tell me about your most fascinating inspiration for a book or story.
A: Definitely the inspiration for Jane Slayre. It was just one of those lightning bolt ideas that struck, took over, and consumed me. In the middle of blogging one day, the idea struck about how to make the classics more interesting for the Twilight generation.
Q: Tell me your favorite “when I was doing research for this novel you wouldn’t believe what happened” story:
A: I went to breakfast at John Kerry’s Beacon Hill townhouse just before he ran for president. One of my dearest friends is the co-chair of the MA DNC, so she took me along with her. She introduced me to the Senator and told him I was a romance writer. He smiled wide, made this clucking noise with his tongue, nudged my friend, and asked how I got ideas for research. Did she help give me ideas? It was so funny. My friend and I still do the “Kerry Cluck” and joke about it.
Q: Besides being a romance novelist, what other fascinating or off-beat jobs/careers have you had for a day job?
A: I did work my way through college as a bank teller. I was ready to be robbed every day, as if that would add some big thrill to the whole banking deal, but it never happened. Years later, I still have nightmares about not balancing my drawer at night, so I guess it was more intense than I realized at the time, even without a robbery.
Q: What do you see on the horizon for your writing career? Anything different?
A: There’s always something different ahead for me. I wrote two Regency historicals. Two contemporary paranormals. One classic mash-up. Next? Probably something with the same tone as Jane Slayre, funny, Victorian, a little horrifying, but not a mash up.
Q: If you were going to write a non-fiction book, what would the title be? (this is my novelist’s version of the Barbara Walters’ special question of “If you were a tree what kind would you be?”)
A: The Whiner’s Guide to Life.
Q: Anything else you’d like to share with readers that I haven’t asked?
A: Fortune sides with she who dares. It’s my adopted motto, from a bracelet one of my best friends, author Kathleen Givens, gave me. She passed away unexpectedly on January 1 this year. Every day, I think of her, and I dare.
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