Please help me welcome Jessica Aspen to my blog today. Jessica will be giving away an ecopy of her book Little Red Riding Wolf to one lucky commentor so be sure and leave her a question or comment.

How did you get started writing?

Hi Cynthia, thanks for having me on your blog today. I guess I’ve been writing all my life, but it wasn’t until 2008 that I really got serious. It took joining RWA and Colorado Romance Writers for me to actually finish a book. Once I started hanging out with serious writers, everything changed for me.

What genre(s) do you write in and why?

I write paranormal romance. Why? Because I’ve always loved the mysterious, exotic, and adventurous in books. I grew up on sci-fi, fantasy and gothic novels. Combine those and you have paranormal romance!

Tell us about your current series.

The Twisted Tales: Come Into The Woods novellas are modern twists of traditional fairy tales based around a group of werewolves living in the Rocky Mountains. The first book, Little Red Riding Wolf, has a spunky heroine named Red. She’s a young werewolf looking for freedom from her pack and she discovers it in a forbidden relationship with a human, Evan. The second book comes out February 2013. It’s called Snow and the Seventh Wolf, and it’s about Red’s human hating werewolf brother, Seth. Seth, of course, falls in love with a modern day Snow White. Snow is on the run from her step-parents and very human, much to Seth’s dismay.

What move best describes your life? Why?

Busy, busy, busy! I never have enough time. I have so many books I want to write and I am the eternal editor. I write fast, but edit slow. And of course I have lots of other things that need my time. If I could have a time saver like Hermione Granger, I’d take it!

What inspired your latest book?

I’ve always loved fairy tales and I’d been twisting a fae version of Snow White when I saw a contest for Red Hot Fairy Tales. Somehow that word Red stuck in my mind and I decided to do a modern version of Little Red Riding Hood, but with Red as the wolf and the huntsman as a modern day forest ranger. It did well in that contest, but the publisher really wanted traditional fairy tales, so the following year I pumped up the heat level and entered it in Passionate Ink’s Stroke of Midnight Contest, where it finaled. Changing Red into a werewolf and having her struggle with her independence shaped the plot of the book. I even threw in a shape-shifting granny with sharp teeth and sharp eyes.

What is your favorite part of writing?

I love that moment when I think “Ah ha! That’s it!” It’s when I’ve left a book for a while and I go back thinking it needs a lot of work, but it turns out its much better than I think. (Writer’s are notoriously self-conscious about their work, we all need more confidence.) Those moments don’t come often, but they make all the rest of the work worth it.

What is your least favorite part of writing?

Hmm, the editing. It drags on for me. I think I’m done with a chapter, then I send it to my CP and she says “slow down!”. That’s when I realized I still have a ton of work to do. I would love if the editing went fast. Maybe someday it will, it’s faster now than it was a few years ago.

What is your next project and when will it be released?

Snow and the Seventh Wolf will be out in February 2013. Seth hates humans so much tries to kill Red’s human love interest in Little Red Riding Wolf and he’s just a big blustering alpha male, so I had to take him down a peg, or two. Actually, falling in love with Snow does the job for me. Thank Goodness!

I’ve already let you in on Snow and the Seventh Wolf in February 2013. But I’ll also let you know that the third book, based on Goldilocks and the three bears, will be coming out in Fall of 2013. And I think my publisher will be wrapping the three books up into a print anthology. I’m pretty excited about that!

What is your typical day like?

Well it depends. I work half of the year, and when I’m working life is crazy with work, kids and trying to get the dog enough exercise. Writing gets squeezed in whenever I can. But for the rest of the year I’m up at six am and on emails, Twitter, Goodreads, and Facebook. Then I eat breakfast, walk the dog for an hour, come back and shower and get to writing. I alternate sitting at the computer for forty-five minutes, with fifteen minute breaks for cleaning the house. That’s the only way I get everything accomplished. Cleaning is physical and gives my back a break from sitting at the computer. And it helps the spread of my backside!

Do you have critique partners?

I do have a critique partner. ML Guida and I started working together this summer. We both write dark paranormal and we both like hot alpha men so it’s been working out well. I’d tried working with several people before this and it always seemed to falter. ML and I work well together because we both want to move through our stories fast, and yet we are aware of the need for quality. That’s why I love sending my stuff to her, she makes me re-work it until it’s just right.

What is your favorite dessert/food?

Dark chocolate is my favorite. Give me a deep dark delicious mousse or decadent brownies and you’ll win my heart forever. Or at least until the next person shows up with chocolate cake! (wink, wink)

I’ll be giving away an e-copy of Little Red Riding Wolf to one lucky commenter.To enter please leave a comment and ask me a question about my books, writing, or life in general.

Little Red Riding Wolf by Jessica Aspen
Fraternizing with humans is taboo, but when feisty werewolf Red runs into hunky new forest ranger Evan Brewster, she jumps on the opportunity to let loose her desires. Evan is stoked when he meets the petite red haired hottie, and combined with his new discovery of wolves in Colorado, thinks his career and life are made. Then Red pushes him away, her hostile brother threatens his life, and things begin to spiral out of control. Caught between her sexy lover and her pack can Red trust Evan with her secrets, or must she sacrifice her human lover and her heart?

Available from All Romance, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.
Catch it on sale today at Passion in Print Press.

Jessica Aspen writes paranormal romance near the foothills of the Colorado Rockies. Her books are full of elves, were-wolves and sexy men who walk on the dark side of the knife. She loves dark chocolate, walking the dog, hiking and is obsessed with her new i-pad. Jessica is also obsessed with writing and learning about writing. She is a member of RWA, CRW, FF&P and PRO. You can find Jessica most days during the week at http://jessicaaspen.com, twitter @jessicaaspen, and on Facebook.com/Jessica.Aspen.