PJ interviews Ursula Sinclair

Ursula Sinclair

Hi Ursula, and welcome.

PJ: Can you tell us a little about yourself and your alter ego?

Ursula: LaVerne Thompson and Ursula Sinclair both have a lot in common, they should since they’re the same person. LOL! I’m a pretty veracious reader, in a wide variety of genres. At least I used to read a lot before I started writing full time. When I’m not running my kids around, although now I have one driving so hopefully that means more time for me to write. We’ll see.  Anyway the real difference between my personas is LaVerne wants to introduce you to new worlds, Ursula wants you to appreciate the one you live in, in spite of its problems. And both will always have happily ever afters.

PJ: Why did you decide to write under two names?

Ursula: I separated them because I wanted to concentrate a little more on my paranormal fantasy work under LaVerne.  Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time series and The Dragons of Pern have greatly influenced me, but I want more romance added to my works. Under LaVerne my writing can continue to be sensual with some erotic elements. But Ursula allows me to continue to stretch myself within the contemporary genre and go a little beyond sensual and delve into more complicated modern relationships with plots stronger in suspense and intrigue.  And hopefully readers will come to know and understand what to expect under each name. Now that doesn’t mean you won’t still see a contemporary under LaVerne.

PJ: What was your inspiration for White Wedding?

Ursula: Two things happened one right after the other. I admit I was watching Bridezilla with my daughter, all those white wedding dresses and drama, and then that Billy Idol song came on. Well I didn’t need anything to fall on my head.  As soon as I could I pulled out my laptop and I had the first 2 chapters cranked out.

PJ: You’ve got a fantastic book trailer for White Wedding. Can you give us a little insider’s perspective of the making of the book trailer?

Ursula: That’s the 5th trailer I’ve done. And this time I did it by myself, okay my kids acted as consultants, thumbs up or down. LOL! But they actively helped me with the others. This one I’m really proud of, the concept is all mine and I put it together by myself. I just kept it true to the story line. But thanks to Dara England my cover artist I had a fantastic cover to work with and my cover model, Charles Paz.  Well can’t say enough sweet things about him. I told him I needed a picture of him in a suit for the trailer and he had to hold a white rose in his hand. Charles came through beautifully. The other shots I created and took myself, not the shower scene, although I did add the audio for the running water in the shower. The shower scene was from Romancenovelcovers.com, that’s Jimmy Thomas in there.

What can I say, love those Mr. Romance guys.

PJ: When you’re writing a story, do you have a planed heat level in advance or does the heat set itself as you’re writing the scenes?

Ursula: I don’t plan the heat levels.  But my writing is such the story takes me where it needs to go.

PJ: eBook Theft is a serious concern. Can you talk to us a little bit about your experience with piracy and do you have any tips for new authors like myself?

Ursula: I wish I did have better tips. I used to be a Trademark Attorney and this kind of theft has just gotten worse. I’ve even spoken to a few attorney friends about it and it will take a massive industry push to really get anything done. White Wedding came out on the 1st of Aug. by the 2nd it was on a pirate site. Until federal legislation is passed that takes into account epublishing rights and modern means of copyright infringement not much can be done. And frankly even if anything is passed most of the ones doing the theft are out of countries that wouldn’t be part of any international trade agreements anyway, or close up one ip address and open up elsewhere. The only thing I’d advise is to put your name in Google Search. That helps you keep an eye on things. When ever my name appears on the internet I get an alert. I check to see where it comes from.  If it’s a pirate site I send them a pull my book letter and also send the pirate info to my publisher. As the author they don’t seem to pay any attention to me. But usually they pay attention when they hear from the publisher.  Now that just means they take it down, in their own sweet time. And by the time they do your work has already been downloaded a thousand times. Or it shows up on another site. And you have to go through the same thing again.

PJ: Thanks so much for answering my questions!

Ursula: Thank you for interviewing me

And let’s have just a little fun to wrap up the interview…

PJ’s Speed Round

PJ: Tequila shots or glass of fine wine?

Ursula: fine wine

PJ: Vampires or shapeshifters?

Ursula: Both

at the same time? LOL

Ursula: Hybrids

…ooooh, I like that.

PJ: Wild, bad boy or by the book military man?

Ursula: Bad boy

PJ: Leather jacket or tailored suit?

Ursula: Suits during the day, leather at night

PJ: Boots on or off?

Off

Thank you, Ursula!  It was a pleasure interviewing you.

Ursula has offered a free e-copy of White Wedding for one lucky reader. Just leave a comment and tell us if you like vampires, shapeshifters…or hybrids!