Interview: Maya Banks

Parajunkee’s View is pleased to welcome Maya Banks to the blog. Maya just released a new steamy novella on the 21st, called ‘Softly at Sunrise.’

1. Do you have a favorite character from the new novella?

It’s hard to pinpoint a favorite character in the novella because all of the Kellys make appearances and I dearly love the entire family as well as the supporting cast of team members. But for me, Rachel and Ethan were the first and I have a special fondness for them because their story was what came to me and wouldn’t let go even though I didn’t get to write their stories for years after the idea came to me. They paved the way for the entire KGI series and it was from their story that I met all the other great characters and really got a feel for the Kelly family and the dynamics of this group of people.

The Kelly Group International (KGI): A super elite, top secret, family-run business.
Qualifications: High intelligence, rock hard body, military background.
Mission: Hostage/kidnap victim recovery. Intelligence gathering. Handling jobs the US government can’t…

Rachel Kelly has traveled a long, hard road in her journey back to her husband, Ethan, and the Kelly family. Now, as she and Ethan are poised to move into their new home, safe behind the walls of the Kelly compound, Rachel wonders if she’ll finally be free of the ghosts that have haunted her for so long and if she’ll step into the sun after a past steeped in darkness.

 

2. What about the genre is most stimulating for you as a writer?

Intermixing action and romance. Having unexpected plot turns while still having at its core a deeply romantic story.

3. What do you think makes your heroines memorable?

I don’t know that they’re deeply memorable. I’d say they’re more real. They’re not the biggest most badass women ever. They aren’t perfect. They’re normal women who have to overcome huge obstacles and they grow stronger over the course of the story. They evolve, as do most women, and become stronger for the conflict they face.

4. What has changed about your writing over the course of your career?

I’m less afraid than I was in the beginning to allow the story to unfold the way it needs to be told. In the early stages I was too caught up in worrying over what I could or couldn’t do that I didn’t just sit down and write the story the way it needed to be done.

5. How do you determine the ending while writing a series of books? Do you decide in advance where the story will go or does the narrative unfold as you progress?

I often know the ending well in advance. What I don’t know is how I get to that ending. I let the story unfold as I write it and that’s what makes writing so exciting and pleasurable for me. The discovery of the “journey” as I write it and not knowing what happens next until I get there.

6. Are you able to enjoy the characters in a different light after reading your finished work?

I don’t know that I see them in a different light as much as I know them BETTER once I’ve finished a book. Much of writing is discovering the characters and what makes them tick and so when I finish a book the character is fully fleshed out from when I started. I see them as real people who’ve come alive in the pages of the story.

About the Author:

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Maya Banks lives in southeast Texas with her husband and three children. When she’s not writing, she loves to hunt and fish, bum on the beach, play poker and travel.

Escaping into the pages of a book is something she’s loved to do since she was a child. Now she crafts her own worlds and characters and enjoys spending as much time with them as possible.

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Parajunkee

Rachel, whom you might know as Parajunkee, is the blog owner of parajunkee.com and the design blog parajunkee.net. Rachel has been blogging for close to four years, designing / web programming for over twelve, but her real love, reading, has been her favorite hobby since childhood. Rachel has won numerous awards for her writing, the blogs she has created and her design work.

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