Seraphim Question Time with Tiffany Reisz

Seraphim Question Time With Tiffany Reisz

Author Bio

Tiffany Reisz lives in Portland, Oregon with her boyfriend (a reformed book reviewer) and two cats (one good, one evil). She graduated with a B.A. in English from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and is making both her parents and her professors proud by writing BDSM erotica under her real name. 
When not under arrest, Tiffany enjoys Latin Dance, Latin Men, and Latin Verbs. She dropped out of a conservative southern seminary in order to pursue her dream of becoming a smut peddler. Johnny Depp’s aunt was her fourth grade teacher. Her first full-length novel THE SIREN was inspired by a desire to tie up actor Jason Isaacs (on paper). She hopes someday life will imitate art (in bed).
THE SIREN was awarded the RT Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Erotic Romance 2012. 

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Describe yourself in 3 words.
very bad Catholic


If you could have written any book which book would it be and why?
The book I most wish I had written is THE VINTNER'S LUCK by Elizabeth Knox. It's this gorgeous strange beautiful love story between a 19th century French vintner and a fallen angel who he stumbles across one night in his vineyard. It's the only book I've read in a long time that took my breath away and made me weep openly. It's just devastating. There's a club of us on Twitter who have read the book and fallen in love with Xas the angel and none of us will ever never recover from it. Nor do we want to.


Who is your favourite of your own characters (either already written or still in your head) and why?
Søren is now and always my favorite character to write. He's based on the Old Testament God so he's both sadistic and difficult while also being compassionate, merciful, loving and giving. I can't get enough of writing him. 


Best book you have read so far this year?
DAKOTA: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris is my favorite read so far this year. Kathleen has this great gift for explaining me to me. She tells me secrets about myself I didn't know I didn't know. Favorite book ever? Impossible to say but one of the top five is ALL THE KING'S MEN by Robert Penn Warren. A rare book I read over and over and over again. Jack Burden is the greatest male character I've ever read. The most lifelike. The most human. 


Are there any other authors who inspire you?
The list is long...
Anne Rice
Jennifer Egan
Douglas Adams
Robert Penn Warren
Kathleen Norris
Haven Kimmel


Favourite thing that's been said about one of your books?
THE ANGEL, the second book in the Original Sinners series, features a love story between a troubled teenage boy (Michael) and a 29 year-old super sexy rich trust fund baby (Griffin). A reader emailed me after finishing the book to tell me it had changed her heart. She'd been harboring some homophobia and the book made her see the world in a different way and by the end of THE ANGEL all she wanted was for Michael and Griffin to be happy together. 


What does the next twelve months look like in your book world?
THE QUEEN is the 8th and final (for now) Original Sinners now and it's out October in the US and Canada and November in the UK and Australia. But this Christmas I'll have a new Original Sinners Christmas novella up for free on my website (I've done this every year for four years now). Then next year you'll get to read THE BOURBON THIEF which is my Southern Gothic novel about a tempestuous teenage girl who marries the rightful but disinherited heir of the family bourbon fortune and causes all kinds of sexy trouble. Not a romance novel per se but Original Sinners fans will love it.


Who is your current book boyfriend and who is your all time, old faithful, go to book boyfriend?
No one will know who this is and he doesn't even have a name but the British noir author Derek Raymond wrote a series of novels about an unnamed detective solving the murders of unimportant people. It's very dark and gritty and I've had a crush on this unnamed detective ever since I read the first book. Of my own heroes, my book boyfriend is Merrick from SEIZE THE NIGHT. He's based on Romeo & Juliet's infamous character Mercutio and I just adore him. 

If you were stuck on an island with just one paperback book, which book would it be? The Complete Works of Shakespeare (it comes in paperback, I swear).
 

Favorite line from a book.
I have too many great lines to pick just one but these lines from DAMAGE by Josephine Hart have always stuck with me as a writer of complicated and damaged characters:

"“Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.”
― Josephine Hart, Damage

What's your go to karaoke song?
I can't sing worth a damn. I leave that to my husband. His karaoke song is "It's Raining Men." 


You've opened up your wardrobe and your clothes aren't there, instead it's your dream world! You walk through, what's the first thing you see?
Aslan. My dream world is Narnia. 


Is there a particular genre, maybe outside your comfort zone that you would like to write?
I'd love to write mysteries. But that would require learning an entirely set of tropes and shorthand, etc. It would be like learning to write in a foreign language. I might do it someday. I love how the heroes in mystery novels tend to be older and they can still have romances and love affairs. 


What's the best and worst advice you've ever received?
Best advice came from a professor of literature who I adored. He told me he knew a real writer when that writer was willing to throw stuff out. You had to be ruthless with your own writing. Now I regularly toss whole drafts, tens of thousands of words. It can't be good, it has to be perfect before I publish it. I'm vicious with myself, more vicious than my editor is.

Worst advice came from another writer who said "Write faster and don't edit so much." Ha! Horrible advice. I'd rather release one 5-star book a year than three 3-star books. A 3-star book will sell that book. A 5-star book will earn you a reader for life. 


What words do you love to use, and see in books, and what words do you hate to use / see?
I'm not too picky about words. As long as it works in context, I can handle any word. 


If you had one superpower, what would it be?
The ability to fly. I know it's cliche but nothing makes me happier than having a flying dream. 


Most underrated author / book you've read?
THE WINTER PRINCE by Elizabeth Wein. She's a famous YA author now but her earliest book doesn't get much press. It's without a doubt one of the finest novels ever written and is probably the book that planted the seed in my brain that eventually became The Original Sinners even though they have nothing in common other than a complicated main character with blond hair and a penchant for mind games and sadism. 


Who is your absolute favourite man candy?
Gaspard Ulliel is probably the prettiest man in the world. But for every day man candy, give me a good old-fashioned baseball player in his tight baseball pants, and I'm a happy gal. Check out the baseball butts tumblr! http://baseballbuttsmakemegonuts.tumblr.com


What book is your #BookZero? That one book you've read and re read, and know you will re read it again?
A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L'Engle is probably my most re-read book and will likely continue to be. Those books you fall in love with as a child are usually the ones that stick with you your entire life. 


If you didn't write books, what would you be doing?
Making minimum wage working in a bookstore. 


There is a massive awards ceremony for authors both trad published and indie. Its a big shindig and everyone is there. In a room full of these incredible people. Who is the author that makes you mush and you totally fangirl over them?
Mary Balogh. I've already fangirled over her but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.


Anything you would like to say? 
Thanks for having me on the SBR blog! I hope your readers check out the Original Sinners series. Find all the book links at TiffanyReisz.com/Books

Thank you so much for joining us Tiffany <3

To read our 5 Star review of Tiffany's latest book "The Queen", Click Here.