You’re both a voice actress and a writer.  What comes first?  Are you considering shelving your voice acting career to focus on your writing?

I’m a Gemini, so I love switching hats, and I’m addicted to multi-tasking.  Sometimes it’s challenging to juggle two careers, but that keeps life exciting.  Even though I’m more focused on writing at the moment, I’d never give up voiceover.  It’s way too much fun.

Can we expect to see your novels available in audio books in the future?

That’s actually up to the publisher.  A lot of romance novels aren’t ever done as audio books, because they’re, ahem, kind of explicit.  What I’d REALLY love is to see my novels on the big screen.  I tend to write cinematically, and I think it’d be a kick to have my stories brought to life.  Let’s see...Viggo Mortensen, Josh Holloway, Adrian Paul, Orlando Bloom...

Who inspires you when you write? Do you have a favorite author?

I grew up on Howard Pyle’s Knights of the Round Table books, as well as Roald Dahl, Edward Eager, and Ray Bradbury.  My favorite romance author is Penelope Williamson, and I love Jude Deveraux and Julie Garwood.  I’m a big fan of Dean Koontz, too, with his snappy patter and rich descriptions.  Actors are a great inspiration, too, and I always mentally “cast” my books.  Right now my heroine is Angelina Jolie from “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

What compelled you to start writing historical romance novels?

Since I was little, I’ve been fascinated by towering castles, trusty swords, and knights (and damsels) in shining armor.  I started writing down medieval fantasies when I was 16, just for my own enjoyment.  I never thought I’d be sharing them with others one day.  My best friend in high school, a history buff, convinced me about ten years ago that we should write books together.  I quickly found out she hated writing, so I ended up doing all of it, relying on her for occasional research.

What do you know of your audience?  What kind of people seem to be drawn to reading your books? (Older women, younger women, history buffs, etc).

My audience seems to be a real mix.  Historically, romance readers are women, but since my novels are heavy on action, I attract male readers as well.  When I do booksignings, I talk to fans from age 14 to 90!  And I don’t think you have to be a history buff to enjoy my medieval books -- they’re pretty user-friendly.

The main characters in your books feature strong-willed warrior women. More and more female characters are taking on stronger roles in TV, music, movies and video games. Why do you think there is this shift towards the more empowered female character? What will become of the damsel in distress?

I seriously hope the damsel in distress is gone for good.  That doesn’t mean she can’t lean on a man now and then.  It just means that sometimes it’s the hero who’s doing the leaning, and she’s strong enough to be there for him.  I think we’re attracted to iconic heroines who wield swords and kick butt, because it’s an extreme version of what we’d like to do in our own lives.  One of my goals is to inspire women to find their inner strength, whether it’s fending off muggers, standing up to a boss, or hanging up on telemarketers.

Do you play any computer or video games?  If so, what kind of games?

I am HORRIBLE at video games.  Maybe it’s just because it’s unnerving to hear my own death scream every five seconds when I play Starcraft.  I used to have trouble with Pacman, just figuring out the joystick -- is it MY left or HIS left?  I’ve played Super Smash Brothers a few times with my son, and the only reason I beat him was because he was busy ROFLHAO.  I guess being a writer, I get too sucked into the character motivation to pay attention to the action...  What does Diablo REALLY want from the villagers?  If The Rogue got rid of those pesky minions for him and maybe worked out a timeshare situation for...  FWOOOSH!  AAAAAAHH!  Damn.

WomenGamers.Com would like to thank Glynnis Talken for her time.

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