Please welcome Isabelle Rose to the blog, author of The Laurel. Thank you for agreeing to answer my nosy questions and share them with everyone visiting today.

Q: To begin, please share which genre(s) you write in…
A: Erotic romance, fantasy, and horror (paranormal).

Q: Out of all the stories you’ve written, which is your favorite?
A: At the moment I would have to say The Laurel (Coming out soon through eXcessica Publishing) is my favorite. It’s a novelization of the Greek myth about Apollo and Daphne.

Q: Do you need to be in a specific place or atmosphere before the words flow?
A: Not really. Inspiration can strike at any moment. I just have to make sure I have a notebook and a pen on me at the time otherwise I might forget what I wanted to write in the first place.

Q: If you could offer one tidbit of information for new writers, what would it be?
A: Write any chance you can get and never ever give up. Writing is the most joyful thing in the world (at least to me), it’s the business side of it that can sometimes kill the creativity that lives inside of you, don’t let it. You need the business part of writing in order to be successful as an author. Anyone can write, not everyone can be an author.

Q: Do you have an evil day job or do you write full time?
A: I used to have an evil day job…I traded it for being a stay at home mom. Luckily my son still takes naps and that’s when I can squeeze in a few quiet moments of writing.

Q: What’s your favorite dirty word?
A: It’s not really one word…it’s a string of curse words. Cock sucking motherfucker, I just love saying it, especially while I’m driving and some jerk runs a red light or does something to annoy me on the road.

Q: Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
A: Yes, I have two tattoos, a fairy on my shoulder blade and gargoyle on my wrist.

Q: If you could be intimate with three people (not necessarily all at one time *g*) without getting in trouble with your significant other, who would they be?
A: Gerard Butler (from the movie 300), Lee Pace (from Pushing Daisies) and Ewan McGregor (from Moulin Rouge).

Q: If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would you spend the money on?
A: A house for my family and a house for my mom. Pay off my debts, invest in stocks for my son, and my nephews, save money for the kids in my family for college and basically take care of my family for the rest of their lives.

Q: Which household chore do you abhor and why?
A: Cooking, because I have to spend time thinking about what I’m going to cook, and the whole chore of doing it can be exhausting for me. Mostly because I have so many other things going on in my day that by the time dinner time rolls around I don’t want to do anything else.

Q: What’s your favorite comfort food?
A: Pizza. I LOVE PIZZA. And if I can squeeze another one in here, it would have to be chocolate. Yum!

Q: Do you have a favorite book or movie?
A: May as well pick a favorite star in the sky! That is my one vice…books. So many to choose from. I would have to say that one of my favorites has to be Kissing the Witch by Emma Donohue.

Q: If you don’t mind sharing, would you tell us about your latest work in progress?
A: Right now I’m working on a number of things. I’m promoting an anthology I helped put together with a small group of friends titled Twisted Fairy Tale Anthology. It’s a collection of short stories and poems in different genres. Some authors chose horror, others picked science fiction and some poetry. It was a lot of fun putting it together. I’m also working on another Greek Myth inspired novel titled Pomegranate, it’s the story of Hades, Persephone and Demeter. And a few short stories here and there for some anthologies that are in the works. I’m definitely keeping myself busy, these days. 

Q: In closing, tell us a bit about your latest release (& share a yummy excerpt for those who aren’t yet familiar with your work)
A: In The Laurel, the gods and the immortals interplay, and both will learn a valuable lesson about love and life, a lesson that will forever be told. Zeus, after bedding and impregnating the fair Titaness Leto, becomes father to twins: Apollo and Artemis. Unlike his other “bastard” children, Apollo and Artemis are made into gods, an event which will set the course for the rest of the story. Artemis has never forgotten the heartache that her mother suffered at the hands of her father Zeus, and as such, she wishes to leave a solitary life, away from men and love and relationships. Though she stands firm in her conviction, moments bubble up in her that are full of yearning. Apollo, who has never been seen without a smile on his face, is much more fanciful and wanting than Artemis. He wants love, and he wants it in a big way. Having loved and lost love, Apollo believes he has found it again with the beautiful nymph, Daphne. He quickly learns, however, that she has made a vow to celibacy. But that doesn’t matter to Apollo; his love for her is so profound that he asks her to be his companion, to live with him just so that he can be near her. Apollo’s lifelong wish is about to come true, but people on the fringes of his life have other plans. Those plans not only thwart what could be the love of a lifetime for Apollo, but it also will be the catalyst to which both gods and mortals will learn how much one should love, how much one should consider the feelings of the one loved.

Excerpt

PROLOGUE

In a dark cave filled with multicolored strings and golden cords that hummed with power sit The Moirae. Three sisters, daughters of Zeus and the Titaness Themis.
Clotho the Spinner, Lachesis the Allotter, and Atropos the Inexorable. Each one with a purpose, each one with a task that must never end. Clotho, the youngest of the three, must forever spin the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle. She is called upon at the ninth month of pregnancy when life must come forth.
Lachesis, the middle sister, then takes the thread and measures it, for she decides how long a person must live. Atropos, the eldest of the three, was the cutter of the thread. She chose the way a person was destined to die. Her golden shears were always sharp and ready for the task that was assigned to her.
Lachesis watched Clotho out of the corner of her eye and frowned.
“What are you doing?” Lachesis asked while she continued to measure the cord.
“What I always do, I spin,” she replied.
“That’s not wool thread, nor is it the golden thread that belongs to the gods,” Lachesis pointed out.
“I know,” Clotho replied.
“Then what are you spinning?”
“I spin a tale that will be told long after the three of us are gone. I spin a tale that will teach a lesson to both god and man,” she replied.
“Who is this person?” Atropos asked. “How long will she live so that I may know when to cut the cord?” She chuckled as she cut the air with her golden shears, already eager to put them to good use.
“You won’t have to,” Clotho replied as she kept spinning the cord.
“Don’t be silly, of course I’ll have to cut it. It is my job, it’s what I do,” Atropos argued as she waved her shears from side to side.
“She will live on forever,” Clotho muttered as she continued to spin a dark green cloth.
Her sisters shook their heads, unable to understand their young sister’s strange behavior.
“You speak nonsense, Clotho. I will always have a cord to measure just as Atropos will always have something to cut,” Lachesis said.
“That’s quite alright, sisters, there is no need for you to understand.” Clotho smiled an innocent smile as she continued to spin the thread and feed it into the spinning wheel.
Their cavern looked more and more like an elaborately decorated and multicolored spider web with every passing day. Every day, Clotho created a new cord for each child that was born into the world. It was a cycle. It was the way the world worked. You are born, you live, and then you die.
But not you, sweet one. We have other plans for you. The world will remember your name, Clotho thought as she continued to work on the dark green thread.

CHAPTER ONE

His white wavy hair gently grazed over his bronze shoulders as he looked up at the sky with storm grey eyes. He had done well to choose the heavens as his domain. The bright blue always soothed him and yet for some strange reason, at the same time it made him feel in control of his surroundings. He loved it up here; it was far away from the noise of humanity, away from the endless praying and muttering that went on in the world of mortal men. He couldn’t help but smile as he heard his brother Hades curse his name. He didn’t like his kingdom of darkness. But Zeus knew that it suited him well, given his mood swings and ill temper. It was one of the reasons mortals feared death. They all had to face Hades whether they liked it or not. His older brother had the charm of a raging bull.
He was at peace now that he was far away from the bickering gods and their addictions although he knew he shouldn’t talk: he had his addictions, too.
Addictions that he enjoyed.
He chuckled as he conjured up the nude figures of some of his favorite lovers. No matter how well he hid himself and his affairs, she would find out eventually. She always found out. She was always watching him. He burst out into laughter when he heard her loud booming footsteps. This was his favorite part of the day.
The large white doors in the chamber he shared with his wife burst open, leaving behind large cracks where the doorknobs struck the wall. A wild-eyed Hera stood at the doorway glaring at him. His sister, the goddess of marriage and married women. If she couldn’t keep her husband faithful to her, then there was very little hope for mortal women to hang on to their respective spouses. She was losing her followers, everyday less and less women got on their knees to pray to her. She couldn’t have that. She would lose some of her powers if she didn’t have women believing in her. She was slowly turning into the goddess of jealousy and revenge, and she didn’t even know it.
“Where are you hiding her?” Hera roared.
Her bright red hair flew in different directions, turning brighter and brighter as she got closer to her husband. Zeus stared at his wife. She reminded him of the Gorgon Medusa. Athena transformed her into a hideous creature with snakes for hair when she discovered that Medusa was no longer a virgin; it didn’t matter that she had been raped by Poseidon. There are many who say that her punishment was just, but Zeus didn’t agree with that. If it hadn’t happened in Athena’s temple, he would’ve spared the young woman of the horrors that she suffered shortly afterwards.
Poor woman, it was her bad luck that made her beautiful to the world. Now I have to deal with a woman who is beautiful on the outside but hideous on the inside.
He turned his attention back to his hollering wife. Hera’s hair looked as though it were ready to burst into flames. He could already see some tiny flames and sparks erupting from her skull. He tried to maintain a straight face as he looked at her. His grey eyes remained blank. No emotion. He had to ignore her questions if any of the women in his life were ever to survive. So, he did what came naturally…he lied.
“What are you talking about?” Zeus asked as he calmly looked at a clay figurine that was in an arena he created. It was a mock up of a stadium. The scenery changed depending on where the person traveled. It was the best way for him to keep up with the mortals he or any of the other gods were fixated on.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. That little whore you’ve been seeing behind my back. You sneak away like a filthy snake when you think I’m not paying attention. When I find her, you’ll wish you had never picked me to be your wife.”
She transformed into a beautiful white peacock. She glared at him with black beady eyes. Her beautiful iridescent white plumage quivered and then in a puff of white smoke, she vanished. He knew she had gone down to the world of the mortals in search of his new lover.
Zeus ignored his wife’s angry rant and stared at the bright blue sky and the clouds lazily floating above him once more. Hera would never find her. She would waste her time for several months. His new lover was a young man, a shepherd. He succumbed to him easily enough. That’s the way it was with the mortals. All he had to do was show them a little power, and they bowed down before him. It was starting to get boring. He wanted something a bit more challenging…but not too challenging. He didn’t want to work so hard at something that it was no longer fun for him.
Once, when he was younger, he had loved Hera and no one else. But everyday he found women, and on occasion men, that filled him with curiosity. Mortals were such amazing creatures. He wanted to touch their skin, know their thoughts, and feel their hearts beating against his chest. He was fascinated with women of all shapes and sizes. Each one a different world. Such a variety. Different colored eyes, hair, and skin. He loved discovering the beauty that existed within each and every one of them. Women were his weakness. He thought of Hera and knew that she had no heart. The only thing she had inside of her was jealousy, anger, and rage. It was a rare sight, indeed, whenever she showed sympathy and warmth toward another being.
Zeus frowned when he heard a soft hum. He parted the clouds beneath his feet and searched the mortal world for the sound. His heart stopped when he found the source of the music.
I have found you little one, he thought with a smile. Ah…I know who you are.
He was gazing at Leto, daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. She was bathing in the river. He felt his blood run hot as he watched her bathe. The clear water glistened and shimmered as it ran down her body. A few drops of water clung to her chin and fell to her chest, leaving a small trail down her abdomen, and lingering on the rim of her bellybutton for several moments. Then it continued its path until it reached her sex.
Zeus’ heart skipped a beat as the droplet dangled on her pubic hair until it finally fell down to the river, ending its seductive journey. He was envious of the water that touched her skin. Zeus watched with abated breath and hungry eyes. He wanted nothing more than to be the river that cleansed Leto’s body. He would take advantage that Hera was away and visit the new object of his lust. He transformed himself into a quail and descended down to the mortal world to meet the beautiful daughter of the Titans.

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To learn more about Isabelle Rose, please visit www.isabellerose23.webs.com