Just Erotic Romance Reviews

What I have found out about Dee S. Knight has been courtesy of Liquid Silver and The Romance Studio Blue. As a military brat Dee was surrounded by men in uniform, including her future husband, who was in military school when they first met. She has been married to him for 30 years now. Together they have traveled the country and Canada as long distance truckers, teachers, computer trainers, and consultants. They move every so often due to her husband’s jobs with various companies around the country. Currently, they have settled in a little town we all were introduced to in Man of Her Dreams, Greenwood, South Carolina.

Personally, I have found Dee to be one of the greatest friends I have made online. She is a kind, caring, wonderful person and she always has a nice word for you. However, I only know the Dee I met online and wanted to find out more about her and her past as well as her plans for the future as a writer.

Where do you get the inspiration for your books?

Inspiration comes from most anything. For It’s All Relative, I read about a study that concluded it wasn’t harmful for first cousins to marry. I thought it might be interesting to have a kissing cousin story where the participants were surprised that they were related. For The Man of Her Dreams, I heard a country song about a man sending his wife a postcard while he was on a trip and he died on the way home (I know, I know, but it is country). That was the basis for the book, even though it was actually kind of a small part of it. But the main inspiration for my writing is the concept of love. I try to write a love story that has sex in it, not actually an erotic tale that ends up with love. Love—true, deep, soul-satisfying love—is something I really believe in.

When you decided to submit your first book, where did you go first and what was the response?

I sent out five or six letters to agents for my trucker book, and two online publishers. Two agents responded right away with negatives, a couple took longer. I never heard back from three of them. Both online publishers turned me down—Liquid Silver and Dead End Street. But Liquid Silver gave me some pointers on what romantica is and I submitted my second story there and was accepted. I was really brand new to the writing game and knew nothing about what would be involved. I just sat down and knocked out a book. Raven has been invaluable as a support and source of information.

Do the characters run around in your head or do they just flow from your fingertips?

Ha! Dakota Cassidy and I were discussing this just the other day. They do a little of both. I see scenes or flashes of scenes and then just type what I see. In that way, I guess they run around in the old brain first and then seem to flow off the fingers. Often I wake up and just “know” the perfect dialogue or action for a character, and then getting it down is so easy. Other times, I sit at the keyboard and I don’t have the faintest idea what a character should do, lol

Tell me a bit about your writing process. Do you just sit down and force yourself to write till it’s done, or squeeze it in whenever? Do you take notes all the time and go from those or do you just write what you feel?

Well let see, writing process. Basically, I get a scene in mind and dialogue, action, descriptions come from that. Sometimes I talk my way through a scene and don’t realize that I’m actually making the hand gestures or facial expressions I’m writing about. Often I have an idea of how I want to start a story and how I want to end, and I might have a couple of ideas for the middle, then I sit at the keyboard and fill in all of the stuff in between. I don’t take notes—I should! Sometimes I think of the greatest dialogue and it’s completely gone by the time I get to the computer. Drat! I hate it when that happens. When I was a technical writer I tried using outlines, notes, and all kinds of other writer aides, but found that simply sitting down and writing is what worked. Even in school, I did term papers the night before they were due—I’ve always been pretty good about organizing things in my mind. Now, writing what I feel is what I do.

Have you ever written anything that just had to be written but was too personal to be published?

No, not so far. But I have in mind a story of a woman who had polio or some debilitating problem, and that might come close. I had polio as a baby, and grew up having surgery and wearing braces. You know how it is when you’re the “different” kid in school. On the other hand, my husband had dyslexia. We were in school back in the days when not being able to read meant you were stupid or lazy—they didn’t recognize dyslexia or things like ADHD back then. So he had a handicap in school, but one that, unlike mine, was invisible. That was ever so much harder. Addressing those kinds of things in a book will be hard and the most autobiographical (or biographical).

Where did you get the idea for Cinderella Curse? Can you tell us a bit about the story and when it will be out?

Vikky, The Cinderella Curse just came out. I was surprised, to tell the truth. I thought it would be later in the month. You know, I really don’t remember what made me think of The Cinderella Curse. I think it was something hubby and I were laughing about, and it had to do with being careful what you wish for. One of us said, “Damn those happy endings, anyway,” and that got me thinking about what we grow up expecting out of life. What we expect and how we end up so rarely are the same. The story is about a fairly naïve, innocent girl from Kansas who moves to Richmond, VA. She falls in love with her boss—from afar only, though. He’s her prince, but very worldly. When a friend suggests that she take part in a magazine shoot as a make-over subject, she sees a way to attract her prince’s attention physically. She asks her friend to teach her about the ways of love so that she can hold him and not seem like a country bumpkin. I meant it to be light and fun, and I hope that’s how people see it, too.

What are you currently working on?

Right now I’m finishing up editing tasks on short stories for two anthologies. And I’m working on a new book, a ghost story that takes place in Fluvanna County, VA. This one has been plagued with interruptions, so I’m having to force myself to get with it, but I hope it will be finished in the next few weeks. Then I hope Liquid Silver will accept it! I haven’t submitted anything about it yet.

The anthologies are both great. One, Resolutions, is about four college friends who meet every year at New Year’s. At this dinner, they tell each other their previous year’s resolution and whether they fulfilled it. Four very different stories! Mine involves a trip to Scotland, which is a place I dearly love. I’m writing this with Leigh Wyndfield (True Seeing), Jasmine Haynes (More Than a Night), and Vanessa Hart (Love Lessons and Happy Campers).

The second anthology, Ain’t Your Mama’s Bedtime Stories, is a collection of seven fairy tales, updated, of course. Mine is based on Rapunzel, and is a tongue in cheek (and other places) story of Richard Hammer, PI. Leigh, Vanessa and Jasmine are in this, too, along with Rae Morgan (Destiny’s Magick), Sydney Morgann (Portal) and Dakota Cassidy (Shut Up and Drive). Again, all of the stories are so different. There is something for everyone in this collection.

Beyond this, and in the planning stage, is another collection of stories, but written with my hubby. We work well together, so this should be fun.

If you have a muse what does he/she look like?

Hubby says he has a muse for my writing. It’s flat, green and has pictures of dead presidents on it. (Checks are also acceptable.) I don’t think I have any particular source of inspiration, although I have been collecting lots of pictures of hot guys in various stages of undress lately, and they serve to keep my mind on track.

Did you know when you first met your future husband that he was the one? If not, when did you realize it?

No. I met Hubby when I was thirteen, in eighth grade. He was just a nice boy in algebra class. The next year he went away to the military school where I eventually taught. His dad taught at my school, so we met up again at Christmas of my tenth grade year. He asked me out to a movie, and we hung out over the holidays. After our first date, I wrote in my diary that I wanted to marry someone just like him someday, and when he went back to school, he told me that we would be married one day. We spent most of the next many years in different places. But we wrote and visited when we could. He went to VMI and I went to Mary Washington, four or five hours (at that time, before I64) away. We always dated other people, but from the time I was fifteen I knew I was going to marry him. And by then, it was too late for him to escape—I’d made up my mind, lol. For people who believe in the paranormal, two psychics predicted we would marry, so from the beginning I had it on good authority. J

Do you and Hubby research your love scenes before or after you write then?

I'm doing research for sex scenes all the time. I mean, Hubby burps, scratches himself, cracks his knuckles, laughs at something so hard Coca Cola comes out his nose, I say to myself, "How can I use this experience to capture the essence of our love??" No, I'm just kidding. Hubby doesn't do any of those things. He's the perfect gentleman at all times, and I'm the perfect lady. Truthfully, we have thirty years of research behind us. I draw from all of it, and look forward to thirty years of research ahead of us. It's all fair game. Love and sex originate in the brain, so every time Hubby says something witty or brilliant, it strikes me how sexy he is. Honestly, I love just being around him, in bed or out. Always have. He's one of the most fun people I know. He said to tell you we research during, but as a gentleman he shouldn’t tell.

Paper or Plastic?

Plastic. I hope that doesn’t offend environmentalist readers. When we lived in San Francisco, I brought groceries home on the bus, using a cloth bag, but here I have to carry bags up steps. Paper is too bulky and hard to handle. Plastic is much easier.

What is your favorite food?

Anything Italian. What is my favorite man? Anything Italian. What is my favorite car? Anything Italian.

What is your favorite drink?

Coffee. As far as alcoholic drinks go, Hubby is a teetotaler, so I either have to drink alone or not drink. I have so much fun without alcohol that I don’t miss it. Oh, I also love tea.

Sound or noise you love?

“Oh, sweetheart, yeeeees.” (Spoken by hubby or me.)

Sound or noise you hate?

“I think you have a headache.” (Spoken by hubby…)

What’s your favorite curse word?

Do you know, until I started driving a truck, at age 24, I never cursed. After I started driving and got cut off going down Donner’s Pass a few times, I learned lots of curse words and used them with vigor. When I started teaching I got out of the habit again, so now my purple prose is very tame. I use damn, hell and shit (or dehyam, hayell, and sheeit, in the finest Southern accent). I’ve never used the F? word or most of the other more extreme curse words. Usually I say “What the heck,” or “Daggone,” or some such. But when I’m upset, nothing feels better than just letting loose with a string of vulgarity.

If heaven exists what will God say to you when you get to the Gates?

I'll be so thrilled I got there, I'll really have to make myself pay attention. God will probably say, "Dee S. Knight? Are you sure you're in the right place? Wait a moment while I check your reservation..."

If you would like to learn more about Dee or read some of her books here are some links to help you get started…..

IMPATIENT PASSION, IT’S ALL RELATIVE, THE MAN OF HER DREAMS, and THE CINDERELLA CURSE (Just Released)
From Liquid Silver http://www.liquidsilverbooks.com

Visit Dee’s website http://deesknight.com

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