Gothic Gate's author R. M. Simone

What inspired your latest book? 

One of my readers suggested she would enjoy reader a Goth Romance.  I now call her my Muse’ lovingly   I sat down to write a few ideas inspired by this and Gothic Gates came to mind. I saw large Gothic Gates and a mansion.  Then the main male character and his name, Dante’.

Gothic Gates was ‘born’ and now it is up to seven books.  Three in the group are short stories.

What is your typical day like?

Well I am awake before sunrise.  I am a vivid dreamer. Often my dreams are like films or they are about my books I am working on with additional plot shifts, new characters, or evolution of the characters.  I record that information immediately and head to a favorite watering hole a Starbuck’s I like.   I spend about two hours recording into my lap top the book or story information.  Since like most authors I am always working on something or a project.

My other work begins around 8 a m with counseling on line for my clients and intuitive readings along with guidance for their paths.  I do long distance energy work, remote viewing, and a lot of healing aid to their souls. 

 I break around noon and head to exercise walk, then meditate at a group of huge trees I love in my car and quiet my mind.  This is a two hour period mid day.  Sort of leaving one part of my day and work and then preparing for writing again.  I do my edit work; re read ideas, play with the characters, collect artwork that inspires me for my books and work on my Book Covers.

I also design Book covers for other authors and banners for their pages.  This diversion is actually aligned with my writing flows and my love of art.   I also research during the afternoon.  All my books are set in real locations with real art, real architectural places and historical time frames even though I write fiction.

I also set the stories in grid ley lines that hold a frequency or energy that those that are drawn to my books comment that they experience or ‘feel’.   This is part of the feng shui work I do on homes, grids, long distance locations or in person.   Energy dowsing is something else I do and I read grid history and past time frames too.  

Evening is dinner at a favorite soup and salad place where I might spend four to seven hours in a large booth with WIFI on and working on my manuscripts, music on and in the flow.  

How much time do you spend promoting your books?  What works best for you? 

About an hour a day and I work with a PR gal too.   I would sincerely advise all writers to merely do that ‘write on’.  Join clubs for your genre and meet other authors.  I am in fan fiction and love meeting like minded folks into Twilight.  I also find some of the best unpublished authors there too.  Just writing for the sake of writing.  

I find though that once you decide to publish this takes on an entirely new stage.  Moving from the ‘artist’ into the promotion, the networking and the challenges of it all.  I like all of it.   It allows me to be assertive and go for what my vision is.   You do need to be thick skinned when you begin to put the work out there and take it all in stride.  Some mentions are helpful some are not.  Trust only the input from others that your feel is respectful and helpful to your project.   The rest take with a grain of salt. 

I find the best way on this is to get to know YOUR FANS those that are reading and buying your books.  Create a network of those that support your efforts and are true to your books, characters and fall in love with what you are writing.  This will be the Wind in your Sails.    

Tell us about your hero.  Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses.

Dante’.  Well his name says it all.  I wrote down his name when I began Gothic Gates and what followed was Byron, Shelley.       Three names all very significant in some way to this character.   

Dante is a master mind chess player.  He is a strategist.  He is also an immortal by way of Alchemy.  He is complex, very deeply privately spiritual; he is also highly educated in the occult arts and monastic solitude.  He uses all of these skills, gifts and intelligence to work within the shadows of his Board Meeting group and his Goth Business Enterprise.   He helps to balance good and evil in regards to global power elite. 

He is highly romantic and has waited for this special love of his to surface in his life.   Since she has he must navigate the fact she is not an immortal nor does she believe necessarily in past lives. 

He is extremely sensitive to her.  I personally marvel in writing the character the exchanges of this man as an archetype to this woman he loves and waited for.  

He is very much ‘in control’ of his life and business and is a stabilizing force for her own awakening into  her own heart and her soul.  Who he is and what Goth is about is part of how this relationship love unfolds.

He is also very altruistic in his charities and global work to aid good causes.

Power rolls off Dante’.   He is English and French and extremely wealthy.   

Tell us about your heroine.  Give us one of her strengths and one of her weaknesses.

Samantha Devon Huntington is 27 years old, fiercely independent woman, never been fully in love before and is a Midwest girl that moved with her family to Northern California.  She graduated Stanford with a MBA.  She works as a consultant in high tech.  She is visiting her best friend in Paris, France that is her school mate and wing girl in life.   She is very much salt of the earth, her family has a financial success and she works with her own solid business and life ethics that are very middle of the life road.  She is compassionate and caring of those less fortunate.   She is direct, honest, fire personality and very grounded.

Dante’s mystery throws her off her usual balance, his power that rolls off him and his extremely wealthy life style in Goth Enterprises.  

She is learning to trust him, open her own heart for love to come in and stay true to who she is and how she is.   She is not easy and he knows that and likes that.   He is a master mind though and she is very smart too.   They are extremely well matched on sexual intimacy.   This is opening her up to her own body, her emotional rawness too and this power.   Most of all her strength is her outspoken honesty.  

She must learn to trust what she is feeling, open her eyes to the past she touches into when she is with Dante’, and come into her true self.  She is a strong female and will go through an awakening with this rare love relationship.    He is her Twin soul mate love.  A divine match this is in so many ways she is yet to discover.  

 

What genres are you drawn to as a reader?

Fiction, Romance, Enchantment, Goth, Historical Romance, Myths, Fantasy, and Vampire/Immortal and Dimensional realities complicated sub plots, classical books, Regency Romance Good Supernatural books and of course Fairy Tales.  I also enjoy Fan Fiction.

GOTHIC GATES

Chapter 1

Gothic Mansion Doors

It seemed a frightening eternity that I just stood there facing the huge carved mansion door.  I considered just leaving the parcel there dashing back down the drive way to the safety of my car parked outside the Gothic Gates.  Not only was this place like something out of a New Orleans horror story but it could be in England or any other part of the world that had a misty bog creeping up around the grounds.  I did not dare to look over my shoulder and was about to bolt when I heard footfalls coming to the front door.  I squared my shoulders with holding the business card in hand with the package.  I stood there facing the door to see who ever I was going to pass this off to.

The door opened with a blast of this parties music thundering into my ear drums circling my mind deadening out my own thoughts.  Something else enveloped me as I felt dizzy with it all.  There stood a tall man with a masquerade painted mask on his face.  I wondered for a second too long before speaking.  Chills ran up my spine as I cleared my throat. 

“Excuse me, I have a delivery for ‘Dante’

Total silence.

“Excuse me, can you just sign for this?  Do you speak English?”

I stood there stumbling holding the package wondering how to get this done.  The house staff person spoke, maybe he was a guest?

“Yes, I speak the Queen’s English.  Well, you will need to come in and take this to him. Do you have some identification or business card with you?”

He had an English accent with perfect diction as I fumbled the card my hand was shaking.  It is frightening to stand there in front of someone wearing a mask.  You never know what is going on with who the person is or hiding their face.  He took my courier card handing it back to me promptly.  “You will need to give this to him in person yourself.  That is how this normally works.  Let me show you to the office.”

I was relieved to have that done with and followed in the man wearing the mask.  The party was in full swing with  what I could see in the main room all wearing elegant Gothic clothing and it showed like designer fashions.  Masks were on all the guest I could see.  He never gave me his name but directed me to a room near the foyer that I assumed was the office where the host of the event would be found.  I looked inside as he waived me to enter. 

“Excuse me, where is Dante’?

“What is your name, the card merely named the Courier Services?  You do have a name?”

“Ah, yes, of course, Sam.”  I could barely get my name out and worse of all I gave him my shortened name.  I was not thinking clearly. 

“Sam, you don’t look like a Sam?  I assume Samantha and your last name is?”

“Yes of course, it is Samantha Devon Huntington.”  There I got my name out.  I looked around the office realizing it had costumes along with ornate masquerade masks.  I wondered were the office desk was.

“You sound like you may have ‘breeding’ in you.  So you do have a formal first name along with a middle name and family name.  Do I know your family?”

“Why would you know my family, I don’t even know who you are?  I am doing my friend a favor by dropping off the music tracks for this party that were sent from the London Music Studio, Akashic-Records.  Did I make a mistake, I can leave and see if this was to go elsewhere?”  Somehow my fire kicked in as his attitude was beginning to irritate me.  The rich and these parties that are Gothic in nature were the rage all over England now and Europe.  The house fit perfectly for this kind of theme evening.  I wondered to myself how much this mansion rented out for this night’s event.

“Well, pick out something to wear, plenty to choose from plus a mask.  All the guests hide their identity.  I will show you where he is then.”

He left the room.  I was standing there again in shock.  I was not getting into a costume to just deliver this package.  Who did he think he was?  The door opened and a woman walked in about to look for something.

“Hello dearie, what is the problem, can I help you find something, you seem lost?”

I took in a deep breath feeling foolish standing there holding the package of music.  “Well I am a courier delivery and was just let in and he told me to pick out a costume to deliver the package to the host.  Really this is not what I had in mind and it was to just deliver this.’  I began rambling and felt out of place.

“It’s ok, the host has his ways.  Look let me help you dearie.  Now what do you have on under your clothes?  Any sexy lingerie’?”   She began rummaging through things grabbing this and that.

I began to unbutton my blouse realizing I was on some kind of ride to just get through this.  Get the job done.  Under my blouse I forgot I had on a black long waisted strapless bra.  She saw it and smiled.  I was really just numb with this entire event.

“Good, that will work perfectly.  We are all wearing black, it is so Goth you know.”  Next thing I knew she asked me to take off my Levi’s kicking off my shoes she searched for a tight fitting slinky skirt.  Slit up one long side of it reminding me to slide off my panties. 

“What do you mean take off my panties?  I just came to deliver this package.”

Author R.M. Simone: