5 Questions for . . . Angie Daniels

Triple talented author Angie Daniels writes contemporary romance, women's fiction, and erotica. Angie and I have not actually met, but it seems like we have, since we've been e-mailing each other for nearly five years. We signed to write mainstream women's fiction for Dafina at about the same time and have chatted about our respective experiences and previewed each other's covers before unveiling them to the general public. We have a mutual admiration society, and I consider her a friend as well as a colleague . .. even though she didn't call me when she visited the Six Flags Great America Park that's 10 minutes from my house (tee-hee.)

Angie's career is going gangbusters. Her June 2007 Kimani release contemporary romance, The Second Time Around, was, in the words of a bigwig at Harlequin, "flying off the shelves" and was held to me as a model for the type of story Kimani Romance is looking for. She was part of the October 2007 anthology, Big Spankable Asses, a trio of interracial erotic stories that has been a reader favorite, and she is also the author of the much talked about mainstream novel, Trouble Loves Company.

Angie has a brand new contemporary romance out. The Playboy's Proposition will officially be released by Kimani Romance tomorrow, February 1st. (You can order it from Amazon by clicking here.

Angie has sold seventeen books to date. She began her road to publication in 2001 when she was offered a four-book contract with Genesis Press. In 2002 she signed with BET/Arabesque, which was later purchased by Harlequin in 2005. Angie joined Kensington Publishing in 2003, for whom she writes both fiction and romance. Angie was born in Chicago, but after spending the last twenty plus years in Missouri, she considers that her home. The author is a member of the Air National Guard and holds a Master’s in Human Resource Management.

Angie was rushing out for military training, but she took time out to take 5 questions. Here we go:

Bettye: Let's start with something really important. What's the story behind the with a flat ass on the cover of Big Spankable Asses?

Angie Daniels: I had nothing to do with the ass on the cover of Big Spankable Asses; that was solely up to the art department at Kensington. Had it been up to me, you'd better believe sista girl would have had a truly banging booty!

Bettye: Angie, you had two full-length novels and a very popular anthology published in 2007 (plus a trade release of an earlier novel). Will The Playboy's Proposition (Kimani Romance), which is hitting stores now, be your only 2008 release? Say it ain't so! Seriously, will your military career slow down your writing? I hope not.

Angie Daniels: Right now I’m getting ready to leave for basic training and technical school, so I won’t be able to write a lick for the next three months, but that just means I have to put my booty in gear as soon as I get back home. I have two other books slotted for 2008. Careful of the Company You Keep (Dafina Books), and The Player’s Proposal (Kimani Romance) in November.

Bettye: Great news! I also want to tell the readers that your defense commitments will, unfortunately, cause you to miss the Slam Jam in Chicago in late April.

Now for the next question. What's the last theatrical movie you saw, and what was your impression of it?

Angie Daniels: The last movie I saw was This Christmas. I thought it was a wonderful “feel good” movie that definitely put me in the spirit of Christmas. It was really nice to see a movie that could have been easily casted with characters of any race. I was smiling so hard when I left the theatre I ran out and bought the soundtrack.

Bettye: Kind of like that family movie, Daddy's Dyin', Who's Got the Will?, all about the crazy way families act.

The all-in-your business question: Are your fingernails right now real or acrylic?

Angie Daniels: Girl, I don’t do the fake nail thang. It makes it too damn hard to type. However, I did have nails on last month, but that’s because I was the matron of honor at my sister's wedding and she wanted my hands to look nice. It took forever to soak them things off!

Bettye: Do you write your manuscripts directly into the keyboard, or do you write them out in longhand first? And how fast do you type?

Angie Daniels: Both. It’s easier to type it once and be done with it. But sometimes my fingers have a mind of their own, so I let them run the show. I keep note pads around, and when I can’t get my thoughts directly onto my laptop, I handwrite them instead. I’ve been doing this from the beginning, and even after a dozen novels it still works best for me. After that, it might be a few days before my thoughts make it into the computer, and then I churn them out at 65 wpm.

Bettye: Believe it or not, it's been five questions. Is there anything you'd like to say to the people reading this interview?

Angie Daniels: I want to thank all of you that have supported my career. There are many days I want to kick my computer down a flight of stairs, but it’s the readers who make this worth all the long hours. I love hearing from you, so please feel free to visit my website and email me.

Thanks, Angie!