How to "Tame a Wild Wind" with Cynthia Woolf

How did you get started writing?  I wrote my first story when I was about ten.  It was a romance about me and a little boy I liked.  I also wrote some very depressing poetry.  I decided that poetry was not for me and stuck to romance.

What genre(s) do you write in and why?  I have a historical western romance and a sci-fi romance out now.  The sci-fi is the first in a series.  I write in these genres because they are the ones whose stories reached out to me.  The western was the first book I wrote and was inspired by my parents’ love story.  It’s set on the same ranch that they met on in 1941.  My book is set in 1885, so it’s not their love story.  My dad was a cowboy and trapper but to the best of my knowledge was never a bounty hunter. 

The sci-fi series was done because of dreams I had when I was a teenager.  I knew I was a princess from Alpha Centauri.  There was no way I could belong to the crazy family I had.  Of course, I adore that crazy family now.

What inspired your latest book?  Centauri Twilight is the second book in the Centauri Series.  I used to dream that I was a princess from Alpha Centauri, that was the basis for Centauri Dawn, book 1 in the series. 

Book 2 is much darker.  Lara is the twin sister of Audra in book 1.  Lara has been a sex slave since she was a child.  Having escaped, she’s now an outlaw and working to free the rest of the slaves who are now her people.

Book 3 Centauri Midnight is about two people from Book 1.  Kitari Dolana and Garrick Marcus.  They are chasing the person responsible for the death of her brother and the capture and torture of Anton in the first book.  The person who gave Slavarien, the villain, the  information that allowed the ambush.

What is your favorite part of writing?  My favorite part is what I call the ‘puking’ phase.  Just getting it all down on paper for the first time.  You just let if flow out of you, not caring, for the moment, if it is good or bad.

What is your least favorite part of writing?  Editing is my least favorite.  I’m constantly questioning myself and my work.  Changing it, correcting it, putting it back to what it was and starting it all again.  It’s never good enough for me.

What is your next project and when will it be released?  My current is called CENTAURI MIDNIGHT and is the third book in the Centauri Series.  It was released on January 9, 2012.

What is your typical day like?  I don’t know that I have a typical day.  I’m lucky enough to be able to write full time.  I was laid off in June and am taking advantage of it to write while I look for another job. 

How has your experience with self-publishing been?  My experience has been wonderful.  I highly recommend it for everyone out there who doesn’t want to be constrained by the “big” traditional publisher.  For everyone who wants to write from their heart and not according to the industry rules and constraints, self-publishing is the only way to go.

What advice do you have for other authors wanting to self-publish?  Go for it.  It’s a wild ride but totally worth it.

About Cynthia

Cynthia Woolf

Cynthia Woolf was born in Denver, Colorado, and raised in the mountains west of Golden.  She spent her early years running wild around the mountain side with her friends.

Their closest neighbor was one quarter of a mile away, so her little brother was her playmate and her best friend.  That fierce friendship lasted until his death in 2006.

Cynthia was and is an avid reader.  Her mother was a librarian and brought new books home each week.  This is where young Cynthia first got the storytelling bug.  She wrote her first story at the age of ten.  A romance about a little boy she liked at the time.

She worked her way through college and went to work full time straight after graduation and there was little time to write.  Then in 1990 she and two friends started a round robin writing a story about pirates.  She found that she missed the writing and kept on with other stories.  In 1992 she joined Colorado Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America.  Unfortunately, the loss of her job demanded the she not renew her memberships and her writing stagnated for many years.

In 2000, she saw an ad in the paper for a writers conference being put on by CRW and decided she'd attend.  One of her favorite authors, Catherine Coulter, was the keynote speaker.  Cynthia was lucky enough to have a seat at Ms. Coulter's table at the luncheon and after talking with her, decided she needed to get back to her writing.  She rejoined both CRW and RWA that day and hasn't looked back.

Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and the great friends she's made at CRW for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her creativity.

TAME A WILD HEART from Amazon http://amzn.to/uEoTO0

CENTAURI DAWN from Amazon http://amzn.to/uwGgHo

CENTAURI TWILIGHT from Amazon http://amzn.to/t3Um6q

CENTAURI MIDNIGHT from Amazon http://amzn.to/wdADsZ

TAME A WILD WIND from Amazon http://amzn.to/HiChCB

EXCERPT FROM TAME A WILD WIND

PROLOGUE

They was about to hang his brother.

Harry’s stomach roiled with nausea.  From the alley next to the saloon, he watched the Ranger, Sam Colter, march Frank up the gallows steps.  Watched the hangman put a noose around his brother’s neck and ask if he had any last words.  Watched, helpless to do a damn thing about it.

It weren’t Frank’s doin’ that Colter’s wife and kids had died in that fire.  They’d only wanted to have a bit of fun with the woman, make a little money, that was all.  They hadn’t wanted to see her and those girls die.  That was never the plan.

Fool woman.  If only she’d waited.  Her father would have paid the ransom.  A bank president could afford it.  Instead, she’d broken loose.  Thrown that lamp at his head, trying to kill him and killed herself instead.

The fire had been fierce.  It moved so fast like the house was made from kindling.  He rubbed the puckering skin on his arm, feeling the sting of the flames all over again as his flesh charred.  He couldn’t have saved them, not and gotten himself out in time.  Harry clenched his fists.  It wasn’t his fault.  And it wasn’t Frank’s either.  It wasn’t.  She was to blame.  Frank shouldn’t have to die for something she’d done to herself.

He had to stop this from happening.  He had to save Frank.

Harry shifted away from the gloom of the alley and his brother looked at him from the gallows; met him square in the eye and shook his head.  He didn’t want Harry to die too, trying to save him.  He’d always been like that.  Always looked out for him.  Even when it could have saved his own life, he hadn’t given his little brother up.  Swallowing hard, Harry slid back into the shadows, his heart pounding.

Time slowed as the hangman stepped up to the lever and gave it a sharp pull.  His brother dropped through the trap door, kicking and struggling, his neck not broke clean.  Fear strangled Harry, like he was on the end of the rope, trying to breathe, trying to live.  Hot tears tracked down his cheeks and bile rose into his throat as his brother’s face turned purple and then his eyes bulged out, legs thrashing wildly at the air.

This weren’t right.  None of it was.  Damn Colter.  Damn him to hell.

The bile in his throat burned all the way to his stomach.  He barely got himself hid behind a pile of old beer barrels before he threw his guts up into the mud.  Minutes later, shaking and sweating, Harry wiped the vile stuff from his chin.  Fury and grief gripped him, making his chest hurt.  His brother was gone.  Dead.  And Sam Colter was to blame for it.

He forced himself to look at Frank’s body, spinning almost lazily now from the end of the rope.  He never wanted to forget what had happened today.  He wanted to hold onto the icy hatred settling over him like armor--let it protect him and keep the awful feeling of helplessness away.  He wanted revenge.

“I’ll get even for you Frank,” he vowed quietly.  “Colter will pay for what he done today.  He’ll pay for hangin’ you.”