This week in The Loft: Fellow eXtasy author(s) Adriana Kraft!

Joining me today in The Loft are two fellow Extasy authors who write as Adriana Kraft. The husband-wife team writes sizzling romantic suspense and erotic romance. I should add, their books are scorching hot! Anyone with heart problems should have a medical team on standby before indulging! The couple has published more than 30 contemporary and paranormal romance tales, which explore a range of pairings, including male/female, lesbian, bisexual, menage, and polyamory. Today, we're chatting with the female half of this prolific pair.

Avatar for Adriana Kraft

S:  Good morning, Adriana! I am so excited to interview you today. Your books were among the first I read before joining eXtasy Books. They made me feel like I had found a home, so thanks for that!

Why did you become a writer?

A:  My husband and I have always wanted to be writers. Our careers took other turns first and we met--and fell in love and married--in academia, where we’d both done lots of writing, together and separately. Starting to write fiction together was a means of bringing those long-held dreams to life. Creating a happy ending for ourselves, in a way.

S: What is the biggest challenge you have faced as a writer?

A:  Shifting from dry academic writing styles to storytelling and realistic dialogue, for starters. Both of us were published in non-fiction before we decided to pursue our dream of writing fiction, so for the most part the grammar and basic structure issues aren’t a problem. Finding and honing our voice – a joint product – also took effort. We started drafting our first romance in 2000 and made our first sale in 2005, so you can tell we had to work at it. Lots of workshops, drafts, revisions, and submissions, in the era when that meant submitting a printed manuscript.

S:  (Smiles.) Proof that those who don't give up, who believe in themselves, succeed.

What attracts you to the romance genre?

A:  In the first place, we believe in love. We write romance because we believe in happy endings for all who fall in love, whatever their gender, sexual orientation, or numerical combination. But happy endings always involve compromise, and we love exploring the characters’ transformation process as they come up against obstacles and must decide what they truly value. Watching them dig deep and make tough choices is part of what keeps us going and, we hope, part of what keeps readers turning pages.

S:  (Nods.) The journey to love is fraught with peril. When love comes easy, it is just not as exciting!

Do you believe in love at first sight? Has it ever happened to you?

A:  Trick question, but I’ll have to answer “yes.” I'm not sure my husband would tell the story the same way. I still remember my visceral response when I first saw him at a get-together for new faculty, where we’d both just been hired to teach. In love? That might be an exaggeration, but he was definitely on my radar screen. The journey from that moment to a first date took an entire academic year, but was worth the wait. We were married a year later. Still in love. I hope it goes without saying.

S:  (Nods.) If the heat in your books are any indication, I would say so!

What's the best advice you have ever been given?

A:  Never give up. If you have a dream, work for it. Judith Viorst’s children’s book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" often saved the day for our son when he was little, so when I got a chance to hear her at a conference, I grabbed it. I haven’t been able to precisely corroborate this story online, but what she told us was that she started submitting her work for publication when she was still a teenager, and it was another 15 years before she ever received an acceptance. She never gave up.

S:  What are you currently working on?

A:  We’ve just finished an erotic romance manuscript about a Twin Cities photographer who specializes in erotic portraits and a South Dakota schoolteacher who signs up for a course at the academy where he teaches. She is unprepared for what he asks of her until she delves deeper into her own family history and realizes where she comes from. Extasy Books will release "Through the Lens in late June." Here’s the tag line, to give you the flavor: Prairie roots can be deceptive. Will Ellen Jeffers cling to the sedate past that’s familiar, or will she embrace a different version of her history—one that includes tragedy, scandal, fortitude, and freedom?

S:  (Grins.) Another sizzling hot masterpiece, I am sure!

Tell me about your latest book, "The Merry Widow."

A:  Sure. Here's the blurb--

The millennium arrived with such promise—will it deliver for recently widowed Merry Delaney?

So much for all the anticipation about the new millennium. Merry Delaney’s life is still in a rut and shows no signs of changing. Sex? A fading memory, gone long before her husband actually died. Excitement? Hardly the hallmark of an accountant’s life. At forty-two, what can she look forward to?

Until her best friend takes Merry’s predicament into her practiced hands. One passionate kiss unleashes possibilities Merry never dreamed of—and she wants to sample them all. Men? Women? Young? Old? Ménage? Toys? Yes, to all, to pleasure, to making up for lost time.

Enter Chicago Detective Jim Barnes, who solicits Merry’s help with a mob funds-skimming case. Can the scorching passion that soon smolders between Merry and Jim survive the escalating mob threats of exposure? Having discovered a zest for sex, will Merry ever again be satisfied with one man?

S:  Where can readers buy your book?

A:  It's available at all major booksellers, including--

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084PCH63T/
Publisher:  https://www.extasybooks.com/978-1-4874-2805-1-the-merry-widow/
Kobo:  https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-merry-widow-12

Barnes and Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1014270702?ean=2940163931583

iTunes:  https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-merry-widow/id1499352992

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Adriana_Kraft_THE_MERRY_WIDOW?id=nbPQDwAAQBAJ

S:  Adriana, thanks so much for joining me today. If you would like to learn more about Adriana Kraft and their books, please visit--

Website:  http://adrianakraft.com
Blog:  http://www.adrianakraft.com/blog
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/AdrianaKraft
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/adriana.kraft.5
FaceBook Fan Page:  https://www.facebook.com/AdrianaKraftAuthor
Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/author/adrianakraft
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