Maya Banks - Bio

Just a little about myself. I live in Texas with my husband, three children and assortment of cats. There’s also the dog that my daughter presented us a two page written proposal on why she should have it. (Don’t ask) When I’m not writing, I can be found hunting, fishing or playing poker. A southern girl born and bred, I love life below the Mason Dixon, and more importantly, I love bringing southern characters and settings to life in my stories. Not all my stories are set in the south, but most are ;)

I love to hang out at the Writeminded Yahoo Readers Group. We have the most terrific readers, and recently they had a few questions for me so I posted them below.

Fatin asks: Who do you call/brainstorm with when you need to work out a scene that’s giving you problems?

Maya: Uhh well it sorta sucks because there are many, many times when I’d give my eye teeth for someone to bug about a plot problem, but I always have to suck it up and figure it out alone. (Nobody loves me *sniff*)

Jambrea asks: Where were you when you got your first contract? Who did you tell first?

Hmm well I almost missed my first ebook contract. I was in the process of changing email addresses wasn’t using the old one anymore and one day went on a whim to make sure nothing was being sent there and there was an email wanting to contract Seducing Simon.

The first NY contract, which came shortly there after, I was at home, had just returned from vacation, and incidentally it was the day that Seducing Simon released. I got a call around 3 in the afternoon from my agent saying we had an offer from Berkley. I called my husband and then Amy.

Blanche asks: Do you ever write more than 1 story at a time........are you constantly thinking of the next story or coming up with a new idea while you are writing a particular story?

Maya: I’m the most linear person alive. I just can’t write out of order, I can’t work on more than one story at a time, and worse, I can’t work on stories out of order either. So if I get stuck on one, I’m screwed. As for thinking about stories, I’m always thinking about other plotlines, new characters, new stories. I just have to take notes and go on with what I’m doing.

Blanche: If you could be anything besides a writer what would that be?

Maya: Oh hell, a bum? Seriously, I can’t imagine having to do something else for a living. Don’t want to even imagine it.

Jennifer Y asks: What books were your favorite or most important to you when you were a child?

Maya: There are way too many to list. I read voraciously as a child. I didn’t own my first television until I was sixteen. I read anything and everything I could get my hands on.

Jennifer Y: What kind of hobbies do you enjoy most when you have time for them?

Maya: Hunting, fishing, poker. I love to travel. Love to read.

Jennifer Y: What do you always make time for, no matter how busy your writing schedule is?

Maya: My kids, my husband. My friends.

Jennifer Y: Do you find you prefer reading similar genres to those you write or do you read much outside the genre you write in?

Maya: Hmm it depends. I get burned out or disgruntled with a genre on occasion so I’ll leave it and come back later. I don’t like to read books where the romance/relationship isn’t the primary focus. I’m sorta single minded that way. So if there is a ton of other stuff going on in the book, I’ll put it down fast. I used to read a LOT of historical, and that’s what I started out writing, but I can’t even tell you the last time I read one.