ValerieJLong
March 11th, 2011, 11:08 AM
Dear all,
may I introduce myself? My (pen) name is Valerie J. Long, and I am a writer of erotic science fiction/fantasy action thrillers.
I came here to find a place to share thoughts with like-minded people.
About myself
I was born in Germany in the sixties of the last century. I am working as an IT Project Manager for an international company, and I live in Wiesbaden. I’ve chosen a pen name for two reasons. First I know my real name is too difficult to pronounce for most of the world. Second—as an IT person I know about the dangers of too much internet exposure. As a writer, I need a lot of exposure, and the pen name will retain a little privacy for me.
I read a lot. My bookshelves are overloaded with surely more than 2’000 books, mostly fantasy and science fiction. Among my favorites are J. R. R. Tolkien, Robert Heinlein, Alan Dean Foster and David Weber, only to mention a few. You bet I’ve grown up with Captain Kirk and Luke Skywalker, but I’ve also digested “Barbarella” and “Logan’s run”…
I am a fan of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, I like Alien, Sin City or Kill Bill, but I also enjoy watching Notting Hill.
I also travel a lot. If you read my stories and think—oops, she must know that place well—maybe you’re right, I’ve been there before.
About my writing
Some stories I’ve written during school don’t count. My student works won’t help. So basically my history as a writer starts with my history as a fantasy role playing game master. Writing fantasy stories for role playing is a very good training for story plotting—players will inevitably spot any hole in your story logic.
I’ve written some very short shorts—some not more than one or two pages—until one day I joined a story contest in a German online community. Result was the beginning of “Lioness’ Heart” (in German, of course). It was a big success, but it quickly became clear that the story could not simply end with a murder. It had to continue.
One chapter a day the story grew. I’m in the fifth year now, and I’m still posting one chapter each day to my small demanding online community. Meanwhile I’m two books and about two thirds of a year ahead of my readers, and my ideas cover one more books that I yet have to write. My readers also demanded a printed version of my stories, and they got it.
I had to make a decision then—try to find a publisher and let my readers wait, or do it all by myself as an independent (self) publisher. I chose the latter, unaware of the fact that some people might call it “vanity press”. Remember—demand came first, not the desire to see my name on a book.
A fellow author led me to eXtasy books. So I translated my first book and submitted it. It was accepted immediately, moreover it was accepted as the first book of a series. This is a 100% success rate!
While “Lioness’ Heart” and my heroine Zoe Lionheart were still in the publisher’s pipeline, I was asked if I would contribute to a collection of erotic short stories. The result was my very first English release “Lilith Rose”. This is the first story I did not translate from German, I wrote English from the start—it’s much easier not to switch between languages, I tell you!
About Lilith Rose
Lilith Rose was just released as my very first English e-Book. It’s not my first write though, rather my last-but-one. When my Editor In Chief told me about eXtasy books’ Fantasy Games series, that immediately triggered my imagination—I simply had to write the story that came to my mind. It is a Sex&Crime-Drama about one woman and her very special fate—I can’t give away more without spoiling the story, if you like, read yourself and tell me what you think about it.
About Zoe Lionheart
Zoe Lionheart (born Zoe Laforge) is my first protagonist and the reason my writing went beyond a private hobby. Zoe grew up as a quite ordinary, if talented, girl who didn’t expect anything special of her life. Her parents both died in a car accident when she was fourteen. She went on, finished school, finished M.I.T. and got a job. She was working as system administrator for a small print shop in Phoenix, AZ. In fact she was the girl Friday, the one who got blamed for everything. The happy side of her life was her friend Rick, and she was looking forward for her “Decisive Date” with him—he wasn’t clear about it, but did he plan a proposal?
That’s where the story and the trouble starts. A dull life at the side of a bike mechanic in Phoenix is not what fate has in mind for her (and me neither). There’s more to Zoe than the eye can see—although the eye can see a lot—and it will take me several books to unfold it all.
About Wiesbaden, Germany
Wiesbaden is located about 20 km west of Frankfurt where the rivers Rhine and Main meet, at the east end of the Rheingau wine region, known for its famous Riesling. It is a spa, known for its hot springs, and an American garrison—soldiers go from here to Afghanistan with their helicopters. The city has 276.742 inhabitants [2008]. It is the birthplace of tennis player John McEnroe. And now it will become famous as the place where my books were written ;)
Enough for now.
If you have any other questions, go ahead!
Cheers, Valerie
(or just Val, as my friends call me)
may I introduce myself? My (pen) name is Valerie J. Long, and I am a writer of erotic science fiction/fantasy action thrillers.
I came here to find a place to share thoughts with like-minded people.
About myself
I was born in Germany in the sixties of the last century. I am working as an IT Project Manager for an international company, and I live in Wiesbaden. I’ve chosen a pen name for two reasons. First I know my real name is too difficult to pronounce for most of the world. Second—as an IT person I know about the dangers of too much internet exposure. As a writer, I need a lot of exposure, and the pen name will retain a little privacy for me.
I read a lot. My bookshelves are overloaded with surely more than 2’000 books, mostly fantasy and science fiction. Among my favorites are J. R. R. Tolkien, Robert Heinlein, Alan Dean Foster and David Weber, only to mention a few. You bet I’ve grown up with Captain Kirk and Luke Skywalker, but I’ve also digested “Barbarella” and “Logan’s run”…
I am a fan of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, I like Alien, Sin City or Kill Bill, but I also enjoy watching Notting Hill.
I also travel a lot. If you read my stories and think—oops, she must know that place well—maybe you’re right, I’ve been there before.
About my writing
Some stories I’ve written during school don’t count. My student works won’t help. So basically my history as a writer starts with my history as a fantasy role playing game master. Writing fantasy stories for role playing is a very good training for story plotting—players will inevitably spot any hole in your story logic.
I’ve written some very short shorts—some not more than one or two pages—until one day I joined a story contest in a German online community. Result was the beginning of “Lioness’ Heart” (in German, of course). It was a big success, but it quickly became clear that the story could not simply end with a murder. It had to continue.
One chapter a day the story grew. I’m in the fifth year now, and I’m still posting one chapter each day to my small demanding online community. Meanwhile I’m two books and about two thirds of a year ahead of my readers, and my ideas cover one more books that I yet have to write. My readers also demanded a printed version of my stories, and they got it.
I had to make a decision then—try to find a publisher and let my readers wait, or do it all by myself as an independent (self) publisher. I chose the latter, unaware of the fact that some people might call it “vanity press”. Remember—demand came first, not the desire to see my name on a book.
A fellow author led me to eXtasy books. So I translated my first book and submitted it. It was accepted immediately, moreover it was accepted as the first book of a series. This is a 100% success rate!
While “Lioness’ Heart” and my heroine Zoe Lionheart were still in the publisher’s pipeline, I was asked if I would contribute to a collection of erotic short stories. The result was my very first English release “Lilith Rose”. This is the first story I did not translate from German, I wrote English from the start—it’s much easier not to switch between languages, I tell you!
About Lilith Rose
Lilith Rose was just released as my very first English e-Book. It’s not my first write though, rather my last-but-one. When my Editor In Chief told me about eXtasy books’ Fantasy Games series, that immediately triggered my imagination—I simply had to write the story that came to my mind. It is a Sex&Crime-Drama about one woman and her very special fate—I can’t give away more without spoiling the story, if you like, read yourself and tell me what you think about it.
About Zoe Lionheart
Zoe Lionheart (born Zoe Laforge) is my first protagonist and the reason my writing went beyond a private hobby. Zoe grew up as a quite ordinary, if talented, girl who didn’t expect anything special of her life. Her parents both died in a car accident when she was fourteen. She went on, finished school, finished M.I.T. and got a job. She was working as system administrator for a small print shop in Phoenix, AZ. In fact she was the girl Friday, the one who got blamed for everything. The happy side of her life was her friend Rick, and she was looking forward for her “Decisive Date” with him—he wasn’t clear about it, but did he plan a proposal?
That’s where the story and the trouble starts. A dull life at the side of a bike mechanic in Phoenix is not what fate has in mind for her (and me neither). There’s more to Zoe than the eye can see—although the eye can see a lot—and it will take me several books to unfold it all.
About Wiesbaden, Germany
Wiesbaden is located about 20 km west of Frankfurt where the rivers Rhine and Main meet, at the east end of the Rheingau wine region, known for its famous Riesling. It is a spa, known for its hot springs, and an American garrison—soldiers go from here to Afghanistan with their helicopters. The city has 276.742 inhabitants [2008]. It is the birthplace of tennis player John McEnroe. And now it will become famous as the place where my books were written ;)
Enough for now.
If you have any other questions, go ahead!
Cheers, Valerie
(or just Val, as my friends call me)