BookView with Erica Lucke Dean, author of Suddenly Sorceress

I was sitting in my living room, fantasizing about my ex-husband disappearing from the face of the earth when I came across the idea to turn him into a skunk. Since I don’t actually have magical powers, I decided to write about it. 

Erica Lucke Dean – 2 February 2014

The Back Flap

PMS can be a real witch.

Ivie McKie isn’t your run-of-the-mill kindergarten teacher.  After an encounter with a horny goat, Ivie has a confrontation with her lying, cheating fiancé. She is shocked when the big jerk suddenly transforms into a skunk—the black and white furry variety.

Enlisting the help of her shopaholic friend Chloe and sexy club magician Jackson Blake, Ivie is forced to play a literal game of cat and mouse as she races against the clock to change her ex back before she’s arrested for his murder.

With every new spell, a fresh wave of sexual desire draws Jack further into Ivie’s troubles, along with her panties, the car, the kitchen, and assorted seedy bathrooms.

Ivie soon discovers what every witch worth her spell book knows: There’s nothing worse than a bad case of Post Magical Syndrome.

About the book

What is the book about?

Suddenly Sorceress is about an ordinary kindergarten teacher who discovers she’s a witch when she turns her cheating fiancé into a skunk. You know, your run-of-the-mill sort of thing. 😉 It’s a madcap adventure where Ivie has to figure out a way to change the guy back before she’s arrested for his murder.

When did you start writing the book?

I started writing the book the same day I finished To Katie With Love. I get that itch pretty quickly after finishing one project.

 How long did it take you to write it?

I wrote this book in phases. I would do a long burst then put it down to work on something else, then I’d pick it back up and work on it again. It took me about a year to get my thoughts straight and focus on finishing it. Once I did that, it went pretty quickly.

 Where did you get the idea from?

I was sitting in my living room, fantasizing about my ex-husband disappearing from the face of the earth when I came across the idea to turn him into a skunk. Since I don’t actually have magical powers, I decided to write about it. And the rest, as they say, is history. Oh, for the record, the ex is perfectly healthy, living his life far from me.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

Writing sex scenes is particularly challenging for me. I wanted them to be spicy without being vulgar, and that’s always a slippery slope to travel. I hope I managed to pull it off.

What came easily?

I found it easy to relate to the main character. And the magic. I wrote many of the spells right in the beginning and that helped set the tone for the rest of the book.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

As per usual, I borrowed my characters from people I know personally, actors I enjoy watching, and, of course, myself. Sometimes I put myself into more than one character in a book. Ivie is very much like me. The saucy side of me that is. Just like Katie in To Katie With Love was my shy, clumsy side.

Do you have a target reader for this book?

I’d like to think anyone who enjoys a good laugh out loud comedy would like Suddenly Sorceress, but that may be a bit ambitious on my part. Definitely anyone who likes funny, sexy, romantic comedy.

How was writing this book different from what you’d experienced writing previous books?

I did have to do more research for this one than the last. To Katie With Love was set in a bank, and having worked in a bank, I knew the ins and outs of that life pretty well. Suddenly Sorceress deals with witchcraft, so I researched spells, plants, lunar cycles and such so I at least sounded as if I knew what I was talking about. Now if I could only figure out how to work that spell to turn people into woodland creatures. That would be a neat trick.

What new things did you learn about writing, publishing, and/or yourself while writing and preparing this book for publication?

I learned that my husband hates the editing process. Mostly he hates seeing me in my pajamas for days on end, staying up ‘til all hours of the night and morning, and giggling with my editor on Skype. I learned to embrace the inherent humor in me. I let it guide me through the process. I laugh at myself a lot, so why not let other people laugh along with me? And I learned that at the end of the day, it’s all about how you feel about yourself. You can’t let the rejection get to you, because it’s not going away. No matter how good your book might be, someone out there will hate it. You have to have faith in yourself and keep striving for that dream. It’s not a dream if you don’t go big.

End of Interview:

Get your copy of Suddenly Sorceress from Amazon US (paper or ebook), Amazon UK (paper or ebook), or Barnes & Noble.