Please welcome Bonnie Vanak to the Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers Blogspot, she is just as an amazing person as she is an author. Thanks Bonnie you're the best!

Are you a plotter or a panster? Actually, I’m a plantser! I do both. I start out with a destination in mind, have a road map, the synopsis, of how to get there, but sometimes I take drastic detours. Kind of like driving from Florida to California by way of New Jersey.

Do you get your characters from the people you have known or now know? My DH is the role model for my heroes, because he’s romantic, and caring, and a wonderful person. But each character is different. I did write one character who had a little of me in him. That was Ramses in The Tiger & the Tomb. He has my quirky sense of humor.

How about a peek into your next series, or single? My next single title historical is The Lady and the Libertine from Dorchester. That book is out in April 2009. It features a wicked, thieving earl who is trying to steal a ruby from a beauty in Egypt who guards a vast treasure hiding in Egypt’s sands. The ruby is the key to unlocking the treasure. He also desires to steal her virginity, and guess what happens there? J The hero, Nigel, is almost an anti-hero. He’s a very bad boy, but he does the wrong things for the right reasons.

I also have a Draicon werewolf novella out in Midnight Cravings, a collection of Nocturne Bites. That book is a trade paperback released in April. The next Draicon Nocturne will be Raphael’s story in Immortal Wolf released next fall. And I have a story in the Holiday with a Vampire anthology coming out next December from Nocturne.

How do you handle working, writing and having a family at the same time? Ask me next month after the holidays are over, lol! It’s not easy. We don’t have children, which is one reason I’m able to write. The day job and the writing put a lot of demands on my time. I’m trying to find more balance in my life, and that’s always a good goal.

Do you do your own research? Ever go to say, Egypt for inspiration or information? I do all my own research, but have never been to Egypt. One day I will go. That’s a promise I made to myself. I like to make my stories as authentic as possible in detail and setting, so I do a lot of research.

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How long have you been writing? I started writing romance in 1997, took a break for a year, and then got “the call” in 2001 when Dorchester wanted to publish The Falcon & the Dove, my first historical.

Do you still read? I love to read, and that’s often my reward for finishing a deadline. I cherish the times when I can sit down with a book and read for two hours straight. It’s wonderful!

Tell me about some of your favorite heroes.

Nigel is the hero of my upcoming historical, The Lady and the Libertine. He’s in desperate need of reforming and love. I had fun tormenting him.

For the Nocturnes, I loved writing Damian from Enemy Lover, he’s such a dominating, yet vulnerable alpha male with a dark secret. Damian is extremely protective, very possessive and domineering. Jamie calls him an “uber alpha,” and he has NO idea what “uber Alpha” means. He has a gentle side to him, and it surfaces a lot when it comes to Jamie. In one scene right after he’s disciplined the werewolves who failed to protect her, he’s so caring and gentle with her. It’s a total contrast to what he did with the guys. I also adored Raphael, whom you’ll meet in Enemy Lover, the immortal, Harley-riding werewolf.

What's your ideal dream day? I like my day job now, as it gives me the opportunity to help those in dire need. I work as a=2 0writer for a large international charity and travel to poor countries to interview poor people, get stories of their needs, and write letters to raise money to help them. The travel can be grueling, however. The saddest part of my job is witnessing the suffering of innocent little children who are dying from starvation or have endured horrific abuse. It gets pretty tough, and I just have to remember the good we can do for them. This is why I started writing romance, because the happy ending is always in my books. I don’t always see that in real life. Some of the children I’ve written about have died, and it breaks my heart. Others, like this little orphan girl I met in Haiti years ago, give me such a feeling of joy. The orphan girl, who was left at our orphanage in Haiti as a young girl, is now in college. She speaks French, English and Creole and she’s very, very smart.

Do you have a website? I have a website; www.bonnievanak.com and a blog, www.bonnievanak.blogspot.com. You can read an e xcerpt of my other books on the website. Thanks for having me as your guest!

Poets speak of the Language of Flowers, choosing specific blossoms flowers to represent special traits in their poems. Others use animals in their books. Some writers even assign flower-like similes or metaphors to their heroines, while their heroes and villains may embodify certain animal-like mannerisms. Gem stones also have their own secret language and I've used that fact in many of my stories--comparing them to some physical trait of my characters.

Sinbad sh'en Singh (Adventures of Sinbad), is part-feline, his eyes the pale jade of a cat's...mysterious, all-knowing. Jade is the stone of serenity and tranquility, nurturing, increasing love. In all the stories about Sinbad, these are the things he strives for. Granted, his years with his beloved Andi are sometimes anything but tranquil, but there is a serenity in his love for her, an assurance that it will last forever. All Sin wants is a den, a mate and cubs. The fortune he amasses is incidental. As with all Felidan males no matter what their previous disposition, once becoming a parent, he transforms into a nurturing, loving father, and a model mate--as Andi and his children learn.

Several gemstones play a part in the story of Marek Strigoi, vampiric hero of the Shadow Lord. A victim of extreme heterochromia, at the age of thirteen, one of his blue eyes turns a brilliant emerald green, signalling that he will be leader of his clan. The emerald is the stone of infinite patience, unconditional love, and loyalty. In his search for the murderer of his father, stepmother and little brother, Marek needs that patience, since his quest lasts two hundred and twenty-five years. Though it appears initially that he will never find love, his patience is rewarded when he meet the lovely Lily-Magda Vanator, she of the aquamarine eyes--the stone of courage (and Maggie will need it since she falls in love with a vampire). Malachite is Marek's clan gem, a psychic stone of transformation which teaches responsibility for one's actions. He learns this the hard way when his acts get him tossed into Hell for one hundred years, and his release into the contemporary world causes a transformation for which he is in no way ready. On his wedding day, he presents his bride with a ring adorned with turquoises, with the oath that he will be faithful until the day the stones lose their luster. Marek is married in 1810. The stones shine until 2008--very high fidelity! Likewise, his uncle Karl-Josef, Graf von Bliztzensturm, has garnets as his clan gem, the sign of marital fidelity and commitment. Karl-Josef's most scandalous trait is that he's madly in love--with his own wife!

Riven kan Ingan (The Chronicles of Riven the Heretic) is a barbarian bearing the genetic heritage of his family--golden eyes--variously described as amber or topaz. Amber brings wisdom, patience, and encourages decision-making. Topaz is a stone of love, good fortune and the attainment of goals, stabilizing the emotions and making one receptive to love. Riven yearns for recognition and when he falls in love with Barbara Llanginfiar, his emotions go into such a turmoil that every goal he set for himself is abruptly lost, as is he. Acceptance of that love brings not only peace to his emotions but accomplishment of things he never dreamed the child of a sellsword would ever gain. He becomes a Lord of the Realm, dispensing justice and making decisions which involve the welfare of many, eventually transforming the entire kingdom.

Semris the Second (Dark God Descending), ruler of the Mayan city of Nikte Uaxac, is adorned with the native stones of obsidian, jet, turquoise, jade and onyx when he appears before his people. As the reincarnation of Cama Zotz, the vampire bat god, the gems he wears denote the most human traits of this god who would be a man. Obsidian exposes flaws and weaknesses and reveals a person's true identity. Jet gives protection from the entities of darkness, something Semris needs since he's the son of the God of Death; it helps him take control of his life when he's abducted from his home. Like jade, it guards against violence and holds him in good stead as he fights to escape. Onyx gives support in difficult circumstances, while turquoise stimulates romantic love--something the vampire god has never experienced. It brings together male and female energies which are definitely in play after he meets the lovely human Shannon Leary.

Yes, gemstones have a language all their own, so if the hero in your next book has sapphire blue eyes or a gaze as black as jet, consider exactly what those stones represent, and have him act accordingly.