Sonja is the one who had the brainchild for Promo-ho. If you're an author and you haven't visited her website, you're really missing something. She has a conglomeration of one-of-a-kind articles that really rock.

In addition, she's a budding author at The Wild Rose Press. And, she has some interesting things to say about English professors.

Leigh: Sonja, I must admit I'm in awe of you. You're married, hold down a full-time job and have a dog. You maintain blogs, websites, a place on MySpace, (readers, when you see Sonja's photo below, you'll also see she's beautiful), AND you write? How is that possible?

Sonja: Well wow, thanks, Leigh! You've just made my day!

Honestly, I don't feel like I do all THAT much. I go to work because I have to pay the bills! As for the other stuff, I have a husband and a dog because I love them and they make me happy, and I do my blogs and websites for the same reason: I love doing them and it makes me happy to do them.

As for writing, well, that's just playtime for me! Getting paid for it too is totally awesome, and feels like a big fat bonus, because I'd be writing anyway, whether I was getting paid for it or not.

Sonja: Promo-Ho.com is a late-night brainchild that I wasn't sure would work out so well, but the response from other eBook authors has been amazing!

I started out by doing a lot of eBook promotion research myself (for my own first eBook, "Love In Shadow", which was released at the end of March 2007), but then I got to thinking about why there wasn't one central place online where I could learn all this.

The next step in my thought process was that since there wasn't a site already, I should make one. I was doing the research anyway so it really wasn't all that much more work for me to put it out there for everyone to benefit from.

Sonja: First of all, I think that's the first time I've ever been compared to Nora Roberts (and it will most likely be the last), so thanks! But really, how could I not give back to other writers?

I've had so many author mentors in my relatively short writing career, and they've given graciously of their time and knowledge. I would still be floundering around dreaming of Someday if I hadn't had so much help along the way. So really I'm just paying it forward.

Sonja: I did go to school at UNC. (Rah rah Carolina!) I was actually an English major, but using my degree was about the furthest thing from my mind when I chose it as my major. I figured if I HAD to go to school for another four years, it ought to be for something I enjoyed, so English it was.

I actually had to overcome a lot of English-degree-induced prejudices about the romance genre in order to become a romance READER, let alone a romance writer.

English professors think that anything with a happy ending does not count as literature. In fact, they claim, anything with a happy ending turns the reader's brain into a silly, sentimental pile of mush. Well, I'm here to tell you it's not true.

My brain is significantly less mush-like since I started reading romance novels because, oh my, I've discovered that I actually ENJOY reading again! So hooray for romance novels and boo for uppity types who scoff at the romance genre as a whole.

That said, my English degree DID give me a base of knowledge that has been most helpful in my writing. It's hard to be deep and meaningful if you've missed some of the classics like Homer and cummings and Hemingway and Shakespeare and, yes, even the Bible. Plus, now I can claim that I am actually using my degree, unlike so many liberal arts survivors.

Sonja: In any large organization of people, you're not going to be able to please everyone. I think that the Romance Writers of America does a wonderful job providing a forum for romance authors and a support group for its members. I also think that the organization has the best interests of the membership as a whole in mind.

That said, I know it seems like the eBook authors and authors at other small presses got the short end of the stick this time around.

My advice? Just keep on rolling. Do what you love to do and what's best for your career, no matter whether it's recognized by RWA or not. Sure, it would be a great perk to be in the RWA Published Author Network, but it is not necessary for a successful career, and never was.

As eBook and small publishers morph and change, so will RWA. This is not a Forever decision by any means, it's just what the members decided would be best for now. There has to be a line drawn, and where it is drawn can't please everyone.

Sonja: Thank you for the compliment on my new cover! I'd love to take credit for that, but the fabulous Nicola Martinez in The Wild Rose Press art department is solely responsible for it. (I am pretty much in love with Nicola. She is the best.)

The banners and stuff are my creations though. Mostly I just started doing them because, um, graphic artists are expensive! (As well they should be. It's hard to find a really talented graphic artist.) It's just a hobby mostly because I like looking at pretty things and also making pretty things. And since all my crochet creations turn out crooked and stupid, graphic art is about all the creative art-type stuff I can handle dabbling with.

Sonja: Well, you've caught me. I am a dog person. But werewolves have already been done and I was looking for a new angle, hence the werecougar. Plus I think the cat aloof, I-am-the-boss, independent personality lends itself to a really sexy alpha hero, which is what you'll find in "Cat In The Mist," which will be released soon at The Wild Rose Press!

Sonja: I totally wasn't. I loved skirts and ruffles and flowers and unicorns (and still do). But by the time I hit high school, I kind of wished I was a tomboy. Something about disowning the trappings of your gender is freeing and sexy, and I wanted to be free and sexy, even though in reality I was repressed and awkward. Love In Shadow is a part of me, or someone a part of me wanted to be. I think all my heroines are that way though. They all come from some aspect of myself.

Sonja: Ha! Well, you all can judge for yourselves, but I am of the opinion that I married a devastatingly handsome man, so at least half of my dreams have come true already. As for the Caribbean island, when I hit all the bestseller lists and become a household name, I'm totally moving there. Until then, I'm quite content in my cute little neighborhood in North Carolina with my white picket fences and herb garden.

Links to Sonja's pages:

• promo-ho.com
• www.sonjafoust.com
• Sonja Foust on Authorsden

• Why did Abigail fall in love with Zeb?
• Character interview on Zeb
• Read an excerpt
• Interview by Wanda Richards
• Click and listen to the podcast (.mp3)
• Watch the book trailer
• Get the e-book