Sydney Croft is the alter-ego of Larissa Ione and Stephanie Tyler, who came together to blend their very different writing interests into adventurous tales of erotic paranormal fiction.  Though they love to write together as Sydney Croft, they also write individually. 

Larissa Ione currently lives a nomadic lifestyle with a menagerie of pets, her young son, and her U.S. Coast Guard husband.  An Air Force veteran, she has been a meteorologist, an EMT, and a professional dog trainer, often all at the same time - yet she never gave up on her dream of writing fiction.  Thanks to a number of factors including, strangely enough, hurricane Katrina, she is now able to write full time, which is a blessing given her husband’s very mobile military career.  In addition to the Sydney Croft books, she writes steamy contemporary romance for Red Sage and Samhain, and sexy, dark paranormal romance for Grand Central Publishing. The first of her Demonica series, PLEASURE UNBOUND, is now available.

Stephanie Tyler has long since given up trying to control her characters, especially the Navy SEAL alpha males, and today she writes military romance for both Harlequin Blaze and Bantam Dell. Her romantic suspense SEAL trilogy, beginning with HARD TO HOLD, has a tentative release date of mid 2009.

An Interview with Sydney Croft

PNR: Welcome the writing team of Larissa Ione and Stephanie Tyler, writing as Sydney Croft. I’m excited to have the opportunity to talk with you both about your ACRO series and your writing.

Larissa I.: Thank you so much! We're thrilled to be here!

Stephanie T.:  Thanks so much for having us!

PNR: Can you tell us a little about how you started writing; was it something you have always wanted to do?

Larissa I.: I started writing when I was a kid, so yes, it was definitely something I wanted to do.  I played around with a lot of genres, from adventure fiction, horror, and fantasy, to romance.  I started with historical romance, writing three manuscripts, before settling on contemporary and paranormal romance.

Stephanie T.:  Absolutely – wrote my first short story when I was 5 and never really stopped.  In college and beyond, I moved to writing with a more literary bent – lots of poetry as well.  Then I tried my hand at straight thrillers but never got anywhere.  When I landed in the romance genre, I realized I could blend all my different genre likes in one place.

PNR: You are both successful, published authors; what inspired you to collaborate on the ACRO series?

Stephanie T.:  Well, Larissa had been mentioning it for a while – we were both actively trying for publication at the time.  And then Hurricane Katrina hit and she had to evacuate Mississippi, where she was living at the time.  I’d just gotten an agent and some interest in a novella, and my agent had urged me to write a couple more novellas to go along with the first one.  But I was pretty panicked about Larissa – she kept calling me along her evacuation route – and so I started a story about a man who was a draw for the weather – and driving into a hurricane.  This would later become Riding The Storm, with that first scene pretty much intact of how I wrote it during those days.  But the thing was, I could never finish it.  Couldn’t get the heroine right.  And so I put the story away for a while until one day, while Larissa and I were both waiting to hear on our own projects (I think this was about two weeks before the two of us actually sold our first individual projects) I pulled out the scene and sent it to her and said, your turn.

Larissa I.:  Yup, she basically made me start writing the next scene.  She'd left off the first scene with the hero coming back to his childhood home and finding a woman in the shower.  I asked Steph, "Who is the woman?"  She said she didn't know.  I asked her name.  Again, Steph didn't know.  So I started writing.  And eventually we came up with the story behind the hero and the heroine, and it all went from there.

PNR: Tell us about the challenges you both face in working together, are there any instances where it has been difficult? What has been most rewarding?

Larissa I.: The rewards FAR outweigh the difficulties.  Really, the most challenging thing (for me,) is scheduling.  With both of us juggling our individual careers, it's sometimes hard to coordinate times to work on the Croft works.  And it can get really difficult when we have email and internet problems. 

Rewards, though?  OMG, I LOVE writing the Croft stuff.  I get SO excited when Stephanie sends me a scene.  Because even though we do plot (loosely,) the scenes are very much a surprise, and then I get to play off of them to work on mine.  I just love it!

Stephanie T.:  I’d have to agree that the scheduling can get screwed up easily – we have to fight to keep it on track with our individual projects, definitely. But it’s just simply so much fun.  I couldn’t do it otherwise!  There’s a great energy between us that it honestly doesn’t feel like work once we’re really on our roll.

PNR: Do you have a strict writing schedule? Do you literally write together or are different parts/chapters assigned to a certain person? Could you give us a peek at what a typical writing day would look like and how you make it work?

Larissa I.: I have a very non-structured writing life.  It involves lots of coffee and lots of emails back and forth to Stephanie.  We live states apart, so all of our co-writing is done through email and the occasional phone call.  Generally, I work on one project at a time and write anywhere from 2-10 pages a day.

And yes, we are each assigned certain parts.  To be exact, characters.  For the most part, I take the heroines, and she takes the heroes, though we mix it up a bit with the subplot characters, sometimes.

Stephanie T.:  I wish I was one of those writers who set down a day’s or a week’s goal and wrote for a certain numbers of hours a day, but I can’t.  I’m a binge writer – and even when I try to actively take a few days off from writing, I find my hand sneaking toward the pen and paper (I do a lot of writing in longhand.)  So literally, I have to take advantage of the binge days.  Fortunately, once we start in on a Sydney project, the ideas seem to roll fast and furious between us and the writing goes very, very fast – much faster than I write an ST individually and much cleaner drafts too, since there are two sets of eyes on the pages at all times.

PNR: What do you feel are the essential elements of a great story?

Stephanie T.:  Romance. Emotion – lots of emotion.  Sexual tension.  Action.  And alpha males.

Larissa I.: What Stephanie said.

PNR: Congratulations, readers are excited about your July 2008 release, SEDUCED BY THE STORM, from Delta; this is the third book in your ACRO series. Could you tell us what inspired this exciting action, fantasy series and a little about your vision for the project? What direction will the series be taking?

Stephanie T.:  Well, we talked a little about how the series started above – but we made the pointed decision to take the series erotic because we saw the opportunity to tie in the eroticism with the plot – it all worked on such an organic level – the needs of the hero and heroine, on both an emotional and sexual level, really worked with the intensity of the ACRO / superhero world.

Larissa I.: Again, what Stephanie said.  As for the direction…I think we're really wanting to bring the series to an exciting climax in book 6, but we don't know where we're going from there yet.  As in, we don't know if we'll continue the series or move on to something else.  Either way, I think we both see Sydney Croft as continuing to write exciting, over the top tales.

PNR: Your series centers on the ACRO agency, Agency of Covert Rare Operatives and it’s enemy organization, the ITOR Corporation. Tell us about the challenges you face in world building with paranormal elements in a contemporary setting and making it work with the ideas you have in mind for the progression of your characters and the series? Do you write your characters to fit the world you have created or vice versa? How much research is involved?

Stephanie T.:  I think the fact that it’s set in the contemporary, everyday world is what appealed to us the most – to have these larger than life characters living and working in the real world is challenging but it’s also so cool to imagine all of this really existing.  We started the series with three very specific heroes and heroines in mind – I think we had them (and their powers) fleshed out and from there we expanded the world.  It really wasn’t a conscious choice of how it was created – everything just kind of came together in a very organic way.

Larissa I.: Research…well, the amount depends on the subject.  I like to "write what I know," so after working in the field of meteorology for thirteen years, the weather stuff was easy.  We did have to do a lot of research into diving and oil rigs for Seduced By The Storm, and we do a lot of location research for the foreign settings.  The "superpowers" are also researched because we like to use as much of the natural world as possible.  For example, Annika's ability to shock people at will is in line with electric eels and some species of fish.

PNR: Could you give us some insight into the origin of your characters’ “Superpowers” that is the thread to connect your series?

Larissa I.: This is actually something we plan to explore and explain more in books five and six.  In book 3, we start bringing it out…there's a mention of how and why superpowers are starting to appear, but we'll really get into it later.  Even the ACRO scientists aren't sure at this point, but there are basically two theories – one (scientific) is that people are starting to evolve to more closely match animals (as mentioned above, many of the "superpowers" are common in the animal world) and two (religious), is that humans are gaining abilities that will serve them in the Final Battle.

PNR: Your series features non-stop action and suspense: do you feel your writing is character driven or plot driven? How do you balance these two elements?

Larissa I.:  It's funny, because I think here is where Stephanie and I mix our likes/talents.  She's a character-driven writer, and I think I'm more plot-driven.  So the books are a combination of the two.  She really brings a great character vibe to the books, and honestly, some of the best plot twists come from her, as well.

Stephanie T.:  I always say that my weaknesses are her strengths and vice-versa – it just makes for such easy writing because everything comes together so well.  And yes, I’m most definitely a character-driven writer.  My plotting is loose at best – I get bored if I know too much of what’s going to happen next.

Larissa I.: What's weird is that I'm a plotter.  In my own stories, I really need to know what's happening and what will happen.  But with the Croft books, I'm less crazy about it.  I've kind of learned to let go, because there's some give and take involved when you're writing with a partner.  I put up with loose plotting, and Steph puts up with my insane nitpicking…among other things!

Stephanie T.:  And Larissa puts up with my out-of-order writing J

Larissa I.: Er…yeah…

PNR: Your series features wonderfully complex and sexy alpha heroes, and kick-butt heroines that readers can’t get enough of; could you tell us about their development? What is your inspiration for these characters? Who has been your favorite to write?

Stephanie T.:  The heroes walk onstage fully formed and tell me what their deal is.  Very alpha, very headstrong and they’ve all got rough pasts – always lots of emotional angst to deal with.  Creed is probably my favorite to write, but Ender will always have a special place in my heart.

Larissa I.: Much like Stephanie's heroes, the heroines sort of pop up and tell me what they want in their stories, what they want in a man, and we go from there.  As inspiration, I often use women I knew in the military, women who could fire a weapon, load bombs on fighter jets, and fly planes as well as any man.  But at the same time, I always got a kick out of these same women who appreciated it when a man did the dishes for them.  As far as favorites?  Gotta be Annika, though I loved writing Kira too!

PNR: Is your interest in writing Superhero type characters fueled by a love of comic books and Superhero television shows and movies?

Larissa I.: For me, yes.  I LOVE superhero movies!  I never liked cartoons, but I've been a comics fan for years.

Stephanie T.: I grew up watching Wonder Woman and the Bionic Woman – I love the idea of the duality of the characters, the way they have to deal with their powers while attempting to blend in.

PNR: How would you describe the sensuality level of your books; do you find it challenging to write love/sex scenes?

Larissa I.: The sensuality level is definitely erotic. As in EROTIC. The first book, Riding The Storm, is especially erotic – very front-loaded with sex – but we did that for a reason, which was to highlight the hero's sexual issues.  His life has been torn apart by his needs, and we wanted the reader to feel what he feels, which was the utter exhaustion (as well as pleasure) of sex.  And yes, it is very challenging to write sex scenes!  They are so critical, so hard to write to achieve that balance of sex and emotion…and to do it with originality.

PNR: What separates the Superhero and Super Villain from the typical paranormal hero & villain with enhanced abilities is the “Larger Than Life’ quality of the characters and setting.  Why do you feel that readers are attracted to this type of over the top character? What is it about this genre that captures your imagination?

Stephanie T.:  I adore the over the top aspect – really, it’s probably my favorite part about writing this series.  And I think what attracts people is what attracted us in writing about these characters – in so many ways, they have more foibles than any regular human being does – when they crash – it’s a monumental one.

Larissa I.: Stephanie sounds so smart, doesn't she?  See, this is why I write with her.  This genre captures my imagination because it encompasses the very best of human nature, and the very worst – to the extreme.  But at the same time, these supervillains and superheroes have the same emotional vulnerabilities, though often, they haven't dealt with them because they've been shielded by their incredible power.  And when they DO confront these vulnerabilities, it all just seems so much more dramatic because here you have a guy who can throw a pickup across a football field or run so fast he's a blur…but when a woman shoots him down for a date, he doesn't know how to deal with it.

PNR: Just for fun, if you could have any super power, what would it be? Your Superhero name? What color would your costume be?  

Larissa I.: You know, I'd be happy with pretty much anything.  I'd just want a power that would allow me to be a vigilante.  Because I'd so love to go after people who abuse children and animals, and maybe drivers who drive slow in the fast lane.  My superhero name?  My husband suggests The Slob or Wine-O, but I'm thinking not.  My costume would be black.  With maybe a little blood red splashed in to hide the coffee and wine stains.

Stephanie T.:  Costume color is easy – black.   Superpower?  Invisibility.  Of course, then you couldn’t see my costume.

Larissa I.:  So really, you don't need a costume.  You could just be The Nude.  See, and there's your superhero name.

Stephanie T.:  Wine-O and The Nude…yeah, we’re a great pair.

Larissa I.: We are!  Especially with enough wine.  Steph, put your clothes back on.

PNR: Could you tell us about your current collaborative projects, what can readers expect to see in the coming months? Individual projects?

Larissa I.: Collaboratively, we're working on the fifth Croft book, which is a fun story that allows us to play with Cryptozoology, which I've always found to be fascinating.  Coming up before that, though, is book 4, Taming The Fire, about an ACRO operative named Trance who has to bring in an escaped Itor shapeshifter before Itor finds her.

As far as my individual projects, I've just turned in my third Demonica book, Passion Unleashed, to be released back to back with Desire Unchained in February and March 2009, and am working on new proposal.

Stephanie T.:  I’m working on my single title Navy SEAL trilogy for Bantam Dell, to be released back-to-back in 2009.

PNR: Thank you, Larissa and Stephanie, for taking time out to talk to us. Where can readers find out what’s new and how can they contact you?

They can find us at www.SydneyCroft.com, LarissaIone.com and StephanieTyler.com – there’s all the latest information from us on there, including email addresses and such!

Sydney Croft's Website

Larissa's

Stephanie's Website

Books

MySpace 

ACRO World

Buy it Now!

ACRO: Book 3

Pleasure. Power. Fury. A seduction so hot...it's off the radar.

DANGER IS THE ULTIMATE APHRODISIAC.

They met in a steamy Florida bar—then spent a night of mind-bending passion. Two secret agents who each possess unique telekinetic gifts—and whose combined sexual powers leave neither of them unscathed. For ex–Navy SEAL Wyatt Kennedy, assigned by the Agency for Covert Rare Operatives to the most treacherous mission of his career, the woman in black leather and lace has just become more than a one-night stand. Because Faith Black is the sole barrier to the success of his mission—and not even Wyatt’s legendary seduction skills can penetrate her deep cover.

Faith’s psychic gifts make her one of the world’s most dangerous women—but she hides a secret pain she shares with no one. Until Wyatt. And Faith has an agenda of her own: using her unique powers to save someone close to her—a move that pits her against a man she thought she’d never see again. For as a deadly hurricane is unleashed across the eastern seaboard, desire reignites between Faith and Wyatt, exposing secrets that thrust them both into harm’s way. With the hurricane sweeping closer—and their erotic hunger for each other growing—these two wary hearts must come together to heal, to trust . . . and to harness the power of a storm that could consume everything in its path.

Buy it Now!

ACRO: Book 2

Feel the heat. Hear the roar.

The fever has begun.

There's a storm rising. Electricity crackles in the air. For Kira Donovan, it's that time of year again: when the need floods her flesh, when almost any man ”the bigger and the stronger the better" will do. For Kira, an animal psychic, the heat is a matter of life and death, and this year it has come at just the right time. Tom Knight, a natural born predator, has arrived at her isolated Idaho farm for reasons all his own.

At first Kira isn't interested in Knight's motives. She only needs him, his body, his hands, his scent. But soon, through a daze of desire and distrust, Kira discovers Knight's world, the world of a covert operative, one man among dozens of secret agents waging an astonishing global war. Knight's mission is to bring Kira--kicking and screaming if necessary--into the Agency for Covert Rare Operatives and harness her extraordinary gift. He never expected the powerful emotions she would ignite in him, or the fierce desire to keep her safe from harm. For as darkness gathers around them, Kira is feeling the heat once again, leading them both on a wild ride of delicious thrills, and terror beyond imagining.

~~

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ACRO: Book 1

The storm is over, but the seduction is just beginning...

A storm’s rage. A woman’s desire.

A man with the power to set them both free

He can summon lightning at will. Emerge unscathed from the center of a tornado. Strip a woman down to her barest defenses through the sheer force of his sexuality. He’s gorgeous, dangerous, and the target of parameteorologist Haley Holmes’s latest mission. Haley has been dispatched to the Louisiana bayou to investigate the phenomenon known as Remy Begnaud – man with a gift he never wanted: the ability to control a storm’s fury. But even a woman trained in bizarre weather phenomenon has no defense against the electrifying power of the Ex-Navy SEAL…a power his enemies would kill to control.

With her agency monitoring their every move, Haley’s job is to seduce Remy, gain his trust -- and help him harness his extraordinary gift. But who will protect her from this voracious lover who’s introducing her to a new world of erotic thrills – a man who grows increasingly insatiable with each new weather event? Haley knows a big storm is approaching –and with it will come unexpected delights. But, so, too, will the storm unleash her greatest fears: An enemy bent on destroying Remy. And her worst fear of all…falling in love with this magnificent man, then having to betray him...