Short Version:

Claire Gillian is the pen name for a number-crunching executive by day and a darkly romantic curmudgeon by night. Her debut novel, The P.U.R.E. was released in April 2012. She also writes fifty shades naughtier stuff under the pen name of Lila Shaw, but please don’t tell her mother.  No matter which name she uses, Claire is happiest penning romance drenched in humor with a dash of intrigue and loads of spice.

Claire lives in the boggy Pacific NW with her husband and two teen-aged sons.

Long Version:

Dear Reader,

Claire Gillian is my pen name.  I’m a number-crunching executive by day, a writer by passion and a darkly romantic curmudgeon by the passage of vast amounts of time. My writing is young, however, and still developing.  I’ve been at this writing stuff since 2008, and am whole lot smarter than I was then, but a whole lot dumber than I will be two years from now.  Stick with me though.  One day I’ll be mentioned in the same breath as Colleen Atwood or Anne Tyler or Ursula LeGuin or, gulp, Jane Austen!  Hopefully I’m still alive when that happens or I have a really good estate lawyer to keep my kids spoiled and lazy.

I believe writing should make you laugh, cry, feel empathy, and make you consider ideas in a new way.  Oh, and if you missed it the first time, writing should make you laugh, always. Even if the story is sad, there should be at least a single moment that makes you crack a smile and snicker under your breath.

I believe readers are smart creatures and should be treated as such and with great respect.  I may try to trick or mislead you with red herrings, but I won’t withhold critical clues from you.  That’s a promise.

I am a triple Scorpio (Sun, Moon, and Ascendant), if you believe in that sort of thing, which means I should like to write about death, sex, secrets and revenge.  Check, check, check and check.

My shoe size is 8.5 in case you were wondering, and because I’m in the mood to give out random facts about myself. Bunions and callouses make me more of a Born than Choo gal. Thankfully, I live in the Portland, OR area, where Birkenstocks roam in belligerent packs, itching to take down uppity anorexic heels.  New shoe donations gladly accepted. But I digress…

Here’s more random stuff I’ll bullet point for you to read or skip, your choice:

• I have written four completed novels thus far under this pen name, one that will be published–The P.U.R.E (Previously Undetected Recruiting Error), a romantic suspense novel of about 86k words–by J Taylor Publishing in April 2012.
• I have one novel in my trunk but the padlock hasn’t been secured, either to keep it in or other regrettable tales out.
• I’ve written a lot of short stories, many of which are on this blog as free reads if you feel like looking.  A few I’ve even published.
• I write erotic romance and erotica horror under the pen name of Lila Shaw.  The sexy chick also debuted her first novel this year and has gone on to publish more than I have…so far.  She’s also twenty years younger than me.  I’m not quite sure how that happened.
• I also write young adult fiction under the pen name Iris St. Clair.  Iris has written one novel.  She’s quite fast, the young whipper-snapper.
• I like to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and will snap at any who challenge me with mundane chores during those manic thirty days of November.  There is NO Thanksgiving until I type the 50,000th word.
• Multiple pen names make me a little neurotic and prone to having discussions with myself.  “We” all have our own blogs. We all have Twitter accounts and author pages on Facebook.  I have the most Twitter followers and Facebook likes, however, and am the smartest of the three, naturally…but don’t tell them I said that.
• I have teenaged kids who provide much ridiculous fodder for my tales.
• I have a husband, affectionately referred to in my blog as “The Silverback”.  He knows why and that’s all you need to know.  🙂
• I worked at Arthur Andersen & Co (a now defunct CPA firm thanks to Enron and really bad judgment) for 12 years as an auditor, but I swear I never shredded anything.
• When I’m not writing, I like to workout.  Fortunately and unfortunately, I’ve been enjoying writing a lot more than working out these days.  ‘Nough said other than my thighs are nearly large enough to be asking for their own pen names.
• Like most authors, I am an avid reader. Check out My Reading Queue to see what published novels I’ve read so far this year.

I welcome your comments and emails here using the Contact Me form.

Oh, and last but not least…buy my books.  Please. I’ll be your best friend if you do (or at least follow you on Twitter.)

Love and big, sloppy old lady kisses,
Claire

P.S. If you’ve read this far, you can see a silly video I made when I got fed up one night with all the self-promotion I was seeing on Facebook, Twitter, etc.  A necessary evil but oy!