Opal Carew

Hi. I’m Opal Carew and I write erotic romance for St. Martin’s Press.

I’ve been writing since 1993, though originally I wrote futuristic, urban fantasy, science fiction, paranormal and contemporary romance. These stories are set in the present, future, or alternate realities and most of my stories are steamy. I am now republishing these under the name Amber Carew.

As Opal Carew, I write erotic romances which always have a romance and a happy ending.

So why do I like writing erotic romance? I like being able to push beyond traditional boundaries. I like dealing with a woman who is growing and evolving – questioning her sexual boundaries and pushing past them. I have been writing stories that involve multiple characters and it’s fascinating to work with the interactions between them. What fun to write a heroine choosing between two equally appealing heroes? My current project involves a group of several people who interact sexually and I find the scenario an enjoyable challenge.

I try to keep my characters real. I like to have a heroine with whom the reader can empathize. These aren’t women who just jump into bed with anyone. They find themselves in an unusual situation – something exciting and erotic – but a situation where they have to push themselves beyond their comfort level. As a result, they grow as a person. So often fear holds us back – of what others will think of us, of what we will think about ourselves – and we don’t follow our hearts. These women push past that fear.








Opal Carew is the author of over a dozen romance stories in which she makes offerings of hope, success, and love to her readers. Opal loves crystals, dragons, feathers, cats, pink hair, the occult, Manga artwork, and all that glitters. She earned a degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, and spent 15 years as a software analyst before turning to her passions as a writer. Opal lives with her husband and two teen-aged sons in Ontario, Canada



Love. Laughter. Curiosity. Love. Inspiration. Writing. Techno gizmos. More love.



Isaac Asimov. Oh, wait, that happened once--and he made up a limerick about me on the spot. (No, I didn't write it down. Would you have stopped one of the greatest SciFi writers of all time and said, "Excuse me, Mr. Asimov, could you wait while I get a pen?")



I like to listen to inspirational music, which can be anything from Reiki or other New Age music to Mozart to jazz to love songs to the stuff my teenagers like. I find much of the Evanescence music quite haunting and songs like Boulevard of Broken Dreams send my emotions into a spin. One of my sons buys a lot of soundtracks from video games and some of them are quite beautiful (e.g. Reminiscence from Suikoden 2.) It's a whole genre on its own. I'm not talking Mario Brothers or Donkey Kong, but quite rich, complex music.




My blond phase
I also love to light candles and I keep crystals around me when I write. Most effective, however, is when I meditate, do Qi Gong or Tai Chi exercises (with meditative intent), or do healing techniques like left-hand right-hand writing to clear blocks before I write.



I read a lot about creativity and use all kinds of techniques, whatever appeals to me in my current phase. One book I've found quite helpful discusses how to use both sides of your brain in the writing process. Other creativity books give techniques to open your mind to new ways of looking at things.

A very simple, but effective technique I use is doing a list of 20. For example, when I'm stuck for an idea of what should happen in a scene, I'll make a list of things that might occur given the situation. It's difficult to list 20 different things, but it's important to push through to the end. After about 7, I run out of ideas. All the obvious things have been listed. At that point, I have to push myself, but eventually the ideas flow again. Usually, I go great until about 15 and I get stuck again. At this point, I really have to push, usually breaking through some barrier, then the really good ideas come. It's like de-cluttering your brain.



A few years ago, I started using Tarot cards to help create and flesh out my characters. Recently, I started using spiritual archetype cards instead, though I still use the Tarot cards but now for helping with specific scenes that I'm finding difficult. I've just bought some fairy cards and Wiccan cards and I'm going to see how they work for me.





Me as a baby
Okay, I liked this one before it became popular with the movie Coach Carter.

"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us."

--Nelson Mandela in his 1994 Inaugural Address

This resonates within me. I believe we are all capable of great things if we allow ourselves to accept the power within us.



"To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

--William Blake

I've loved this since I was a teenager. In such simple words, it shows us how to look at the universe differently.



“Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow
creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, Out, brief candle
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
and then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot. Full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.”

--Shakespeare, Macbeth, V.v. 17

When I first read this quote as a high-school student, it seemed so beautiful and so true. Now that I hold a totally opposite view, this quote serves as a great reminder that many people see life like that.

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