What can you tell us about your new release, Tough Going?
Tough Going is a steamy contemporary romance about Allison, a stubborn and volatile young entrepreneur who falls in love with an ironworker named Derrick. Too bad he’s the strong, silent, grandson of the man about to foreclose on her catering business. These are two incredibly self-reliant characters. They’re forceful, overachievers driven to fight for their families. In the course of the book, Allison struggles to keep her business and come to terms with the fact that there are some things she just can’t do alone. Derrick is a man continually working to keep his friends and family afloat, while his own desires fall by the wayside. They both are confident they can continue as they are and resolve their issues by giving more, doing more and trying harder. Neither wants to give an inch, even when their lives are on the line, so when they try to work out how to become a couple, it’s epic. Like Tough Sell, where there’s smoke, there’s fire, so have a cold drink handy when you read it.
What or who inspired you to become an author?
Like so many people, I’ve been writing since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. Writing is one thing. Putting your book out into the world is another thing altogether. It takes some chutzpa to actually release a steamy romance, and I might still be scribbling in my office if it wasn’t for an Audible channel called Authorized. The episode went live in October 2017 featuring an interview with Eloisa James. Listening to Ms. James convinced me to go for it. She was down to earth about what the romance genre means to its readers. After hearing her speak, I felt proud of my work and ready to share it.
What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?
Seriously? Five? Have you seen my house? I’ve started using books as decorations. I hang them on the wall, they are tucked under every table, my monitors sit on stacks of books and the ones I can’t fit anywhere else slump in tipsy piles along the edges of the rooms. OK. Five. Watership Down by Richard Adams – everything you need to know about leadership is in that book. Romeo and Juliet – by that guy, what’s his name? I’m so all in for Mercutio. Plus, there are days, I want to channel my inner prince and pronounce “All are punished!” The Shining – by that other famous guy, Stephen King. That book is masterful. He made the ordinary, fearsome – firehoses, shower curtains, topiary – all frightful. And then, he combined the supernatural with the really horrifying disease of alcohol addiction and what a melee he created. The Great Santini. Can Pat Conroy write or what? The imagery at the end of the book is spectacular. OK, I’ve read about a million romances, and I love them all. But if I’m heading off to a desert island, I’m taking something by Elizabeth Hoyt. The Leopard Prince, perhaps. Her characters are broken people who find their way to healing each other in beautiful, vivid, earthy ways. I’m in love with her stories.
Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?
William Gibson. Let’s bring him on and ask him how he’s able to predict the future. Idoru still crops up in my mind every time some new gadget or privacy issue comes up, which is like, every day.
What's your favorite thing about writing?
Gah! There’s so much to love about it. Putting together a novel is like working the best puzzle ever. Exploring the inner workings of my characters is like finding new best friends. But, if I have to pick one thing, it’s when the characters come to life, and the story starts writing itself. You writers out there know what I mean. One minute you’re looking at an outline and planning a scene and the next minute, the people in your book have gone off and done the unexpected, and you’re shouting, ‘Whoa! I didn’t see that coming!” Best. Experience. Ever.
What is a typical day like for you?
Ok, if I’m doing the first draft, I’m up at four am. I do three twenty-five minute writing sprints and a fifteen minute one. By 6 am, I’m walking the dogs. I get to my day job by eight-thirty, and I get home about 6 pm. I love my day job. And then I wake up. It’s actually six thirty, and I’ve got to find a way to walk the dogs, recite my story ideas into my phone while I brush my teeth, get to my day job, which I really do love, and then I wind up having to stay up until ten to get my writing done. At which point, I vow to get up tomorrow at four. By the way, it’s 9:50 pm now, so I have to wrap this up.
What scene in Tough Going was your favorite to write?
Again with the pick one … I loved the prologue, you should definitely go read the sample on Amazon even if you don’t like romance. In the middle, there’s a point when Derrick is injured. During the scenes around his recovery, he’s too exhausted to be anyone but himself, and Allison shows up at his place, she’s out of her element, they’re both vulnerable, and that’s when they connect at the most basic level. But for sheer energy, the scene where they finally come to terms with each other really sticks in my mind. They are just both so dominant, so over the top physical, writing it was like trying to get a coyote and a bobcat to kiss and makeup. I think I sprained something.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
Life is short. Clean at the end. Oh, and it’s perfectly A-OK to love yourself.
