Hey, Natalie, it’s really great to get a chance to meet you. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Thank you so much for having me, Frankie! I’ve been reading your interviews and loving them, though they make me feel like a talentless hack. I really wish I’d kept up with crochet! :)
Instead, I’ve spent my adulthood focusing on reading and writing, as well as raising my two daughters (dubbed the anti-teenagers). I love entertainment and belong to the Joss Whedon/JJ Abrams/Eric Kripke fan clubs. I grew up in Massachusetts, so even though I’ve lived away from New England longer than I lived there, I’m a die-hard New England Patriots fan. You know that McDonald’s commercial where the woman says her sister’s boyfriend thinks Sundays are for football? Yeah, that’s what I think, too. :)
What was the moment where it hit you that you just had to be a writer?
I don’t think there was one particular moment. I wrote stories when I was six, and always put “reading” at the top of my “loves to do” list. In high school and college, it was clear that writing was my academic strength. While in college, I started my first romance novel, but back then, all the computers were in a lab. I accidentally left my floppy disk behind, and the lab assistant erased everything on it. Award-winning term papers, homework assignments, and that first novel.
Like I said, I don’t remember deciding to write a book, but as soon as my husband and I bought our first computer, I started writing one. That was 1992, and I haven’t stopped!
I see you have book coming to us on Halloween! How exciting! Why don’t you tell us a little bit about it.
I actually have two releases at Halloween. On October 31, Carina Press releases my romantic adventure Behind the Scenes. Security expert Kennedy Smythe works to protect a film shoot, where the movie’s star becomes a target of the enemy and her desires.
On November 1, Entangled Publishing releases Under the Moon, the first book in my Goddesses Rising paranormal romantic adventure trilogy. Quinn Caldwell and her protector, the man she loves but can never have, race to stop a man who is leeching goddesses of their powers.
What is it about Romance that draws you to write about it?
Love raises the stakes, no matter what they are. Whether we’re talking about a very personal loss, or a goal of saving the world, love intensifies it, makes it more important. We identify with the challenge, fear, and joy of loving someone. Falling in love is the most exciting, fulfilling thing that can happen to a person, and it can also be the most difficult and traumatic.
When you’re writing a book, what do you generally start with? Storyline or characters?
It depends. I often have little bits of both that I pull together into a story. Either can come first, or something totally different that makes me ask, “okay, what kind of person would do this, and what if that happened?”
What inspired you to write this book?
For Behind the Scenes it was Orlando Bloom. I’ve been interested in Hollywood and the making of movies for years, and the Lord of the Rings films gave us so much incredible behind-the-scenes stuff. Orlando was part of that, and he inspired me to write a movie-star character.
For Under the Moon, it was a combination. I’d always wanted to do National Novel Writing Month, but I needed a story. I’m totally in love with the TV show Supernatural, and I wanted to do two guys who have a similar relationship to the one the brothers have on the show. And I’d had an idea for a book featuring goddesses. I didn’t use anything from that specific idea, but the three things came together.
Tell us one thing about both Kennedy and Rogan that we wouldn’t know reading the book.
Ooooh, very good question! Kennedy is very focused in the book. Her job, and the lives it protects, is everything to her. But when she needs some time for herself, she wraps up in a handmade quilt and watches old Katherine Hepburn movies, because they remind her of her mother.
Rogan volunteers for Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He does it for the kids, so he doesn’t make a big deal about it, and his publicist is banned from writing it into press releases.
When I’m writing a book with characters that I just love, there’s always at least one scene that I had a ton of fun writing, but had to ultimately scrap. Did you have any of those?
Oh, always! Unfortunately, all the stuff in my “discards” files contains spoilers or is R-rated.
What’s your favorite scene in the book and why?
One of my favorite scenes in Behind the Scenes is when Rogan forces Kennedy to play hooky for a day. They drive up the Pacific Coast Highway, eat chili dogs, cavort on the beach, and…uh…get to know each other better. Then there’s the one with the helicopter and the final showdown and…
Under the Moon is just one big favorite scene for me. But the choices Quinn makes in the final scenes are the ones that make me tear up, every time.
How many other books do you have and are they available?
Some of my old books are out of print, but I still have five novels available in e-book and paperback, as well as nearly two dozen short stories and novellas. My last book, Fight or Flight, is also available in audio (and Behind the Scenes will be, too!) You can find a complete list on my website.
Where can readers purchase your book?
Behind the Scenes
Under the Moon
Where can readers connect with you on the web?
May we read an excerpt from the book?
You can read an excerpt from Behind the Scenes at the Carina website. Scroll down a little and click “Read an Excerpt”!
