Ringing in the New Year with ....Ilona Andrews!

Meow! My guest to ring in 2013 is none other than...Ilona Andrews!

 

“Ilona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.)

Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Texas with their two children and many dogs and cats. They have co-authored two NYT and USAT bestselling series, the urban fantasy of Kate Daniels and romantic urban fantasy of The Edge and working on the next volumes for both.

R: Today we welcome the feminine half of the Ilona Andrews writing team, Ilona Gordon! Welcome Ilona!

Thank you, ROCCO

R:  How did you become interested in writing? At what point in your life did you realize it was the career for you?

It’s just kind of happened organically.  I never wanted to be a writer.  I just started writing down stories because it made me happy.  My first attempt was when I was fifteen.  It was written in Russian on an ancient typewriter and while it was terrible, working on it made me happy.

R: Tell us about your upcoming release, Steel’s Edge

It’s a story of a woman who is trying very hard to not become a monster and a man who thinks he is one already. They both experience injustice and separately decide to stand up against it.  Here is the official synopsis:

Charlotte de Ney is as noble as they come, a blueblood straight out of the Weird. But even though she possesses rare magical healing abilities, her life has brought her nothing but pain. After her marriage crumbles, she flees to the Edge to build a new home for herself. Until Richard Mar is brought to her for treatment, and Charlotte’s life is turned upside down once again.

Richard is a swordsman without peer, future head of his large and rambunctious Edger clan—and he’s on a clandestine quest to wipe out slavers trafficking humans in the Weird. So when his presence leads his very dangerous enemies to Charlotte, she vows to help Richard destroy them. The slavers’ operation, however, goes deeper than Richard knows, and even working together, Charlotte and Richard may not survive...

Steel’s Edge also happens to be the final book in the Edge series.

R: How different was this series to write than your Kate Daniels one, and do you have a preference?

I enjoyed working on it.  It gave us a really nice break between Kate releases.  I don’t really prefer one storyline over the other – each series came with their unique challenges.  I can tell you that now that the series is over, I’m excited to work on something new. 

R:  What is it about the fantasy genre that drew you to it?

I don’t know.  I suppose I always gravitated toward it.  The possibility of magic is just too intriguing to pass up.

R: Which of (your character) adventures was the most fun for you to write? Were any of them the least amount of fun?

I pretty much hate everything we’ve written.  I enjoyed working on Magic Strikes and Bayou Moon the most, I think.  I’m also enjoying the current manuscript, Magic Rises.

R: What’s a must have for you when you are writing? What aids the creative process?

I have several soundtracks, which I play in a giant playlist while I write.  I also really like having scented candles or essential oils in a warmer.  Because we work form home, having little rituals signals to my brain that it’s time to work.  It helps me concentrate.

 R: If you had access to a time machine, which historical moment would you travel to and why?

I would like to see Moon landing, although I’d need a time machine and a space suit for that.  I think that was such a hopeful time for us as a civilization.  A promise of things to come.

R: What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to know about you?

I’m not sure I have any deep dark secrets.  I like to knit and I’m an avid computer gamer.  I like to watch anime.  That’s about it.

R: What other writing genre would you like to try that you haven’t yet? Historical, screenwriting, etc?

I thought of doing a murder mystery once, but I think it would turn into a paranormal murder mystery.  That’s just the way I’m wired.

R: What are you working on at the moment / next?

Working on Magic Rises, Book 6 in Kate Daniels series.  We also have a free serial going, which is a lot of fun.  Here is a link: http://demo.ilona-andrews.com

R: Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I prefer to have some idea of where we’re going.  I think this is essential when writing with a collaborator, because we have to be able to discuss things knowing what they are connecting to and why they must be included.

R: What is the craziest thing you've ever done? 

I came to US with no money.  I had like $60 to my name.  I didn’t speak the language, didn’t know anybody, and had never been in a boarding school before.

R: What do you hope readers will most take away from your writing?

I hope that they will see that despite all of the difficulties, our character stick to their principles.  Honor, integrity, and loyalty – sometimes people say they are outdated words, but I believe they define who we are.

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?   Dusk.

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  Dog.  Sorry, but I have yet to find that one perfect cat who will like me enough to cuddle with me without simultaneously demanding food. (R:  Aha, you haven’t met me yet, Meow!)

Beach or Pool?   Beach.

Steak or salad?  Steak.

Favorite Drink?  Tea.

Favorite Book?  Many.

Favorite TV Series?  Right now, Arrow.  Ask me tomorrow, it might change.  J

Favorite Movie?  It changes.  I have several comfort movies which I won’t miss if I stumble on them while flipping channels: 13^th Warrior, Star Wars (the old ones), first Indiana Jones, Galaxy Quest…  If I had to pick one, it would be the Emperor’s New Groove. 

 Thanks for a great interview, Ilona and Gordon!

Folks, you can keep up with all the news about their new releases on their site:

Ilona Andrews

 Enter to win a DIGITAL copy of Steel's Edge! Leave a comment with your name and email address below. The winner will be chosen at random using random.org.  For extra entries, you can:

Friend Ilona Andrews on FB
Follow  moi, Rocco on Twitter @RoccoBlogger
Friend te Human,Toni LoTempio, on Facebook
Tweet or post or FB about this contest! (3 extra entries!)

Contest ends midnight, January 3, winner announced January 4!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

ROCCO
IncredibleBlogging Cat

 

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Meow! Happy Holidays everyone. A special thanks to all our readers and to all the authors who have participated on my blog this year! We look forward to seeing most of you again (along with some new ones) in 2013!

and thanks to all who participated in the "Holiday Gift Card Hop". We will be doing these next year too!

The winner of the $15 Amazon Gift Card was ....Sandy! Congrats, Sandy, watch for an email from the HUMAN!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to everyone. I'm taking a looong catnap waiting for Santa.....hope there is catnip under the tree.....but we will be back week of December 26 with Ilona Andrews!

MEOW!



ROCCO
Incredible Blogging Cat

ROCCO'S TOP TEN HOLIDAY MOVIES! PLUS A GIFT CARD HOP!

ROCCO HERE!

MEOW!  Well, Kitties, it’s that time of year again!  Time for me to share my very favorite movies of the season with you.  My brother and sisters and THE HUMAN and I wish each and every of our readers a very happy Holiday Season! And, in honor of that…

Leave a comment in the Comments section of this post and tell us YOUR favorite Holiday movie!  We’ll Select one lucky commenter at random to win a $15 Amazon Gift Card!  Contest ends midnight, December 17^th and is part of the “Gift Card Giveaway Hop”!

Happy Holidays!  And now, here they are, in descending order – my favorite Holiday flicks!  Meow!

#10:  A Charlie Brown Christmas:  Now, who doesn’t love Charlie and the Peanuts gang? (even if CB has a dog named Snoopy instead of a cat named ROCCO???)

#9:  Scrooged:  This adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” featuring Bill Murray is laugh out loud funny – even for a cat

#8:  National Lampoon’s Christmas: Chevy Chase and company at their best – although I do get a mite upset at the part about the cat, the Christmas Tree and the lights….

#7:  The Nightmare Before Christmas – The ultimate in animated awesomeness!  I love it almost as much as

#6: Felix the Cat Saves Christmas (Video, 2004)  - c’mon, you knew I had to put a cat movie in there somewhere!

#5:  Die Hard: Ok, not your traditional Christmas movie but…it’s got the redemptive struggle between good and evil going for it, Christmas with terrorists and…Bruce Willis!  Need I say more?????

#4:  The Santa Clause – Tim Allen puts on a Santa suit and actually becomes jollyold St. Nick!  A fun movie for the entire family – and it’s Disney!

#3:  Home Alone – it wouldn’t be Christmas until you watched this classic tale of a kid left to his own devices on Christmas Eve, and the two robbers he outwits. 

#2:  Disney’s A Christmas Carol – animated Ebenezer Scrooge was never at his best than when voiced by Jim Carrey, and in 3D no less!  This telling of a favorite tale is amazing!

And my very favorite of all time:

#1: Miracle on 34^th Street (1947  There is nothing like the original black and white tale of a Macy’s store worker and her little girl who has a hard time believing in Santa, and the gentle man who may or may not be the original Kris Kringle.  It’s an Acadamy Award winner and it’s got a cute as a button Natalie Wood!  Who could ask for a better Holiday gift?

So, kitties, comment below on YOUR favorite and you could win a $15 Amazon gift card. It’s all part of the Gift Card Giveaway Hop and you can find other blogs with hop prizes here:

GIFT CARD BLOG HOP LIST

Happy Holidays!

Coming Dec. 27: Ilona Andrews!

ROCCO & His HUMAN

Indie Author Megan Cashman visits my Hotseat!

 While growing up on Staten Island, NY, Megan Cashman was often seen reading and writing, making others suspect she will become a writer someday. At the age of 30, she certainly did by self-publishing her first book, “The Dark Proposal”. She intends to write many more books and hopes her readers will join her in a journey to other worlds, both real and unseen.

R:  Tell us a bit about yourself and how you became interested in writing.

I have been writing since I was a young girl and always had the goal of being a published author. I can’t really say how or when I became interested, I guess you can say it just happened. One of my elementary school teachers was a big influence on me, and she encouraged me to go after my dreams, and that kind of stuck with me.

R: What drew you to the urban fantasy genre?

I’ve been a fan of vampires since my teens. Anything is possible with urban fantasy and the fact that you can make it set in modern times makes it exciting, especially with all the technology we have these days.

R: What writers in your genre would you say have made the greatest influence on your writing?

Anne Rice had a big influence. I read a lot of not only her Vampire Chronicles, but her Mayfair Witches books and even one of her historical novels, Cry to Heaven.

R: Tell us about your novel, The Dark Proposal.

It is about a college graduate named Claire McCormick who finds what she thinks is the perfect boyfriend. He’s a bit older, handsome, rich and intelligent. But then he reveals he is a vampire and wants to make her one too. The vampires in my book are the villains, so Claire has no interest in being a killer. But her boyfriend won’t take no for an answer.

R: What made you choose the self publishing route?

I was very intrigued by the amount of control I would have. For example, choosing the cover design was a big plus for me. I also liked the idea of being my own boss.

R: What are you working on at the moment / next?

The follow-up to The Dark Proposal, and once I am done with that, I’ll begin the third and final book in this trilogy.

R: What’s ahead for Claire?

She’ll accept being a vampire while her friends and family figure out what has become of her.

R: What’s a must have for you when you are writing? What aids the creative process?

For some reason, I must be out in public. I prefer going to either Starbucks or Panera Bread to work on my writings. With my coffee by my side, I am able to focus better. I find being at home distracting, but I do work from there sometimes.

R: What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to know about you?

I never finished a novel until now. I always would start something, but never complete it. This time, I was able to focus and be dedicated to this project. Oh, I also hope to get into play and screenwriting, but for small productions.

On a personal level, I would like to mention that I am from Staten Island, born and raised, and I am very proud of how the people here have come together after the destruction of Hurricane Sandy. I fared better than many others, but it was really tough to here and see the immense damage out here. I tend to have a love/hate relationship with the Island, but these days there's little room for hate :-)

R: What is the craziest thing you've ever done? 

Getting a tattoo on my right shoulder. I come across as a bit square to others, but I do have my wild side!

R: What do you hope readers will most take away from your writing?

I hope I take them to another world. I hope I am able to transport them to wherever my stories take them. 

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?  Daytime. The sunlight is just too beautiful to ignore.

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  Cats, but I do love pugs!

Beach or Pool?   The beach. Nothing like resting in the sun with the waves in your ears.

Steak or salad?  Salad at the moment.

Favorite Drink?  For caffeine, French Vanilla coffee. On a night out, a cosmopolitan

Favorite Book?  This is difficult to answer because I have so many. Maybe The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. I love how it captures the realities of human nature and life.

Favorite TV Series?  I like Once Upon A Time, Girls, Copper, and True Blood (Although, season 5 was horrible). But I would say Game of Thrones wows me every time and I am so excited for Season 3!

Thanks for a great interview, Megan.  Folks, here are all the places you can find Megan:

Twitter:         @MeganCashman

Facebook:     www.facebook.com/MeganCashmanBooks

Goodreads:   www.Goodreads.com/Megan_Cashman

Blog:               megancashmanbooks.wordpress.com

“The Dark Proposal” will be free on Amazon on December 12^th – that’s 12/12/12! A perfect way to mark that date!

the winner of our Donnette Smith giveaway is: Chris Bails!  Congrats, Chris!

Ilona Andrews visits us the end of December! Meow!

ROCCO

Incredible Blogging Cat

We welcome Author Donnette Smith to the Hotseat!

We welcome today author Donnette Smith!

Donnette Smith was born in Jacksonville Florida, but she has lived in the Lone Star State so long she deems herself a true Texan. She has a penchant for writing romantic thriller/suspense novels. Although she considers herself born with the gift to write, it wasn't until she took a job as a newspaper journalist that she realized writing fiction was her true calling in life. She is obsessed with forensic science and crime investigations, which greatly shapes the kind of stories she creates. If someone told her she could no longer write, she would feel the need to become a homicide detective. On second thought, she would probably just write that person into her next crime novel as the murder victim. She spent three years in New Orleans learning all she could about voodoo before writing her latest thriller novel, Cunja. Donnette is the author of Lady Gabriella, a mystery/suspense/romance novel published in 2008. She is also the co-author of The Chosen One, published as part of the Help Preditors and Editors anthology.

R: Hello Donnette and welcome!

D: Thanks, Rocco!

R:  Tell us a bit about yourself and how you became interested in writing.

D: I have raised 3 children, so back then I was a stay-at-home mom for the most part. But from a young age (12) I have dabbled in writing. I tried my hand at a first novel when I was 19. That same novel didn’t get published until I was in my late 30’s. Between that time, I took a job as a newspaper journalist.  I think it was then I became serious about writing. I had already accomplished the most difficult hurdle for any new writer: I’d completed a book from start to finish. Once you do something like that, you just do it again and again. So to answer your question, I think I was born a writer. I just didn’t blossom into it until later in life.

R: What drew you to the supernatural genre?

D: That’s an interesting question. I don’t know that I am specifically drawn to the supernatural genre in any way. I am most intrigued by forensic science and crime investigations. But during the writing of my latest novel, Cunja…it just turned out with a supernatural element. I can tell you I didn’t start out writing it with that genre in mind. I don’t ever have a genre in mind when I start writing a book. I think up an interesting concept, and then write out a full outline for the story. I am a big fan of subplots. I love using the element of surprise in my stories. If you read one of my books, you will most likely find there will be a mystery to solve. I’m the kind of author who will write a book…then sit back and decide which genre (genres) it fits into.   

R: What writers would you say have made the greatest influence on your writing?

D: John Grisham would be at the top of the list. He has a way of writing that captures the audience. I think he is the most talented author in existence. Next would be Dean Koontz. I admire the way he gets away with introducing the POV of several different characters in his stories. Most editors will tell you to stick with the POV of 2 or 3 characters only. Otherwise, you risk confusing your readers. But Koontz has always broken this rule…and does it in a completely acceptable way. I envy that man. Lol.

R: Tell us about Cunja.   How extensive research on voodoo did you do for this novel?

D: Cunja is the story of a homicide detective struggling to catch an unusual serial killer. What complicates matters is that the only surviving victim in the case just happens to be a news-reporter who had recently swindled him out of privileged police information for a story she’s covering. He doesn’t trust the attractive reporter as far as he can throw her. It only gets worse when he discovers he is falling in love with her. To crack this case he must unravel the shocking connection between the victim and her pursuer. And…battle the power of an ancient voodoo curse.

Having lived in Louisiana for 3 years, I had all the information I needed about voodoo at my fingertips. The more I studied the religion, the more intrigued I became. When I began writing Cunja, I decided immediately that voodoo was going to be a large part of the story.      

R: What’s a must have for you when you are writing? What aids the creative process?

D: I only need 2 things: silence and no disturbances. In my busy household, these two things can be hard to come by. Sometimes I will escape to my mom’s house, where things are quiet and I can hide out to get some writing done.

R: If you had access to a time machine, which historical moment would you travel to and why?

D: This is a no-brainer for me. I would jump at the chance to visit the cowboy era. This period in history has always fascinated me.

R: What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to know about you?

D: I love to sing as much as I love to write. I come from a family who loves music. My mother is a songwriter, and my father and her both play guitar. When I met my husband, he was a guitarist for a rock band. We both hosted karaoke shows for 9 years. I think music will always be a very big part of my life.

R: What is the craziest thing you've ever done?                               

D: I don’t know about crazy, but I can tell you the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. When I was a teen, I nearly set the whole woods behind my house on fire. I had gotten busted smoking in school. To keep my parents from finding out about it, I decided to burn the pink slip I received for my bad-deed. I took the slip into the woods behind my house, laid it on the ground (on top of dried brush, mind you), and set fire to it. Like an idiot, I only brought a small cup of water with me to put out the flames. When the fire began to get out of control, I ran back to the house for more water. By that time, it was too late. The woods were ablaze. Oh well…I sat on the front porch of my house frantically trying to figure out what to do. Finally, I realized the only solution was to admit to my mother what I had done so she could call the fire department. Boy, did I get a whoopin’. The good news is, the fire department was able to put out the fire before it reached the house.  

                                                                                                    

R: What do you hope readers will most take away from your writing?

D: A good story that completely entertains them. Hey, that’s a big reason why I do what I do.

R: What are you working on at the moment / next?

D: I am working on another thriller novel. Of course it has to do with a murder investigation. The book is in the beginning stages. But I’m really excited about the premise of the story.

R: If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing?

D: I would either be a forensic scientist or a homicide investigator. I think I’d be very good at solving murders.

R: Just for Fun – your favorite

D:

Favorite Book?  The Testament, John Grisham.

Favorite TV Series?  48 Hours.

Favorite Movie?  The Notebook.

Favorite Actor:  Dwayne Johnson.

Favorite Actress:  Sandra Bullock.

Thanks for a great interview, Donnette!

Folks,

You can buy a copy of Cunja at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00989S1WI/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1T1XDXC08KJYHPAK87WS&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846

Or the Decadent website: http://www.decadentpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=617&osCsid=ste5n0d9f5up5beffg5sqjod04

You can find Donnette on her website: http://www.donnettesmith.com/

Donnette will be giving away a free digital copy of Cunja to one lucky commenter! To enter, just leave a comment on this blog post with your email address! For extra entries, you can:

Friend moi or the human on FB

FB or Tweet about this contest

Follow me on twitter @RoccoBlogger

Contest closes midnight, December 2, winner chosen by random.org and announced Dec. 3 – open to US and International!

Get crackin’

ROCCO

RIP....JR EWING (Larry Hagman)

Friday saw the passing of one of TVs most iconic, if not THE most iconic villian ever...yes, I mean JR Ewing, portrayed by the wonderful actor, Larry Hagman.

Growing up, I remember being introduced to Larry Hagman on the television show, I DREAM OF JEANNIE.  Who can ever forget his portrayal of Major Anthony Nelson, the astronaut who rescued a genie from a bottle and really never lived to regret it?  I remember looking forward to Saturday nights and the adventures of Major Nelson and Jeannie, which continued for five great years before, drat it, they married them off and the series, like so many others, "jumped the shark" and died once the romantic tension was removed.

But I DREAM OF JEANNIE was only a teaser of greater things to come - the 1978 premiere of the nighttime soap, DALLAS, that spawned many spinoffs and imitators (KNOTS LANDING, DYNASTY, FALCON CREST, to name a few)  But none could compare to the original - DALLAS was the story of an oil family, the Ewings, thier lives and loves - and the main story revolved around the conflict between two brothers - the ever goody-goody Bobby Ewing, and his dastardly brother, JR, portrayed with amplomb by the effervesent Hagman.

JR was definitely the villian everyone loved to hate, and he proved that evil didn't always have to be dark, it could have a funny side too.  Millions tuned in to see who shot him (making it the second most watched episode in history, even to this day) and securing Hagman's place forever in the annals of TV villany.

Just in June, Hagman starred in the "DALLAS" reboot on TNT.  It's a huge loss, and we wonder how the reboot will deal with his death - but one thing is certain. Recast?  Never.

Some people just can't be imitated.  JR Ewing/Larry Hagman is one of them.
RIP, Larry. you've earned it.

ROCCO
Incredible Blogging Cat

IN THE HOTSEAT….STEPHANIE BOND!

Meow! I’m very pleased to welcome today author Stephanie Bond!

Stephanie Bond has written over 60 romance and mystery novels for Random  House, St. Martin’s Press, HarperCollins, and Harlequin Books.  She is best known for the BODY MOVERS humorous mystery series. Look for her new mystery series TWO GUYS DETECTIVE AGENCY coming in 2013.

R:  Tell us a bit about yourself and how you became interested in writing.

 Hi, Rocco!  I’ve always been a book person—I grew up on a farm where the entertainment choices were few, so I was a voracious reader from an early age.  Years later, I was happily working in a corporate computer programming career and pursuing an MBA at night when an instructor remarked I had a flair for writing.  That one comment sparked my interest in fiction writing, and I never looked back.

R:  You have a feisty black cat in one of your romantic suspense novels, VOODOO or DIE – are you an animal lover? Do you own anypets?

 I am absolutely an animal lover!  Since I grew up on a farm, I was surrounded by pets (dogs and cats and rabbits and hamsters), and lots of barnyard animals, too—cows and chickens and horses.  Alas, I don’t have any pets now because my living space is so small, plus I travel too much to be a good pet owner.

                                                                     

R: What drew you to the ROMANCE genre?

                     
Romance is the genre I read growing up, thanks to a beloved aunt who made sure I had a steady supply of Harlequin novels, plus Gothic and historical romance novels.

R: What writers in your genre would you say have made the greatest influence on your writing?

Hm, that’s a tough one.  I’d say Phyllis Whitney and Victoria Holt instilled in me the love of a mystery combined with a romance...but I always put down their books wishing the stories had been more heavy in romance.  Honestly, though, every book I’ve read has influenced my writing in some way—if it’s a book I love, it makes me want to give my readers that same emotional experience.  If it’s a book I don’t love, I always ask myself why and try to bring that to my own writing, too.

R: Which of (your character) adventures was the most fun for you to write? Were any of them the least amount of fun?

Writing the BODY MOVERS mystery series has been the most fun because the books are set in my hometown of Atlanta, and because my main character Carlotta Wren has the guts to do things I’d never do!  I’m living vicariously through her escapades. 

 The books that have been the least amount of fun are the ones “mandated” by my publishers. Almost every writer has had those assignments before—when editors or publishers ask us to do something to “broaden our readership,” meaning they’re asking us to write something they think they can sell without any effort instead of them figuring out a way to sell the books we write best.  I’ve done my share of them in order to making a living; I’m not ashamed of those books, but they’re not the books I remember fondly.  And they’re almost never successful.  Several years ago I realized that most editors and publishers really don’t know what they’re doing—many of them just keep moving things around to justify their jobs.  It was a rude awakening, kind of like when you first realize your parents don’t know everything.  But the realization was my first step toward taking more control of my career.  In the future, I’ll be listening to my readers, not my publishers.

R: You took the PI exam for the state of Georgia – why did you do it and what was the experience like?

 I completed the classroom coursework to become a PI for the state of Georgia because I wanted to be able to write my stories with more authenticity.  And since each class of the course was taught by a different professional in the field (a police officer, a P.I., a self-defense instructor), I was able to add to my list of resources.  The experience gave me a real appreciation for the gamut of situations an investigator might be asked to handle.  Even a mundane assignment, such as conducting domestic surveillance to take a photograph can turn into a confrontation.

R:  Do you have an “how I got my agent” story you’d like to share?  How did you feel when you got the call your first novel had sold?

 I met an agent at a writing conference who invited me to submit something to her.  I did, and a few weeks later, I received a nice rejection letter from her, but she invited me to send something else in the future.  I did—the next day.  A few weeks later, I received a call from a colleague of hers.   She said the agent I’d submitted my work to had decided it wasn’t her cup of tea, but had passed it along to her workmate.  The colleague liked it, and wanted to see more.  We clicked and I signed with her shortly thereafter. The bottom line—be persistent!  If an agent asks you to send something else, do it!

 As far as my “first sale” call—I wasn’t home!  I was traveling for my corporate job and back then (1995), cell phones weren’t prevalent.  After a very long day of meetings and technical work, I returned to my bleak hotel room and called to check messages on my personal voicemail.  My agent had left a message there that we had an offer on my first book.  It was too late to call her back or to call anyone else, so I trekked to the vending machine and bought a can of ginger ale to celebrate by myself!

R: What’s a must have for you when you are writing? What aids the creative process?

 I have to have background noise when I write—the TV (news or sports) or music works for me.  The thing that aids my creative process the most is uninterrupted time, which is hard to come by!

R: If you had access to a time machine, which historical moment would you travel to and why?

 The moment when Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson exchanged words over the device that would become the modern telephone.  It was, after all, the precursor to the technology we rely on today.  What a moment that must have been.  I wonder if the two men were aware that they’d just changed the trajectory of humankind.

R:  If a movie were to be made of one of your books, which one would you want it to be and who would you pick for the lead roles?

 I think I’d most like to see my book OUR HUSBAND come to life on the big screen.  It’s a bigamy story about three women who discover they’re married to the same man, who then meets an untimely demise!  The three wives have to reluctantly band together to find the real murderer, all while suspecting each other and dealing with the fallout of their husband’s betrayal.  My dream cast would be Nicole Kidman for the first wife, a socialite with a biting wit, Jennifer Lopez for the second wife, a family physician in a small town, and Jenna Malone for the third wife, a naïve stripper.

R: What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to know about you?

 That I’m not a funny person. My humor comes out on the page, but not in-person...I’m kind of a serious nerd. 

R: What is the craziest thing you've ever done? 

 I haven’t done anything I would consider crazy...yet.  Have I mentioned I’m a nerd?  J

R: What do you hope readers will most take away from your writing?

 I don’t have lofty goals for my books--I’m not trying to change the world with my writing, I just want my readers to be entertained for the few hours they’re reading my books.  When I get emails from readers saying I took them away from their problems for a little while, that makes me feel good.

Just for Fun:

Night or Day?  Night

Dog or Cat? (answer carefully)  Meow

Beach or Pool?   Beach

Steak or salad?  Steak

Favorite Book?  Simple Abundance by Sarah Breathnach; I re-read it every year.

Favorite TV Series?   Northern Exposure

Favorite Movie?  Apollo 13

Favorite Actor:   Tom Selleck

Favorite Actress:  Laura Linney

Dirty Martini or Pina Colada?  Red wine, all day long.  J

Finish this sentence:  If I could meet anyone in the world, past or present, it would be Jane Austen, to say thank you for paving the path, not just for female writers who can now make a living because of the inroads she made, but for being independent in every facet of her life, when it would have been easier and more lucrative for her to cave to the norms of her time.

Thank you, Stephanie, for a great interview!  Meow!

Folks to keep up with the latest on Stephanie you can visit her at:

www.stephaniebond.com

@StephanieBond on Twitter

And now: A message about our giveaway from Stephanie!

In honor of you, Rocco, and the black cat in my humorous romantic mystery VOODOO OR DIE, I’ll give away a Kindle version of the book to the first 10 random commenters! (Please include the email address where you receive Amazon order confirmations in your comment.)

Thanks, Rocco!

OK, folks,  this giveway is a bit different from our norm: The first 10 readers to leave a comment with their email addys will receive a Kindle copy of VOODOO OR DIE! Contest closes November 21.

So…what are you waiting for!
And the winner of our Roxanne St. Claire giveaway is: NoraAdrienne! Watch for an email from Roxanne!

ROCCO

INCREDIBLE BLOGGING CAT