I have found, now that I know it will happen, I let things drop for a couple of days and do all the dishes and laundry that have been piling up. I hate cleaning enough that sitting down to come up with the next plot point doesn’t seem so bad after all.
L.C. Giroux 28 June 2012
The Back Flap
The first three books in the Lovers and Other Strangers Series, His Lady Godiva, Pay Back, His Deception plus the bonus short story Wild Child. These stories all take place in and around Boston, a city that I love, before the series moved to the Southwest. The set is promotionally priced at .99 during the Book Lovers Buffet Vacation Getaway June 8-22. It will be 6.99 after that.
His Lady Godiva: Michael Dennison is a brilliant surgeon and a broken man.
Violet Bellows has the power to make him whole if only he’ll surrender his fear.
Together they will discover facets of themselves they never knew existed.
Pay Back: Being auctioned off like a piece of meat was not high on Joseph Camenitti’s bucket list, meeting a mystery woman from his past, that he could like, a lot.
Evie Tolland had spent WAY too long thinking of herself as the ugly duckling and that was going to change immediately.
He’s all caveman, she’s an old fashioned girl. Something’s gotta give!
Wild Child: Delia Kelly had always used her head. When her friends were out messing around and spending their parent’s money, she hit the books and stashed the cash she made working for Hutchinson Investigations. Now she is all grown up and she is ready to bust loose. Jonah Hutchinson is the poster boy for ‘lov’em and leav’em’. He knew exactly what women wanted and gave it to them, as long as it wasn’t polite conversations or security. One Summer Fling and both of them are in for the surprise of their lives.
His Deception: Allyn Bellows was the picture of responsible respectability and worried he was growing old long before his time. The only woman he loves is the one woman he can never have.
Marie-Hélène Girard was the merry trickster of the family but she has kept a secret in her heart for far too long.
It all starts with a little deception, but the question is, who is deceived more.
About the book
What is the book about?
This is a boxed set of the first three books in my Lovers and Other Strangers series. All of the books take place in and around Boston, hence the ultra creative title –The Boston Stories. All of the books are self-contained in that you can read them without the others, but as a reader I love when you get glimpses of what happens to the characters beyond the ‘Happily Ever After’. The leads from the first book show up in the rest and minor characters get their own larger story in other books. As far as the actual content of the stories, they stick to the basic romance formula, but the characters make for some real differences. Spoiler alert! Two of my heroes are actually wheelchair bound,but don’t have the typical ‘she heals him with her love’ endings.
When did you start writing the book?
The first book in the series was actually the second book I published. I hadn’t intended on writing a series at that point but I liked the hero’s best friend so much I decided he needed his own book and then the whole thing became a monster. I have something like twelve books planned, Yikes!
How long did it take you to write it?
I write pretty quickly and if I am writing I get in my 1500-2000 words a day no matter what. All of the stories for this set were written between August of 2011 and March of 2012.
Where did you get the idea from?
The first book started with the idea of the least likely romantic hero. I had been reading a bunch of regency novels and if I had to read about one more stunning example of male perfection, I was going to lose it. My day job is doing research on Multiple Sclerosis so I was somewhat familiar with the different permutations of paralysis and knew that I could work with that concept to make a realistic hero. Once I finished the first book the rest were all just character driven.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
It seems like 3/4 of the way through every book I hit a wall. I don’t know why exactly but the same panic sets in. “That’s it. I am out of ideas.” I have found, now that I know it will happen, I let things drop for a couple of days and do all the dishes and laundry that have been piling up. I hate cleaning enough that sitting down to come up with the next plot point doesn’t seem so bad after all.
What came easily?
Um, the sex scenes, it seems like every author interview talks about how hard it is to write those. Not for me, I still haven’t decided if that is a good thing or bad. I also find it easier to write from the hero’s point of view and have to force myself to add in the heroine’s voice. I blame my grandmother for giving me all those Ellery Queen and Sherlock Holmes mysteries when I was a kid.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
I borrow, but not in any way that even the people being borrowed from would recognize themselves. There may be a mannerism or the way someone approaches something that ends up in a book. I’ve borrowed from my husband and he hasn’t seen it till I pointed it out to him. I think we see others more clearly than we ever see ourselves.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
Is it too cliché to say all of them? I read voraciously. No kidding, when I am on a tear I can read 4 or 5 books in a week. I was a flashlight under the covers reading kid and will still stay up all night to finish a good book. As far as influential authors, I read a pretty broad mix. Lorelei James was a big influence in how she wove a whole family’s story together over multiple books. Usually it will be individual books that influence me. Pay Back came about because I had read two books that featured bachelor auctions, a concept that kind of freaks me out. They got me thinking about what it would be like to be up on stage and have no one bid on you, which led to the scene where the Cam and Evie meet in that book.
Do you have a target reader?
Yes, and she’s busy! I write 40-50K novels with the idea that my reader is trying to sneak in her reading between the need to be the kid’s chauffer and the laundry. I like to think that my reader is smart. I don’t dumb down, to the point that I included dialogue in French in His Deception. And my reader isn’t afraid of sex. I do my research, everything in my books is ‘doable’. I have more sex books than a therapist. My husband is a willing guinea pig, usually!
About Writing
Do you have a writing process?
If so can you please describe it?
Despite being a very process-oriented person in every thing else, my writing process is just to sit down at the computer and work, period. I am about to quit my day job to write full time and I am slightly terrified that I will end up obsessively writing 10 hours a day. It happens now on the weekends. I usually have an idea or concept that I want to play with and go from there.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
I am totally a pantser, as in I write by the seat of my pants. I might know where I want a story to go but the characters are always going to win a battle in that. For my last book, Second Chance at Salvation, I wanted the characters to dislike each other for a while so I could play with that idea for a bit but they just wouldn’t and ended up in bed together way before I intended. Okay, saying that makes me sound a little nuts but other writers know what I am talking about.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
Editing as you go is death to creativity. Not that I have a strong opinion on the subject or anything!
Did you hire a professional editor?
Can I get a Hell Yes! I Evidently have forgotten every rule of English that I was ever taught, add in that I am dyslexic and can only write on a computer and you get one heck of a hot mess in manuscript form. Faith Williams of The Atwater Group is the brave warrior that goes and cleans it all up.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
It depends on the story but there is always music if for no other reason than to drown out the rest of the family. Sometimes the songs really influence the story and sometimes I need to listen to a particular artist because of the story I am writing. For Second Chance at Salvation, in my head Ransom Sheppard, the hero, sounded like Bruce Springsteen but off his recent albums with that grit and gravel in his voice.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
I always feel a little guilty when I talk to other writers because I have never had a rejection letter, been brushed off by an agent, or any of the bunches of things that seem to be a rite of passage for a writer. I wrote my first novel and stuck it up on Amazon. I had my first sale within hours. I have my share of one star reviews but that is par for the course.
What made you decide to go Indie? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
Indie Now, Indie Always, Indie Forever!
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did it you do it yourself?
I start with Jimmy Thomas images and then work from there. I know a little about graphics programs so as long as the starting image is good I can work with it. My covers are intentionally simple and always feature the moment just before the kiss. I think that having the faces draws the eye even when you are looking at something the size of a postage stamp. For my box set, I used Steena Holmes to take my covers and configure them to look like the boxed set. She was fantastic to work with.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
What is this plan thing you speak of? Seriously, if I could I would just keep writing and never do any marketing but then no one finds you. I am grudgingly learning social media and came to writing novels through having a web magazine on fashion and sewing for several years. I decided that 2012 was going to be the year I got a handle on marketing and I don’t think I did anything even remotely toward that goal till May.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Do it! Yes, it is a little like sailing a dinghy through a hurricane but you will never feel more alive. Get an editor! Editing your own work is murder and one star reviews that only talk about how badly edited the novel is, are a nightmare. Learn to format your own work! It is a great way to cut costs so you can earn out faster and you will have a better understanding of how all the pieces work together.
About You
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a small town in Connecticut. My husband laughs at me because my childhood was very Tom Sawyer-like, which seemed fitting since Mark Twain lived in my hometown till he died and he built the local library where I fell in love with stories.
Where do you live now?
I now live in Madison WI but am married to an academic. That life is much more nomadic than people would imagine.
What would you like readers to know about you?
My whole life can be summed up in the phrase –“But no one said I couldn’t.”
What are you working on now?
I am in the process of editing All In, book 5 of my Lovers and Other Strangers series. I am researching book 6 where the series moves to Seattle and getting ready to write my first YA paranormal. That one is for the daughter and her friends. I won’t let them read any of my other stuff so they demanded their own book. My daughter is actually collaborating on it with me.
End of Interview:
You can get your copy of Lovers and Strangers Series Boxed Set: The Boston Stories from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords.