Description:
All publicity is good publicity, right? Unless you’re recent college grad Ellie Wagner and an embarrassing video of you and your boyfriend goes viral. Every man in your life abandons you, but who knew a one-minute clip of your latest doomed relationship would brand you a slut, prevent you from getting your perfect job, and force you to keep doing the one thing you swore you’d never do again…live with your mother.
But staying with mom and her latest boy-toy (is this husband number four or five?) until your life turns around might not be all bad. Especially when you fall – literally – at the feet of a sexy, green-eyed stranger who offers you freedom and a life of luxury on a gold-rimmed platter.
There’s only one little problem – the man of your dreams is none other than Mason Nash, the latest hip-hop star busting up the music charts. Fame and fortune are his calling cards and he’s vying to steal the show on a new reality TV series that will catapult him into mainstream stardom. Hello spotlight.
The man behind the famous persona is perfect for Ellie in every way, but can she overcome the ugly pitfalls that come with Mason's celebrity status? Or will she be forced to choose between the man she loves and the independent life she longs for? After all, fame and fortune aren’t always what they seem and not all publicity is good publicity…
MB's INTERVIEW
What it takes to come with something new and good in the vast romance literature?
There’s a saying in the literary world that everything has already been done. And to some extent that’s true. Most stories, or a variation of, have been told before. I think what differs from writer to writer is HOW the author tells the story…the writer’s voice, the tone of the book, the genre, the characters they choose to tell the story, the words they put on the paper. You could have a story about a woman who is dealing with the loss of a spouse. As a reader what draws me to a writer is their “voice”, so even if the story isn’t 100% fresh and original, I still have an appreciation for how they decide to tell the story.
What is a role of the intimate scenes in a romance and how do you establish their limits?
When I write the purpose of a love scene will differ depending on the characters and the story I’m telling. BUT, if the characters are the same before and after the scene, then in my mind it wasn’t necessary. Something has to change by that scene happening. It could be something small like a character looking at themselves differently, or something big like one character realizing they love another one.
As far as limits go, I’m not sure I have any. LOL I like my smut when I read so I tend to write my love scenes pretty hot. I’m not writing erotica, and you’ll probably never find any whips or floggers in my books, so maybe that’s my limit. ;)
Where humor fits in a romance?
I think humor is an easy fit in romance novels if it works with the author’s voice and story. If I was writing a super angst-ridden book I wouldn’t include it, but in the Limelight series I did include some LOL moments because I love books with a bit of humor in them. I think if you go through life unable to laugh at yourself and some of the things you run up against you’re making it more difficult than it needs to be.
Also, when I think back to relationships when they were just starting out there was always a lot of witty banter and laughs. I think this is natural otherwise why are you spending time with this person? So that’s easy to transition into romantic fiction.
The imagination doesn’t have boundaries, but how do you keep the story believable?
This a delicate balance, and I think any writer will always have critics in regards to this - you can’t please everyone. But if a writer wrote about the average person’s day that would be pretty boring wouldn’t it? I think it’s about not having too much of one thing. So the plot can’t rely on ten coincidences happening to move it along, or a character can’t suddenly change who they are and do something completely out of character just because as a writer you need them to in order to move the plot along. I think you need enough interesting and out of the box things to happen to keep it interesting, but you can’t keep doing that over and over and over again and think it’s going to come across as believable.
As a fresh published author, what do you feel: is all publicity good publicity?
I don’t think so. I’m sure we’ve all seen the author’s that have been crucified on social media sites for one reason or another. I’m not sure if that would help boost sales or not, but I know on a personal level it would be hard to take and would inevitably affect the writing.
There’s a saying in the literary world that everything has already been done. And to some extent that’s true. Most stories, or a variation of, have been told before. I think what differs from writer to writer is HOW the author tells the story…the writer’s voice, the tone of the book, the genre, the characters they choose to tell the story, the words they put on the paper. You could have a story about a woman who is dealing with the loss of a spouse. As a reader what draws me to a writer is their “voice”, so even if the story isn’t 100% fresh and original, I still have an appreciation for how they decide to tell the story.
What is a role of the intimate scenes in a romance and how do you establish their limits?
When I write the purpose of a love scene will differ depending on the characters and the story I’m telling. BUT, if the characters are the same before and after the scene, then in my mind it wasn’t necessary. Something has to change by that scene happening. It could be something small like a character looking at themselves differently, or something big like one character realizing they love another one.
Where humor fits in a romance?
I think humor is an easy fit in romance novels if it works with the author’s voice and story. If I was writing a super angst-ridden book I wouldn’t include it, but in the Limelight series I did include some LOL moments because I love books with a bit of humor in them. I think if you go through life unable to laugh at yourself and some of the things you run up against you’re making it more difficult than it needs to be.
Also, when I think back to relationships when they were just starting out there was always a lot of witty banter and laughs. I think this is natural otherwise why are you spending time with this person? So that’s easy to transition into romantic fiction.
The imagination doesn’t have boundaries, but how do you keep the story believable?
This a delicate balance, and I think any writer will always have critics in regards to this - you can’t please everyone. But if a writer wrote about the average person’s day that would be pretty boring wouldn’t it? I think it’s about not having too much of one thing. So the plot can’t rely on ten coincidences happening to move it along, or a character can’t suddenly change who they are and do something completely out of character just because as a writer you need them to in order to move the plot along. I think you need enough interesting and out of the box things to happen to keep it interesting, but you can’t keep doing that over and over and over again and think it’s going to come across as believable.
As a fresh published author, what do you feel: is all publicity good publicity?
I don’t think so. I’m sure we’ve all seen the author’s that have been crucified on social media sites for one reason or another. I’m not sure if that would help boost sales or not, but I know on a personal level it would be hard to take and would inevitably affect the writing.
About the author:
I have a soft spot for romance novels with happily ever afters and a HOT spot for alpha males! I currently live outside Toronto, Canada with my hubby, two small children and cat spawned by the devil. Life is busy, but never to busy for a good story and to share my love of reading and writing with others. Things I can tell you that sum me up...I'm a sugar and carb addict, self-professed Gandy Girl, a disaster in the kitchen, a LOVER of all music, I enjoy reality TV and I'm an early riser!When I have a moment to breath you can usually find me typing furiously on the keyboard to get my next story on paper, or curled up reading about someone else's HEA. The second book in my Limelight series, Picture Perfect, is set to release at the end of March 2014.
Author's Giveaway
2 comments:
Great interview, ladies! I Love the mix of humor and romance they're often my favorite romantic novels so I'll def. have to check this one out!
Thanks again for the fun interview and for being a part of the blog tour! <3
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