Author Spotlight - Nicole Flockton

Today we welcome Crimson Romance author Nicole Flockton into the Spotlight.

1. Tell our readers a little bit about yourself.
I’m originally from Perth Western Australia but have spent the last nearly four years living in Houston Texas. I share a house with my uber supportive husband, two gorgeous kids, Maya our Siberian husky who isn’t quite user friendly some days and our cat Scooter who made the trek from Perth to Houston with us – he settled in the best to life in Houston.

2. What number book is this? First? 100th? 200th?(Nora only!)
This is book number 3.

3. Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?
Having a deadline makes it easier to stay at the computer, but some days it’s a fight that I don’t win.

4. What is your top promo tip for other authors?
Be friendly on social media and give back. I made a promise to myself that when I got published I give back to aspiring writers like so many authors who helped me when I was aspiring. I try to help where I can.

5. How does writing fit into your day? Or does your day fit in around your writing?
I honestly don’t know. I should do more when my kids are at school, but as I also work remotely for my job in Australia it’s a constant struggle.

6. Keeping fit: Do you have an exercise regime to counterbalance all those hours sitting at a computer?
Oh I try! And I need to get back into it. But I do like to jog. Started last summer – yes I ran through a hot, humid Houston summer. I must start it up again. Actually I ran mainly so the dog was exhausted and didn’t bother the kids during the summer break. As the kids are on summer break – I’ll be doing that again.

7. Could you be friends with any of your heroines?
Oh I think I could be friends with all of them. I think they’d be a great group of girls to go have coffee or wine with.

8. At what point in your career did you actually start to feel like you were a writer?
Probably when I realised I’d just signed my 5th contract in 10.5 months.

9. Do you write to music, or with the tv on in the background, or do you need complete silence?
As my desk is in my living the TV is my constant companion. Sometimes I write to music but find that quite distracting. Other times when I’m having difficulties I try to go somewhere quiet. Found writing in the car in the kids school carpark a creative place to write.

10. Writing snacks – what are your favourites?
Chocolate mini cupcakes, chocolate, and around Easter Cadbury Chocolate Mini Egges with the crispy outer shell – do you see a theme here? LOL

BLURB
He helps save lives, now he wants to save hers.

Dawn Granger has loved and lost and it’s a road she’s not prepared to travel again, that is until her past turns up and has her questioning her resolve.

Andrew Holmes has sailed the globe numerous times, when he almost loses his life, he decides he needs to give something back so he returns home and trains as a paramedic. When he runs into his former sweetheart he is surprised to find an attraction he thought dead come to life. When he sees the sadness in Dawn he knows he will do anything to make her smile again.

Dawn tries to resist Andrew but their past pulls at her in ways she thought long dead. Can she trust a man who's run out on her once before? Can she risk putting her heart on the line again? Or will it all be taken from her again.


Rescuing Dawn is available from Amazon, Amazon UK, iTunes, Kobo and direct from the publisher.
You can read an excerpt here and the reviews here.

Nicole can be contacted via Twitter, Facebook, and on her website.

Author Spotlight - Olivia Logan

Today we're pleased to welcome the stunning Olivia Logan to the blog in celebration of her debut Crimson Romance novel.


1. Tell our readers a little bit about yourself. 

My name is Olivia Logan. I’ve loved writing since I was a kid anything from fairy tales to inventing my own myths. As I got older I found my niche was romance and wrote short romances for my school newspaper. Cringe worth when your teacher comments on your grammer! 

I started entering competitions earlier this year and through one of these found my book picked up by Crimson Romance. 

2. What number book is this? First? 100th? 200th?(Nora only!) 

My first! J 

3. Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?

Mmmm that’s tricky. If it’s a day when my characters won’t shut up then I just write but if they’re not I set myself word target and get down whatever that amount is- even when I come to revise there are usually okay bits that I can salvage so not a total loss.

4. What is your top promo tip for other authors?

Can I have 2? 1- listen to the critics (esp your CPs and eds if you get feedback) and work on their suggestions; 2- keep going (Think Dory in ‘Finding Nemo’ “Just keep swimming”) you will get there.

5. How does writing fit into your day? Or does your day fit in around your writing?

I work full time so writing fits around me. I’m a morning person so prefer waking up earlier to type then edit later as opposed to the other way around.

6. Do you write everyday?

Yes- though amount changes - sometimes 1K sometimes 200 words

7. Any craft books you recommend?

Liz Fielding's 'Little Book of Writing Romance'.

8. Keeping fit: Do you have an exercise regime to counterbalance all those hours sitting at a computer?

Full time job running that has me on my feet most days and dance work out DVDs at home.

9. In what way is being a published writer different to how you thought it would be?

Maybe it will change when I get the hang of it but I’m not reading / reviewing as much anymore which I loved to do.

10. Do you have any tips, tricks or sacrificial rituals you do when you hit a story roadblock?

Listen to classical music. By not listening to/ concentrating on words in a song my thoughts work themselves out.

***

Hotshot Hollywood Director Nick Trenton, needed a nanny and fast. It certainly hadn’t helped that his son had run off all the others he had employed and with a big shoot coming up in LA for three weeks he was running out of options. Then along comes Rania George- sweet shop owner and one of the few people his son didn’t want to give the slip. Yes, she seemed to dislike him from the get-go, but he could work around that. He loved his son and would do anything to get the lovely Miss.George to say yes to his plan.

 

Rania was used to children hanging outside her sweet shop but seeing one alone on a dark night was a first. What sort of parent would let their child wander the streets at night!

That was until she met his Hollywood Director Father. No wonder his son was wandering the streets alone, his father was probably too self absorbed to notice. She’d learnt from an early age that anything Hollywood related was bad news. Okay so he was attractive but she had vowed from to stay away from anything, and she meant anything Hollywood. Not that it helped when his cute as a button son captured her heart so easily nor when she was being offered to babysit said son for a huge amount of money. Only catch was she had to fly to Hollywood and spend three weeks in the company of his devastatingly attractive father.

The question was after all her experiences with Hollywood, was she willing to risk it all…

 

 

***

 

Urgent: One Nanny Required is available from Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble and  All Romance eBooks.

 You can catch up with Olivia on Twitter, Goodreads and at her Website.

Would you like to win a copy of Urgent: One Nanny Required? To be in the running all you need to do is follow Olivia on Twitter and leave a comment here answering the question: 'Who would play your dream leading man in a film opposite you?'. Olivia's awesome book will go to the commenter with the best answer!

Author Spotlight - Christy McKellen

Today's spotlight author is an English author who writes spicy romance, and she's here to talk to us about her debut novel. Welcome, Christy.

Tell our readers a little bit about yourself.
Hi Minxes, thanks so much for having me on your blog, it’s an absolute pleasure to be here.

I’ve been writing with the aim to be published for about five years now – there have been some ups and downs, but they’ve all been useful learning experiences. I certainly feel like I’ve earned my authorial status I fit writing in around looking after my three children – two of whom are at school and one at home with me. Before I gave up work to raise my kids I was a Video and Radio Producer for the BBC and a couple of independent production companies. Making it as a writer has been a dream for me for a very long time, so I’m absolutely delighted that my debut novel has finally hit the virtual shelves.

What number book is this? First? 100th? 200th?(Nora only!)
This is my first published book, but the fifth book I’ve written. Wouldn’t it be amazing to say you’d written 200 books! Maybe one day…

Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?
I hate to leave things unfinished – I have a bit of a tidying compulsion – and that tends to keep me focused. It would feel like a real waste of my precious free time to let a story slide, especially if I was quite a way through it. Don’t get me wrong though, I like a good skive as much as the next person.

What is your top promo tip for other authors?
To connect with as many other writers as possible through facebook, Twitter and blogs. The romance writing community is a strong, inclusive one and from my experience, other writers do amazing publicity for each other. Some people find it very hard to market themselves (me included) so other people talking about your book is the perfect way to promote it. Also, be friendly and professional in all your dealings with reviewers, book bloggers and readers. Most of them are doing promotion for you for free and should be afforded the respect they deserve for that.

How does writing fit into your day? Or does your day fit in around your writing?
I tend to write at lunchtimes when my youngest is having a nap (which I fear may be coming to a close soon!) and sometimes in the evenings if my husband is out. I try not to work too much at night because my husband can only be ignored for so long before he gets a grump on 

Keeping fit: Do you have an exercise regime to counterbalance all those hours sitting at a computer?
I try to get to the gym a couple of times a week and I walk as much as possible. I’m always on the go with the kids though, so my body gets a pretty good work-out every day.

At what point in your career did you actually start to feel like you were a writer?
When I received my cover art – which I absolutely love! Seeing such an amazing cover with my name on it made it all hyper-real.

Do you write to music, or with the tv on in the background, or do you need complete silence?
I prefer to write with music on. I need some noise in the background or I feel too lonely. I make myself a playlist for the book I’m writing and listen to it over and over (with my headphones on if other people are around, so I don’t drive them insane.) I can’t work with the TV on though – too distracting!

Have you ever written a hero you'd be happy to run off with?
Oh yes. I love all my heroes and would run off with any of them. I need to feel that sort of connection in order to write them. After all, I want the best for my heroines and wouldn’t pack them off with any old chap.

Writing snacks – what are your favourites?
Kettle chips! The only problem is they make the keyboard greasy 

Thanks for having me today, it’s been fun!

Blurb:
Six months ago Ellie Holdsworthy’s life was all planned out - kids, wedding, happy ever after - until her boyfriend dumped her for another woman. Now her best friend, Penny - an heiress to a small fortune - looks set to run off with a gold-digger, and Ellie is determined to save her from certain doom . Unfortunately, the only person who can help is the one person she’d rather not ask...

Little does Ellie know, persuading her brother’s best friend - commitment phobic, playboy businessman, Gideon DeLancy - to hold an intervention at his beautiful Georgian manor would be the easy part. Keeping her hands off him is a whole other matter.

Gideon doesn’t intend to fall for his friend's snarky sister, and he sure as hell doesn’t expect their weekend to develop into a full-on sex-fest. When passion takes a strangle-hold, their differences don’t seem to matter. After all, a torrid weekend affair should be the easiest thing in the world to walk away from, so why are they finding it so difficult...?

About the author:
Formerly a Video and Radio Producer, Christy now spends her time as either a slave to her children or her muse. When she’s not writing spicy romance, she can be found stomping around the South West of England, glomming her to-be-read pile or escaping from real life with her rather delicious husband.
Christy loves to hear from readers. You can contact her on her blog, Facebook and on Twitter.

Her New Worst Enemy is available from Amazon, Amazon UK, iTunes and Barnes & Noble.