The Next Big Thing Blog Hop is just that – a blog hop with authors tagging other authors and artists to answer a few questions about whatever they happen to be working on. I was tagged by my friend Emer Martin. Emer and I met while we were both living in California and I’m looking forward to having her back here soon. She’s an award winning author from Ireland, but is also an extraordinarily multi-talented artist with paintings, movies, news articles, and television shows to her credit (just to name a few things she works on!).Thanks, Emer.

So here are my answers to The Ten Questions of The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

What is the working title of your next book?

“These Sorrows We See”

Where did the idea come from for the book?
Strangely enough, from a few lines of the band Tricky’s “Evolution Revolution Love”

She was born in the ghetto
Outside the bronx
In a project blocks
Where time stands still

A lot Tricky’s music has a very rhythmic, sensual beat to it that can set the romance writers mind to the a-thinkin’. These lines stuck in my head and from them the character Matty Brooks, my heroine, was born.

What genre does your book fall under?

Romantic suspense

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
One of the things I like about books is that they encourage us to use our imagination – what may be attractive to me may not be attractive to every reader. Because of that, I never have a specific person in mind when I write my characters – without the specifics, readers have the ability to engage in the story and create their own images. That said, when pressed, I would say Blanca Soto certainly looks the part, although she is much less curvy than Matty. I don’t know anything about her other than what she looks like though so maybe she wouldn’t be so good??

As for Dash, the hero, whew did I have fun looking for someone who might fit the image I have of him. Blanco Soto’s real life husband, Josh Hartnett, is a good option. But alas, I couldn’t pick a single one so I decided any of the ones below would do. Yes, that’s the Italian soccer team and yes, I now have a ‘thing’ for soccer players.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
City girl meets country boy then as girl uncovers her brother’s secrets lots of crazy shit happens, like dead bodies popping up in places they shouldn’t, an encounter with a bad-haired sheep, and a wild family tradition that just may prompt the city girl to grow some country roots. (Of course it’s a romance so has a happy ending; I figured I didn’t need to add that part).

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Booktrope (out of Seattle) is my publisher. They are awesome. You should check out their book list.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Let’s just leave it at ‘longer than anticipated’

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
There are a lot of great romantic suspense authors out there today with strong female leads and my stories fall into that grouping. I like strong women and like to write characters I would want to be friends with – I often get bummed when I come to the end of a book because it feels like I’m going to have say goodbye to real people.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I love mysteries and suspense stories, I love love stories, and I love animals – don’t need much more inspiration than that.

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
It’s the second in a series that takes place in a small town in New York’s Hudson Valley. Characters from the first book, A Tainted Mind (out in April 2013), show up in this one as do characters that will be in books to come. If you dive in, you’ll become familiar with Windsor (a fictional town) and the people who live there and feel like you’re visiting old friends with each new book.

So now what? I’m tagging Michele Bekemeyer, I think you’ll like her. She is also relatively new to the published scene and I found her first book, Trapping a Duchess as I was looking for something fun and new to read and it totally delivered. When I finished, I emailed Michele a note just to let her know how much I enjoyed it and we’ve stayed in contact. Hope you are enjoying the hop and keep hopping, you never know who you might meet!