Interview with Melinda Curtis author of The Christmas Promise

Please join me for my interview with Melinda Curtis author of The Christmas Promise. Be sure to read the excerpt from her book below as well.

Interview with Melinda Curtis

 

1) Why do you write romance?
I love a happily-ever-after.  I left The Amazing Spiderman 2 wanting to rewrite the ending.

2) What romance subgenres do you write in? Why?
I write sweet and steamy. I like both alpha and beta heroes.  Readers of sweet don’t tend to like alpha heroes, so those are my more sensitive guys.  Readers of steamy appreciate an alpha male who isn’t always politically correct with the ladies.  In either case, it takes a strong woman to show a person he’s a better man with love in his life.

3) Are you aware of any themes that run through your stories? If so, what are they?
Outsiders and fish-out-of-water. 

4) What would you like readers to take away from your stories?
To quote Huey Lewis: The Power of Love. My characters are changed by the end of the story.

5) What inspires your stories?
People.  We’re all so quirky.

6) Will you be attending any book or writing conferences this year? If yes, which

ones? Where and when?
I always attend the Romance Writers of America conference. In 2015, it’ll be in NY.

7) Do you have any book signings or author appearances coming soon? If yes, where and when?
I’m overbooked on writing deadlines this year. I’m a hermit.

8) What is your writing schedule?
I write a book for Harlequin Heartwarming every 4 months. During that time I’m also writing something for my indie series or a special project. For example, this year I was asked to participate in 2 different holiday novella sets – one for Harlequin, one for a group of sweet indie authors.

9) Do you have any other passions besides writing? If yes, what are they? Why?
I love DIY around the house. For Mother’s Day, Mr. Curtis bought me a spray rig. To-date, I’ve painted an exterior porch and fence.  I want to get good enough to refinish my kitchen cabinets. My mom was a painter, but I can’t paint a picture.

10) What is the best memory?
All the best memories have laughter.

11) What is your favorite comfort food?
Grilled cheese sandwich. Did you know Starbucks sells them now?  Sweet!

12) What relaxes you?
A cup of coffee.

13) What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
A glass of Jordan Chardonnay…heaven

14) What decade has been your favorite? Why?
This one.  My kids are young adults and all away at college. I’m not required to make a dinner that pleases 5.  Just me and Mr. Curtis.

15) What is your favorite way to promote?
Facebook.  Look for some great giveaways this fall.

16) Where is your favorite place to write? Why?
My office. I have a corner desk with lots of space. It’s always cluttered.

17) What is your favorite fairy tale? Why?
As a kid, I loved Snow White, mostly because of those 7 dwarves.  But as an adult, I love the way movies redo the Cinderella story.

18) What was your favorite vacation?
Maui. Hands down. So relaxing. Although my brother dragged us to the Big Island this year and it comes in a close second.

19) If you had another career, what was it?
Marketing consultant. I was a “fixer”. If your brand wasn’t selling, I could figure out why and turn things around…if it wasn’t too late.

20) If you didn’t write, what would you do instead?
Go back to being a marketing consultant, although babysitting grandma has a nice feel to it.

21) If you could have one wish, what would it be?
World peace. It used to be a cliché, but we should all be wishing for it.

22) If you could describe yourself in only one word, what would it be?
Wired. I can’t stand not being plugged in. I can’t stand not being caffeinated. I go at a pace that seems to exhaust everyone around me.

23) Who is your favorite American Idol contestant this year? Why?
DON”T WATCH

24) Are you a cat or dog person? Do you have any pets and if so, please tell us about them.
Dog person. I got a puppy last year – a Shorkie (half Shitzu/half Yorkie). When we first got her, she yapped at everything because she was afraid of everything (she was only 3 pounds). I signed up with a dog trainer. Tally is now a confident 1-year old dog. She loves swimming in the pool, going to Home Depot, and fireworks. The fireworks surprise me (but they must sound like other yapping dogs)

25) What is the one thing you most want to do that you haven’t yet?
Cruise the Mediterranean. We’re doing that in 2015, but only because my brother has a bucket list and is dragging us there for 2 weeks.  LOL!

26) You state on your blog that you embrace midlife and plan to live to the fullest. How are you doing that?
Coffee and wine. My life right now is about transitions. I go-go-go at my desk, then need a little help easing into the evening.

27) Please tell us about your most recent release and where we can purchase it.
Blurb:

They used to call her the Bon-Bon Heiress…Tiffany Bonander (of Bon-Bon Chocolates) grew up in New York with a silver spoon, a heart of gold, and a lifelong supply of sweets.  But now her life is falling apart.  Recent changes in cocoa supply are threatening the quality of the family’s chocolate and sales are down.  Add to that Tiff’s penchant for falling in love quickly and breaking engagements at the last minute…Now they call her the Bon-Voyage Bride.  Can this socialite turn around a cocoa plantation in South America?

Jackson Hardaway is trekking through the Andes in Ecuador as a tribute to a fallen comrade.  This wounded warrior didn’t expect to meet a beautiful damsel in distress and her three fairy godmothers…er, trio of meddlesome nuns…on his journey.  But everything in Ecuador is bigger – the trees, the snakes, the attraction.  Is this love?  Or just another case made to label Tiff a runaway bride?  Find out in The Wedding Promise (part Runaway Bride/part Romancing the Stone).

 

Excerpt:

It was raining.  Again.

Tiffany Bonander tried humming a few bars of White Christmas.  It was, after all, December 23.  Cheer was called for.

But the incessant beat of fat raindrops on the tangled foliage of the Ecuadorian rainforest and on her pink rain slicker, drowned out her cheer.

Or maybe she was just drowning under the pressure of heavy responsibilities.

Ankle-deep water rushed down the steep, muddy road toward Tiff and her precious cargo–thirty pounds of cocoa beans.  She couldn’t lose the beans.  They were the answer to all her troubles. 

Thunder boomed.  And boomed again.  The downpour increased to a deluge.

Tightening her grip on the wheelbarrow handles, Tiff tried to find purchase with her rain boots, tried to make it to the next rise before the road turned into a river.  Tried…and failed.   Somewhere above her the river had risen high enough to crest a bank.  Water surged toward her.

Tiff’s father claimed they’d abandoned this cocoa plantation years ago for drainage reasons.  He should have used the F-word: flood.

Tiff stumbled to her knees, and water rushed into her boots–cute, pink-flowered plastic ones which quickly filled with water and felt as heavy as cement shoes.  If not for her grip on the wheelbarrow, she might have been swept downhill.  Just last week, she’d heard about a woman who’d been carried away by the cresting river and smashed into a tree.  Smashed as in: to pieces.  Dead.

That would be worse than being broke and the laughing-stock of the civilized world.

This was karma, plain and simple.  She shouldn’t have jilted Chad at their engagement party or left Malcolm at the altar. 

 

Release information:

The Christmas Promise is available in the Sweet Christmas Kisses anthology (14 sweet holiday stories for 99¢ available now!).

Buy Links for Sweet Christmas Kisses:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/Zd6FuJ

iTunes: http://bit.ly/1lVUtc2

Kobo: http://bit.ly/ZgZ2mZ

B&N: http://indi.uno/1mvOISk

Google Play: http://bit.ly/1nbyOgR

28) Please give us your urls and your publisher’s url.
Website: www.MelindaCurtis.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelindaCurtisAuthor

Twitter: @MelCurtisAuthor

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/melcurtisauthor/

29) Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers? Please do so here.

Special Offer:

Readers of the Writing Dreams blog will be emailed a FREE fun, sweet novella set within the Hollywood Rules world by signing up for Melinda’s book release email newsletter. Link: http://www.melindacurtis.net/join-melinda-s-mailing-list

 

 

Bio:

Melinda Curtis is an award winning, USA Today recommended, Amazon best selling author.  She writes the Harmony Valley series of sweet and emotional romances for the Harlequin Heartwarming line (book 4 coming 3/2015). Brenda Novak says: “Season of Change has found a place on my keeper shelf”.  Melinda also writes independently published, steamy and fun romances as Mel Curtis (a new novella out 10/22). Jayne Ann Krentz says of Blue Rules: “Sharp, sassy, modern version of a screwball comedy from Hollywood's Golden Age except a lot hotter.”