My sister in writing and wonderful author, Kimberley Troutte tagged me to play a game called The Next Big Thing, where authors hold the microphone for a minute, answer ten questions about the stories they are working on, and then pass the microphone to five other authors.
Here is my shot at the microphone:
Question: What is your working title of your book?
Answer: I’m working on three books right now. I know, I’m crazy that way. Once Upon A Kiss. Decoy In Stiletto’s & the Unnamed Suspense/Thriller.
For the purpose of this interview, I’ll discuss Decoy in Stiletto’s since that’s the book I’m revising, polishing and basically driving myself insane with at the moment.
Question: Where did the idea come from for the book?
Answer: The idea for Decoy in Stiletto’s came about when I was talking to my girlfriend about Italian families and the story spark generator that exists in my brain started to spew out; “what if scenarios.”
What if the heroine with the winking duck tattoo on her ass was a…..and the hero was a…..and a long time ago they…..and then she got embroiled in a…..and the villains were a bunch of……and….let’s throw in some vodka, canoli’s, lasagna, Irish whiskey……and the hero and heroine’s families were…..and the heroine went and…..and the hero he…..and they both…..and what a mess they created….well, really she created because she’s…..and after all that, how the hell are they going to go out in public ever again???
Oh, and yes, let’s bring Maddie and Alex from What A Girl Wants in, because they play a small role and the readers can be surprised to find out what happened to them after their story ended.
I know, I’m being vague, but I don’t want to ruin it for the readers and I’m quirky that way about giving away too much information when it comes to my projects.
Question: What genre does your book fall under?
Answer: Contemporary romance, Comedy, Suspense, Mystery, Crazy Family, Eclectic Heroine, Quirky Villains. I tend to mix genres within the book, because I love to incorporate different elements, sexy, some mystery, some suspense, comedy and of course romance.
Question: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Answer: This is a tough question to answer. I have the character images in my mind, but until I have fully polished the book and read it over and out loud a few times, I can’t imagine any actors.
But I’ll give it my best shot. Here goes. Thinking…thinking…thinking….
My brain hurts, sorry, I tried, can’t come up with anyone just yet, the characters who are living in my head look like themselves. I’ll have to check back later with them and see who they’d want to play them in a movie.
Question: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Answer: The dreaded synopsis. Okay, I’ve plucked out a sentence from it to share:
RYAN O’FLANAGAN’s day kick started with a lot of optimism, until her client’s husband drops dead in her company, and an hour later she’s in the emergency room, face down, ass up because of a dog bite on her generous butt.
Question: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Answer: I have an agent, so he gets a first crack at it, depending on the outcome of that I am undecided.
Question: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Answer: Six months. The editing and polishing are taking a lot longer, because I added characters, deleted others, changed the plot and added different conflicts.
My name is Selena Robins and I am a revision-holic-polish-obsessed addict. I welcome anyone who can give me a 12 step program to cure me.
Question: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Answer. I honestly do not know. I suck at this interview, don’t I?
Question: Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Answer: Another tough question. Inspiration comes to me in so many different forms, and as I said above, in talking to my friend about some of the comedic moments about families, love and life in general a few ideas came to me.
Question: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Answer: Unlikely villains with a twist that I can’t discuss, because again, it will ruin it for the readers. A heroine who is confident, funny, will hopefully make the reader laugh and cry and then laugh again. A hot hero who is not only swoon-worthy with a great sense of humor, but is also vulnerable and family members, from parents, siblings grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins that readers can identify with the characters by picking them out and thinking; “Yup, just like my Aunt Harriet and old Uncle Ernie who we never talk about and my sister who drives me nuts and my cousin who thinks she’s a….and so on.”
Thank you for bearing with me and reading this interview. It was tough for me to answer some of these questions and hope you enjoyed my answers, if I was unclear about anything, feel free to comment or ask more questions.
And now to pass the microphone to a few of my awesome writer friends. Look for their answers on their blogs next week.
Selena Robins, Author 
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