Well, Monday was a rush, not in the short-of-time sense, though I was, but more in the get-your-ass-down-from-there-exciting sense. Why? Release day. Hard to Hold my debut romantic suspense/thriller, finally birthed after a somewhat prolonged labour (of love).

Released to mixed reviews--some luke warm, some steaming--and I'll take as many of those as I can get.  "Feed an Author, Post a Review", and all that.

Now, given Nick Marshall is a bit of a bastard (he has his reasons), I thought a short interview with Anna Key Marshall might be in order. After all, she's propped him up vertically, and horizontally. (Nick, being Nick, isn't exactly enamoured with the idea of Anna sharing, so he's asked that he be extended a similar courtesy of shafting...ahem...commenting about Anna in the very near future.

So Anna:

So, are you a Nick Marshall supporter or otherwise? Don't be shy, leave a comment. I promise I'll hide his gun from him before reads this. 

Blame Jane Hunt, not me. She nominated me for a Jolly Lobster Award--a reward (questionable) for those providing fun and community by blogging. The rules, thankfully, are simple:

• Display the logo + link back to the nominator
• Provide one interesting fact about lobsters
• Answer the 7 questions (below)
• Nominate a further 7 recipients.

Interesting 'love' fact about lobsters: To mate, the female chooses the male in his den, usually after checking out many male dens (The hussy). The male usually accepts and let the female in (Every knock on the door is an opportunity). She molts (sheds off her hard shell, becoming powerless) and stays in the male’s den and under his protection for about a week. Within a week, mating is over and her new shell has grown. (Wow, I could write a book around the mating ritual of the lobster--excited. 

And now for the questions:

Have you ever written a book involving sea scenes?  If not why not and do you intend to?

That would be a yes. In Hard to Hold, a floating, private asylum is featured. In Hard to Forget, Jack stares moodily out to sea, and in Hard to Chase, (WIP), I'm not yet sure about a sea scene, but it does rain a lot.

2 What is your current WIP?

Hard to Chase: a sexy thriller in which the Administration covertly play footloose with the lives of frontline troops, and featuring a frigid (hardly!) psychotherapist, and a too-randy-for-his-own-good (yes, Will is all of that) Intelligence officer.

Do you have a favorite sea film? And why?

Titanic. For one scene alone. The hot, car-below-decks scene. Where Jack and whatever her name is, get it on. That palm slapped flat against a steamed up window pane? Iconic! 

A favourite fish recipe to share?

No gross! Haven’t touched fish since I found out microscopic worms live on their scales. Gross! Gross!  And, what kind of creature watches you while you eat it? Jesus, those eyes. Unnatural. Then there are the bones--nasty choking ambush. Bottom line, would you put a grenade in your mouth? No, so why would you go near fish?

Your favourite sea-going book? 

Read a good few bodice-rippers about pirates, the Hornblower series (not a bodice-ripper) was compelling, Custler can do oceans, but my stand out book is Robert Lewis Stevenson's Kidnapped--a book that has it all going on, whether on land or at sea. (Must have read it a million times when I was a kid)

Can you share a favourite sea-side memory?

Tobago. Capsizing a sailing dinghy in the surf (suffering a concussion, plus damn near breaking a finger in the process). And, some clever dick shouting ‘I thought all Brits could sail’ as I staggered back along the beach. Needless to say, I damn near kneed him one.  There is nothing dignified about being 6 months pregnant in a bikini, and looking like a coughed-up fur ball. Yeah, that was me--fat and furious!

Most memorable sea-going journey?

Jumping overboard at Henley Royal Regatta, 'cos my * date * was easily the most boring man I had ever met, and I couldn’t tolerate his company a moment longer.  My only regret: trashing an extraordinaryly expensive frock, and ruining a vintage pair of lace stiletto heels. (The River Thames flows into the sea, so this does qualify as a sea-going journey—albeit, a short one.)

And in turn, I nominate:

Alison Lodge ('cos she does the most gorgeous Pinterest boards)
Lindsay J Prior ('cos she does the most delectable vamps & lycans)
Aurelia B. Rowl ('cos she always busy)
Toni Kenyon ('cos she's interesting)
Jane Linfoot ('cos she's always out and about)
Ellis Vidler ('cos she's spontaneous)
Michelle Smart ('cos she's well...smart)




  

Yikes, some time ago She Who Must Be Obeyed, aka Lady Fury, nominated me for a Liebster Blog Award. Naturally, I braced, then figured, what the hell. The rules are easy:

*  Display the Liebster logo and link back to the person nominating you.
*  Answer the 10 questions posed.
*  Pose 10 new questions of your own.
*  Nominate some recipients of to likewise receive a Liebster Award.

Lady Fury's 10 Questions:

Which fictional character would you most fancy having a fling with and why?

Call me a tart, but there are so, so many: Acheron (from Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series, oh, and Nick Gautier from the same, are right up there. Then there’s Wrath from J R Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood, oh, and Shehanne Moore’s Black Wolf from His Judas Bride, and Bernard Cornwall's Sharp,  and all the Ghost Walker men (Christine Feehan) and, and, and—ok, I’m not just a tart, I’m an easy tart. And the why? Well, aside from being hot, they are rough diamonds, hard as all hell and all utter bastards who make me laugh.

You’ve been shipwrecked on a desert island, what book can’t you be without?

The entire works of Sherrilyn Kenyon bound up if one thick, fat, tome. That should keep me out of trouble.

What inspires you? Places or people?

Places. People scare me. Soooo unpredictable.

What little tome are you working on right now?

Hard to Chase: a honey-pot romp with a sinister edge involving biological weaponry.

Who would you like to see in the movie version?

Someone with Ian Somerhalder's eyes, Will Smith’s body, Josh Holloway’s snarl, Gregory Peck’s stature/intensity…guess that’s Frankenstein’s monster then.

In your own books do you have a favourite character and why?

Nah, no favourites. I’m flighty by nature.

What do you think is the best book movie?

To Kill a Mocking Bird (damn that film is good)

Roughly how long does it take you to write a book?

When I’m in the zone, about 5 weeks, but then it’s all about the editing. If I’m not in the zone, I can spend months staring into space.

Favourite food?

Raspberry Crème Brûlée

Any bits in your book you are embarrassed to show your family?

I’m not the one who’s embarrassed, they are! Which makes for some hilarious, spontaneous out-loud readings by me.

And my 10 questions are:

1.    Jeans or skirt? Why?
2.    If you were a vegetable, what would you be? Why?
3.    Banana or apple? Why?
4.    By the sea or up a mountain? Why?
5.    You’re writing a highly erotic novel—what would your pen name be?
6.    What is your favourite romance genre? To read? To write?
7.    How difficult do you find it to name your characters? Share some examples.
8.    Which writing rule would you most like to break? Why?
9.    Duvet or traditional sheets + blanket? Why?
10.  Insert the opening paragraph of your current WIP.

And I nominate:
     Aimee Duffy
     Lindsay J Prior
     Fiona Chapman
     Rae Rivers
     Avery Flynn
     Ashlee Mallory