Today it is my pleasure to welcome USA Bestselling Author Heidi Rice to HarlequinJunkie.....
Heidi is one of my Fav. Authors so it's a pleasure and a privilige to have Heidi here today!
Hi Sara, it's a pleasure to be here...
Heidi Let’s talk about your new release ‘The Good the Bad and the Wild’
Oh, yes please!
Sara: If you had to sum up The Good the Bad and the Wild’ in 100 words or less, what would you say?
Heidi: Good girl goes wild with help from bad boy on motorbike one rainy night in San Francisco... They end up in Lake Garda where bad boy discovers his good side, and good girl gets wilder!
Sara: What sparked the idea for your novel The Good the Bad and the Wild’”?
Heidi: I wanted to write a virgin heroine. Eva's my first. I also loved the idea of a guy who is the illegitimate heir to an Italian dukedom but wants to have nothing to do with his long lost family, only to end up falling in love with the genealogical researcher who is being employed to locate him and bring them together. There are so many built in conflicts there before I had even started I loved it.
Sara: How did you come up with character in this book? How did you come up with this title?
Heidi: That brilliant title was my editor's again (darn, I'm starting to get a complex about this now!). The characters basically developed once I had that opening conflict.
Sara: What were the challenges you faced in bringing this book to life?
Heidi: My biggest one was trying to make sense of Italian aristoracy, in the end I had to make some of the rules up because there didn't seem to be any consistent ones.
Sara: Please tell
us a few things about yourself...
Heidi: Hmm, so about me. I'm married with two teenage sons (which gives me rather too
much of an insight into the male psyche!) I also work as a film journalist and
I was born in Notting Hill in West London (before it became as chi-chi as it is
in the film starring Hugh Grant!) and I now live in Islington in North London -
a stone's throw away from where they shot Four Weddings and a Funeral... I've
told Hugh to stop stalking me, but will he listen?!
Sara: If you had to Describe
yourself in 3 words.
Heidi: Three words isn't enough... But here
goes! Svelte, Stunning, Delusional
Sara: What are
you feelings when you are done writing a book? Are you sad to see it end,
exhilarated, ready to move on?
Heidi: Once I've shovelled all the crap off
my desk, I feel exhilarated and excited. Then I start to panic about writing
the next one.
Sara: Which hero,
among your books has given you the biggest run for your money?
Heidi: Do you mean the most headaches. I've
had quite a few headache heroes (thank you so much the Alpha Male!) but
definitely the toughest to write was Luke Devereaux in Pleasure Pregnancy and a
Proposition because he was soooo Alpha he started to annoy me as well as my
heroine. But I have to admit Nick Delisantro in my latest book was quite hard
work too, because he didn't like to talk. Always a problem when you like to
write lots of fun, flirty, dialogue. Thanks a bunch, Nick!
Sara: How do you
get started with writing a story - DO YOU PLAN IT OR
WING IT?
Heidi: I'm a complete pantser (ie:
seat-of-your-pants writer), but I do like to think there is a method in my
madness (or at least I do a good job of persuading my editor of this!). The
truth is most of my ideas kick off with an opening scene - a woman hiding out in
the Ritz Hotel bathroom of a best-selling novelist, a fender-bender in Camden,
a female lifeguard saving a terrible surfer from drowning one cold wintry
afternoon in Cornwall, etc - and then I ask myself who are these people and why
are they there? Everything builds from there. Because in romance, especially
category romance, your story is all about your characters.
Sara: How did you
come up with the title of your book? All of which I adore…
Heidi: Oh darn it, I should probably 'fess
up here and admit that I didn't come up with any of them. My editor does that.
In fact I think I may be title-challenged as an author, I couldn't come up with
a good one if it dropped on my head and slapped me in the face.
Sara: What are
your current projects? Can you share a little of your current work with us? Is
this book part of a series?
Heidi: This book isn't in a definable
series, but the characters are linked to others I've written or am writing.
Eva's best friend Tess in GBW is the heroine of my next book which will be
called One Night, So Pregnant! (think you can guess the plot of that one! and
who came up with the title) and Nick in GBW is the long-lost brother of my
Cupcakes and Killer Heels heroine Ruby Delisantro. Having finished One Night
I'm now writing about a drop-dead delicious Mexican-American private detective
called Zane Montoya (yes, I had a crush on Manolito form The High Chaparral)
and a fiesty Scottish girl called Iona McCabe.
On a lighter note...
Sara: Which of
your characters would you most/least invite to dinner, and why?
Heidi: I'd love to invite any one of my
heroes (especially if it was a romantic dinner for two).. Except maybe Luke
Devereaux (sorry, still haven't forgiven you Luke for being so hard-headed!)
Sara: Take us
through a typical day in the life of “Author”
Heidi: I sit down at my computer and get
swept up in a world of high emotions, sensual excitement, funny feisty women,
sexy tortured men and glamourous locations where laundry doesn't exist ... Not
bad, eh. Then I turn off my computer and do chores (usually involving laundry!)
Sara: If you were
stranded on an island…
Heidi: I would insist Pierce Brosnan came
with me and brought his sarong (and maybe a Mai Tai or two).
Sara: Would you
rather sing in the rain or dance in the streets?
Heidi: Both... Badly.
Sara: What do you
do to unwind and relax?
Heidi: Read romance, watch movies, meet
friends, go dancing, generally anything other than writing!
Sara: What is
your favorite movie & song?
Heidi: This changes constantly.. But one of my all-time fave movies is On the Waterfront with Marlon Brando. My favourite song at the moment is Cee-Lo Green's Wildflower, but I'm playing it so much I'll probably be sick of it by the time you publish this.
Heidi: This changes constantly.. But one of my all-time fave movies is On the Waterfront with Marlon Brando. My favourite song at the moment is Cee-Lo Green's Wildflower, but I'm playing it so much I'll probably be sick of it by the time you publish this.
Sara: If
Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see play the lead
role as you?
Heidi: Anjelina Jolie, because she happens
to look uncannily like me.
Sara: If someone
wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?
Heidi: The Girl Who Almost Married Paul
Newman.
Sara: Are there
any new authors that have grasped your interest?
Heidi: I loved Jennifer Probst's The
Marriage Bargain
Sara: Do you have any advice for
other writers?
Heidi: Don't stop writing... That's the one
thing guaranteed to make sure you won't get published.
Sara: Your favorite quotes?
Heidi: "Stay Gold" from The
Outsiders. And "You can't edit a blank page." by La Nora
Sara: What will you do if you have
a time machine?
Heidi: Go back to my university halls of
residence and snog the gorgeous Irish guy who lived in the room next door when
I had the chance.... Well, you did ask?
Sara: Vanilla or Chocolate?
Heidi: Chocolate.... Come on???
Sara: What do you think readers
would be shocked to discover about you?
Heidi: I don't celebrate Valentine's Day
(cos it always feels a bit cheesy!) and my husband and I never remember our
wedding anniversary (because we're both still pretending to be newlyweds)
Thanks for the Fab interview Heidi!
2 Giveaways!! Heidi will be giving away a Copy of ' The Good The Bad and the Wild' and 'Cupcakes and Killer Heels'!
TO WIN: Please enter your email in the Rafflecopter below and Post a comment telling us
"Have you read any of Heidi Rice Books? Do you have a Favourite?"
If you haven't, you most definitely MUST! :)
