Interview with Victoria James and review of A Risk Worth Taking

Today I have the joy of having the author of A Risk Worth Taking, Victoria James!

Before we start talking about your book, why don’t you tell everybody a little bit about yourself?
Sure. I write emotional, passionate romances for Entangled, Indulgence. My second book, A Risk Worth Taking is out now. It’s the first book in my Red River Series. I’m also a wife, mom of two young children, and interior designer.

What other things besides writing do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I love interior design and decorating. Most of my free time is spent with the kids and husband!

Where do you get your ideas from?
Everywhere! Really, I love observing people, and find myself daydreaming when I see interesting people.

Out of all of the stories you’ve written so far, what would be your favorite and why?
That’s like asking a mother to name her favorite child ;-) I love whichever one I’ve just completed (that could be because I’m just so relieved to have it finished, lol).

Tell us something funny about yourself that not a lot of people know about?
I’m a total wimp! I hate spiders, mice, can’t even look at pictures of rats…

Does any of the stories you’ve written based on real life experiences or basically just from imagination?
Mostly from imagination, but certain events may shape different scenes in a book. In my current release, A Risk Worth Taking, the infamous mouse scene is loosely based on something that happened to me during our home renovation.

What do you think is the hardest thing about being a writer?
Self-doubt. I struggle with this all the time. I go back and forth between loving and hating what I write.

Tell us about your next book:
Book Two in the Red River Series is coming out this July, 2013. This is Jake and Claire’s story, and I’ve had so much fun with their characters! They are both really headstrong and sparks fly whenever they are in a scene together.

I can't wait to read more from this series! Thank you for stopping by the Litter Box...

Review:
A Risk Worth Taking by Victoria James started off with a scene that had me picturing it as a movie. It would be a Rom-Com that starred Katherine Heigl . Actually, it reminded me of Life As We Know It starring, you guessed it Katherine Heigl. Once the comparison was made it couldn’t be undone. Both Heroine’s were named Holly, both kind of stiff and controlled. But the baby received in a depressing way is where the BIG similarities end.


I do believe some of Holly’s internal issues was forced. Guilt for being alive when she wasn’t involved in the accident what so ever? Ella growing up resenting Holly for being alive and raising her because her mother is dead? It all seems really unrealistic. Unless Ella grows into an irrational bitch I don’t think it’s an issue. Yes, she would be sad but it won’t have anything to do with Holly not being dead.

I did like the book; I actually like it a lot. The hero, Quinn was damn perfect. From his name to his personality to his jaw dropping sexiness.

It did piss me off that Quinn didn’t SAY what he felt. I don’t want to be all spoiler-ish but all the book’s drama and hurt or most of it could have been avoided if he had. I was screaming WHY? As I read. LOL He did make up for it all with this: “…if I had thought for one second that you meant what you said that night, I would have come after you," *swoon swoon flipity flipity SWOON* Gawd I love Quinn!

Now normally I don’t like baby romances because I’m not a big baby person but this one is worth the read. Hee hee.

Cover Whore: The cover is simple yet I LOVE IT. It is everyday hot. The white wife beaters and jeans has that realistic everyday couple romance feel. I adore it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview: Belle Dam Boys (Scott Tracey)

Adorable tidbit, my niece calls Witch Eyes "Thunder Eye." Cute right?

When I read Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey, some may have heard me rave about the awesomeness. Mainly, the boys are what made the book most memorable. Their dysfunction was hilarious. Every single one brought something to the table, from cockiness, pouty/brooding and bitchy/snarky. That combination could only bring pure awesome entertainment.

Then I was given an opportunity to interview one of the boys. The easy choice would be Braden; it does all start with him. If you know me the obvious choice was Drew. I always connect to the cocky ones. I am anything but EASY or OBVIOUS. And like the greedy little spoiled brat that I am, I wanted ALL THREE. Lucky for me Scott Tracey saw what I envisioned and the results were perfect!

I was worried it would get hostile but they managed to behave themselves, somewhat. So in honor of Demon Eyes release, I bring you the best interview ever done. You will love these guys so much you will run right out and pick up Book 2 in this series because surely you have already read Witch Eyes, right?

1. Okay, guys, first impressions. What where yall thinking the first time you saw each other? Obviously this question is for those of you who first met in Witch Eyes.
Braden: Well, when I first saw Drew, I was thinking ‘wow, he’s hot.’ But then he opened his mouth, and I was thinking ‘restraining order.’

Trey: Really? Because I know someone who can make that happen.

Drew: Shut it, Lansing. No one cares about the paralegal you used to crush on back in Future Businessdouches of America.

Braden: Wait…paralegal?

Trey: Don’t listen to him. Besides, we’re supposed to be answering a question. The first time I saw Braden, I thought “this kid wears sunglasses at six in the morning. Okay, I can work with that.”

Drew: How romantic. The first thing I thought about Braden was “witch.” He reeked. Still does. And before Gentry jumps in with another snotty rebuttal, the first thing I thought about him was “how did Catherine even manage to find a silver spoon that big to shove up his—“

Trey: Okay, next question!

2. Who was cuter Braden? Drew, he described you as “Adonis in Abercrombie” I’m guessing you have a rock hard body? ;-P
Braden: Wait, why am I getting excluded? Maybe I’m cuter…..I could be cuter!

Drew: *snorts* I’ve been told I have the body of a young Greek god, its true.

Trey: Medusa wasn’t a god, Armstrong.

Drew: Are you sure? Whatever. Anyway, Braden’s supposed to be the one answering this question. Don’t sulk just because he thinks I’m better looking. It’s not my fault you’re allergic to stomach crunches.

Braden: Can’t I just plead the fifth? Yeah, I’m going to do that.

3. How is it to live in a town like Belle Dam? I can’t imagine growing up there much less being a newbie.
Trey: It’s not like growing up on Mars, it’s a perfectly ordinary town.

Drew: Spoken like the boy with the silver broomstick shoved up his—

Braden: No! Do NOT finish that sentence.

Drew: Fine. But it’s not like growing up in a ‘perfectly ordinary town.’ It’s like growing up on a chess board—

Braden: I get that, I think about it like that all the time.

Drew: --and you don’t know what kind of piece you are, you only know that someone else is moving you around in a game you’re not really a part of.

4. So you all have some connection to Jade but Drew yours is kind unclear to me, did yall date before you supposedly went all grrr on her?
Drew: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Braden: Uhm, Trey? You’re growling.

Drew: He’s just jealous. He wanted me all to himself.

Trey: Shut up, Drew.

Braden: Yeah, wait…what?

Drew: Fine, I’ll answer the question so we can just move on. We didn’t date so much as associate with one another. Jade needed a way to needle at her mother, and I’m as sharp as they come.

Braden: Said by no one in the history of the world, ever.

5. I am guessing we will get more dirt on that history and more in Demon Eyes?
Drew: What part of ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ wasn’t clear?

Braden: Drew, now you’re growling.

Trey: That’s his guilty conscience. Not that he ever showed any actual remorse for trying to kill my sister.

Drew: Oh, I’m sorry, you must have been too busy trying to kill me to hear it properly the first time.

Braden: Can we just…not? We agreed to a no-violence policy for this interview.

Drew: Sure, jump in to his defense.

6. Drew, I do hope you play a bigger part in Demon Eyes, you have a bit of a following in the “Team” Drew sense?
Drew: Luckily, everyone wised up and realized my star potential. By which I mean Braden decided he couldn’t live without me in his corner.

Braden: We’re friends, I wouldn’t go that far.

Trey: …

Drew: Aww, is little Lansing going to have himself a little sulk? Maybe huff and puff and pout your house down?

Braden: Lay off of him, Drew. I swear, the only reason you’re even here is because it lets you pick on Trey.

Drew: Not my fault Gentry can’t fight his own battles. He needs his lady love to fight his battles—ow!! You hit me!

Braden: I didn’t raise a finger. That boom mic must have fallen all on its own. Weird timing, though. Maybe it’s allergic to the crap coming out of your mouth.

Drew: Have I mentioned how much I hate witches?

7. At the end of Witch Eyes everything ended so tranquil and so calm. Braden and Trey, you’re both so complacent in letting the issues and war of your parents dictate how you should live; isn’t that a bit insane?
Braden: I mean, I just got out of the hospital. Give me at least a little credit.

Trey: *silence*

Drew: Morons.

Braden: I’m just saying, nothing’s resolved yet. Maybe almost dying made me a little complacent, but it’s not like I’ve given up.

Trey: *silence*

8. Can you give us a hint of what to expect in Demon Eyes and the rest of the series?
Drew: You get to see more of me.

Trey: Yeah, the quality really goes downhill.

Drew: That’s not what your boyfriend was saying last night…

9. Okay, any last words before I let yall go?
Drew: Defenestration.

Braden and Trey: …

Drew: What? I want to leave them wondering!

10. Who wants the very last word, Drew? ;-)
Braden: Of course HE gets the last word.

Drew: Hey, you had your chance to admit that I was the fairest in all the land.

Trey: I am in hell.

Drew: Just remember, in hell, no one can hear you sulk.

Thank you Braden, Trey and Drew for the entertainment! I mean for the interview :-) And thank you to author Scott Tracey, for allowing me to convince you of this crazy thing purely for my own amusement.

To purchace these books click on the photos!

Blogiversary interview with my favorite author, Shannon Delany!

For my celebration of my blogiversary I am doing my very first author interview. I am so excited because its with Shannon Delany. Yes, THE Shannon Delany. I also consider her a friend and idol in writing which makes her the perfect person I want to interview. By that I mean I stalk- erm follow her on twitter, her blogs amd pretty much anywhere (online even I draw a line somewhere) she appears...Tah-dah I am right there too. Okay sounds creepy but 1.) Maybe it is lol and 2.) She totally loves me so she likes it. I totally crack myself up.  But enough with MY silliness on to the interview.

When did you write your very first story and why?

Shannon:  The first story I remember writing was in 4th grade as part of an assignment. My teacher believed all f us should try writing a book at some point so she had us write a story then she would type it up, we would illustrate it and then we "bound" it using cardboard and scraps of wallpaper the local hardware store donated. I remember even then being amazed at how it felt to hold my words instead of just say them.

What was the story about?

Shannon:  I don't remember what the first one was about. The only one I do remember was the one I wrote about how I found one of our kittens run over on the street in front of my house. I guess I've always used writing to cope with things. [Awwe so sad, :'( that has to suck!]

Did you ever have that writer's aha moment and think "hey I want to do this writing for real" or was it just naturally the next step?

Shannon:  I always sort of messed around with it. It wasn't until I got serious interest from publishers that I thought, Hey, this is crazy enough it might just work! see, if you're too serious and get rejected, it hurts. But if you tell yourself often enough that you're just messing around, rejections not tough to deal with--I think I had a safety default setting on my attitude before last year.

Do you ever get terrified when thinking about your book being out there for the world to read?

Shannon:  Holy. Heck. Yes.

So I know 13 to Life is a 3 book series (duh I mean trilogy) is it possible *fingers crossed* that there can be more books a la Rachel Caine's YA series going from 6 bk series plus stand alone segments of a series for as long as it works?

Shannon:  Eh, anything's possible. I have plots for at least a few other books in the series, but I also have totally different stories I'd like to pursue. Unfortunately there's only so much time in each day, so, perhaps at some point I'll need to make an interesting choice on what gets pursued and what sits obediently by.

Totally not book related...I know that you have done Hand Cut Paper Art and very well, do you still do this and do you even have the time with all your book stuff?

Shannon:  I haven't had time to pick up a blade since late 2008, I think (which was when my pirate designs were used in a film created by UWSP students). I've developed a mild Lotte Reiniger obsession. I would love to get back into creating scherenschnitte and messenschnitte--it totally transforms the way you perceive things and simplifies things into an iconic existence in some ways--I actually have several children's books in mind I'd love to illustrate with my cuttings. And to animate them... Muahaha! A friend wants me to design wolfy bookmarks to mass-cut for fans...I just need time, you know?

I have noticed that your Art and writing have a lot of Mythos- legends and history so when you research does it start out as a for fun thing and later find its way into your work or do you set out for certain things and just find it fun as a coincidence?

Shannon:  The more intense art pieces I've done did require a lot of thought and planning because of the techniques I'm using. With papercraft and scratchboard you can't really fix mistakes so you have to plan. Same with the writing, it's in there, but whereas the art must be ploted in advance mainly, the story tends to grow much more organically and the mythos works its way in there (sometimes surprising me).

Have you considered doing an entire scene from your book out of hand cut art? That would be so awesome.

Shannon:  I'd love to have time to do that, Casse--but I'd also love to do an animated booktrailer for the next novels using silhouettes like Reiniger did--it would give a truly unique feel.

One last question what do teen werewolves eat when they are vegging out?

Shannon:  LOL! Well, Max eats anything and everything so he wouldn't be picky. Pietr woud probably veg out with eggplant and summer squash since it can be grilled (and eggplant can be made into a parmesan) and sort of "fake" meatiness. ;-) 

Thanks for your time Shannon!
Does anyone else remember that movie Teen Wolf with Michael J Fox or am I showing my age? lol
Huge thanks to Shannon Delany for the interview. I know she is very busy working on more awesome books for us to read. If you haven’t bought 13 to Life yet, well what is wrong with you?! lol Kidding but seriously you are missing out. Also book 2, Secrets and Shadows comes out February 2011. It seems so far away…