Interview & Giveaway with Nancy Warren

A Huge Welcome to Nancy Warren who is celebrating her newest Harlequin Blaze release Power Play! I would like to Welcome Nancy Warren to Book Junkie today as my Guest Author and has been kinda enough to answer some of my questions! I first fell in love with Nancy's writing while I was going through my Blaze reading frenzies and stumbled upon Breathless I was hooked from there. Nancy also writes for Kensington Brava and some of you might have read a few of thos Bad Boy Series Anthologies, like Bad Boys Down Under, British Bad Boys, Bad Boys to Go! Lov'em! One of my favorites is TURN LEFT AT SANITY, so when Nancy asked if I would read her ARC Power Play I was so thrilled, if you missed my review you can read it HERE. Without further ado I was delighted to do this interview with Nancy! I hope you enjoy it too. And don't forget to check down towards the bottom for the Contest Information!

I am a fly on your wall today, what would I see in the day of Nancy? Ah, well, today is not the most typical of days. You would find me in a small town on the south coast of Spain not far from Valencia. However, since my book deadlines are as portable as I am, you will see me on the bed in front of open patio doors, writing. With a laptop and Internet access you truly can write anywhere. This morning we walked up to town and had the most wonderful café con leche and chocolate croissants, and now I’m fueled to write. I’ll also need to find an Internet café somewhere in town as I need to do some research.

If someone were writing a story about Nancy Warren, what would your blurb say?A daydreamer who found a way to follow her passions.

How do you get started with writing a story (as in, how do you start developing the story, how do you get inspired for it)? Do you start with an outline, synopsis, characters; what is your writing process like? I start with different things. Whisper came from the title. I thought it would be fun to write a sex with a stranger story where the guy isn’t really a stranger, but they meet in the dark and he whispers to her. Sometimes I see the opening in my head and I’m intrigued enough to follow the characters. I remember Breathless started because I have no sense of direction, seriously, none and I had a picture of this woman getting lost in a bad area of town and accidentally getting involved in a crime. Sometimes, a story comes about because of a real incident which of course I play with and fictionalize. Power Play was like that. I’m a seat of the pants writer, so don’t get too caught up in outlines or character sketches, it all tends to come out as I write. Which can be absolutely terrifying as you’ve got nothing to fall back on if you get stuck, but I personally love the adventure of the unknown. I travel the same way, btw. I don’t like booking everything and planning ahead. I love the adventure of wondering where I’ll be tomorrow…

Can you tell us a little about your newest release Power Play? Power Play is truly a case of taking something that really happened and turning it into fiction. I was on a writing retreat with two other authors in a charming three bedroom cabin with fireplace and fantastic writing spaces in a lodge that was fully booked. When one of the rooms turned out to be infested with bed bugs EEEEEEWWWWW they moved us into rooms in the lodge that they don’t rent out. There’s usually a reason why a busy lodge does not rent out certain rooms… Mine had a big curtain in front of about ten huge buckets where the roof leaked. And as I lay there in the middle of the night listening to the sound of rain banging into buckets like truly bad steel drums, I thought: what if two strangers accidentally got booked into the last room in the lodge… And that’s how Power Play was born. I put Emily and Jonah into the room I had. And can I just say, they had a lot more fun???

Why Romance & is there another genre you would like to explore?
I often tend to have a mystery element in my novels, so that’s an area I’d like to do more of. I’ve dabbled in women’s fiction and screenwriting, but there’s always a romance. I think love is so important in our lives, finding a mate is both magical and frustrating, I guess that’s the story I want to tell.

If you could cast Emily & Jonah for a movie who would play them on screen? Amy Adams would be Emily. Jonah is one of those big, sexy Alpha guys. Gerard Butler or Ryan Reynolds would top my casting list.

What was your favorite scene to write in Power Play? Wow. That’s a tough question. I think maybe the scene where they are in their separate beds, kept awake by the rain drumming in the buckets and are crazy with wanting each other, but not able to go there, so they have a kind of get to know you sleepover chat with undertones of sexual longing. I probably like it because I remember how much fun that was to write.

Did you ever draw your characters from the personalities in your life? No. Never. In the first place, people are far too complex and inconsistent to be characters, plus, let’s face it, most of us do not live larger than life. That’s why we read these books. However, I often use a trait or a quirk from someone I’ve met. A laugh or a style of dressing. Or their profession. Hot Johnny, the bartender in Under the Influence is based on a real guy who the girls call Hot Johnny. How could I not write about him? That’s as close as I’ve ever come to using a real person in a book, but my Hot Johnny has little in common with the real man apart from being great looking, really sexy and a bartender. Hmmm….

Have you ever encountered someone who said, “You write what!!!"? All the time. You can’t write category romance and not get attitude. But I love what I do, and maybe I’m not curing cancer, but I think if you can give a reader a few hours of pleasure in the middle of a busy life, or give them a break on a bad day, then that’s a job you can be proud of. Our books celebrate all the great things about being a woman. I love that.

What is the most interesting thing you’ve done in the name of research? There have been so many cool things. Hanging out with NASCAR superstar Carl Edwards and getting his take on love was pretty fun. I got to go to a real murder scene once. This was in Texas and the fingerprint guys let me come along with them. The body was gone, but, well, the scene was pretty gross. I will never forget the smell or the sense of this normal little house in a nice neighborhood and the horror inside. On a completely different note, I’m going to Sin City when I get home. It’s an anything goes club. I’m going for research purposes only, but I’m kind of looking forward to it.

What else do you have in the works? Let’s see, a Christmas NASCAR novella from HQN that should be out around now, my next Blaze, called Too Hot to Handle that’s coming out in March, a Valentine’s NASCAR novella and the Blaze I’m currently writing which comes out in July. It’s called My Fake Fiancee and I’m having a great time writing it. Set in Philly and written in Spain…

If you were not writing, what would you be doing? Teaching, probably. Or working in PR, which is what I used to do.

For you, what is the hardest part of writing a novel? Concept, Characterization, Plotting, Writing the story, Synopsis/Query letter writing, etc. Truthfully, it’s all hard. Books are a lot easier to read than they are to write. Probably the most tedious part of the process for me is second draft. When I have to read the mess I’ve written and fill in the research gaps and try and spin straw into gold.

You got your “big break” winning Harlequin's 2000 Blaze Contest, how many times have you entered to into such a contest or had submitted your writings to publishers ? I worked steadily for four years writing and submitting. I had entered some chapter contests, which were really helpful for feedback, and I won a couple which helped boost my confidence. But I think the Blaze contest was the only publisher sponsored contest I ever entered.

Do you usually cast your characters (a mental picture) before or after you have started writing? Does it help inspire you and take the story in a different direction? Yes, always. That’s why it was so easy for me to answer your earlier question about who would play my characters in a movie. I find casting really helps me. If you say Angelina Jolie would play her in the movie as opposed to, say, Kirsten Dunst, you get a pretty good sense of the kind of character you’ve got.

If you could ask readers any one question, what would it be? Ooh, good question. Dear Reader, what do you want from me??? LOL. In truth, I suppose that is the question a lot of authors have. What is the book that reader is looking for that hasn’t been written yet? Please do write and let me know. I’ll do my best to write it…

Thanks so much for having me. This has been fun.

Nancyhttp://www.nancywarren.net

SNIPPET: "Keep her hands to herself?Not easy for Emily Saunders, who's in Elk Crossing, Idaho, for a family wedding. She's double booked in the same hotel room with a sexy cop attending—of all things!—a hockey tournament. As a massage therapist, Emily's soon itching to soothe Jonah Betts's gorgeous muscles—both on and off the ice.Jonah can't believe his luck—a sexy single woman sharing his cozy room, albeit temporarily. Okay, her orange bridesmaid dress is a disaster and her family is convinced he's actually her boyfriend. He's ready to go along with it even as he makes his play….Until Emily is suddenly calling for a TIME-OUT! Will Jonah's fantasies be permanently iced?"

**GIVEAWAY RULES**

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Winner will be picked via Random.org on 11/08 (11:59pm EST)