Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Who's Who Wednesday Author Kathleen Grieve


Our Who's Who Wednesday Author is the lovely Kathleen Grieve.  Please make sure to follow this blog and Kathleen's  blog (http://www.kathleengrieve.blogspot.com ), along with commenting on this blog and leaving your email address as Kathleen will be doing a book giveaway to a lucky winner!  

Now on to the wonderful interview!

1. What do you think makes a good story?

Characterization and conflict. I love a well developed, sensitive hero and a strong but vulnerable heroine.

2. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

So many things…firefighter, veterinarian, journalist!! But ended up as a registered nurse with a flair for the dramatic. LOL

3. What quirks (flaws) if any do your hero and heroines have?

I think I have inserted a few of my own quirks/flaws into my heroines. My very first book that I wrote (completely awful and shoved into a drawer BTW) my heroine is a klutz. Faith Daniels, in The Doctor’s Deception has an obsession for chocolate. In Dating 911, Roxanne Carter loves to bake, finding the entire process cathartic and a way to relieve her stress. Dr. JJ Jones, the heroine I’m currently working on loves useless mindless facts. You will see her in the next novel of my Dating Series, Dating Impossible. The last novel of my Dating Series, Dating Trouble will be Ambra’s story. She is a bit selfish, but I think with good reason. She’s a work in progress and I’m still working out her goals and conflict.

4. Which of your books was the easiest/hardest to write?

The easiest? My first one. The completely awful, shoved in the drawer, been rejected multiple times book! LOL. I had no idea what I was doing. The characters are written flat and two-dimensional. The conflict is weak… Too much passive voice… I could go on and on. But I do love the characters, though and someday, plan to pull it out and fix all of its flaws.

The hardest? Right now, that is the paranormal/erotica wip that I started that has tried to monopolize my time. It’s called From Lust To Ashes and my heroine is a Phoenix with some unusual powers of persuasion. I have excerpts of this on my blog and have received some very positive responses. What makes it hard is that I’m dabbling in something I’ve never tried before, but that also makes the project very exciting!

5. Do you read reviews of your books? If so, do you pay any attention to them, or let them influence your writing?
The only reviews I have are from The Doctor’s Deception and it was received more than positively! I couldn’t have been more humbled by how well it was received. As Dating 911 will begin making the rounds, I’m more than nervous. This book is not the sweet romance that The Doctor’s Deception is. My hero, firefighter Jett Avery is in a very dark place. It was difficult to balance his posttraumatic stress disorder with the levity I like to write. He toed the line a couple of times, pushing my heroine, ER nurse Roxanne Carter passed her comfort zone…I really have no idea what people will think.

That being said, reviews are important. They are a tool for readers to use when choosing which books to buy on limited budgets in this age of a sour economy. Most of the professional reviewers out there try to be more than fair and everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Not everyone is going to like or even love the same types of stories. The passion for reading is very personal.

6. Favorite dessert?

Cheesecake…and of course anything chocolate!

7. Tell us five things about you, that we wouldn't know.
1-I think most peeps know that I’m a nurse but they may not now that I work night shift at the hospital because I am soooo not a morning person. I don’t function before 3pm in the afternoon. 2-The music on my iPod contains anything from Alice in Chains and Seether to Brad Paisley and Toby Keith along with some jazz and big band swing music. 3-I’m dating a respiratory therapist. 4- The older I get, the less tolerance for stupidity I seem to have. 5-I’m half Irish and half Mexican and extremely laid back.

8. Tell us about your newest release.
Dating 911 is my release from Evernight Publishing and is the first book in my Dating Series. Here is the Blurb:

Emergency room nurse, Roxanne Carter is a loser-magnet wishing she could enjoy her single life. Commiserating with girlfriends over butterscotch martinis creates the idea of The Dating Manifesto--a not so scientific research project which promises to point the way to dating success. While gathering data to find the most suitable single men available, she wades through a series of unsavory, stale dates, which literally places her back at ground zero. Just when she is ready to give up, sin personified in the form of sexy firefighter Jett Avery, arrives tainting all of her previous data.

A traumatic warehouse fire, in which firefighter Jett Avery's closest friend dies, has him suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Attempting to stave off the worst of his depression, he decides to use his brand of therapy...Sex. The remedy has lost luster until he encounters ER nurse Roxanne Carter.

The pursuit of Roxanne by Jett's twin brother, Doctor Cruz Avery, complicates her research and interferes with Jett's therapy. Does Roxanne choose the brother who by analysis is the perfect match? Or the broken, dark and irresistible one?

Excerpt:


She held up her hands, palms facing toward him. “Stop. This is a hospital. Not some stupid television show where the medical staff is always making out in a closet. I work here. Don’t even think about it!”

Jett closed the distance between them until her hands pressed against his chest, searing their imprint through the thin cotton of his T-shirt. He grasped her fingers and lifted them to his mouth, licking the sensitive tips with his tongue one by one. Heat filled her eyes and she trembled.

“You feel the pull, too. Don’t you?” he asked, dropping her hand.

Jett slid his hands to her waist, and molded her against his erection. A perfect fit. Her sharp intake of breath as she shook her head told him all he needed to know. He smiled. Satisfaction filled him.

“Liar. Shake your head in denial all you want, but I can see the reflection mirrored in your eyes, and feel the powerful draw when I touch you,” he said in a husky tone. He rubbed his stiff cock against her stomach. The intensity of his desire eliminated all reason.

Jett buried his face in her neck and breathed in her sweetness. “Hmm. Today you smell like chocolate.” His tongue traced the delicate shell of her ear as his hands stroked her bare arms. “But you taste like honey.”

Her knees bent and he placed his leg between hers to support her. On the brink of total insanity, he continued his light exploration. His hand skimmed her torso, and skirted the side of her breast. With slow, deliberate care, he let his fingertips graze her collarbone on the way to grasp the back of her neck. Another tremor rippled through her.

God, she felt so damn good.

She tilted her chin and her head rested in his open palm. “Jett,” her sultry voice caused his penis to throb. “This is not a good idea. Anyone could come in here and….”

He pushed his thigh against her crotch. She inhaled sharply, desire deepening the blue of her eyes. “You were saying?”

Her brow furrowed. “And…”

“Intoxicating being a little naughty, isn’t it?” he rasped. He gently tugged her face closer to his. “Hmm. I believe you mentioned the other night that your most recent sexual exploits have been lacking. Let’s add something of interest for your science venture.”


9. What can the readers expect from you in the near future?


Well, I have 2 more books in my Dating Series to come, Dating Impossible and Dating Trouble. I also have 3 other books in progress one I’ve started to call Heart & Soul about a loveable matchmaking ghost; Temperatures Rising is a tentative series about a group of nursing students; and From Lust To Ashes, my paranormal erotica wip. All of these I have shared and will continue to share pieces on my blog, http://www.kathleengrieve.blogspot.com In fact, the entire first chapter of From Lust To Ashes is posted on there.

10. Where can we find your book(s)?


Amazon.com and www.evernightpublishing.com

I have buy links posted on my website www.kathleengrieve.com