Interview & Giveaway with Alice Gaines

Books-n-Kisses is super excited to have for the first time on the blog Alice Gaines!!!!  Oh and a very happy release day to Alice.

Heat Rises

release is today.

Amazon | B&N

Snowbound in a cabin . . . able to live out all her fantasies . . . Laura Barber has dreamt of doing unspeakably delicious things with Ethan Gould for years. Now, stuck in a mountain cabin, she just might get her shot. Ethan offers her the chance to live out each and every one of those desires. They may be rivals in the business world, but in the bedroom they’re a perfect match. Knowing they have only a few days, Laura shakes off all her inhibitions. Every secret need, every lust-filled thought . . . it’s all fair game.

Can you share with us a little about yourself?

I didn’t discover romance until I was an adult, and I didn’t think I was allowed to read erotica.  I was never lucky enough to have an older sister or a friend who shared “those” books with me, and so I had no idea where to look for them.  I did know I shouldn’t admit to reading them, because as everyone knew, they were trash.  When I finally did get my hands on some romance novels (after I’d started writing one, I’m ashamed to say), I discovered they were what I’d loved all along.  It’s no mistake that two of my favorite classics are Jane Eyre and The Taming of the Shrew.  That William Shakespeare could sure write romance!

Have you always wanted to be an author?

My heaven’s no.  That was way too much work.  I’m a lazy bum by nature, although my friends would laugh in my face if I were to tell them that.  I’m the one who’s always pounding on the keys and turning out manuscripts.  The secret is, there’s nothing I’d rather be doing than writing.  Someone else’s perfect weekend might involve watching all of the Star Wars movies in chronological order.  Mine would be spent sitting in my back yard from morning until evening writing and doing writing related tasks, like taking this interview.

I will say, though, that I always had an active imagination, and my stories always entertained me more than anything I saw in movies or read in books.  I just had no idea until I started writing that I could enjoy the “work” aspects.  I’m glad I finally figured that out because writing has very literally changed my life by filling it with joy.  I should emphasize that it’s the type of joy I don’t have to rely on any other human being to create.  I make it myself

What’s your most interesting writing quirk?

I was going to mention the grungy grubbies I wear when I write, but I’d guess most writers do the same.  You need to be comfortable to do this.

Instead, I’ll tell you about my aversion to silence.  Total silence depresses me.  I have to have quiet noise when I write.  However, it can’t be anything that interests me enough to distract me.  I’ve tried all kinds of music, and all of it either gets me listening or annoys me.

When I can sit outside during warm weather, the ambient sounds of the city where I live, punctuated by birdcalls, makes the perfect backdrop for writing.  When I’m stuck indoors, I have less wonderful options.  I’ve found that NFL football is great noise, as long as I don’t care about who’s winning the game.  I also discovered by complete serendipity that NASCAR makes great background noise.  I’ve tried basketball, but the squeaking of the sneakers annoys me, and the buzzer makes me jump out of my skin.  I wonder if I should buy a white noise machine and see if that works

Can you please tell us about your latest books?

Can I ever?  <g>  I’ve written a series of novellas and a free short story for Avon Impulse.  They all follow a theme called Cabin Fever.  People who are attracted to each other find themselves isolate in beautiful settings where they have the freedom to explore their sexual desires in ways they wouldn’t in their everyday lives.  The free short story, Brief Encounter, shows what happens when an art professor ends up stranded overnight in an erotic art museum with a sexy Italian lover.  It’s available for free at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  If you like it, you can try the first novella, Heat Rises, which is available today.  It depicts two people who were almost lovers in the past and are now stranded by a blizzard in a romantic mountain cabin.  That will be followed by Storm Bound in July and Mating Season in August.

How did you come up with the idea for these stories?

When I start a new story, I always try to think up a hook that’ll grab a reader’s attention.  If the story is erotic, the hook needs to be sexy.  I thought up “sexy people stuck somewhere alone together.”  Avon titled that Cabin Fever.

Can you share with us your work in progress?

I’ve just come off a heavy deadline schedule for these stories and haven’t had time to launch myself fully into anything yet.  However, my coworker and I were bemoaning the fact that there’s no Bunny Ranch for female clients.  So, I wondered if I could write a book about a bunch of women coworkers who take loans out of their 401ks and pool the money to open a stud ranch.  I think that could be a lot of fun.

Who is the one author you would love to meet one day and why?

I actually did meet her, but only for a very few minutes.  Julia Child.  More than anyone else, she brought good food and cooking to the United States.  She was a paragon of integrity who never endorsed a single product, even though a company once offered to buy her a house.  Her husband told them, “We already have a house.”  She worked tirelessly to make her recipes perfect to the point that if you follow them you end up with something marvelous.  She was an educator – one I consider my teacher.  Plus, she was funny as all hell.  I only found out after her death at nearly 100-years-old that she liked her gin.  Damn, I wish I could have shared a bottle with her.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone who wants to get into writing.

Write.  That’s it.  Write.  Don’t let anyone stop you.  Don’t let anyone discourage you.  Write.  Submit to publishers.  When they reject you, and they will, don’t let it get you down.  Keep writing.

Can you share with us something off your bucket list?

Going to Italy to learn how to cook.  I’d taste everything, from the squid just pulled out of the ocean to the cheese an old farmer made in his shed in the mountains.  I’d learn pasta making from the oldest nonnas I could get to talk to me.

What’s in your To Read Pile that you’re dying to start?

I have to confess that the authors are close friends of mine, but they’re also fabulous writers.  I have Pamela Clare’s historical romance, Defiant, and a mystery in Norah Wilson’s delightful Dix Dodd series.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

But enough about me.  What do you think of my work?

Seriously.  Thanks for having me.

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!!

I have one E-copy of Heat Rises by Alice Gaines.

If you want a chance to win please fill out the rafflecopter for below

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