Author Spotlight - Maureen Child

Today the Minxes are excited to welcome USA TODAY bestselling author and 2011 RITA award finalist Maureen Child!

1. Where were you in your writing career 5 years ago? 
I was writing funny paranormals at NAL and Nocturnes and Desires for Silhouette. Hah! Now I’m writing dark paranormals for NAL and Desires for Harlequin!

2. Where did you get the idea from for this particular book? 
My mind’s always wandering…sometimes into very interesting places! This time, I had just read something about the Salem Witch Trials and started wondering what it would be like if the same thing were happening now. You know, times change, technology changes, but people pretty much remain the same. So I knew there would be fear, panic, maybe some riots—and of course plenty of bad guys. The fun part was coming up with the heroes!

3. Where do you hope to be in 5 years time? 
I’ll still be writing Harlequin Desires—I’ve already told them I’ll never leave. Unless they chase me away with a stick! And I’d like to be writing mainstream contemporaries again as well as expanding this dark paranormal world. I like being busy!

4. Which was the last book you read that you wish you'd written? 
Shadow Fever by Karen Marie Moning….OMG…….amazing book. Well worth waiting for. And now, I’m eager for another one! I hope Karen’s listening…

5. Was there any particular author or book that made you want to be a writer? 
No one writer in particular, really. It was more cumulative, you know? I read EVERYTHING. There are so many books in my house my husband swears when the big earthquake comes, they’ll find my body buried under all of them. Not a bad way to go. Anyway… I had a lot of favorites and I simply loved the idea of being able to tell stories from home—and actually get paid for it!

6. Do you find writing love scenes giggle-worthy or cringe-worthy? 
Neither. I really enjoy writing the love scenes. Once you’ve spent a few chapters with your characters, you know them really well. What they need, what they want, what they crave. Fulfilling some of those wants while withholding others is one of the best parts of telling the story. A sex scene can push the characters’ arcs really far along or bring them to a staggering halt. And it all depends on you, the writer. I want my readers to be so engrossed in the love scenes that they feel every sigh and believe every promise. I hope I manage that at least most of the time.

7. What's the most romantic moment of your life so far? 
On a trip to Europe, my husband and I drove from Sussex, England to Edinburgh, Scotland. It was cold and windy and the skies were gray and churning. At the border between those two countries, there’s a giant stone. On one side of the stone a sign reads England. On the other, Scotland. We got out of the car, bent into the wind, and laughing like loons, danced on the border. It was great.

8. What do you wish you'd known about being an author before you were pubbed? 
To be more ORGANIZED……..Jeez. That’s still the biggest problem I face every day. A little organization will really come in handy.

9. What's the best writing advice you've ever been given? 
It was actually one line in a workshop I went to twenty years ago. I don’t remember what the workshop was about. Don’t even remember the whole quote. But what stayed with me was "There is no substitute for persistence". If you never give up, if you refuse to surrender, if you keep telling your stories and working to make them better, eventually, you will succeed.

10. Tell us about your latest release. 
Ah, the latest is KING’S MILLION DOLLAR SECRET, from Harlequin Desire. It's set around a kitchen remodel, LOL…which is appropriate, since I was writing it while my kitchen was being torn down and rebuilt from the ground up! Nightmare, but oh so worth it. Most of the problems my heroine Katie has during the remodel are the things that happened to me!

11. What’s next for you? 
Oh, so many fun things….in June, I’m in a paranormal anthology with Maggie Shayne called VACATION WITH A VAMPIRE…AND OTHER IMMORTALS. (My story is about an immortal Highlander). 
In July I’ve got ONE NIGHT, TWO HEIRS out from Harlequin Desire—it’s the launch book to a Texas Cattleman’s continuity. 
And then in October, just in time for Halloween, here comes VISIONS OF SKYFIRE, the second in the Awakening series from NAL.

Thanks so much for having me here today!

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KING’S MILLION DOLLAR SECRET is now available at Amazon.  You can find Maureen at her website and blog, and follow her on Twitter.

Thanks so much for blogging with us today, Maureen! 

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