Interview of Author Missy Martine

Today I'm pleased to present an interview of romance author Missy Martine. Her journey to becoming an author included struggling with health issues, but she's an example of how courage and determination can help you succeed no matter what life throws at you!

Latest Book - Denying His Wolfen Heritage - A Wolfen Heritage 2
Buy Link - http://www.bookstrand.com/node/808369
Video Link -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvA5Pp0yaB4

BIO:
I was born, and raised in the great southern state of Tennessee. In my youth, I studied nursing, and spent several happy years working in the hospitals there until I branched out into medical management in 1980.

In 1998 I was managing a medical supply house in Chattanooga, when I met the love of my life. The only problem facing me then, he lived way out in Oklahoma. You see, we had met in a chat room!

He romanced me daily with love letters, flowers and phone calls. It wasn’t long before I uprooted myself, and moved west to join him. We married in 1999, and then continued our fantasy romance all over the world. Together we have traveled in almost all of the Continental United States, and taken trips to Canada and China.

We moved to Minnesota in 2003, where my life was changed forever by a series of small strokes. For someone who had owned her own business, and worked twelve hours a day, being incapacitated was pure torture. The strokes damaged a part of my brain that helps controls speech, and for a long time I couldn’t communicate what was in my mind, to my lips. I could read however, and I became an avid reader of romance novels.

Strange as it sounds, the strokes did not keep me from voicing my opinions. I discovered that I could type my thoughts, almost as fast as I once spoke them. It was then that I started writing long, lengthy newsletters to my family and friends. I got all kinds of compliments on my amusing tales of our everyday life.

It wasn’t long before my husband was encouraging me to find some kind of outlet to occupy my time, something that was challenging, and rewarding. I was already obsessed with reading about romance, and I began to think I could probably write a good, romantic story. My husband heartily agreed with me. With that encouragement, I began writing my first book. I wasn’t really convinced that anyone else would find it interesting, but he pressed me to take a chance and send it in to a publisher. To my surprise, it was accepted, and now I’m able to share it with readers everywhere who like a “happily ever after” story.

Now, I’m living in California with my, still romantic, husband of twelve years, and our boys. Our boys consist of Beau, Midnight, and Bubba, three male cats that allow us to live with them and serve them at their leisure. I continue to write almost daily, hoping that someone, somewhere will get the same enjoyment from reading my stories, that I get from writing them.

Q: What's the first thing you did when you received word you'd sold a book?
A: I squealed so loud I scared my cats, and then promptly called my husband at work. He'd goaded me into writing my first book as a sort of therapy when I was forced into early retirement due to illness. I'm not sure either of us really believed anybody would be interested enough to actually publish it. That night he took me out to a celebratory dinner. It was very romantic and something I'll remember for the rest of my life.

Q: What part of the book is the hardest for you to write? Why?
A: That would definitely be the love scenes. I had a series of strokes back in 2002 that left me with short-term memory problems. I had to develop a system of using an Excel sheet to keep track of the different loves scenes in each book to make sure I didn't repeat positions, or phrases for various body parts or sexual acts that would make the book repetitious. I have two monitors attached to my laptop so I can leave up my romance cheat sheet, as well as an Excel file with all my characters outlined, and not have to worry about getting confused.

Q: Who is your favorite character in your book and why?
A: This particular book is part of a trilogy. My favorite character in the trilogy is Maddie. She starts out as a naïve, young, innocent girl and literally grows up in the course of the three books. You're right there with her as she learns about her heritage, finds love for the first time, and develops the strength of character to stand up to family members as well as a deadly enemy to her race. You can't help but grow to love her.

Q: Do all your heroes and all heroines look the same in your mind as you "head write"?
A: Absolutely not! I start each of my new stories by creating the characters for the main plot. This involves setting up an Excel file with each main character. I give them physical descriptions, a brief history including where they live, and what they do for a living, and tie in any relationships between them. I do this for each main, and many of the secondary characters as well. I also give brief descriptions of what their personalities are like. I found that this helps me a great deal with writing dialog. If I've already decided that David is a no-nonsense, uptight lawyer with no sense of humor it's pretty easy to imagine what he'd say to Rebecca who's a free-thinking, hippie type that loves to play practical jokes. Being able to picture the character in my head, and think of them like an old friend, helps me make them real.

Q: What hobby do you enjoy when you're not writing?
A: I'm an amateur photographer! My husband and I love taking our Jeep to Wyoming to go off-road to photograph wild animals. I've even submitted pictures to Wyoming Wildlife magazine. My pictures include buffalo, long horn sheep, coyote, fox, deer, antelope, prairie dogs, bald eagles, bears and about 500 different kinds of duck and birds. It's something we both enjoy. Our second favorite thing is traveling. Together we've been all over the world including England, France, Wales, Japan, Hong Kong, and a month in China. Hubby is from England (we met in a chat room) and has relatives just about anywhere you can imagine.

Q: What is your favorite romance book you've read?
A: That would be Leah Brooke's "Desire for Three" in her "Desire, OK" Series. It was the first erotic, ménage book I read and it practically single-handedly brought romance back into my stale life. Her books are romantic, erotic, suspenseful, humorous and just plain good. They're a delight to read, each and every one. It was this one book in particular that encouraged me to make my first book a ménage.

Tell us where to find you:
My website - http://www.missymartine.com/fr_home.cfm
Publisher's Author Page - http://www.sirenpublishing.com/missymartine Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000107833768
Twitter - http://twitter.com/Missy_Martine
LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/missymartine2009
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Missy-Martine/e/B00328055M/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

BLURB:
Michael spent his adulthood taking care of his baby sister, pretty much putting his own desires on hold. Then Maddie fell in love and married, freeing Michael to have a life of his own.

He doesn’t think things can get any better. He’s a single, successful architect with his own firm, living and playing in downtown Houston. What more could he want out of life?

Just when he believes everything is perfect, Maddie shatters his illusions by revealing their family’s furry secret. Now his sister is growling and running around on four legs while trying to convince him he has an inner wolf of his own. And if that’s not bad enough, he’s falling in love with a woman who occasionally has more hair on her legs than he does.

So,what’s Michael’s response to all the changes in his life? He denies everything!


EXCERPT:
The woman standing at the door looked familiar to Michael, but he couldn’t quite place where he’d seen her before. Intrigued, he watched as a flush ran up her neck and into her cheeks, giving her a rosy, pink color. He allowed his eyes to travel down her body and back up, amazed to see the points of her hardened nipples stabbing out from her thin shirt. Realizing she still hadn’t said anything, he smiled at her before speaking. “Can I help you?”

“Um, well, I brought you this pie to welcome you to the area.”

Michael looked down as she thrust the wrapped plate toward him. Reaching to take it from her, he allowed his fingers to brush over her own. He couldn’t help but notice her own hands were trembling when she pulled them away.

“Well, thank you very much. My name’s Michael Barrows. What’s your name, and how did you know I was here visiting?” Michael was amazed. He didn’t think her cheeks could get any redder, but they did.

“I’m Ariane Blue Hills, and I’m a friend of your sister.”

Michael smiled at her in pleasure. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Ariane. Won’t you come in for a moment?”

Michael stepped back and allowed her to cross in front of him into the cabin. She seemed nervous as she walked a few feet into the room and then turned to look at him. He’d closed the door once she was inside and then leaned against it, still holding onto the pie. “Of course, that’s where I remember you from. You were coming to take Maddie shopping after the fire at the cabin. I passed you coming up the drive as I was leaving.”

She looked shocked at his words. “Wow, that’s some good memory you have. I didn’t think you even looked at me that day.”

“Oh, I looked at you.” He grinned at her. “I looked very closely at you.” Michael crossed the room in front of her and sat the pie down on the kitchen table. He turned back to his guest, amused to see that her blushes seemed to be taking over her whole body. Her breathing had quickened, and her nipples were even more prominent, pushing through her top.

Maybe he could find more ways to relax on this trip than he thought. What harm could there be in having a little fling while he supervised the building of Maddie’s house? This little lady piqued his interest, with her long blond hair and green eyes the likes of which he’d never seen before. She was small and petite, but still curvy, just the way he liked his women. Plus, she was clearly attracted to him. Smiling wickedly at her, he stalked toward her slowly. She backed up a pace for every step he took until her back pressed up against the front door to the cabin. Michael kept moving forward until their bodies were almost touching.

“Thank you very much for the pie, Ariane. I’m sure it’ll be delicious. Perhaps you’d like to come back later and share it with me?”

Ariane turned her face away and stared down at the floor when she answered him. “Oh, I couldn’t do that, but I do hope you enjoy it.”

She fumbled with her hand behind her for the doorknob. “I guess I need to be going now. It was a pleasure meeting you, and I hope you’ll enjoy your stay here while you visit your sister.”

When Ariane failed to grasp the doorknob behind her, Michael stepped closer and put his arm around her, turning the knob himself. He smiled when he realized that she held her breath when he got close. “Well, Ariane, I hope to see a lot more of you while I’m here.”

She raised startled eyes to his gaze. “Umm, well, maybe. We’ll have to see what happens. I really have to go now.”

Looking embarrassed, Ariane ducked under his arm and scampered through the open door and down the porch steps. He chuckled quietly as she made her escape.

Smiling, Michael watched as she disappeared into the woods. Sighing, he couldn’t help thinking that maybe he should leave that alone. She seemed awfully young and naïve. He wouldn’t want to overwhelm her into doing something she might not otherwise do, and he certainly didn’t want to do anything that would embarrass Maddie and Remus. Besides, it’s not like he could offer her anything but a brief fling. She sure as hell wouldn’t fit into his life in Texas. He reached down to adjust the jeans that had become too tight. Still, there was something about her that made him want to go running after her and bring her back.

Regretfully, he put her out of his thoughts and headed for the Jeep to make the drive to Maddie’s house. Sure, he could have walked through the woods, but it would be dark by the time he headed back to the cabin and nothing could make him trek through the woods in the dark. Daniel Boone he was not.

I'd like to thank you for giving me the chance to tell people a little bit about myself. I hope that you'll take the time to stop by my website and leave me a note on my guestbook.