Welcome Annie, and thanks for treading the boards with us today!
1. What prompted you to write a series and how does Italian Affair fit into the body of your other work?
Holiday Affair, the first book in the Affair series, started its life as a standalone book. My lifelong dream of writing a contemporary romance came to fruition with this book, and I hadn’t really given any thought to the other characters.
I am a panster through and through (although my editor is slowly beating that out of me!) so my characters lead me along.
Tom, the middle brother in Holiday Affair needed to find his happy ever after and I mulled over his problem and what sort of woman he would need to fall in love with, to complete his happiness.
Now, for those of you who have read Holiday Affair, you will remember Tom as a bit of stuffy, stitched-up, list-making man, as one reviewer of Italian Affair described him! (actually it was you, Ms Bellamy, from memory!) Tom needed someone who was free-spirited, who could tease him, but who would also fall in love with the wonderful man he is.
Inspiration came to me through a very dear friend and I have dedicated Italian Affair to this friend, Melissa Lulham who told me how she had discovered her birth grandfather on Lipari Island. Brianna Ballantine was born in that moment. Free spirited and with an urgent need to find a husband in four days, she meets Tom on the plane on the way to Italy. And that is where their story begins.
I can’t give away much information for Outback Affair as it will be a spoiler for Italian Affair but needless to say, there was someone else there who needed a happy ever after as well. You will need to read Italian Affair to figure that one out!
2. How long did this book take to write?
Italian Affair took me a few months to write as it my editor had to agree with how I had developed Tom’s character. You know how contemporary romance loves to present the alpha male? Well, my editor wanted him to be a little bit more alpha. I will always remember my editor’s comment when I added the scene when Tom was checking out Brianna’s butt at the airport. She loved it! I had to tweak him a little bit to make him less stuffy and more fun. As I did that, I fell in love with him myself!
3. What do you like about writing a series?
As a romance reader for many years, I loved revisiting characters in connected novels. Essie Summers was particularly delightful to read as she slipped in characters from her earlier books,and you could see the satisfying lives the characters lived after the final kiss in their story. Contemporary romances are so short, writing a series allows you to develop layered stories and deeper characterization.
4. What do you consider are the biggest challenges in writing a series?
I don’t work with visuals at all. I have no Pinterest (which I know you love, Susanne!) and no time lines or plot lines on my desk. Everything is in my head. So I have to be extremely careful to get names, relationships and dates right and ensure the continuity is there.
5. What is the nicest comment you have had on your writing?
Recently I have been overwhelmed by the lovely comments, and five star reviews of Italian Affair which has made me very happy. I am delighted to see that readers are loving the story and the characters as much as I do. If I had to choose... it would be...
‘Annie Seaton’s writing is lyrical and emotive and her characters real and warm. I’m loving this series. I just wish her writing could keep up with my reading!’
6. What are you working on now?
I have completed three books since Italian Affair. Outback Affair, Worth the Wait and Dangerous Desire are all in various stages of edits and cover design, and will be released later this year. At the moment I am writing a paranormal contemporary called Hot Rock which is taking me way out of my comfort zone. It is much raunchier than my earlier books but the characters are leading me places I have never been before in my writing. It will be published in the Covet imprint of Entangled Publishing in February 2014.
7. Would you like to share an excerpt from your writing or a photo or music link that inspires you?
Hot Rock is a time slip novel about seventies music and music festivals.
The Frampton Comes Alive album was the single inspiration for the story. I listen to the CD over and over again as I am driving and scenes and dialogue come to me. (Very hard to write them down when holding a steering wheel!)
These lines from the song Lines on my Face gave me the concept for the whole story:
Ice in her eyes, frozen tears could never be a surprise
You can't erase a dream you can only wake me up
My mind is turning slower, never to accept defeat
It don't matter where I stay I still got a house to heat
I saw where you came from
I called out your name but there's no answer
The buy links for Italian Affair - are on Annie's Books Page
or on Amazon here.
 | Annie loves to hear from readers at: [email protected] Her website is http://www.annieseatonromance.com/ and her blog is at http://annieseaton.blogspot.com.au/ You can find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AnnieSeatonAuthor and https://www.facebook.com/annieseaton26 and Twitter https://twitter.com/annieseaton26 |
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