Day 2 of Questions and Answers

Sorry for the delay to this post but I could not get this to publish at all yesterday and had issues with my blog. It seems to be fine now and will post the last part this evening .

What is the time span of book 8? Start to end? Weeks,months?

Book 8 is just a matter of weeks. After the first 4 month initial separation period the story line between Alexi and Camilla is just a few weeks of her being back in the club before the book 8 cliffhanger. Book 7 was over a year, so add the year, the four months and the few weeks and you have over a year and a half of the time that Sophie and Arrick are together in book 5-6 and some of their time in Paris. The two stories run along the same period. In book 8 conclusion, Sophie and Arrick have only spent a few months in Paris and are around engagement moments.

I thought your next book was going to be a light comedy romance but it looks you are going to do a YA witch series? Is this true?

I started a witch book almost two years ago as a challenge set upon me by the lovely Shirin from Opinionated cupcakes. I have never read nor written YA fantasy and she wanted to help me break out of my comfort zone with a simple weekly task. We both took the challenge. The outcome was ‘The Cruden Tale’ on Wattpad, where you can still currently find it in it’s unfinished state. I made the decision after fans and my team really enjoyed the rough read along, to finish it and release as a part 1 of a YA series. Because it requires the least amount of work than a new book will, I have it scheduled it in after Alexi’s view, before I start my Romantic Comedy standalone.

Why are the Carrero’s in New York and not Chicago or Italy as the main residence? I don’t think of NY as mafia crime ?

I am a bit of a mafia movie fiend. I spend my life watching things like Goodfella’s and based the Carrero’s on the infamous ‘five families of New York’ that ran the city. The Italian american connection is well documented and even the Carrero’s being from Sicilian descent fits with true history for the state. I do indulge in movies like ‘The Godfather’ and other gangster related films, so it was just a natural decision to go with what I knew happened in real world history and just changed it to suit my world.

Would you have written them earlier if you knew the success you’d have?

I think I wrote them when I was supposed to. I don’t think my brain or attention span would have allowed them to come any sooner. I was at a time in my life where my kids no longer needed as much time and attention and I could work from home while they are at school.

Will the Carrero series ever end? 

I do not have any plans at this current time to make an end or conclusion trilogy. I am willing to just see where they take me and work on other projects between trio’s.

How did you get to writing about a big Italian family originally? Is it something that interests you? Or just that Italian stallion phrase? Lol

Obviously the stallion hahaha.
I have Italian family and friends in my huge dysfunctional gene pool. I had an aunt Sylvana …I know, shock. She was a lovely warm and exuberant soul who just loved children and I always loved her food.
I have always loved Italy and Italian people and find them passionate and blunt, which is something I love about them. One of my closest friends is an Italian New Yorker and she detail reads the books to fact check for me when in rough draft. I just think my childhood influences and adult friends gave me such a warm affectionate view of Italian people that I wanted them as my gold hearted hero’s. One of my favourite movies of all time is set in Italy ‘Only You’ featuring Robert Downy Jr and gave me a desire to travel Italy one day.

Can you give any hints as to what book 10 will be based around