Ten Questions with… Allison Merritt
Thrust into the spotlight of Mia’s Ten Questions today is Allison Merritt! Some of you may remember her from when her character, Romy, from The Treasure Hunter’s Lady stopped by for a character interview. We’re pleased to be able to welcome her back, and this time, let her do the talking!
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Author Bio: A life-long love of reading turned Allison Merritt into an indie author who writes historical, paranormal and fantasy romances, often combining the sub-genres. She lives in a small town in the Ozark Mountains with her husband and dogs. When she’s not writing or reading, she hikes in national parks and conservation areas.
Allison graduated from College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri with a B.A. in mass communications that’s gathering dust after it was determined that she’s better at writing fluff than hard news.
Author Website: http://havenovelwilledit.blogspot.com
You can find her book at Barnes & Noble and Smashwords!
About the Writer
1. What five words describe you?
Stubborn, short-tempered (hyphens count as one, right?), loyal, confused, quirky.
2. What was the first story you ever wrote? I mean the really bad one we all have that you’re trying to hide in the back of closet now that you’re published?
In high school I came up with this family that lived in Texas. They came from Scotland, fought in the Civil War, got married, had lots of kids. It was a tangled mess. I wrote three novellas about them. It’s probably for the best that they were saved on 3 1/2″ floppies and are forever gone from this world. I probably saved myself a lot of bad reviews and heartache on that.
3. What inspires you?
My critique partners are huge inspirations. They understand all the troubles I face as writer, they pick me up and get me going when life doesn’t seem fair. They help me brain storm and figure out the tricky parts of the plots. They are amazing women!
4. What distracts you?
Reading! I get so caught up in some books that I don’t care if I write or not. Recently, The Scorpio Races, Born of Darkness, Born of Silence, and a classic, Howl’s Moving Castle.
5. What’s your favorite story? This can be specific, as in a particular book or even story-driven movie, or general, like “I’m a sucker for a hero looking for redemption story.”
My all time favorite story is Beauty & the Beast. That wounded prince thing just gets me. The Disney version is great because they’re both more than a little odd, but together they’re just right.
About the Writing
1. Tell us about your currently available titles.
I have one full-length novel out now called The Treasure Hunter’s Lady. It’s steampunk romance with some paranormal thrown in for fun. It’s the first in a series called Legends and Lovers. I have a free short story out there (it’s very short, be forewarned–I originally wrote it for a magazine) called Clear As Mud. It’s contemporary. A novella called One Day In D.C., also contemporary about a waitress and a secret agent, and I have a short story called Return that’s a western about going home again and it’s sort-of a tragic love story.
2. What’s your favorite part about writing these stories?
Historicals were my first love. The western is actually one I wrote in high school for a contest. It embraces a lifestyle that has always intrigued me–being a cowboy. I couldn’t resist making the hero of The Treasure Hunter’s Lady a cowboy too. The contemporaries aren’t my usual thing, but One Day In D.C. is kind of a fun, spunky read if you need a laugh and a love story in an afternoon.
3. What would your characters say about you? Be honest!
They’d probably call me a big old meanie. I like to kick them when they’re down. But I hope they’re satisfied with the way their romantic lives turn out. You know, in the end.
4. Who would play your favorite character if they made a movie of their story?
For The Treasure Hunter’s Lady, I’d love to have Cam Gigandet and Rachel McAdams in the starring roles. Cam seems like the kind of guy who could pull of the hero, Abel Courte’s, devil-may-care attitude and Rachel would fill the heroine, Romy Farrington’s, shoes very nicely. I immediately thought of Rachel when I was writing Romy.
5. Do you have any projects currently in the works you want to talk about?
I have a release coming out sometimes this summer called The Sky Pirate’s Wife. It’s the second book in the Legends and Lovers series and it’s about one of the secondary characters in The Treasure Hunter’s Lady. Here’s the blurb:
After a tragic airship wreck, Captain Alwin van Buren is worried that his shipping business might fail, so he begins searching for a wealthy bride. He meets his match in Sophie Barnes, heiress to an airship empire. But after he seduces her and ensures their marriage—igniting a rivalry between him and her godfather—he learns that she’s as headstrong as he is.
Sophie’s entertained herself by reading the dime novels based on Van Buren, but the romantic character and the flesh-and-blood man are two very different creatures. She doesn’t approve of the way he captured her business, but she can’t deny her attraction to the Dutch captain. If it’s not bad enough that her godfather wants to break their marriage apart, she learns that Van Buren’s airship accident was a result of mythical eagles that appear to have a grudge against him, a fact that he deliberately tried to hide from the world by accusing her godfather of sabotage.
But lies are a small problem compared to the danger their lives are in when they’re stranded in the Midwest at the mercy of beasts that were once men and the evil that controls them.
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Thank you, Allison, for once again taking the time to visit with us, and good luck on your books!
