Between a Book & a Real Place with Christine S. Feldman #Release day #TheBargain @Crimson_Romance

Happy Monday! Happy Monday indeed. It's release day over at @Crimson_Romance, and I was lucky enough to nab Christine S. Feldman author of Coming Home and her new one, The Bargain, released today! 

·        Tell me, what do you like to write, and why?

          Everything!  Because I like to read everything, too.  I love all kinds of genres, and I figure if I can just reach the top of the Bestseller list in every single one, I’ll be well on my way to world domination.  Hey, it’s good to have a goal, right?

·        When offered your first publishing contract did you

A) Scream

B) Jump out of your seat and run around flailing your arms chanting OMG    OMG OMG

C) Pee your pants

D) B & C

E) None of the Above You’re lying if your answer isn’t B If not A-D , what was your reaction?

          Actually, I was a little numb, so my initial reaction was fairly mild—like I couldn’t quite believe the email I was reading from Crimson was real and not just my poor, frazzled mind playing tricks on me.  But then it started to build momentum, so, yes, there was a certain amount of dancing and repeatedly thrusting the printed email in front of my husband’s eyes.  He’s very patient.

·        After how many published titles do you think it’s appropriate to write your own autobiography?

          Are you kidding?  That’s the first book I wrote!  (Hey, you’re supposed to write what you know…)

·        How important to you are the names of your characters?

          Very.  I sift through baby name books and try on lots of names until certain ones just pop out because they feel right.  They have to suit the character’s nature; if you name your tough-as-nails hero something like Ludwig, readers are going to double over laughing.

(Great.  Now I’ve probably offended some author out there whose booty-kicking hero, Ludwig, does everything from disarming nuclear weapons to wielding enormous submachine guns in each hand, biceps bulging all the while.  Sorry!)

·        How do you go about nabbing that perfect title for your books?

          I like short titles that get right at the heart of the story—like The Bargain (notice the way I squeezed that little plug for my book in there?  Nice, huh?)—so I mull it over to figure out what key elements in the book might lend themselves to a short, catchy phrase.  If that fails, going with a double entendre seems like a good backup plan.  My husband’s really good at coming up with those…

·        What are the occupational hazards of being a writer?

          Ha!  You mean besides an inability to pay one’s bills?  How about deep depression and violent mood swings.  I LOVE writing!—I HATE writing…It’s like being on a pendulum, which I suppose means that motion sickness could be a hazard, too…

·        Do you have a quote or slogan you try to live by?

          “Clean mind, clean body…take your pick.”  Kidding.  That was just something I heard on one of my parents’ old records years ago.  Actually, one of my favorite quotes that’s had special meaning for me over the past few years is the one by Wayne Gretzky about how one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take don’t go in.  I find it very motivating.

·        Have you ever taken the writing to the bathroom with you?

·                  No.  Do you recommend it?  I suppose in some respects it could save you time…

·         

·        Pantser or Plotter?

·                  Plotter.  I’m too high strung to be anything else.  I’ve got to know how the story ends before I write it and exactly how I’m going to get there.  (My tremendous lack of spontaneity makes me wildly popular at social gatherings; can you tell?)

·         

·        Would you ever play yourself in a movie or TV production of one of your books?

·                  Never.  I couldn’t do myself justice.  Heh, heh…

·         

·        How do you feel about being interviewed?

·                  Like it!  J

·         

·        How do you feel about global warming?

·                  Don’t like it.  L

·         

·        How do you feel about Antonio Sabato Jr.?

·                  Hey, works for me!

·         

·        Are you jealous of other writers?

·                  Why, of course not!  Like any mature and well-rounded human being, I am happy for the success of folks like J.K. Rowling, Danielle Steele, Stephen King, etc.  Jealous?  Me?  Never.  [fingers crossed behind back]

·         

·        What makes you laugh? Cry?

·                  Laugh:  Steve Carell

·                  Cry:  Believe it or not, Steve Carell.  (Hey, didn’t you see him in Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World?  I got misty-eyed…)

·         

·        Did you enjoy this interview?

·                  Immensely.  Thanks for having me!  


Thanks for being a guest Christine. I read Coming Home and loved it by the way. 


Check out the blurb and links for The Bargain available today in all digital formats at all major ebook retailers.
Author website:  http://christinesfeldman.com
Facebook author page:  https://www.facebook.com/ChristineSFeldman
Crimson:  http://www.crimsonromance.com/upcoming-releases-romance-ebook/the-bargain/
Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/The-Bargain-Crimson-Romance-ebook/dp/B00DL3AM7O/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1372170802&sr=1-3&keywords=the+bargain
iTunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-bargain/id665929278?mt=11
Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6934883.Christine_S_Feldman


The Bargain- Blurb

Tomboy Shannon Mahoney has always been a lot more comfortable with things like power tools than she is with high heels or lipstick, and she often wishes she could reinvent herself and finally tell her perfect boss, Drew Kingston, that she has had a crush on him since high school.  But she is just as tongue tied and awkward around him now as she ever was, and long-familiar patterns are hard things from which to break free…

Until one day Drew’s estranged older brother Michael comes to town, bringing with him a surprising opportunity for Shannon.

Ladies’ man Michael is a former bad boy looking for redemption.  He is desperate to atone for past mistakes that he made with his family, but younger brother Drew has cut him out of his life and refuses to even speak to him.  Which means Michael needs help getting to Drew.


And so he approaches Shannon with a proposition:  if she will get Drew to agree to hear him out, Michael will mentor Shannon in how to win his brother’s heart.  Suspicious of Michael’s motives, Shannon initially enters into the bargain just to make sure Michael isn’t actually in town to cause trouble for Drew, but the two unlikely allies are surprised to discover that despite butting heads at first, they are beginning to enjoy each other’s company far more than either of them expected.

And Shannon starts to realize that maybe love isn’t about reinventing yourself after all.  It’s about finding your perfect match.

Short Bio:  Christine S. Feldman writes both novels and feature-length screenplays, and, to her great delight, she has placed in screenwriting competitions on both coasts—and has even won a couple of them.  In 2012 one of her screenplays was featured as a staged reading in New York City at the Gotham Screen International Film Festival, and later that same year she signed her first publishing contract for her debut novel, Coming Home, with a second one to follow this summer.  When she is not writing, she is teaching kindergarten, puttering around in her garden, ballroom dancing with her husband, or doing research for her next project.  Please visit her at her website http://christinesfeldman.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ChristineSFeldman.




That about wraps it up! Thanks for checking in and go get yourself a copy of The Bargain!