Interview with Jennifer Garcia, author of MY MR. MANNY

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Interview with Jennifer Garcia, author of MY MR. MANNY

As part of her blog tour, Jennifer Garcia, author of My Mr. Manny, stopped by to talk about her new release from Renaissance Romance Publishing. Make sure to enter her Rafflecopter giveaway below!

Q: Tell us a little bit about how the idea for this story got started.
A:I received a writing prompt about a manny, male nanny, and the idea grew from there.
Q: What do you feel is the biggest lesson your main characters learn from their experiences in this story?
A:People can mistake one thing for another and things happen for a reason.
Q: How important was setting to the plot of the story?
A:At first, the setting was chosen because of my knowledge of it. However, it soon turned into part of the story. The main character, Mia left her home and family to live with her father and that is sort of what brings her into the heart of the story.
Q: What is the significance of the title? What prompted you to choose it?
A: I thought something along the lines of a male Mary Poppins, and I don’t know, My Mr. Manny sort of popped into my mind.
Q: Do you enjoy incorporating a child character into your books? What do you think that brings to the main characters’ relationship that might otherwise be absent?
A:This particular plot needed a child in order to have a manny, but in the end I did enjoy it. I only have boys so I wanted to write a little girl, and I did enjoy it so much. Mia’s precious little girl, Lucia, became the main love in her life. Lucia gave Mia family, and, indirectly, brought her the manny.
Q: Luke Skywalker or Han Solo?
A:Luke Skywalker all the way.

Q: Which secondary character was the most fun to write?
A:Well, besides the Mia, Lucia, and Dominic, I think the most fun character was Vitto, Mia’s cousin.
Q: What was your biggest challenge in writing and publishing this story?
A:The editing. Cutting and dissecting every bit of my hard work was so difficult. However, I chose to pick my battles because I knew that, in the end, it was good advice. In the end, I knew it would make a better story, but it was still difficult.
Q: What is your next planned project? What can you tell us about it?
A:I have two works in progress right now. The first one is about an ex-soldier that returns from two tours in Afghanistan and has severe PTSD. He’s isolated himself and has many emotional issues to work through, but the thought of discussing his memories with a therapist over and over make him sick. The new civilian went back to his family home, a small ranch in New Mexico where he felt comfortable with his horses. His mother wants to help him and researches horse therapy. There is also romance involved. I’ll leave it there.
The second story is completely different than anything I’d ever written. It’s about a gangbanger from Los Angeles, who goes to jail for murder. There he meets a librarian that teaches him about Dante Alighieri and The Divine Comedy. Angel, the gangbanger, gets swept up in a redemption seeking fantasy of his own.
Q: And the most important question: chipmunks or squirrels?
A:Haa haa. Um, chipmunks.
Thank you for having me!

Summary: Mia Balducci misses her childhood days and yearns for the big, Italian family that she left behind in small town Massachusetts. At the tender age of sixteen, Mia moves with her bachelor father to Los Angeles, but no matter how many years pass, it never becomes home to her. The years spent living with her father aren’t easy, especially since she can’t stop thinking about what she once had. Her enrollment in the University of Southern California promises to bring exciting changes to her life, but Mia winds up with big problems instead. When she runs into an old friend from her old hometown of Winthrop, she gets swept up in nostalgia, and she soon loses herself in a quickly-progressing romance. When the fantasy falls apart, she is left to raise her precious little girl, Lucia, on her own. The demands of Mia’s work schedule and Lucia’s needs increase, and their lives become increasingly hectic. It is soon clear to Mia that she needs help. Luckily, her life-saving cousin saves the day and brings the mother and daughter a male nanny – their new “manny.”
After losing his high-pressure job on Wall Street, Dominic Roberts wants to follow his dreams to have a family. He’s already one fiancée down, and there are no likely prospects for another. In order to find the family he so desperately wants, he finds himself getting into the manny business. Since he is fully qualified to provide child care and is eager to leave New York City behind, his sister-in-law is able to land him a job in California working for his first client – the beautiful and intriguing Mia Balducci.
Will Lucia like the new man in her mother's life? Will Mia? And will this new trio discover the happily ever after they all so desperately seek?
Excerpt: I rolled over to face Dominic and he began to stir. I watched him breathe and took inventory of his precious face. His lashes were thick and short against his cheek. The stubble on his face had thickened a bit more and his lips stuck out in a pout. I pecked them and his eyes opened. “Good morning, sleeping beauty,” I said as he stretched and yawned. He scratched at his stubble and rubbed his eyes. He was adorable in the morning. “Mhmmm, it is a good morning,” he said with a sleep-coated voice. He wrapped and tightened his arms around me and then squeezed. “A very good morning.” “I need to get up and get ready for work. Lucia will be up in a bit. But ...” I began to say. “What’s wrong?” I exhaled a deep breath. “No, nothing’s wrong, but ... well I really want you to move into my room now. Too soon?” I wasn’t afraid he’d say no, but for some reason I felt strange asking him that. He scoffed. “Did you think I was going to sleep in my room after last night? I had the best night of my life” he said while peppering soft, slow kisses on my face. “It was my best night, too, baby.” I kissed him one more time and got up. “So, it’s official then. You’re moving in here and we’re a real couple.” I jerked my head in a nod to emphasize my statement. He rolled on top of me, pinning me down on the bed. “I thought it was a given, Mia. You’re stuck with me forever now. I hope you can handle me.” He laughed. “Mhmmm, I can handle you all right. I just hope you can handle me.” I kissed his lips.
a Rafflecopter giveaway Author Bio: Jennifer Garcia’s (aka Forbes Arnone) love of travel began when she went to the West Coast to visit her father at the age of three. Her home until she was sixteen was a small coastal town near Boston. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband, two sons, and two dogs. Her lifelong love for reading and writing was put aside for many years while she made her way in the world and nurtured her young family. Even though she is older, and life never seems to settle, she’s finding her way while attending college full-time in pursuit of a B.A. in English Literature. She also runs a business, and is still caring for her family. Believing she can do it all, with the help of her family, she worked on her first novel during the late hours of the night while balancing the rest of her life during the day. Her hard work paid off, as her first novel, My Mr. Manny, will be published August 2013.
Find Jennifer on: Facebook Page Twitter About.me Authorsdb Independent Author Network Amazon - Forbes Arnone

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