It’s release day for Maria’s Liquid Silver Books debut “Gambler’s Luck,” so I’ve invited Maria to come by and chat a bit about it! Welcome Maria!
VN. Tell me three things you love about your book.
MV. Well, I got to love that it was published! Ha, I mean, it’s the first one that I submitted to a traditional publisher, as opposed to publishing it myself. And Liquid Silver has been just amazing. Between the edits, the reader comments, and the input from the acquisitions editor, I was just blown away.
It’s my first romance, which was a whole new experience for me. I had a chance to really get into the characters on a level I usually avoided, and it really worked for me.
I love Sarah’s character. She’s been through so much, but she adapts, survives, and moves on. It’s amazing. I hope to have that much pluck someday.
VN. Plotter or Pantser?
MV. Oh wow, that’s a really hard question, and it really depends.
I’ve written seven books. They go pantsed, pantsed, plotted, plotted, pantsed, plotted, plotted—so I’d say a pretty even split! One thing I know is that when I do the second or third book in series, I have to plot large pieces of it. At the very least, I’ll plot the very beginning and the end, to get a clear idea of where it’s going, and maybe pants the middle.
VN. Describe yourself in four words.
MV. Talkative, intelligent, creative, sympathetic.
VN. Tell us about your favorite character you’ve written.
MV. I love Leah (the protagonist from Wit Awakening, a sci-fi romance novella coming out Feb 4th.) She starts out as this delicate, kind of innocent character with an incredibly limited view of the world. By the end of the second book, she’s been to hell and back, and she’s somehow found a way to wind all of that experience into not only strength, but bravery and kindness. She’s the kind of woman I’d like to be someday.
VN. If your city were about to be destroyed, and (after saving family/pets/BFF) you only have enough room for a shoe box full of stuff in your vehicle, what goes in the box?
MV. My laptop. Believe it or not, that would fit. But I get the feeling that’s not what you’re asking, so—
I’m one of those people that for whatever reason, doesn’t bond with material objects that well. I’ve picked up keepsakes from all over the world and never looked at them later. I recently moved onto, and later off-of a semi truck, and everything I owned actually fit in my Honda.
I sat around thinking about this question for twenty minutes. If I had my friends, family, and my pet, I think that’s about all I’d need. I guess I’d stick my phone and laptop in the box and call it today? Maybe bring a few nice bras—those are hard to find!
VN. If you could visit any fictional setting, where would go? Why?
MV. Oh man. Probably a fantasy place, like middle earth—because who hasn’t been there in their mind? Or the different planes in the second and third books of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. Yeah, that’s it. I’d visit Serafina Pekkala and the witches in the forest. Oh jeez—to fly, and to discover the animal identity of my daemon? Now I’m going to be sad thinking about how this will never happen.
VN. What’s your favorite part of a book to write? (beginning, first kiss, love scenes, black moment, ending?)
MV. Everyone jokes that I love to kill a character off—which, everybody breathe easy, so far hasn’t exactly extended to romance. I think it’s kind of secretly true.
The manuscript I just finished, I started right after a friend of mine died. With the permission of the friend’s family, I wrote him as a character into some of the scenes. That was really magical for me, to give him the chance to have the part to touch a fictional life the way he touched mine. It was my way of saying goodbye.
If you’re talking about generalities—nothing beats the feeling of putting “the end” on a manuscript.
VN. ha, I kill characters all the time. I don’t enjoy it–I actually sort of hate it, but I do it all the time. Okay, enough about me, back to you. Prologues, yay or nay?
MV. Usually nay. I’m also not one for backstory in the first few chapters.
VN. Epilogues, yay or nay?
MV. Definitely yay—I like giving readers a glimpse of the next book, or a peek into the life after the story. I like to know if it’s really a happily ever after or not.
VN. Please share an excerpt from your book. 🙂
Excerpt:
“Like I’d let you wash me. I’m not going to make my rape any more pleasant for you. If you want me, you’ll take me dirty and bleeding!”
Cole’s world suddenly shrank to a pinpoint. All he could see was this witch in front of him, the one he had risked his own damned safety to rescue. And how did she repay him? By stealing his own gun, threatening to shoot him, and calling him a rapist.
After three days—three—of running break-neck, of driving the horses through the dark and sleeping where they could be robbed, she had the gall to do this? After sitting in the doctor’s office and deciding whether or not to administer a treatment that could either save her life or kill her? After fighting the cravings, the desperate need for liquor that put a taste like acid in his mouth and made his skin crawl with spiders—
My. Own. Damn. Gun.
It was the match that lit the cannon. He growled and dove for her, his safety forgotten, a roar tearing itself out of his throat.
She fired off the shot in time, but she hadn’t anticipated the dive, and it went over his head. A second later, the weight of his muscular frame slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. He ripped the gun out of her hands, threw it across the room, picked her up, and slung her over his shoulder.
“You damn will take a bath, because I’m tired of your goddamn stink.” He kicked open the door to the bathroom, to the delightful tub with its fragrant, soapy hot water. In his anger, the fists that beat upon his back were like the annoying tickles of flies. Ignoring her shrieks, he dropped her in with a splash before stomping out of the room.
Find Gambler’s Luck at Liquid Silver Books: http://www.lsbooks.com/gamblers-luck-p735.php
And Maria at: http://www.mariaviolante.com