Megan Hart

Interview for Anne Calhoun:

What’s your name? Who’s your daddy? And hey, babe, is he rich like me?
LOL!

Seriously, what’s your name and what do you do?

I’m Anne, but without James and Alex . Most days I’m pretty boring – I write, I cook, I clean, I do yoga and the housewife/mom thing. I work part-time editing audio for presentations and doing transcription to justify a rather obscene Starbucks and shoe habit.

Your first novel is now available from Ellora’s Cave — tell me a bit about Liberating Lacey.

Ah, Lacey. Well, Lacey’s a 36-year-old newly single woman who thinks that maybe she missed out on something when she married her first lover at 22. She goes to a bar and picks up Hunter, a Clive Owen lookalike/younger cop, for a one night stand…except it turns into so much more than just one night. Hunter and Lacey embark on a sexual journey through all of the “firsts” Lacey never explored with her husband, but intertwined with the sex is a profoundly emotional experience. While she’s older than Hunter, the book is more of an exploration of how two people from very different worlds find that those differences just don’t matter when it comes to the strength they can draw from love.

How long have you been writing? Is LL your first novel, or do you have some “drawer babies” as I like to call them?

I’ve been “writing with the intent to publish” (which for me means I stopped whining about wanting to be a writer and started writing) for about three years, and I have SEVERAL drawer babies. I wrote three category novels that didn’t fly and an erotic romance I’m not sure I want to do anything with. When I started writing I felt like a failure if I didn’t sell what I wrote. I’ve gotten much more comfortable with the idea of writing something to explore a topic/theme/situation or, God forbid, learn something about writing and letting the chips fall where they may in terms of sales.

When you’re not writing, what do you like to do?

Read. I’m currently into historical romance, but I read a ton out of genre. Lots of nonfiction, lots of whatever people recommend. I’m a huge fan of Sharon Shinn who writes fantasy-ish stuff with just enough romance (if you haven’t read Sharon Shinn, immediately order Mystic and Rider and/or Archangel from your favorite bookstore. They’re awesome). I bake bread, and I quilt. I used to knit rather obsessively but I’ve got some repetitive motion stuff going on that’s keeping me from the “chick with sticks” thing.

Do you have links to a website, blog or buy pages?

My website is annecalhoun.com but I’m far more active on my blog at annecalhoun.wordpress.com. That’s the place to keep up-to-date with mememe, and the site includes a Liberating Lacey page with information about music, trivia, and an excerpt. If you’d like to buy the book, go to the Liberating Lacey page at Ellora’s Cave.

Now for the rapid-fire part of the interview:

front or back – front – I’m short
black or white – Is this a formal or summer event? Is it a wedding? Am I the bride? Please God, don’t let me be the bride…I’ve done that once and my advice is to elope. Do not pass Go, do not collect…wait, get the money, but…what was the question?
chocolate or vanilla – Am I wearing black or white? Is this a formal event? Are we outside? Which is melting faster? Is there syrup? Wait…is my kid there? If my kid’s there I’m wearing all the ice cream flavors.
Sam or Dean – Dean, but slut that I am, I’d play rock-paper-scissors with either of them.
Kirk or Picard – Picard, any color, any game
Spock or Kirk – Old Star Trek – Spock – New Star Trek – both. Oh God, wouldn’t that be fabulous?
up or down – hmmmm…I am a tree, an ancient tree, with roots spreading deep down into the ground and branches swaying up in the air. Oooooohhhhhmmmmmmmmmm.
left or right – left. Left wing, left coast and most assuredly left behind.
in or out – In. Definitely in. Wait a minute…what are we doing? Do I have to drive? Am I wearing black or white? Nothing? I’m out.
Star Wars or Star Trek – Battlestar Galactica
Dracula or Frankenstein – Neither. Like human males aren’t difficult enough?

Sorry…I don’t do rapid-fire well!

You stand in front of three doors. What colors are they, what is behind each, which do you choose and why?

The first door is black and behind it is the tar-like, sticky, hot, smelly bog of procrastination. The second door is red and behind it is a red Mini Cooper with a white racing strip with Tahmoh Penikett (aka Helo from Battlestar Galactica) in the passenger seat. He’d holding a bottomless cup of soy chai latte from Starbucks, the key to amazon.com’s warehouse, another key to a suite at Hotel 57 in New York City. The smile on his face tells me I’m going to the hotel before Amazon’s warehouse. The third door is white and behind it is the virtuous life of a suburban mother and housewife who writes romance. I choose door number three…because I love my life.

Anything else you’d like to share with the class? I mean…readers?
Class dismissed!

Thanks, Anne!

M