Don’t forget to check out Valerie’s top ten guest post here!
Welcome, Valerie! What 5 things should readers know about you?
I never read for pleasure until I was almost forty years old. A friend of mine handed me a Janet Evanovich book and when I finally cracked it open I couldn’t put it down. I read every book she wrote and then moved on to JA Konrath and Leanne Banks. I logged over 50 books read in the first year.
When I finally told my friends and co-workers that I had written a book they all assumed I had written an accounting textbook.
I’m a feline lover and I tend to be drawn the cranky Siamese breed.
I love classic country music but have been known to throw a little AC/DC into the mix at times.
I grew up in the north woods in house full of brothers so I can hunt and fish with the best of them.
LOL—an accounting textbook! (Hopefully if you had it’d be better than the two I had to buy this year <shudders>)
Tell us all about your main characters—who are they? What makes them tick? Most importantly, what one thing would they need to have with them if stranded on a desert isle? 😉
Detective Nick Spinelli is an unique individual. He’s all tough and alpha male on the outside but soft as silk on the inside, though he’ll never admit it. He loves his job and thrives on the excitement of tracking down killers. If stranded on a desert isle, Spinelli would need Shannon, of course.
Shannon O’Hara is typically sweet and kind, but when need be she is tough as nails. She holds people to high standards and makes them want to be better people. If stranded on a desert isle Shannon would need Spinelli, of course.
Of course! 😉
If your book were being cast as a movie, who would you want to play the main characters?
Josh Duhamel would have to be cast as Spinelli. Not only is he handsome, he’s also got that confident, carefree swagger thing going on.
Molly Quinn would have to be cast as Shannon. She’s such a beautiful, pure-looking woman.
Mmmmm, yes. Sounds perfect!
How long have you been writing, and what (or who) inspired you to start?
I started writing about seven years ago right after I read that slew of Evanovich books. I just love her Stephanie Plum series. I dreamt up Nick Spinelli one night and woke up in stitches over what I had dreamt. I thought to myself, “Boy, someone like Janet Evanovich could have a field day with a character like Spinelli.” I was going to call her to let her know about Spinelli but figured she probably wouldn’t take my call, nor did I know her number, so I decided right then and there that if I wanted the world to meet Nick Spinelli I was going to have to write him up myself.
Sounds like a perfect plan!
What do you like best about being a writer? What is the most challenging part of being a writer?
Writing relaxes me. I get lost in my own little comforting world for a while before I slip back into reality to face the regular, routine days. The most challenging part for me is finding the time to write. The darn full-time and part-time jobs tend to get in the way of my fun.
Ugh, work. Always getting in the way! If only those paychecks weren’t so darn necessary…
What are you working on right now? What can readers look for from you in the next year?
I’ve recently started a contemporary romance series with the first book set at a dairy farm. In fact, I’m almost done with the first draft of the first full-length book in the series. At this point, I plan on the series being 3-6 books.
Sounds great!
What authors and/or books have inspired you?
There are so many authors in my local writers group, and online groups, who have inspired me in so many different ways I couldn’t begin to name them all, but I’d like to send out a huge THANK YOU at this time to all the members of the Wisconsin Romance Writers – Green Bay Chapter, and the Coolest People Ever (Facebook group). The members of these groups are wonderful, supportive people and without them I’d probably still be querying my first manuscript.
Perfect answer!
What are you currently reading? What are your thoughts about it so far?
Currently I am reading Once a Cowboy by Linda Warren. It’s a Harlequin American Romance. It is a very sweet and lovely story, and I have trouble putting it down once I get going. I will certainly read more of her books when I’m in the mood for sweet. However, sometimes I’m in the mood for something a little sassier, and of course, I also need my fill of murder and mayhem.
Doesn’t everyone? (Need a fill of murder and mayhem, that is)
If you had to “sell” this book in a single Tweet, what would you say?
This has become my favorite teaser:
“Let me get this right. You’re telling me your dead father’s finger showed up in a cache box in Door County, over forty years after your father died.”
That would definitely catch my interest!
Author Bio:
Valerie is a writer of romantic suspense, contemporary romance, and women’s fiction novels. She lives in beautiful Door County Wisconsin with her husband and two very spoiled cats. She loves to read, write, and spend time at her cabin in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She’s lived her life surrounded by men, three brothers, a husband, and a male Siamese cat who required his own instruction manual. Keeping up with all the men in her life has turned her into a successful hunter and fisherwoman.
She is a member of Romance Writers of America and the Wisconsin Romance Writers of America. Additionally, she was a finalist in the 2011 Celtic Hearts Romance Writers, Novellas Need Love, Too! Contest.
Website: https://valclarizio.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Valerie.Clarizio
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VClarizio
Book Title: Crazed Reckoning, a Nick Spinelli Mystery
Author: Valerie J. Clarizio
Publisher: Melange Books, LLC
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Length: 120 pages
Release Date: March 5, 2015
Blurb:
After experiencing a murderous Christmas and Valentine’s Day with love interest Shannon O’Hara, Detective Nick Spinelli assumed Saint Patrick’s Day couldn’t be any worse.
He was wrong.
While out on a geocaching adventure in Door County, Shannon and her friend Anna find more than a clue in the cache box. When Shannon disappears, Spinelli is sent racing to find her. Amidst the chaos of an unruly Irish celebration, and a decades-old Irish family feud, he must rescue her from the hands of a madman.
Teaser excerpt:
His smoldering gaze turned black as coal at her response. He leaned toward her and captured her lips with his hot, hungry mouth. The immeasurable possessiveness of his kiss overwhelmed her. Heat spiraled through her body, her skin on the verge of melting. The sensations ripping through her could only be described as pure pleasure, and he was just getting started.
Becky,
Thank you for hosting this stop of my blog tour. I loved your interview questions.
Valerie