Rae: Lucy thank you so much for hanging out with me today. If we were meeting at a coffee shop I’d be drinking a spiced latte with Coconut Milk. What would you order?
Lucy: Cafe latte…with a shot of Baileys.
Rae: Earlier this year we met at RT Booklovers in Atlanta, what advise can you give to a reader if they are attending in 2018 for the first time?
Lucy: Take a friend with you. The lines are long and while its a great way to meet people, its always more fun with someone you already know.
Rae: It’s hard to believe that it’s almost the end of October, time flies when there are books to read and books to write. Do you have any traditions or decorate the house?
Lucy: No, but I do complain about summer ending and winter starting… a lot…a whole lot.
Rae: Canada celebrated Thanksgiving last month, do you have a favorite dish you make each year?
Lucy: No. Thanksgiving isn’t that big a deal in Canada. But we started frying our turkey! My husband looks forward to it every year.
Rae: For those who are not familiar with your work, you write romantic suspense and have two series – Search and Recover and Women of Vegas. Can you tell us a little bit about them. Will there be more books in the series?
Lucy: The Women of Vegas series is four books and centres around women and how their quest for redemption finds them love. Although all four are strong women, each struggle with things they’ve done in the past, hence “Sin” in each title. Sin on the Strip, Sin and the Millionaire, Sin on the Run and Sins That Haunt. The Search and Recover series is about the men you met in my first series, the men of ICU, an elite search and recovery organization under the guise of a private investigation agency. Their journey will test them like no other and when they’re done, the women by their sides will have made everything they went through worth it.
Rae: When did you realize that you wanted to write romance?
Lucy: I love Karen Marie Moning’s book and I decided I’d to try my hand at it. I never set out to be a writer. I just wanted to see if I could do it.
Rae: What inspired your first book and was that the one that was published?
Lucy: My first book is an historical romance and it’s never been published. One day…maybe.
Rae: In your bio you talk about your journey to publishing and am so happy you decided to change careers. I love reading your stories! What advise can you give to aspiring writers who have been writing a while without any interest or feedback?
Lucy: Join a writer group. One, someone will read your work and Two, someone will be there to cheer you on when the news isn’t good.
Rae: When you are writing a book, do you plot it out page by page, chapter by chapter? Or, do your characters guide you?
Lucy: I wish I plotted better but I never really figure out my characters or my twists until I’m 2/3 done.
Rae: When you sit down to write, do you focus on words per day or a time-block for a specific day?
Lucy: I write until I don’t. Setting goals never works for me and I don’t like to frustrate myself.
Rae: What can we expect to see on the bookshelves in the upcoming months?
Lucy: A Necessary Deception—Monty’s story, comes out in the spring and is set in Alaska. The cover is awesome, the best one yet. but I can’t wait to reveal it.
Rae: If readers want to meet up with you in person, where will you be in 2018?
Lucy: I’ll be in Denver for RWA next July and in Ottawa for Romancing the Capital with Eve Langlais. And I’m always on Facebook.
Rae: Thank you for hanging out in the cafe today.
**** Tasty Tidbits ****
1. What is a must read book and why? I enjoy books that make me laugh. So for that reason,”Lamb, the Gospel of Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal”. I love Christopher Moore. The man is a god.
2. What is one place that I should see if I visit your hometown? The Rideau Canal. It’s the longest skating rink in the world and is beautiful in the summer.
3. Do you take-in or cook? If so, what is your “go-to” dish? Owning a restaurant means we take-in often, but I enjoy cooking more. That said, my kids and I prefer Pad Thai to hamburgers.
4. What is one thing readers would be surprised to know about you? I own 4 gourmet burger restaurants.
5. Hard Rock or Classical? Favorite Band or Artist? Neither. While I enjoy rock, it’s not my go-too music. I do like Bon Jovi and Aerosmith but I’m really like Maroon Five.
6. If you had an all expenses paid trip anywhere in the world for research, where would you go? I’ve always wanted to go an exotic island. I don’t care where, as long as it has cool rooms and a great beach.
7. What is your guilty pleasure? I don’t really have one, but if there is Pecan Pie on the menu, I order it.
8. What are you afraid of? You’d never catch me alone…in a farmhouse….in the middle of no where…with stupid people in clown costumes.
9. Tats or No Tats? If tats, how many and what did you choose for your first one? I have an orchid on my foot. I had a Lady Di wedding bouquet with orchids.
10. Organized or Free Floating? Free floating, but in I was I had the energy for organized.
11. Binge watcher or weekly viewer? Which show(s)? Both. I PVR certain season of shows like This is Us but I enjoy certain reality shows like the Bachelor (of course) or Survivor.
12. What’s on your playlist? Everything. I listen to almost anything except Acid or Scream Rock and gangster rap. My car is dialed into country music.
13. What play or musical do you want to see next? I like to see Carole King, but that would a trip to NY…darn.
14. Are you a crafter? Yes. When I’m stuck in story I bake or craft.
15. What’s your favorite TV show and why? Big Bang. I love to laugh. I used to like Murder She Wrote when it was on.
16. If you could pick a book you’ve read and make it into a movie, which book would it be (besides yours 🙂 )? Biff. Christopher Moore says there is no hidden meaning in his books. I think he’s lying. This book makes you think about the life of Christ and what we don’t know or think we know.
17. What’s your favorite movie of all time and why? Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and do you really need to ask?
18. Would you rather see a movie in the theater or at home on DVD and why? I don’t see a ton of theatre movies. I prefer being able to stop the movie when I want.
19. What is the one thing you can’t live without? I don’t have anything I can live without.
20. If you could invite 5 people to dinner (not friends and family – that’s too easy) who would be at your table? Where would you eat? Martha Stewart, Hillary Clinton, Steve Hawking, Steven Wozniak, Prince Harry and we’d eat at Le Bernardin in NY, one of my favourite places.
21. If you could try any career for a day, what would it be? CEO of Google because it looks like a fun place to work.
22. Person you admire and why? hmm, she’s dead. Lady Diana. The woman had guts.
For more information about Lucy visit her website at www.lucyfarago.com
