There's all this stuff in my head...: Welcome My Latest Guest: Barbara Meyers! #amwriting

I want to welcome Barbara Meyers. First I’d love you to introduce yourself.

Thanks, Barbara. I write contemporary romance for Samhain Publishing. When I’m not writing I put on a green apron and work part-time as a barista for a global coffee company. My son and daughter are grown and they both went off and found romance and got married and are living their own versions of happily ever after. Currently I reside in central Florida with my almost-perfect husband Bill and my almost-perfect black Lab mix, Pepper.

Tell us about your latest release.

Fantasy Man was great fun to write and even more fun to edit. It’s a mix of romantic comedy and light suspense.

One lie of omission could turn her wildest dream into a world of hurt.

Quinn Fontana never thought witnessing two murders would lead to her first taste of freedom. But when her overprotective brother puts her on a plane for L.A. to hide until it’s time to testify, she can’t stop the shiver of anticipation.

If her life is going to be cut short, she plans to live it to the fullest. And that includes seducing her intended protector—her brother’s best friend and star of her private fantasies.

When security consultant Reif Callaghan awakens after a rowdy night out with his coworkers to find a warm, willing woman in his bed, he’s almost past the point of no return when he realizes it’s Quinn. And he’s come way too close to debauching his best friend’s little sister.

Her enticing offer—one night, no holding back, no regrets—is a temptation he can’t resist. Until he realizes she’s been hiding a piece of vital information that could cost not only their one chance to turn fantasy into reality, but their lives.

Warning: Contains fantasy-come-true sex, get-it-out-of-their-system sex, angry-as-hell sex, and on-the-run sex. Also, accidental ferret-napping. Asthmatics are advised to load up on antihistamines before reading.

Now I have a few questions for you – I have found readers do like to know fun things about us writers.

1.) Who is your favorite villain – it can be from a book (even one of yours), movie or TV show. And why?

The first villain that came to mind was Hannibal Lector from Silence of the Lambs. He was just fascinating. I loved how he got into the minds of his victims. He was twisted and sick yet he loved beauty. Gave you the chills yet you couldn’t look away. Anthony Hopkins was brilliant in that role, wasn’t he?

2.) Who is your favorite character out of your books? Why?

As an author you hate to say your favorite character is the one you just wrote, but I’m going to say it anyway. Quinn, the heroine in Fantasy Man. I actually started writing this story a long time ago and I like to think my writing grew along with her. It was so much fun to see her evolve from this rather irresponsible, live-for-the-moment girl who accidentally on purpose put herself in harm’s way, into a more responsible individual who realized she wasn’t just risking her life any more, but the hero’s as well. I loved watching her “grow up” without losing her spontaneity.

3.) What genre do you write? What made you pick that one?

Contemporary romance. I hate to say this but the reason I write contemporary is that I don’t really like doing the kind of research you have to do to write convincing historical romance. J And I prefer to read fiction in a contemporary setting.

4.) What are you working on now?

Something with the working title “Those Who Can, Date.” It’s about a dating expert who’s horrible at dating and a playboy-type mega movie star (ala George Clooney) who’s sick of dating.

5.) What got you to start writing?

Again, I hate to admit this, but it was reading one too many poorly written romance novels. I just knew I could write better. (And I do! Tee hee) You are making me admit to a lot of things today!

6.) Where do you get your ideas?

Absolutely everywhere. The dating book arose from a comment a friend’s daughter made about using up all of her dating talking points when her date lasted longer than expected. I thought that was hilarious. Often I get ideas from a comment someone makes or a situation or a setting. It just depends.

7.) What would people who read your work be surprised to find out about you?

Honestly, I think people would be surprised to find out how old many authors whose work they enjoy actually are and they’d probably be surprised to find that out about me. At one of the first professional writer’s conferences I went to, even I was surprised at the amount of gray hair in the room! We usually write about characters who are much younger than we are, but trust me, we still remember what it’s like to fall in love, to find that zing with a man, to want the happy ending. And some of us started writing when we were the ages of our heroines.

8.) Do you have any special talents?

No. Unless being right 99.9% of the time counts as a special talent. I used to be able to touch the tip of my tongue to my nose, but either my tongue doesn’t stretch as far or my nose relocated itself because I can’t do it any longer. I can also come up with poems with Dr. Seuss-like rhyming schemes on the fly.

9.) What was the one piece of advice you received when you were an aspiring author that has stuck with you?

“Want-to-be writers admit defeat easily. Successful writers never give up.” Why? This isn’t really advice. It’s something I read in a copy of Writer’s Digest years ago and cut out and stuck on my desk. For most of us it takes a long time to get good at writing. Quality writing is very important to me. I had all these stories I wanted to tell, but my ability to execute wasn’t there early on. Persistence, however, often outweighs education and talent. I simply refused to give up. My writing got better with every manuscript I finished and eventually I found editors who like my work enough to offer me contracts.

10.) If you could talk to any famous figure (present, past or fictional) who would it be and what would you talk about?

Wow. That is a good question. Eve maybe. I’d like to ask her why she felt so compelled to take a bite out of that apple. Was the serpent really that convincing?

11.) What song would you say describes your life?

Happy (from “Despicable Me 2”) by Pharrell Williams.

12.) If you could come back as any animal – what would it be?

I’d be a tortoise. Because slow and steady always wins the race.

Excerpt:

He focused over her shoulder for a moment. “I thought,” he repeated, “you’d be angry with me. That you were angry. Upset. You know…earlier.” He felt himself reddening in embarrassment. This wasn’t coming out right. He ran his fingers through his hair. “Hell. I’m sorry, okay? I’m so goddammed sorry about what happened—that you—that I…” Words failed him. She appeared to be amused at his inability to adequately express how he felt.

“It’s okay—”

“It’s not okay. I took advantage of you—”

“Oh, please! You did not!” she replied. “I’m to blame—”

He shook his head, having no problem holding her gaze now. “No. Don’t even go there.

You are not to blame. I wasn’t thinking. I wasn’t even awake. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

Her grin widened. “Really?”

“Look, I have this condition,” Reif began.

Quinn raised an eyebrow. “Out of control libido?”

“No. Jesus. No. I can control myself, okay?”

“Rats.”

“It’s similar to sleepwalking. Sometimes it is sleepwalking. Alcohol, and I had a lot of it last night, aggravates the symptoms.”

“What are you saying?”

“That it might seem like I’m awake to someone else. I might act like I know what I’m doing. I could even carry on a conversation, but—”

“You’re actually asleep,” Quinn finished for him.

“Basically, yes.”

“And that’s what happened this morning.”

Reif nodded.

“Then I can’t wait for a repeat performance when you are thinking and awake and know exactly what you’re doing.”

His mouth dropped open. “Dammit, Quinn—”

“Oh, so you remembered who I am. Just for the record, Tony was supposed to call.”

“He did.” Her eyebrow shot up in question. He waved a hand. “I just got the message now. Messages, actually. About five minutes ago.”

“Oh.” She considered this new information. “Well, you see? You didn’t know. I’m the one who showed up unannounced, the one who raided your fridge—you’re out of Corona Light, by the way, and next time I’d appreciate it if you’d stock up on limes—who crawled into your bed and fell asleep.”

Reif groaned. “Tony’s going to kill me.”

“Oh, please. Tony doesn’t have to know. I’m certainly not going to tell him.”

“He’ll know.”

“How?” Quinn scoffed. “He’s two thousand miles away. So is my dad, thank God. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Oh, yeah?” Reif fixed her with what he hoped was a piercing look. “What if you’re pregnant?”

“Excuse me?”

“Unprotected sex,” Reif reminded her. “Unless you’re taking precautions?” He couldn’t help the hopeful note that crept into the end of the question.