GIVEAWAY ENDED
AUTHOR INTERVIEW: MOLLY HARPER
AUTHOR INTERVIEW: MOLLY HARPER
1. Welcome, Molly Harper, and thank you for agreeing to an interview for BOOKIN‘ WITH BINGO. I believe before we start, I have some brief information from your "official bio" to share with my readers. I am sure they want to know more about the author of these books, HOW TO FLIRT WITH A NAKED WEREWOLF and THE ART OF SEDUCING A NAKED WEREWOLF!
Molly Harper worked for six years as a reporter and humor columnist for The Paducah Sun. Her reporting duties included covering courts, school board meetings, quilt shows, and once, the arrest of a Florida man who faked his suicide by shark attack and spent the next few months tossing pies at a local pizzeria. Molly lives in western Kentucky with her husband and children.
2. Where did you get the inspiration or idea for this book?
I wrote a good bit of the initial notes for HOW TO FLIRT WITH A NAKED WEREWOLF during the January 2009 ice storm. Thousands of homes in Kentucky, including mine, lost power. And you have to understand that in my hometown, one flurry fluttering through the sky sends people into a “Must hoard milk and bread!” panic. With no light, heat or hot water, my family had to camp out at my inlaws’ house in front of their fireplace. David is a police captain and was working twelve-hour emergency shifts. This left me with our six-month-old and five-year-old. All day long. They were cold and fussy and bored. And my daughter seemed to think I was an idiot because I wouldn’t turn on the TV. It was either come up with a new book or just go crazy. By the time the power came on a week later, I had about 20 pages of notes for HOW TO FLIRT WITH A NAKED WEREWOLF.
3. How did the title of your book come about?
My lack of titling skills are legendary. I suggest a title on my original draft, which generally sucks. My agent and I come up an alternative. We submit it to the publisher and my editor suggests an alternative to the alternative. I come up with a list of possible replacements and then they’re submitted to panel of people at my publisher. (I suspect that they’re interns who are younger and hipper than me.) They eliminate the worst of the bunch, and then I throw out a final suggestion in desperation… and that’s the one my editor likes.
4. Do you see yourself in your characters? Which characters are easiest or more difficult to write?
Jane Jameson, my vampire librarian, is shamelessly similar to me, from our social ineptitude to our love of trivia and inability to speak in public. She’s very easy to write because I’m basically using the voice I used to write my column when I was working for the newspaper.
On the other hand, I always find it very difficult to write to my “heroes.” They always end up sounding like my husband, which isn’t bad, because my husband is dead sexy and funny as all heck. But you don’t want to feature the same guy over and over. I tried to make Gabriel Nightengale a lot more formal-sounding on purpose. But Monroe from AND ONE LAST THING… that’s all David.
5. What are you currently reading?
I’m reading Water for Elephants. I’m only a few pages in, though. I’ve heard such good things, I’m very excited.
6. What is the next or current book/project you are working on?
I writing spin offs of the Jane Jameson series. I can’t tell you about the plot, but I can say that the characters will be living in Half-Moon Hollow and they will know Jane.
7. What is something about you that you would want people to know about you that we probably don’t know?
I have coulrophobia, fear of clowns. And zombie movies make me cry.
8. Do you own an eReader of any kind and how do you feel about their impact on books, as well as you as an author?
I just got a Kindle for Christmas. I’m not sure how they’re going to impact the publishing industry at large. I do know that I buy way more books now. When you’re standing in the bookstore, holding a half-dozen paperbacks, you have to decide which one you’re going to buy. But when you’re clicking on your Kindle, it doesn’t even feel like a financial transaction.
9. What is your advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?
Writers write. I know it sounds cliché. But joining writers groups, taking classes and reading books on writing technique, those are valid use of your time, but sitting down and writing every day is what builds your story.
Thank you so much for the interview. I know we all can't wait to get out hands on your books.
Here is some fun from Molly's Website. Listed under "Fun Stuff" are some recipes relating to Molly's characters. I thought my readers might enjoy one from HOW TO FLIRT WITH A NAKED WEREWOLF so FROM mollyharper.com (not me!) is...
***********************************
Mo's "Game" Meat Loaf
In HOW TO FLIRT WITH A NAKED WEREWOLF, Mo Wenstein moves to Grundy, Alaska to get away from her intrusive hippie parents. She ends up working at the Blue Glacier Saloon as a short order cook and one her more popular menu items is making meatloaf out of the wild game that her neighbors bring in. In my house, we don't get moose meat that often. We prefer our meat loaf to be ground turkey, because it's lighter and healthier. But if you'd like to make this recipe with venison, I would recommend blending about 1/2 cup of root beer or cola into your meat before you start adding other ingredients. It takes away a little of that gamey taste.
2 pounds ground turkey
1 cup salsa
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup shredded Colby and cheddar cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ tablespoon oregano
½ tablespoon basil
½ tablespoon onion powder
½ tablespoon garlic powder
(Makes two loaf pan sized meatloafs)
Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Ground turkey is sort of stringy and hard-to-manage by hand, so I mix mine in a standing mixer. Mix the meat with the salsa and then the cheeses until thoroughly combined. Slowly add bread crumbs. If you think your mixture is getting too dry, add a bit more salsa. Add spices and let the mix blend.
Separate the mixture into halves and mold them into two loaf pans. Sprinkle more Parmesan cheese on top of the loaves. Bake at 350 for at least 45 minutes - until the internal temperature of the meat reads at a safe level as determined by your kitchen thermometer.
Now for my readers who want to enter to win the set of both of Molly's books, HOW TO FLIRT WITH A NAKED WEREWOLF coming out on Feb. 22, and THE ART OF SEDUCING A NAKED WEREWOLF being released on March 29, first go HERE to read my first post about the giveaway as well as reading Molly's Guest Post.
Then after you enter there, come on back here and enter for these Bonus Entries below. YOU could be one of two lucky winners to win a set of these two books, thanks to Molly as well, of course to Ayelet and the nice folks at Simon & Schuster!
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY
HOW TO ENTER:
+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT MOLLY'S INTERVIEW ABOVE
+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY
+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING INTERESTING, OR PERHAPS ANOTHER OF MOLLY'S BOOKS YOU'D LIKE TO READ, AFTER VISITING HER WEBSITE HERE!
GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, MARCH 1!
GOOD LUCK!!!
