Hi Monica and welcome to my blog! I don't think we've met before so I'm looking forward to finding out more about you and your writing. It has been far too long since I headed over the the Wild Rose Press website so will remedy that as soon as we're finished with the interview. Let's get started!
1.
What do you wish men understood about women?
Sometimes women complain or talk about something bothering us just
to get it off our chests. Don’t dismiss us by saying something like “it turned
out fine” or “it was no big deal”.
2.
Do you only work on one book at a time?
Absolutely. I need quiet when I write. If I have another book’s
characters talking in my head, I get mixed up J
3.
Who is your favorite fictional couple?
I don’t have a favorite
fictional couple but I have quite a few I’ve cheered for: Carrie and Mr.Big
from Sex and the City, Ross and Rachel from Friends, Harry and Ginny from Harry
Potter (although in the movie version I would have liked a Harry and Hermione
pairing because the actors had great chemistry), Elizabeth Bennett and Mr.
Darcy.
4.
Do you have a favorite quote that sums up how you feel about
life?
The
closest thing I have to a quote that sums up how I feel about life would be,
“I’m not the best but I’m trying my best.” But I tend to be hard on myself and
I’m a worrier, so I collect quotes about self-compassion and post them on a
Pinterest board. (If you’re interested in seeing it, click here.) It’s hard
to pick a favorite but one of my favorites—and I don’t know who to attribute it
to—is, “You can change the way people treat you by changing the way you treat
yourself.” It’s something we all need to remember.
5.
Do you set daily writing goals? Word count? Number of
chapters? Do you get a chance to write every day?
I
can’t set daily goals because I can’t write every day. I have a full-time job
so most of my writing gets done on weekends. After writing all day (I’m a
technical writer) I’m sometimes too tired to do more than edit at night. But
even on weekends, I don’t pressure myself to write a certain amount. Some days
I’m more prolific than others.
6. What do
you like better, Twitter or Facebook? Why?
In regard to social media, I live by the philosophy of doing a few
things well instead of doing everything superficially. Twitter and Facebook
were once described to me like this: if you are the kind of person who likes
going to parties, working the crowd, talking to all sorts of people, Twitter is
for you. If you’re the kind who observes from the perimeter of the party and
only talks to people you know, you’re a better match for Facebook. I’m one to
stand in the corner trying to be inconspicuous. I choose to devote my time to
Facebook.
7. What are you working on now?
I’m toying with an idea for a paranormal story but I’m not decided
because originally I saw myself writing books for women in midlife like me. I
don’t think our lives get enough attention, particularly from a romantic
perspective.
8. Tell us
about your latest release and where we can find it
WHERE THERE IS WILL is about learning to love yourself before you
can love another. The heroine, Michelle, is newly divorced and trying to adjust
to life without her ex’s income. She takes a job in London so she can work on
rebuilding her confidence away from people who have preconceived expectations.
She insists that she doesn’t want to fall in love again but it’s her
insecurities that are holding her back. Then she meets a man nearly half her
age who teaches her to like herself enough to allow good things to happen. The
Kindle edition is currently available on Amazon at http://amzn.com/B00HJE46UA. I hope by now
that print copies are available there too, as well as at my publisher’s
website: The Wild Rose Press.
Excerpt
I
walked into my office cubicle, hung up my jacket, and logged onto my computer
like I did every morning. I stood, picked up my empty coffee mug, turned, and
slammed into Olivia. “Come with me,” she whispered. I sighed heavily and
followed my co-worker into the conference room where I found Paige already
sitting at the large table.
“I
saw your photo in the newspaper,” Paige said, shoving a clipping in my
direction.
“I
wouldn’t exactly call it a newspaper,” I replied, but not having gotten a good
look at the picture the previous night, I picked up the clipping and examined
it. It was of poor quality—probably taken with a cell phone camera. I hadn’t
noticed the caption yesterday: Will
Sheridan gets attacked by cougar. Despite the lack of creativity in those
words, my insides felt like they were being attacked by a cougar. “Nice,” I
said pretending to sound disinterested as I pushed the paper back toward Paige.
“Well?”
“Well
what?”
“Tell
Olivia and me what you’re doing in the paper.”
“Kissing
someone.”
“This
is no time to be cheeky. Just what were you doing kissing
William Sheridan? We didn’t even know you knew him.”
“You
do know him, right?” Olivia interjected.
“No.
I just walked up to him in a café, sat on his lap, and planted a wet one on his
mouth.”
“You’re
on his lap?” Olivia gave the clipping another look. “Why, you are on his lap.
And he has no shirt on.”
I
let out a deep breath. “I met Will when I first came to London, and we became
friends. We’ve spent a lot of time together and gotten to know each other quite
well.” Paige’s expression begged me to define how well I knew him. “We’ve
become a little more than friends recently.”
“By
snogging naked in a café?”
Even
I had to laugh at the silliness of Paige’s statement. “I admit, it does look
pretty bad, but for your information, Will is not naked, he’s just shirtless.”
“The
caption says he’s shirtless and
trouser-less,” Olivia corrected.
“He
was covered.”
“By
a towel,” Olivia added.
“A
bath sheet,” I corrected like it made a big difference. I went on to explain
what had happened to lead up to the public kiss. When I finished, Olivia stared
at me, open mouthed.
“So
does this mean you’re dating William Sheridan?” Paige asked.
“Yes,
I guess I am.”
I
was barely out of the conference room when Paige griped, “Can you believe that
American? She thinks she can write a novel and
have one our most eligible bachelors.”
Bio
Monica Epstein writes about topics that
appeal to women like herself—over 40 and nowhere near ready to throw in the
towel and call it a life. Her first novel, Where
There Is Will, is published by The Wild Rose Press.
Monica lives in a suburb of Washington,
D.C. with her husband, their teenage daughter, and a small collection of hats
and fascinators. She dreams of being the Queen of England in her next life.
Learn more about Monica at the following:
Website: www.monicaepstein.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/monicaepsteinauthor
I love that excerpt!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Liz. I have a hard time picking excerpts to share. I'm doing a reading in a few months to a group of romance writers and readers. Who thinks this excerpt would work for that?
ReplyDeleteI think it would be a good one--it makes the listener want to hear more--or read more.
DeleteThanks, Liz. I'll keep this in mind.
Delete