Introducing BELLISSIMA by Anya Richards and Giveaways!

Please welcome author Anya Richards as she answers some questions and she has giveaways!

Multi-published author Anya Richards lives with her husband, youngest kid, a mutt, and two cats that plot world domination one food bowl at a time. The humans support her writing while the animals see her preoccupation as a goad.

Insatiably curious and irreverent, Anya loves history, music, the sea and a good rum punch. To learn more drop by Anya’s website make friends with her on Facebook  or follow her on Twitter.

 

1. How do you keep coming up with fresh characters and stories?

I really wish I knew, because then I could do it pretty much on command! Luckily for me I have a pretty fertile imagination, so story ideas keep popping into my head all the time. I’ll freely admit that sometimes I think an idea has been overdone and I’ll shelf it for a time. But I also believe that if you give two authors the exact same idea and tell them to write a book, you’ll get two completely different stories, so if I feel passionate about a story I’ll write it and not worry too much about anything else.

2. What do you like to read?

You’re asking a writer this??? LOL! I like to read pretty much anything I can get my hands on (including the back of the shampoo bottle if there’s nothing else available) but some of my favorites are contemporary/urban fantasy (e.g. Charles de Lint and Neil Gaiman), police procedurals (the Lucas Davenport books by John Sandford), multicultural books, British mysteries (mostly older authors like Dorothy Sayers) and some literary fiction. I’ll read a wide variety of romances too, but I’ve found recently I read less of them because it’s become something of a busman’s holiday—writing them all the time, I often want something completely different.

3. What's your favorite place to read?

Hands down—in the bathtub! I need one of those waterproof e-readers.

4. What are some of your reading pet peeves?

Pretentious language and storytelling is the main one. I also don’t like books where I can’t find any reason to like or sympathize with the characters. Everyone has some redeeming quality, no matter how much of a dingbat they are otherwise, and if I can’t figure out what that is, then I feel as though there’s something important missing. Lastly, I WILL put down a book if the writing is stilted or the characters do inexplicable things.

5. Do your characters stick with you after you've finished a book and if so, how do you handle it?

Yes, characters often do sort of haunt me, and that’s usually when I’m happiest with the book I’ve just finished writing. I’ve learned that I (unfortunately) can’t finish one book and immediately start writing another, so I allow the characters to linger in my head while I take a break and then, when they’ve faded a bit, I can move on.

6. How do you handle writer's block?

I usually suffer from writer’s block when I have other issues in my life. No one’s life runs completely smoothly, and there are times when my brain is consumed by other matters and even if I have the time, I don’t have the inclination to write. I try to work through whatever it is that’s happening, get it sorted out as best I can, and try not to beat myself up over the fact that I’m not writing. I also turn to crafting to keep myself occupied and that’s also a good time to think about the book I’ll be going back to, work out where I think I want it to go. If I get down on myself, the block only lasts longer.

7. What motivates you to write your books?

The intense need to tell a story. I honestly couldn’t imagine not writing. I have to do something to get the characters in my head to shut up, and telling their stories seems to do the trick!

8. Tell us a little about your book...

Bellissima

Blurb:

His seductive rhythm calls to the passionate soul hiding within…

 

Jane Rollins is anything but plain, but to keep her position as housekeeper to a wealthy family, she is content to hide her beauty behind a dull façade. This deception has become second-nature to her—until dance master Sergio Fontini waltzes into her life.

While the other inhabitants of the house see him as a foreigner and beneath their notice, Jane sees strength, barely leashed power, and an aura of iron control—an irresistible, arousing combination.

Sergio sees through Jane’s disguise to the woman beneath, and the desires in her veiled gaze call to him like the utterly irresistible strains of a beautiful symphony. The circumstances couldn’t be worse, for seducing her will endanger both their livelihoods.

Yet there are lessons he cannot resist teaching her, steps of a dance that crescendos to her final surrender…

Buy Links

Samhain

Bellissima on Amazon Kindle

Bellissima Amazon UK


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