Friday, June 6, 2014

Against The Cage Tour: Author Interview




AGAINST THE CAGE: Worth the Fight Series
Loveswept Contemporary Romance
Written by Sidney Halston
Releasing May 27, 2014


Blurb  

In her Loveswept debut, Sidney Halston turns up the heat as a sexy cage fighter shows a former bookworm how delicious a few rounds between the sheets can be.
For Chrissy Martin, returning to her Florida hometown always seems to bring bad luck. The day starts with a breakup text, followed by a jailhouse phone call from her troublemaker brother. Now a routine traffic stop has ended with her accidentally punching an officer . . . in a delicate place. Then Chrissy realizes that the hot cop on the receiving end of her right hook is none other than the man from her teenage fantasies.
Jack Daniels knows how to take a hit. After all, when he’s not chasing reckless drivers, he’s kicking ass in a mixed martial arts ring. So what takes his breath away isn’t the low blow, but the woman who dealt it: a gorgeous knockout with legs Jack wouldn’t mind being pinned under—who just so happens to be his best friend’s nerdy little sister, all grown up. Soon their instant chemistry leads to a sizzling affair, but Jack and Chrissy are fighting an uphill battle if they want to make love last beyond the final bell.




Buy Links

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19082071-against-the-cage?from_search=true


Check out my interview with Sidney! :)




tell me about yourself, and your writing.

How long have you been writing? How many published books do you have, and what genres? 

I began my first book, Seeing Red about 10 years ago. I wrote about 80% of it, but didn’t finish it. Then about 3 years ago, a series of bad events in my personal life, made me want to finish the book, I needed an escape, and writing did that for me. After I finished it, I felt so accomplished and was so happy with it, I wrote Seeing Black, the conclusion to Seeing Red, and now Against the Cage and am working on the other 2 in the series. I love it and can’t see myself stopping anytime soon.

Do you write in multiple genres or just one? If just one, do you ever consider straying outside your genre? 
Seeing Red and Seeing Black is not a contemporary romance. It’s kind of suspense-ish with a little paranormal element but at the core of it, I want to write contemporary romance and I don’t’ think I’ll be straying from that.

Are you a plotter or do you write from the seat of your pants? 

Definitely, seat of my pants. In fact, I think it drives my agent and editor a little nuts. I can’t do summaries because I don’t really know what I’m going to write. I have the story in my head. I know the major plot points, but I don’t know what chapters are going to go where or any particular scene. So, I’ll just sit and write and write. I don’t know if what I’m writing will be in chapter one or in the final chapter. When I finish, I start moving things around.

What is a typical writing day like for you?

I try to have my butt at Starbucks at 8 pm but sometimes I can’t seem to make it until 9 pm, and I write until it closes, which is 11:30. Occasionally, I am so into it, that when I get home, I keep writing. Usually toward the end of the book when I have most scenes written and I just need to put things together and add to a scene or write a scene to connect something…I’ll write all night. 

Who do you love to read? Favorite authors, favorite books?

I adore Kristen Ashley. She is my favorite contemporary romance writer. I love her style and Sweet Dreams is probably my favorite book. Also, I am a huge fan of Tony Aleo and Jessica Clare.

What is something you'd like to accomplish in your writing career next year?

My fingers, toes, and everything and anything that can be crossed are crossed in hopes that books 1, 2, and 3 do well, because I really want to write Cain’s story and that would be story #4. So…keep your fingers crossed, too!

If you could have one paranormal ability, what would it be?
I would want to be able to read people’s minds. How cool to know what people are thinking…except, maybe you don’t really want to know. I guess everything has its drawbacks. Or maybe teleportation. How cool is that? I don’t like to fly, but if I could close my eyes and wake up in Italy…nice! I’m changing my answer to teleportation!

If you could keep a mythical/ paranormal creature as a pet, what would you have?

Eric the Vampire from True Blood. Would that be a pet? Sure, why not.

Tell us a little about your latest release.

Chrissy Martin left her hometown of Tarpon Springs, Florida 11 years ago and has been practicing medicine overseas. She gets a call from her brother Slade, a professional cage fighter, that he’s been arrested. After her decade long avoidance of the town, Chrissy comes back to bail Slade out of jail. But, the first person she runs into is Jack, Slade’s best friend, and her childhood crush.  She soon discovers that Slade is not only a cop, but also a professional cage fighter, something she is adamantly against. The story has a mix of humor, small town life, romance, loads of sexual tension, and the grittiness of the MMA world. Chrissy must decide whether she can accept Jack and his love for MMA or if the violent world he lives in is just too much for her to handle. 

What is something that you absolutely can't live without? (Other than family members)

My Kindle. Seriously, it is attached to me. I read all the time, while I’m pumping gas, at the drive- thru, the 2 times a year I go to the gym…everywhere. 

Could you ever co author a book with someone? If so, who would you choose, and what would you write? 

I think I could. I have a friend who is an aspiring author and we’ve been working on something. Hopefully it will come to fruition, I’d love to write something with her. She is the best beta-reader and we are very similar…so we shall see about that.

If you could spend a day with anyone from history, dead or alive, who would it be, and what would you do? What would you ask them?

I’ve read and seen almost everything to do with the Tudor dynasty. There was a time where I was obsessed with everything to do with the era. So, my first instinct was to say, I’d love to meet Anne Boleyn but she was beheaded so, scratch that. I want to meet the man himself—Henry VIII. First, I would ask him whether he ever really loved Catherine of Aragon. Then, I’d ask him the obvious: What the hell where you thinking? (Even though I think we all know the answer is he wasn’t really thinking…with his brain, at least). We’d hang out and have dinner in a castle in London, where he lived.

What are some of your other hobbies outside of writing?

Honestly, I don’t really have time for anything else. That’s a sad answer isn’t it? I have three kids (toddler twins!) and am an attorney plus I write every day, and I love to read, so other than that I usually don’t have much time left in the day. I love to watch MMA and Boxing matches with my hubby. And I love movies, so if those are considered hobbies, then, there ya go.

What is something you've always wanted to do, but haven't done yet. Why not?

I have always wanted to go to the Venetian Carnavale in Italy. It looks like so much fun with all the masks and, well, it’s in Venice. I haven’t gone, because I haven’t really had the time to go and quite frankly, I hate flying. But, if the opportunity arose, I’d suck it up, and get on the plane and be there tomorrow. 

If you were on the staff to have a book adapted to movie, what would you pick?

Two totally different books that I can picture as movies would be Wallbanger by Alice Clayton and The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski. Or, I wish they would make a good version of The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice. I loved the book, but the movie…not so much.

What is a talent you wish you had, but don't? 

I wish I could play an instrument, specifically the drums. But, I have absolutely no musical inclinations. 

             Favorite color?
Red

Weather: Hot or cold?
Hot

Favorite place to read?

At the beach or on a balcony overlooking the ocean. I’m from Miami, so it happens every now and again. It’s heaven.

Favorite meal

Pizza
Favorite non-alcoholic drink.

Diet Coke

If you could travel anywhere and do anything, no limits or money holding you back, where would you go?

I’d love to take a cruise around the world; have a captain taking us (my family) anywhere we want to go whenever the mood strikes. Greece one day, Sicily the next.




Author Info
Sidney Halston lives her life by one simple rule: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started” (Mark Twain). Or even simpler: “Just do it” (Nike). And that’s exactly what she did. At the age of thirty, having never written anything other than a legal brief, she picked up a pen for the first time to pursue her dream of becoming an author. That first stroke sealed the deal, and she fell in love with writing. Halston lives in South Florida with her husband and children.
Author Links



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2 comments:

  1. Thanks for participating in the tour amd for the interview. Sooo fun!

    ReplyDelete