When you are getting ready to start a new book, what’s the first thing you do? 

Panic.

How do you celebrate when you finish writing a book?

Cry (but they’re kind of like the tears you shed after childbirth, happy and excited and very, very relieved).

Have you had any fun fan moments since you became a writer? 

When I was doing a workshop in a local library in London a young French woman came up to me to tell me that she liked to read my books to her grandmother who was going blind.  I thought this was really lovely and complemented her on having such a cool granny (because my books are rather hot!). Then she completely floored me by telling me yes her granny was super cool… She had fought in the Resistance and was now 102! Coolest fan EVAH!

If you could have dinner, coffee, or drinks with a fictional character, who would you choose and where would you go?

I’m thinking Superman (as played by Henry Cavill in the new movie Man of Steel). He’d fly me over New York City at night then up to the Fortress of Solitude where we’d have hot chocolate spiked with rum (because I’ve heard it’s bloody cold up there unless you’ve got Kryptonite for blood) and then he’d do lots of other delicious things to keep me warm. (As you can tell, I’ve given this quite a lot of thought.)

Do you usually begin a book with a character or a plot?

Depends on the book… Sometimes it’s a linked character from another book who insisted I write their story (yes, my characters talk to me, no I’m not nuts, honest). Other times it’s just an idea for an opening scene and then I develop the characters from there.

Do you have any hobbies or special interests you’d care to share?

That I’d care to share? No, probably not.

What was the inspiration for your book?

I used to have a very vivid dream in my childhood that I was locked in a sweetshop overnight and I just had to eat every sweet in the shop to stay alive (and not die of boredom)… This has morphed over the years into a dream about being locked in a luxury department store with an extremely hunky guy – and we’re no longer eating sweets to stay alive and not die of boredom. So when the four of us came up with the idea of having four snowed-in couples… I saw the perfect way to make my dream come true (vicariously speaking).

Who would play your hero in the TV or film version of your book?

Well, at the moment I’m leaning towards the delicious Matt Bomer from White Collar to play Ryder Sinclair because he’s cool and super-sexy but also has that vulnerable side hiding behind the heat. But I suspect I may have to do lots more research on YouTube to be absolutely sure about that decision.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Find the time to write. Get informed feedback. (Top tip: this is probably NOT your mum – mine was very sweet when I gave her my first completed manuscript to read saying how brilliant she thought it was – then said “But I think you may have used the word ‘erection’ too often.” Gee thanks, Mum.) Then submit and keep writing and don’t give up no matter how many rejections you get.

What jobs have you had on your way to becoming a writer?

I toyed briefly with film production, then went into journalism ending up as a film reviewer, before I got published…. I still do some film journalism because I get to see Pierce Brosnan films for free that way.

Did you have any interesting experiences when you were researching your book, or getting it published?

I did an architect hero once so I contacted a local architectural firm and asked if I could interview one of their architects…. As a result I got to have coffee with this gorgeous guy called Leonardo who was half-Argentinian and half-Italian and really lovely. Of course I couldn’t remember a damn thing he’d told me about architecture afterwards he was so cute, so I had to go meet him again. Bummer, huh!

Who are your favorite authors? What authors have influenced your book?

Nora Roberts, Linda Howard (who I’ve met and is one seriously classy lady), Jennie Crusie, Susan Elizabeth Phillips. They’re my top four, but there are lots of others I love.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

Total pantser with delusions of being a plotter. (That’s my cross to bear.)

Where does the magic happen?  Where do you write?

Unfortunately it’s rarely magic… More like torture. So my torture chamber is my study in my house in London. I have posters of Marlon Brando looking surly and James Dean looking moody on the wall to inspire me —and which I feel add rather nicely to the sado-masochistic ambience of the whole experience.

Aside from writing, what do you do in your free time? 

Go to the movies, read, eat out, watch obscure Danish TV shows with my husband (who writes a crime TV blog), shout at my kids, do gym time, have girls nights out with my friends in London, travel (I do a road trip to the US every couple of years with my best mate), watch football (that’s what we call the Beautiful Game here and Americans call Soccer for some reason) and generally do anything that doesn’t involve writing (psst, which I never do in my free time, btw).

Do you prefer print books or eBooks?

Until I got my gorgeous Kindle with its pretty pink leather cover and inbuilt nightlight, I would have said print books but now I’m a total ebook tart… Best thing of all about them? You can download them instantly. No more deferred gratification, baby. I love it!

Giveaway

Heidi is giving away an e-copy of Baby, It’s Cold Outside to readers on every blog stop. In addition, she’s launching a week-long giveaway for a $10 Amazon gift card here and at every other stop this week on the Baby, It’s Cold Outside Holiday Blog Tour, including:

12/3 – Confessions of a Bookaholic

12/5 – Once Upon A Twilight

12/6 – Good Choice Reading

12/7 – Caribbean Accent Book Reviews

Visit these blogs and enter the Rafflecopter below to win!

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Baby, It’s Cold Outside

‘Tis the Season to Go Shopping

When a Christmas Day blizzard strands an up-and-coming marketing manager and her boss’s very off-limits, very hot playboy son in his department store, the two toe the line between naughty and nice as they unwrap their holiday presents—and each other!

Title: Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Author: Kate Hardy, Heidi Rice, Amy Andrews, Aimee Carson
Genre: Category – Contemporary Romance
Length: 260 pages
ISBN:  978-1-62266-810-6
Release Date: November 2012
Imprint: Indulgence

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