A visit with Misty Simon, Candy Hearts Author

Today I get to interview MISTY SIMON, author of the Candy Hearts romance  ONE KISS which releases tomorrow! Getting to know Misty I realize we share a lot in common: our love for Stephanie Plum, our need for tunnelvision when working, and the fact we both think a bare wrist can be a turn on! Here’s Misty:

Misty,  The Writer 

1. What drives you to write? I have so many stories running around through my head and things I’d like to share.

2. What genre(s) of Romance do your write, and why? I write contemporary and romance with mystery because I love happy endings!

3. What genre(s) of Romance do you read, and why? I read historical because they are the one genre I’ll never write so I get to just enjoy them for what the are. Plus, who doesn’t love when a bare wrist can turn a guy on?

4. What’s your writing schedule? Do you write everyday? I write every day and try to hit at least 1500 words around my day job and family.

5. Give us a glimpse of the surroundings where you write. Separate room? In the kitchen? At the dining room table? I have a huge desk that’s actually supposed to a breakfast bar. LOL. It’s in the library surrounded by shelves of books.

6. Are you the kind of writer who needs total quiet to compose, or are you able to filter out the typical sounds of the day and use your tunnelvision? Tunnelvision, baby! There are too many things going on with three dogs a teenager and a husband to find total quiet, but I do love my iPod with earbuds.

7. Do you listen to music while you write, and if so, what kind? If not, why not? And that answered this question, partially  I listen to everything and anything that strikes my fancy at the moment from the 20’s to current plus a ton of classical.

8. How did you come up with the plotline/idea for your current WIP? Because it’s the next book in my Kissinger Kisses story the couple was already there, I just had to come up with their obstacles. I think one very serious woman and one fun-loving guy can create their own shenanigans.

9. Which comes first for you – character or plot? And why? Character for romance but plot is super important for the mysteries.

10. What 3 words describes you, the writer? Romance, Mystery, Sass

Misty – The Person 

1. Tell us one unusual thing about yourself – not related to writing! I was classically trained to sing opera
2. Who was your first love and what age were you? Wil Wheaton and I was twelve ( Awww! Love that! PJ)
3. If you could relive one day, which one would it be? Think GROUNDHOG DAY, the movie for this one – you’ll have to live it over and over and…. The day I signed my first contract.
4. Do you like a guy in boxers, briefs, or commando? Well, not that depends…but I really like boxers.
5. If you had to give up one necessary-can’t-live-without-it beauty item, what would it be? Lip gloss
6. What three words describes you, the person? Fun, outgoing, dependable
7. If you could sing a song with Jimmy Fallon, what would it be? I Want You Now by Depeche Mode
8. If you could hang out with any literary character from any book penned at any time line, who would it by, why, and what would you do together? Stephanie Plum who I would teach to shot and help her remember to get her gun out of her cookie jar

Bonus round

I love the Actor’s Studio show on Bravo, so this is my version of it:

1. Favorite sound – rain on a tin roof
2. Least favorite sound – nails on the chalkboard
3. Best song every written – Somebody
4. Worst song ever written – That one about the shoes at Christmas
5. Favorite actor and actress – Harrison Ford and Sandra Bullock
6. Who would you want to be for 1 day and why? ( It can be anyone living or dead) A duchess in the 1700s just to see what it was like
7. What turns you on? Intelligence and laughter
8. What turns you off? Arrogance
9. Give me the worst 5 words ever heard on a first date ( here’s mine: “Is that your real hair?”) You can’t put that way…
10. What’s your version of a perfect day? Reading, writing, talking, napping and snuggling.

ONE KISS

Blurb:

The last place Lorena Weber wants to be on Valentine’s Day is a singles party thrown by her newlywed best friend. But how can she say no? She’ll give it an hour—two, tops—and then she’s heading back to her normal life. But she didn’t plan on seeing the one man who had turned her world on its side New Year’s Eve with one kiss that opened doors she had firmly locked.

Caleb Manning got coerced into attending this ridiculous party by a co-worker. He’ll stay for an hour at most and then he’ll head home. That was the plan until he recognized Lorena across the room and had to see if that kiss was only New Year’s Eve magic or something more.

Excerpt:

By thirty-three he was on the verge of a divorce. The heart attack never came to pass, but the divorce had finalized just before New Year’s Eve, in time for the taxes to be screwed up.

But at least it was over. And he had celebrated New Year’s by going downtown to a local celebration where his new town actually dropped an eight-foot wrench from a crane in celebration of the New Year. The absurdity of the eight-foot wrench had distracted him from his loneliness for the moment. But then he’d been alone while everyone else was hugging and kissing at the stroke of midnight. He’d turned and seen the woman next to him was alone, too. They’d both laughed, shrugged, and then hugged. He hadn’t meant to kiss her, but she’d looked up at him with her mismatched eyes, and he couldn’t resist. Something had flared between them, something impossible to deny. Hell, he hadn’t even tried. It had been short, as kisses went, but it had packed a wallop. He hadn’t been able to get her name, and that was his only regret.

“Caleb!”

He hadn’t moved fast enough into the room for the ball of energy that was Melanie. She must have thought he wasn’t doing enough to immerse himself in her party. “Hey, Mel.”

“Did Dillon get your coat?”

“Yep.” He tucked his hands into his pockets and hunched a little. He felt gargantuan next to her.

“Well, come in and get something to drink. Mingle. The games are going to start in a few minutes, and I want you hydrated.” She smiled, and he blew out a soft breath. He’d had no idea what to expect, and the prospect of games did not exactly inspire confidence in him. But he could always step outside into the frigid February air if he had to. At least she’d calmed down on the exclamation points that had infused her voice for the last ten days. She was like one of the perpetually happy people he wanted to throttle except they were just too cute for him to actually do anything like that.

“Are you sure I can’t help you with anything?” He wasn’t above offering himself to kitchen duty to get out of playing games with a roomful of single people. Knowing Melanie, it would probably be something like Spin the Bottle.

“No, you can’t.” She grabbed his elbow, and he let her lead him out into the living room. “Mingle. And I can find you if you try to sneak away, so don’t.”

With that, she walked away in her four-inch heels like a drill sergeant on a mission, to greet more people coming through the door.

He made no eye contact as he headed for the buffet set up in the spacious dining room. He’d promised Melanie he’d come to her party to get her off his back about finding someone, but he had not agreed to participate in party games. An hour tops and he was leaving.

A woman laughed at the front of the line with a bunch of other women. The husky sound shot like one of Cupid’s arrows down his spine and landed in his gut. Where had he heard that laugh before?

He didn’t place it for a moment. But it all zinged into place when she turned toward him and he caught a full-faced glimpse of her mismatched eyes.

About Misty

Laughter and Love are two main components of any story I write. Laughter really is the best medicine and my heroines always figure that out at some point, though perhaps some later than others. I live in Central Pennsylvania with my family and two rambunctious dogs in a house that is about to celebrate its two hundredth birthday.

Buy Links for One Kiss:

Amazon    Wild Rose Press

Find Misty here:  Website / Facebook / Twitter / Amazon Author Page

Here’s a review for One Kiss from a happy reader