Author Saturday Spotlight: Cara Dee #Interview #Giveaway

It's Author Saturday Spotlight time again! Such a wonderful day of the week. You can sit back, drink your coffee, read a cool interview with an author, and maybe win something. This week we have the author of the books; Aftermath, Home, Noah, and  Uncomplicated Choices, the wonderful Cara Dee. She's here to chit chat and give awesome things away. We will look at her work as well and you can either enjoy time with a favorite author or discover she's new to you and welcome her to your bookshelf.

Austin Huntley and Cameron Nash are like night and day. One is a family man, works in a nice office, drives an expensive car, and is content to be content. The other one is an antisocial car mechanic with a short fuse.

Some things don’t change. Others definitely do.

After surviving a five-months long kidnapping together, they struggle to return to normalcy, all while realizing that they're more drawn to each other than they ever could've imagined.

"I know I'm not normal, but I'm not fucking stupid."

"Define normal," Austin countered quietly, meeting Cam in the doorway. "And for not being normal, you're the only person in the world who makes sense right now. What does that say about me?"

For as long as I can remember, I've only had one goal: survival. It's what I know. There is no future beyond making it through another night and getting my hands on as much money as possible, by any means necessary. Pride and dignity are things I can't afford.

It's been the worst year yet—and not because I live on the streets. That's nothing compared to being separated from my little girl. But I do what I can, and I send any money I make for her care. I can only hope she remembers me. I'm past desperate, needing her to know how much I love her and that I've done everything in my power to make it back to her.

The day I stepped off the bus in Seattle, I saw him. Adrian appeared at a time I most needed a helping hand, and his habit of rescuing strays became my salvation. He gave me hope. He taught me to dream about something I'd never dared to wish for.

A home.

Have you ever woken up and expected to see destruction everywhere?

In 48 hours, I lost everything. I came home to find my girlfriend of four years with another man. The next day a plane crash ripped my family away from me, shattering me in the process. In many ways, I died that day, too. The fun-loving man who'd lived in the fast lane and loved his career in the film industry was gone. Left was a forty-year-old shell that dwelled at the bottom of a bottle.

Only one person knew what I was going through. My sister's stepson, who hadn't been on the plane. Julian knew what it was like to lose everyone he loved, too. He'd stopped showing up at reunions when he was a teenager, so I didn’t know him very well. But I told him at the memorial service he could come out and visit me in LA whenever. One day he did, and I guessed it was as good a day as any to start picking up the pieces and see what was left of us.

When life gave you lemons, you learned who stayed and made lemonade with you. Or something to that effect. And the day Ellis Hayes kidnapped me—or, he borrowed a yacht and didn’t know I was on board—he'd definitely been handed too many lemons.

We faced a dilemma when I woke up hungover in the middle of the ocean. He needed to get the hell out of town to do some soul searching and decide whether or not to divorce his wife, and I needed to get back on land because humans didn't belong on the water. There was also better cell service on land, and I had my four-year-old daughter on vacation in Paris to check in with.

Then I remembered I wasn’t a complete tool. Ellis wasn’t doing all right, and we were practically family. I had to stay and make lemonade with him. Of course, me being me, seemingly un-dateable and complicated, I had to develop feelings for him, too.

Interview

Thank you, Cara, for being here today as the Author Saturday Spotlight. I’d like to ask you some questions, get to know you. Normal brain poking. 

I do like poking :P

How did you get started on writing and did you see yourself writing in M/M all along?

I got started in a fandom, so it was just a hobby for years. Then as more and more of my readers told me to publish, I got interested in writing full-time. And M/M did come to me quickly once I was publishing. I loved reading it and figured I had to try my hand at writing it, too. 

What is the hardest thing for you to write: sex, comedy, action? And why?

Suspense and mystery, I think I’ll have to say. Mainly because my mood decides what I want to write, so it’s not rare for me to have several projects going at once. Adding mystery would probably just mess with my head too much haha. I admire those who can pull that off. 

What were some of your favorite childhood books growing up?

I’ve always liked nonfiction, or I did until I discovered romance. I’m Swedish, so once I’d gone through all Astrid Lindgren works (author of Pippi Longstocking,) I was ready to leave the kid stuff behind. I was twelve when I read Roots for the first time. It was also the first book I read in English, and it appealed to me right away. 

Is there any book out there that you’ve read that you wish you wrote?

Not a specific book, but I envy the authors who write good horror. Funnily enough, I can’t watch horror flicks, but I like to read it. 

Are you a plotter or a pantser? 

Let me plot my response… I kid, haha. Truth be told, I think I’m about 70% pantser and 30% plotter. I lay the groundwork of each book with research and carefully planned plot points, but they’re more guidelines than anything. Because once I sit down every day and write, I need my characters to surprise me and keep me on my toes. In one of those authors-are-fucking-nutty responses, I’ll say that being a pantser allows me more time to interact with my characters. I can have internal debates—and sometimes not-so internal—with them. I want them to go *here,* and they wanna go *there.* In short, I don’t want to know every detail until they tell me. :) 

Explain your writing process best you can?

I’m not sure I have one. Inspiration comes first, of course. Then research, and if the research holds my interest, I’m done for. After that, I have very little control of what happens and when. 

Can you tell us what you’re currently working on or future projects?

Ohhh boy. Okay, I have a few M/M books in the works. For those who are following my standalone Camassia Cove series, I can mention that I’m working on Abel and Madigan’s book. It’s going to get kinky, it’s going to get a little angsty, and it’s going to get sweet. We have Abel, the young hockey player who hides his unrequited love for Madigan behind cocky smirks, and we have older, jaded Madigan, a tatted-up tattoo artist and Daddy Dom, who’s clinging to his last ounce of self-control where Abel is concerned. What could possibly go wrong?

But first, I’ll be introducing Zach and Henry. The book will be called Out, and it’s about self-discovery, exploring places and feelings, and…well, here’s the thing. Zach leaves Camassia Cove to hunt down Henry in Los Angeles, and Zach has two items on his list. One, he needs to tell Henry to come home to look after his nephew. This nephew is Zach’s little brother’s best friend. And two, Zach wants to find out whether or not he’s into men. Nowhere on this list does it say “Bang little brother’s best friend’s uncle.” Zach isn’t very good with lists, though… Out will be my next release. :)

Lastly, I have a somewhat secret project I’m working on in the background. It’s going to be a series of novellas, featuring Gray and Darius from my Camassia series. The titles will be Auctioned, Stranded, Deserted, Played, and Loved. It’s my first journey into action and grittier M/M romance. If you enjoyed my Aftermath and Outcome, you’ll probably like what I have in store for Gray and Darius. 

If there was one place you could travel to for research where would you love to go?

LA was on my list for quite a while. As I write this, that’s where I am. :) I’m staying with my friend and editor, the awesome Lisa Hollett. She’s the head bitch in charge over at Silently Correcting Your Grammar. She also knows all the cool LA places, so it’s no wonder Zach and Henry ended up there. I had to go dear-diary on this book and use locations I’d actually seen.

Northern Washington and Alaska are also on my list. I’m a winter girl! 

How can your readers/fans follow your work: Twitter, Facebook, Website?

★Facebook page: www.facebook.com/caradeewrites

★Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/caradeewrites

★Facebook: www.facebook.com/cara.dee.507

★Twitter: @CaraDeeWrites

★Website: www.caradeewrites.com

★Instagram: @carawrites

★Amazon page: http://bit.ly/CaraDee

Where do you see yourself and your writing career in five years?

I’m still writing. This is it for me. :) I have no clue how far I can go, but I’ll keep writing, one way or another. 

Fast Fire Questions:

What’s your astrology sign? Leo!

Cake or brownies? Cake!

Favorite color? The one in the rainbow. Not that one, the other.

Favorite holiday? Cruise in the Caribbean or snow-capped mountains and log cabin in the north.

Superpower you’d want? Does immortality count?

Coffee or tea? Neither, but tea works when I’m sick.

Kindle or paperback? You know, I’m starting to develop a crush on paperbacks, but the Kindle just works better when I travel.

Okay, thank you, Cara for being here!

Thank you so much for having me!

Giveaway

Cara is running her own giveaway here and it's FABULOUS!

Here's the rules:

Friend request here: www.facebook.com/cara.dee.507

Her author page here: www.facebook.com/caradeewrites

This will end September 10th!

Thank you, Cara, for being here today! 

Have a wonderful day, all!