Saturday Author Spotlight: Nicole Colville #Interview #Giveaway

Happy Saturday all! It's absolutely my favorite day of the week!!! This fine day I have the amazingly talented Nicole Colville sitting here on my pretend unicorn couch of happiness, drinking lattes prepared by luscious Greek gods... Blah blah... it is what it is USE YOUR IMAGINATION!  Anywayssssss Nicole has written glorious books such as The Manchester Menage Series, The Hidden Series, Knight to Remember Series, and so very much more! She's answering my nosy questions, we are looking at some of her work, and there's a terrific giveaway at the end! YAY! So stick around.

Police officer Milo and Fireman Daniel have been dating off and on for six years, but it always seems more off than on. Just when their relationship reaches breaking point, someone enters their lives, unknowingly helping the confused couple work through their differences.

Falling in love with the man Daniel rescued and who Milo is investigating as a potential arson suspect isn’t a conventional start to any relationship, especially one which includes a mysterious blond who’s afraid to stop running. But they both see what didn’t work out as a couple, could work out as a ménage.

Daniel and Milo unite to help save Samuel, but quickly realise he’s not the only one being saved.

With so many obstacles in their way threatening to destroy the future they desire, all three have to fight to create a bond too strong for anyone or anything to break.

Meet the first three men in my Manchester Ménage Collection.

What does it cost to sell yourself? Your body? Your heart? Your soul?

At eighteen, with no job, no money, and a young sister to care for, becoming an escort seemed the perfect answer, but by the age of twenty four, Dominque is left wondering how he can break free of his ‘short term’ solution.

Jacob is at the top of his profession, leaving him with no time or desire for a relationship. Caring for another person full time isn’t on his agenda, but that soon changes when fate steps in and offers him the chance of something more.

Unable to forget the intriguing brunette after their first date, Jacob is enticed to spend more time with Dominque, seeking to put the pain of the past behind them, and bring peace to the wounded bird who captivated him so easily. Only through gaining his trust can Jacob hope to set him free.

It’s not just the clients who pay

Set against the back drop of the cities of Monte Carlo, London and the beautiful snow covered mountains of Switzerland meet three men who are fighting their way through the hidden truths of their complicated pasts. Their lives are intertwined in more ways than they can see and only working through the truths hidden deep within each of them can they free themselves and find the love that they are searching for. Each of them need the other in a way not even themselves can understand.

This is the first of three books following the complicated lives of Jamie Burton a three time Winter Olympic gold medallist, Valerio Capelli an Italian bike racing protégé and Scot a billionaire business genius. All three are stunning and sexy in different ways. All three desire the same thing, sex, love and freedom from their pasts.

Jamie Burton is an enigmatic, beautiful, intoxicating person who entices those around him without him even trying. He's someone who appears to have it all. Good looks, good nature, wealth. How appearances can be deceiving. He has a crippling emotional fear of love and relationships stemming from his painful childhood. Mix that with his obsessive compulsion to remain clean and controlled and Jamie has no chance at falling in love. That may change when he meets Valerio Capelli. An innocent curly haired eighteen year old Italian bike racing protégé who lives life to the fullest and races at two hundred miles an hour on the world’s fastest racetracks. He’s warm and relaxed and undecided about his sexuality. Everything Jamie is afraid off but he can't stop the pull this enigmatic creature has over him.

Just like Jamie Valerio is hiding the truth about his past, only by overcoming his fears and his hidden pain can he truly move on.

Valerio may be Jamie's future but his past is constantly around him. Meet Scot the intense but stunning business man who appears to have nothing with Jamie apart from their passionate sex life. He’s a billionaire playboy who is controlled arrogant and powerful but weak around Jamie. When they meet both are lost and not just in their lust for each other but from the hidden secrets in their past.

He sees things in Jamie that even he can't see, the truth shines from his black eyes tempting Jamie back into his arms I a way he doesn’t understand.

All three have hidden the truth for so long about so many things. All have dark issues which can't be spoken about.

What’s hidden in the fog of Jamie’s mind? What’s missing?
Can these two men in his life help free him from his pain? Or will they push him the edge of his sanity in their attempts to make him love?

INTERVIEW

Thank you, Nicole, for being here and being the Saturday Spotlight Author! I’m a HUGE fan of yours. I admit I haven’t been able to read ALL your work but I have read a lot and I adore your talent! I’d like to ask you a few questions and get to know you a wee better.

Thank you so much for having me around! It’s good to be here.

I love ménage it’s one of my most favorite things to read. I have my reasons for loving it but I’d love to know what your love for ménage comes from?

That’s a good question, and not so easy to answer because, to be honest, two years ago I hated ménage plot lines and considered myself far too jealous to ever enjoy reading about three, or more, people in love. I didn’t understand how they could share each other or get over their own jealousy. The books I read always left me feeling like one person was loved less, or didn’t really want the relationship — they were only there because it was their only choice to be with the one they wanted, and they put up with the third because of that reason. I’m not saying all books about polyamorous relationships are like that, after all, I didn’t read them all. I gave up. I’m easily triggered by certain things, and I found more triggers in ménage. Like cheating, lying, or slightly forced.

I had no plans to ever write one, and then on book 9 of my Hidden series which followed two men through many years of their relationship, something happened which blindsided me. There was a third man who they both were attracted to, but to move them into that ménage relationship was going to horrify a lot of readers. The hardest ménage to write is about an established couple and introduce a third. That’s effing hard lol I knew it would be difficult for the men and readers to adjust.

I groaned in dismay when the men wouldn’t let up, and fought writing the book, but the men wanted it, and after writing it, I agreed with them. A ménage was the best option — the only option. It was through writing that book, Hidden Deceit and Trust, and talking about ménage and polyamorous relationships with a few close friends, that I came to understand something important. Love isn’t confined to one person. We have an unlimited amount inside us and can easily fall in love with more than one person. It’s simply getting over the ‘rules’ and judgments which society place on us and being able to open our eyes to the possibility that it’s okay to love two people.

I found that writing my own book with my own men gave me the chance to correct all the triggers which made me dislike ménage books in the past. By making sure I, and my men, didn’t feel jealous and that each one was treated and loved equally, I found the love and the relationship between all three gave me so much more growth, both as a person and a writer.

I'm still cautious over which ménage books I pick up, but I’ve found a lot of authors, who like me, get ménage right.

Your Manchester Ménage Collection series is what sparked that question. Can you tell readers who haven’t had a chance to start this series what it’s about?

Each book follows three new men, some we meet in the previous boos briefly, some are brand new. Each one can be read standalone or in order, it’s up to you. There’s a lot of hurt and comfort in them and out for you in a couple. Each book follows fated lovers and explores the different ways ménage relationships come about and how they work. They’re all character driven and I work hard to make sure each man stands out as being different and fresh. There’s humor, sadness, romance and passion. Each one is complete with no cliffhangers, and a happy ending — or beginning as I like to finish off my books that way lol

What’s in store for that series in the future?

I have Loving Liam out Feb time, and Tempting Taylor’s book out in March, a new book with Samuel sometime in 2017. I'm concentrating on that series for a bit instead of switching between the three series I have running right now. I know fans of other series may be disappointed to hear that, but having three ongoing series is hard and I want to finish one off.

You write a lot of series’. Do you prefer series’ to stand alones to write? Why?

My first series was planned as a huge one and I was expecting it. I do love long sagas and follow ups on the characters I love. Growing up, Anne Rice was my favorite writer and I loved her collection of books and how they all mingled with the other. After my first series, I really thought I'd move on to standalones. They’re easier! Yes, they are lol You write it, publish and never go back to them. But… yeah I can never do that, it seems. I'm always slightly jealous of people who can, but I always meet new men who I want to write about in a book and then they start shouting, so I write. I also love catching sneak peaks at the older characters and following them through new books.

Writing wise that’s a nightmare as the time line is massive and you have so many characters to think about. With each new book, it’s gets more and more difficult. I have written one standalone book, Double Dealing, and I seriously loved it, but saying goodbye forever was hard. I have some more standalones planned, shorter books which I can do in between my longer novels, but I think I will always be someone who loves series more.

I see this question a lot but I’m going to ask you; what are your favorite tropes to read and write?

I generally like contemporary books right now, but in the past I was huge paranormal reader and loved mpreg, shifters, vampires. Tropes in the mm genre which I pick up are almost always contemporary and character based, in-depth growth concerning our main guys is my must have, as I like to really get to know the characters.

I like first love, second chance love, out for you. I guess I really enjoy a mean bastard who falls for someone sweet and totally different from the norm. I like to feel that hard ass is sweet to just the one he loves and we as the reader get to see that softer side which no one else does except his partner. Billionaire boyfriend… I do have a softness for rich men – I mean who doesn’t!! lol I like the powerful men being brought down a peg or too and not being able to stop falling for the one who does it.

Are you an outline writer or a fly by the seat of your pants writer?

I’ve always been a pantser. I never planned. I lived with the men in my head for a month and got down their personality traits and the brief plot, but that was it. I opened up a blank doc and just let the men tell their story. It was while writing my last book Krane that I found I struggled doing this. I took a break midway through the book and when I picked it back up again a month later I found the plot had gone. I had it planned out in my head and it had gone from my mind, leaving me blank. The plot I had found I liked didn’t work for the men when I got back and so it changed. I struggled and found that when I opened up my next ménage book, Taylor, that I had to outline the plot, as again, I had a vacation planned and worried the same thing would happen.

Outlining actually helped a lot, not only with my bad memory, but also giving me time to plan out three men and each chapter in a way I hadn’t done before. I'm not saying I will always outline, but for Taylor it’s working well. I guess when I finish I will look back on my outline and see if I actually followed it lol But at least it’s pointing me in the direction I want to go.

What is the hardest and the easiest part about writing and publishing a book?

Easiest part for me is writing it. It’s the part I enjoy the most. I guess toward the end of the book I just want it done lol but that’s the same for all of us when we see the finish line. The hardest part is those hundreds of read throughs after it’s done. There’s so many, even before it gets sent off to my editor. I can read the doc 20 times before it’s published, and no matter how much I love those men and that book, lemme tell ya, I'm glad to press that publish button and end it lol Though I'm always nervous when I publish a book, I'm also extremely happy to draw a line under it and just enjoy the men again with everyone reading it.

If you could collaborate with any author who would you love to work with?

Oh, tough one because I love so many. I guess Aimee Nicole Walker and Sloane Kennedy spring to mind because I'm a big fan of their work and of them personally. Writing together is a huge undertaking. It’s harder than doing it alone. I’ve written two books with a coauthor, Emma Leya, and although the first book went smoothly, the second didn’t. Both books are amazing, but we both didn’t plan and I think that caused a few issues because one person can go another direction and it throws you off your grove.

Can you tell us about any of your future works?

I'm currently writing Tempting Taylor, the fourth book in the Manchester Ménage series. It was going to be third, but Blue stepped up in Dalton’s book and said, nah ah, it’s me next. J The good thing is through switching the books around that I actually met a really good partner for Taylor through Blue and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the new three get along.

After that I think I'm going to stick with the ménage collection and go back to Samuel, Danny and Milo. I’ve always had a second book in mind for them, and after so many people have asked for more Samuel, I decided to do it.

How can your readers follow your career? Facebook, Twitter, website?

How has your perception of writing changed over the years?

Oh, yes, so much. When I was new and just getting into it I didn’t know much, so my understanding of how to write has grown a lot. I try hard to stick to my roots though and write how I want to, not following those rules to the letter J I’ve changed a lot in my style and tried new things, but it’s like anything in life, you need to keep growing and changing to keep interested and keep the love for what you do. I love what I do. This is my dream job and I wake up each morning thanking everyone who buys my work as it allows me to write each and every day and to be at home for my kids.

FAST FIRE QUESTIONS:

Favorite Holiday? Christmas

Favorite color? Peacock blue or teal

Coffee or tea? Oh, both depending on the time of day lol

Wine or beer? Wine for sure. I can’t stand larger or beer.

Day or night? I'm a night person but my family means I have to be up during daylight hours too, so really I'm on 24 hours a day lol

Favorite candy? Hard candy which I can suck for a long time lol

Best time of day? Around 11 am after my 3 cups of coffee have kicked in, the kids are at school and I'm working on my latest book in peace with just my cat for company.

Childhood crush? I actually had a strange crush. It was Data from Star Trek… this explains a lot as I’ve continued my love of cold and unemotional men throughout my life and I'm currently crushing on Loki from the Thor films and Ref from The Blacklist.

Favorite comfort food? Pizza for sure, extra cheese, thin base.

Okay, thank you, Nicole, for sitting and chatting with us!!!!! You’re awesome!

GIVEAWAY

Enter the giveaway to win a reader's choice ebook from the author.

Contest will end on November 11th!

Thank you to Nicole for being here and good luck all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway