1. If you could invite any famous person, dead or alive, for dinner, what would you eat?
If they were dead, I guess I wouldn’t need to consider their likes, dislikes, or allergies, I’d thoroughly disinfect the whole house in case they died from The Plague or worse, and then I’d make whatever I had on hand. Maybe broiled salmon with asparagus and new potatoes. If they were alive, then we’d go their favorite restaurant and they could choose whatever they wished.
2. Who do you think you are?
Moi? Well that would be telling. But since you ask, I’m a Scorpio, and I’m a soft-hearted workaholic with aspirations of greatness who realized long ago that wasn’t going to happen. I’ll never be a princess, a millionaire, or a famous celebrity, but I can live with that. Royalty, millionaires and celebrities have a whole ton of problems I really don’t care to deal with…such as floating around the world on a yacht, living on caviar and champagne, buying whatever takes their fancy, and being adored by the masses.
3. What’s your problem?
Actually, I have a couple. I love too hard, I get upset over nonsense, and I still can’t get my head around the fact that I won’t live forever. I’m not sure I’d want to live forever, but you know what I mean. If we had some inkling of what happens next. I mean are we condemned forever to float around on clouds eating meals made with Philly and invented by our manservant. Or do we get to have some fun?
4. If you could have one wish, would you give it to me?
Not unless you promised to wish what I would wish for. And I wouldn’t wish for money or world peace or a cure for cancer, I’d wish that abuse against women, children, and animals, whether it goes under the name of displicine, medical research, or religion, be forever banned.
5. Where you at?
I’m at a wonderful point in my life. I gave up my career as a paralegal a couple of years ago, and now I spend my time writing, spoiling dh and my two pampered Persian cats, reading, doing a little retail therapy and playing computer solitaire
6. If you had to choose only one vice, what would it be?
I gave up smoking almost 20 years ago, I have the odd glass of wine, and I like to go to Vegas once in a while and play the quarter slots. I did think about giving BDSM a try, but leather is too hot to wear, and I don’t do pain, so I decided to pass. If you any good suggestions, I promise to give them consideration.
7. What’s your favorite brand of cereal?
I don’t have a favorite brand like say Kelloggs or Post. When it comes to cereal, I have the attention span of a gnat, so I’m constantly switching back and forth from one to another. Last week Shredded Wheat, this week Weetabix, next week Cheerios or maybe Special K. I’d rather have waffles, but they’re so darn fattening.
8. When you wake up in the morning, what celebrity do you most resemble?
Probably a cross between Phyllis Diller and The Grinch. I’m a night person, so in the morning, please leave me the hell alone.
9. Do you know your ass from a hole in the ground? And if so, how do you tell the difference?
I would certainly hope so. As to how I tell the difference, I pay people to deal with stuff like that.
10. Do you have anything you’d like to plug?
Yeah, absolutely!
I fall in love with all my male characters, but Theo and Stef have something so special going on they even amazed me. They go together like strawberries and cream, or peanut butter and jelly, or…or… They are so in love, so much two halves of a whole, I can actually imagine one of them saying to the other that famous Robert Browning line, “Grow old with me, the best is yet to be.”
Theo Keen has always dreamed of strutting his stuff from behind the footlights, either as a high fashion model or an actor. He’s taken modeling courses and acting lessons, but a case of seemingly incurable stage fright has prevented Theo from realizing his dream. Until one cold, snowy February afternoon Theo is helping his brother, Lance, with the annual Mardi Gras Ball and Fashion Show and an emergency arises--both volunteer male models have cancelled at the last minute and this year’s designer is an up and coming celebrity. With show time only an hour or two away, it’s too late to find replacements, and Lance is in a panic. Theo is the only person who can save the night, so Lance tells him to forget the feeble excuses and just do it.
Yet Theo can’t just do it. He’s spent years of counseling and therapy trying to overcome his problem, but that hasn’t happened and he doubts it ever will. But then the designer, Stefano Spadifora, comes into the dressing room where Theo is working and suddenly Theo’s life does a complete one eighty. Suddenly the impossible becomes possible and Theo senses that after tonight, nothing about his life will ever be the same.
Christiane France truly believes that love makes the world go round, so she likes stories with both happy and bittersweet endings. Christiane has been writing romance for the past twenty years and lives near Niagara Falls with her husband and The Boys—two black and white Persian cats.
Great interview, Rick, Christiane! And Chris, I am right there with you on the morning thing. I am no good to anyone before 10AM or until I happen to get my first two doses of caffeine. Impossible Dream sounds very cool. I love those names Theo and Stefano.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Melissa. I really enjoyed writing Dream, probably because I have a few hangups of my own.
ReplyDeleteChris