Blame It On Texas Blog Tour Giveaway & Q&A with Romance Author Christie Craig

Today it's  my pleasure to welcome Christie Craig, romance author. She took the time to answer a few questions and there's also a post about some things you might learn from "Blame it on Texas"that she wrote for the tour.

Photojournalist, Author and Speaker

Christie Craig, an Alabama native, is an award-winning, multi-published writer, multi-published photo journalist, motivational speaker, and writing teacher.. Her non-fiction articles and photography have appeared in almost three thousand national magazines. A Golden Heart finalist, and a finalist in more than fifty RWA-sponsored contests, she has gained a well-deserved reputation for writing romance fiction that has both witty humor and a suspenseful, sexy tone. Published by Silhouette in the 90s, she recently broke back into fiction in a big way, making four book sales in one day. Her seventh humorous single title romance novel, published by Dorchester, will hit the stands in June 2010. Her non-fiction book, co-authored by Faye Hughes, released September 08, is The Everything Guide To Writing A Romance Novel and their second non-fiction book, a humorous self-help relationship book, Wild, Wicked and Wanton: 101 Ways to Love Like You Are in a Romance Novel is scheduled to be released December 2010. Craig's latest writing adventure is the sale of a young adult paranormal romance series, Shadow Falls Camp, that will be published by St. Martins Press in the near future.


Click here to see a video of Christie on the Houston Chronicle.com about her overcoming the difficulties of being dyslexic.

Find Christie Online:

website
twitter
facebook

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Q&A

Bea: Christie, thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions. If you could be a character in any book what would it be ie love interest, sidekick, villain, minor character, etc.?

Christie: First, a huge thank-you for having me here today at Bea's Book Nook blog. I so appreciate you helping me promote my books. . Now to answer your question . . .

Hmm. I’m tempted to say villain. Sure, I've written a lot of scenes from the POV of "bad guys" but I'd like to take it a step further. I’d like to know what it's really like to be bad. Does that make me a bad person? LOL. Okay, on second thought, don't answer that. I’m not a bad girl and I know this because I feel bad just writing that I want to be bad. LOL. So let me change that to say I’d like to be the sidekick. I always enjoy writing my secondary characters and most of the ones in my books end up getting their own stories a little later on. So I guess I’ll go with sidekick. That way I could get some novel practice before it’s my time to be in the spotlight.

Bea: What is your guilty pleasure?

Christie: Okay, now you're asking me to share my deep, dark secrets. LOL. But, hey, we're all friends here, right? My guilty pleasures are wine and a good book. Give me a glass of Cabernet and a good book and everything else will disappear. Until my glass gets empty.(Tee hee~Bea)

Bea: What was the inspiration for this book?

Christie: The underlying theme in Blame it on Texas is an identity crisis. I think every woman at some point, and often at several points in her life, finds herself asking… “Who am I?” For most of them, the question is prompted by wondering what direction you should take in life. But when it happened to me, it was a little different . . .

About ten years ago, I woke up from a dead sleep. And for about five seconds, five very long terrifying seconds, I had amnesia. I didn’t have a clue who I was or where I was. And I sure as heck didn’t have a clue who the woman was that was in bed with me.

I remember with clarity the panic swelling up inside me, staring at this strange woman, her red hair sticking out in different directions, and I screamed at the top of my lungs, “Who are you?”


She looked as frightened as I felt, but she forced a calm in her voice when she answered, “I’m your mama.”


As funny as it turned out to be—yes, Mom still kids me about it—those few terrifying seconds of feeling nothing but a vast of emptiness have stuck with me.

In Blame it on Texas, my heroine Zoe, has a major Identity crisis. Imagine seeing a picture of yourself on an unsolved mystery show that claims you were kidnapped from some highfalutin Texas millionaire family. Imagine learning that your corpse was supposedly discovered shortly after you were kidnapped. Imagine it, when all your life you’ve had some strange memories that didn’t make sense. And again, like that night ten years ago, my heroine, Zoe Adams not only is trying to find out who she is, but who the woman is that pretended to be her mother all those years.

Bea: What would your perfect day be like?

Christie: Hmm. That's an easy one. I would take a walk along a beach with my dog, Lady, I'd then work for six hours, get at least 12 pages done, have lunch with some girlfriends, spend a few hours with my grandchild, laughing and giggling, and then have a really nice dinner with hubby and the family. Then I'd retire at night with my hubby, a good book and another glass of wine. A good writing day, good times with family, good food and even better wine. That’s my idea of a perfect day.


Bea: If you couldn't be a writer, what would be your dream job or career?

Christie: You're probably going to laugh when I say this but here goes. If I couldn't be a writer, I'd be a stand-up comic. I love entertaining people and making them laugh.

Thanks again for inviting me here to your blog. If your readers want to know more about me and my books, they can find information at my website, www.Christie-Craig.com. For a little taste of my Hotter in Texas series, watch the video below. I hope you enjoy!

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Ten Things You Will Learn from Blame it on Texas.

1. Guys don’t like to play dress up; but when one willingly dresses as a clown for their six-year-old niece’s birthday party—because the real clown canceled—he’s one special uncle. And could possibly make a special hero for some lucky lady.

2. Sometimes, fear itself can do much more damage to us than the thing we’re actually afraid of.

3. Any man who doesn’t cuss up a blue streak when you dump a plate of hot grits on him can’t be all bad. (In fact, he might just be The One.)

4. It’s important to remember the lessons of the past so we can use them when making decisions for the future. But those lessons should never keep us from having the future we deserve.

5. Before accusing the sexy guy who pounced, knocked you down, and crawled on top of you of being foreplay impaired; check to see if someone is shooting at you.

6. The southern delicacy of a banana and mayonnaise sandwich may be an acquired taste, especially when a hungry hero chomps down on the delicacy and is expecting ham and cheese.

7. If you think getting caught screaming and dancing on top of a mattress—all while attempting to rescue your cat from an overzealous dog—can be slightly embarrassing, try doing it while you’re wet from the shower, and as naked as a jay bird. Oh, and just to make it even more fun, make sure you're caught by your possible love interest who hasn’t seen you naked yet, and . . . (yes it can get worse) his two best friends.

8. It’s downright amazing how playing a few rounds of Strip Scrabble can spice up an evening.

9. A family doesn’t always have to be the people who share your bloodline; sometimes, the best families are those we make when we gather together all the people we love.

10. Learning to trust yourself is usually a lot harder than trusting another person. But both are generally required before finding true love.

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Thanks to Forever Romance, I have one copy of "Blame It on Texas" to giveaway to a US resident, no PO Boxes please. You do not need to be a follower to enter, though it's always appreciated. Please read my giveaway policy. The giveaway will run through 11:59PM EST of Monday Sept. 3rd, 2012. To enter, just comment below. :)

Click on cover for goodreads info about the book.

ETA: Random.org picked comment #6, bn100, as the winner. Congrats! I have sent them an email.