Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Interview & Giveaway with Molly Harper


Hello everyone! 
LITERAL ADDICTION and Book Monster Reviews are very proud to welcome the incredibly talented and witty Molly Harper to our sites today!


Molly Harper Intro:

Molly has a great bio online, so we thought we’d borrow it for today’s Event:

About this author
Molly HarperMy mother remembers an 8-year-old me setting up my “writing office” in our living room by putting her old manual typewriter on the couch next to a toy phone. And I (very slowly) pecked out the story of my third-grade class taking a trip around the world and losing a kid in each city.

I had a dark sense of humor, even then.

In high school, when other girls my age were writing poems about dying unicorns and bleeding roses, I was writing essays about having political arguments with my dad at the dinner table. (Whoever made the other person laugh at their own political party won the argument.) I knew I wanted to write when I grew up, but I also knew there was very little chance I could make a living writing books, so I went for the next best thin
...more”My mother remembers an 8-year-old me setting up my “writing office” in our living room by putting her old manual typewriter on the couch next to a toy phone. And I (very slowly) pecked out the story of my third-grade class taking a trip around the world and losing a kid in each city.

I had a dark sense of humor, even then.
 
In high school, when other girls my age were writing poems about dying unicorns and bleeding roses, I was writing essays about having political arguments with my dad at the dinner table. (Whoever made the other person laugh at their own political party won the argument.) I knew I wanted to write when I grew up, but I also knew there was very little chance I could make a living writing books, so I went for the next best thing – newspaper writing.

I majored in print journalism at Western Kentucky University and used my shiny new degree to get a job at my hometown newspaper. I married my high school sweetheart, David, a local police officer. And for six years, I wrote about school board meetings, quilt shows, a man “losing” the fully grown bear he kept as a pet in his basement, and a guy who faked his death by shark attack in Florida and ended up tossing pies at a local pizzeria.

I loved my job at the paper. I loved meeting new people every day and never knowing where I would end up. But somehow, the ever-shifting schedules of a police officer and a reporter did not equal "family friendly." One of us needed to take a normal job for the sake of our young daughter. I took a secretarial position at a local church office, which left me with dependably free evenings for the first time in my adult life. David was working the night shift that summer and I was losing.my.mind. We were living in "The Apartment of Lost Souls" while building our new home. This was the place where appliances and small electronics went to die. Every night I would tuck our snoozing child into bed and wait for the washing machine to start smoking or the computer to suddenly flash the "blue screen of death." Then there was the plague of frogs in the bathroom that put our daughter of potty-training for about six months.

Normally, when things get tough, I can take solace in reading. But I surveyed my packing box of favorite books with the apathetic air of someone who stands in front of the open refrigerator for 10 minutes and can't find anything. Nothing sounded good. So I just sat down and started writing something I would want to read.

Being a huge fan of vampire movies and TV shows, I wondered, what would be the most humiliating way possible to be turned into a vampire- a story that a vampire would be embarrassed to share with their vampire buddies over a nice glass of Type O. Well, first, you'd have to make the protaganist a bit of an accidental loser. She's single, almost 30, and a librarian working in the small Kentucky town where she grew up. This "triple whammy of worry" has made her a permanent fixture on her Mama's prayer list. And despite the fact that's pretty good at her job, she just got canned so her boss could replace her with someone who occasionally starts workplace fires. She drowns her sorrows at the local faux nostalgia-themed sports bar and during the commute home, she's mistaken for a deer and then shot by a drunk hunter. And then she wakes up as a vampire.

And thus, Jane Jameson and the wacky denizens of Half-Moon Hollow were born.”

As mentioned, Molly is the proud creator of the JANE JAMESON and HALF MOON HOLLOW series, as well as the NAKED WEREWOLF series. 
JANE JAMESON has 4 books and 1 novella currently – “Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs”, “Nice Girls Don’t Date Dead Men”, “Nice Girls Don’t Live Forever”, “Nice Girls Don’t Sign a Lease Without a Wedding Ring” (novella), and “Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors” .

The NAKED WEREWOLF series currently has 2 installments – “How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf” and “The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf”.

HALF MOON HOLLOW has 2 books currently as well – “Driving Mr. Dead” and “The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires”, which was just released on 7/31/12. 

For those of you new to Molly’s incredible work, we thought we’d give you the synopses for a handful of the books to peak your interests…




“Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs”
 JANE JAMESON Book #1:

Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs (Jane Jameson, #1)
Maybe it was the Shenanigans gift certificate that put her over the edge. When children's librarian and self-professed nice girl Jane Jameson is fired by her beastly boss and handed twenty-five dollars in potato skins instead of a severance check, she goes on a bender that's sure to become Half Moon Hollow legend. On her way home, she's mistaken for a deer, shot, and left for dead. And thanks to the mysterious stranger she met while chugging neon-colored cocktails, she wakes up with a decidedly unladylike thirst for blood.

Jane is now the latest recipient of a gift basket from the Newly Undead Welcoming Committee, and her life-after-lifestyle is taking some getting used to. Her recently deceased favorite aunt is now her ghostly roommate. She has to fake breathing and endure daytime hours to avoid coming out of the coffin to her family. She's forced to forgo her favorite down-home Southern cooking for bags of O negative. Her relationship with her sexy, mercurial vampire sire keeps running hot and cold. And if all that wasn't enough, it looks like someone in Half Moon Hollow is trying to frame her for a series of vampire murders. What's a nice undead girl to do?


“Nice Girls Don’t Bite Their Neighbors”
 JANE JAMESON Book #4:

Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors (Jane Jameson, #4)
Just as Jane Jameson’s unlife seems to be stabilizing, fate sinks its fangs firmly into her butt. Despite her near-phobia of all things marital, her no-frills nighttime nuptials to her sexy boyfriend Gabriel are coming along smoothly. But the road to wedded bliss gets bumpy when a teenage acquaintance is fatally wounded in front of Jane’s shop and she turns him to save his life. The Council pronounces Jane responsible for the newborn vamp until he can control his thirst. 

Jane’s kitchen at River Oaks barely holds enough Faux Type O to satiate the cute teen’s appetite and maintain Gabriel’s jealous streak at a slow simmer. As if keeping her hyperactive childe from sucking the blood out of the entire neighborhood isn’t enough to deal with, the persnickety ghost of Jane’s newly deceased Grandma Ruthie has declared a war on the fanged residents of River Oaks. Suddenly, 

choosing monogrammed cocktail napkins and a cake that she can’t eat seems downright relaxing in comparison. 


Tensions inside the house are growing…and outside, a sinister force is aiming a stake straight for the center of Gabriel’s heart. Most brides just have to worry about choosing the right dress, but Jane fears that at this rate, she’ll never make it down the aisle for the wedding all nice girls dream of…





“How to Flirt With a Naked Werewolf”
 NAKED WEREWOLF Book #1:

How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf (Naked Werewolf, #1)
Northern Exposure Even in Grundy, Alaska, it’s unusual to find a naked guy with a bear trap clamped to his ankle on your porch. But when said guy turns into a wolf, recent southern transplant Mo Wenstein has no difficulty identifying the problem. Her surly neighbor Cooper Graham—who has been openly critical of Mo’s ability to adapt to life in Alaska—has trouble of his own. Werewolf trouble. For Cooper, an Alpha in self-imposed exile from his dysfunctional pack, it’s love at first sniff when it comes to Mo. But Cooper has an even more pressing concern on his mind. Several people around Grundy have been the victims of wolf attacks, and since Cooper has no memory of what he gets up to while in werewolf form, he’s worried that he might be the violent canine in question. If a wolf cries wolf, it makes sense to listen, yet Mo is convinced that Cooper is not the culprit. Except if he’s not responsible, then who is? And when a werewolf falls head over haunches in love with you, what are you supposed to do anyway? The rules of dating just got a whole lot more complicated. . . .

“The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf”
 NAKED WEREWOLF Book #2:

The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf (Naked Werewolf, #2)
Baring It All Generations of werewolves have been secretly residing in a secluded valley a stone’s throw from Grundy, Alaska. So when a snooping Outsider comes to Grundy to investigate rumors of lycanthropic shenanigans in the area, the valley’s pack alpha, Maggie Graham, resolves to chase him away, even if doing so takes a quick bite on the butt. What a pity that researcher Nick Thatcher turns out to be so drool-worthy, and that his kisses make Maggie want to sit up and beg. Maggie just can’t seem to convince Nick to leave . . . and even worse, she can’t convince herself to stay away from him. Cross-species dating is problem enough for a harried alpha female, but on top of that, a rival group of werewolves is trying to move into the valley. With interpack war threatening, Maggie can’t afford to be distracted. Combining romance and a career can be tough for anyone; for a werewolf in love with a human, it may be disastrous. . . .




“Driving Mr. Dead”
 HALF MOON HOLLOW Book #1:

Driving Mr. Dead (Half Moon Hollow, #1)
HELL ON WHEELS



After failing as a magician's assistant, a photographer, and most recently, a bride, Miranda Puckett takes a position as a driver for Beeline, Half-Moon Hollow's premiere vampire concierge service. 


Miranda's assignment? Driving Collin Sutherland, the world's most fastidious vampire from Washington to Kentucky, so he can deliver a mysterious black case to Council official Ophelia Lambert.



Collin, a paranoid, aristocratic vampire with a debilitating fear of flying, refuses to let the case out of his sight. Miranda needs this time on the road to decide whether to permanently cut her ties with the fiance that had an "emotional affair" with a childhood pal, but Collin’s neatnik tendencies are driving her around the bend. The man acts as if leaving a fast food wrapped on the passenger seat is reason for a full-on CDC de-contamination scrub-down of the car. All she can do is promise to stop intentionally doing the things that make his stiff upper lip twitch with irritation. 


As more and more mishaps occur on the road trip from hell, Miranda and Collin work together to meet his delivery deadline. Hotel rooms are destroyed. Beloved cars are defiled. And somewhere along the line, client-driver hostilities become snarky flirtation. 

Will Collin and Miranda make it to the Hollow in one piece? And if they do, will Miranda leave old, safe relationships behind for something new and well, just plain weird?



“The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires”
 HALF MOON HOLLOW Book #2:
JUST RELEASED 7/31/12

The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires (Half Moon Hollow, #2)
Iris Scanlon, Half-Moon Hollow’s only daytime vampire concierge, knows more about the undead than she’d like. Running all their daylight errands—from letting in the plumber to picking up some chilled O neg—gives her a look at the not-so-glamorous side of vampire life. Her rules are strict; relationships with vamps are strictly business, not friendship—and certainly not anything else. But then she finds her newest client, Cal, poisoned on his kitchen floor, and only Iris can help.

Cal - who would be devastatingly sexy, if Iris allowed herself to think that way - offers Iris a hefty fee for hiding him at her place until he figures out who wants him permanently dead. Even though he’s imperious, unfriendly and doesn't seem to understand the difference between "employee" and "servant," Iris agrees, and finds herself breaking more and more of her own rules to help him - particularly those concerning nudity. 



Turns out what her quiet little life needed was some intrigue & romance—in the form of her very own stray vampire.

We know!  We have you scouring the internet to find the books from your favorite booksellers, right!?  We don’t blame you!  Hopefully you’ll give us just a few more minutes of your time though, so we can find out some more about Molly and her library of literary excellence! 




LITERAL ADDICTION/Book Monster Reviews:  Hi Molly!  We’re very happy to have you here today and are thrilled to help you promote “The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires” and the rest of your amazing backlist as well.  Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with us.

MOLLY: I’m so happy to be here!

LITERAL ADDICTION/Book Monster Reviews: We always start by getting to know our guest author a little bit better…

Q1): Can you tell us 3 things about yourself (no matter how random) that we couldn’t find out easily on the Internet?

MOLLY:  I have a secret obsession with Queen music.  When I die, I want “Bohemian Rhapsody” played at my funeral.

Most people know that I’m clown-phobic. It’s called coulrophobia.  It’s a real thing.  But I’m also afraid of sharks, to the point that I get nervous in pools sometimes.   And yet, every year I watch Shark Week. It’s pretty twisted.  I don’t understand why I do it.

I used to make wedding cakes as presents to my friends. I got pretty good at it.  But my illustrious career ended when I was driving a five tier cake to the venue, a deer ran out in front of the car, and the top tier flipped out of my hands and onto the floor.   So it was now a four-tier cake.  I decided the stress wasn’t worth it and started buying china off the registry like a normal person.


Q2): What are 3 things that always make you smile?

MOLLY: My kids say the funniest things.  My husband says downright bizarre things.  And my mom sends me texts that rival some of Jane’s adventures. All together, they do or say at least one thing every day that cracks me up.


Q3): If you could spend the day with any of your characters, who would you want to spend it with, why, and what would you want to do?

MOLLY: Probably Dick Cheney, because he’s my favorite of all my characters.  That’s why he gets all of the good lines.  I’m sure I would make all of kinds of plans for what we could do.  But by the end of the, those plans would be shot to heck and we would end up in jail in Canada and have to call Jane for bail money.


Q4): What are some of the things that you enjoy doing when you’re not writing or taking care of other author business?

MOLLY:  I love to read pretty much anything.  I am trying to master making homemade ice cream. (It’s the salt part that messes me up, every time!  I either put in too little or too much.) And I am a little obsessed with watching Teen Wolf (MTV) and School Spirits. (SYFY)


Q5): What are the best and worst parts about writing for you?

MOLLY: The best part is when I write something that makes me laugh.  Going back over something you wrote months ago and finding some clever little nugget you don’t remember writing is awesome.

Editing is, without a doubt, the worst part.  When you finish a book, you mentally move on to the next project.  And when you’re going through an editor’s changes, you see how much work you DIDN’T accomplish.  It’s a little depressing, but definitely a necessary part of the process.


Q6): Are there any specific authors or titles that you feel have inspired you to become the writer you are today?

MOLLY:  Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Jane Austen, and Teresa Medeiros.  I have been reading Teresa Medeiros books since I was a young teen. (Probably before I should have been reading romance novels. ) I met her a few years ago at a Kentucky book conference and had a squealing, embarrassing fan-girl moment all over her.  I’m fortunate that she didn’t file a restraining order based on a first impression, because we’ve become friends since.  It’s very surreal, but another huge perk of being an author- you get to meet your heroes!


Q7): What are your favorite type of scenes to write (dialogue, sex, action, etc) and why?

MOLLY:  I really like it when my characters are in large groups, talking to each other.  I usually end up with some really funny dialogue and interplay between them.  Zeb, Dick and Jane usually provide a sort of DVD commentary for “grown-up conversations,” which is a lot of fun.  I think I would really enjoy writing for television.


Q8): Was there any specific inspiration behind the creation of the HALF MOON HOLLOW series?

MOLLY: Well, I missed Jane.  I’d written my last NICE GIRLS book, and I didn’t really want to let her or Dick or Gabriel go.  I’d built this whole town up for them to play in, and there was no reason I couldn’t invent other people to play there, too. So I started hiding “clues” in the NICE GIRLS books.  Iris, the main character in THE CARE AND FEEDING OF STRAY VAMPIRES showed up as Jane’s wedding planner in NICE GIRLS DON’T BITE THEIR NEIGHBORS.  In CARE AND FEEDING, Iris mentions adding a car service, which is eventually manned by Miranda in DRIVING MR. DEAD. It’s been fun, adding those Easter eggs.


Q9): What about JANE JAMESON and NAKED WEREWOLF?

MOLLY: With Jane, I wanted to do a vampire story, but I wanted to make it funny, southern and fairly bloodless.  And I wanted to make it quirky, with features like an aisle at Wal-Mart just for vampire products, so the vampires had to live in the open. I wanted a heroine who was a little left of normal.  Instead of being a delicate flower or a kick-ass action gal, I wanted her to be clumsy and prone to social disaster- which is very close to my own personality. So basically, I wrote a story that I would want to read.

With the Naked Werewolf books, I was inspired by an ice storm that swept through our area in January 2009.  Our entire town was paralyzed by downed limbs and collapsed power lines.  I ended up sleeping at my inlaws’ house on a mattress in front of their fireplace, with my infant son and three-year-old daughter.  My husband, a police captain, was working round-the-clock emergency shifts, so we barely saw him.  The sense of isolation and helplessness really got to me, and I took notes about how I felt.  I’d already planned to write a werewolf story, but being subject to the cold and the dark in that way helped me choose an Alaskan location.  My notes eventually turned into the first few chapters of HOW TO FLIRT WITH A NAKED WEREWOLF.


Q10): How many books do you have planned for each of the series?

MOLLY: Well, I’ve written the last book featuring Jane as the main character.  But she will show up in all of the Half-Moon Hollow spin-offs.  And I can write those until they tell me to stop. I will write at least one more Naked Werewolf book, which I am really excited about.


Q11): What were some of the challenges in bringing the HALF MOON HOLLOW series to life?

MOLLY: I always struggle with plotting.  My plots move either too fast or too slow. I am very lucky to have a patient agent and editor.


Q12): What are you the most proud of with regards to your career thus far?

MOLLY:  It’s still a huge thrill for me to walk into bookstores and find my books on the shelves.  I still can’t believe it’s happened for me.  And it makes me extraordinarily happy that I’ve made people forget their problems for a little while and escape.  I get letters from people who tell me my books helped them laugh while they were undergoing chemo, going through a divorce, or grieving, and it makes me cry a little every time.  I am very grateful.


Q13): If could give one quick piece of advice to aspiring authors, what would you tell them?

MOLLY:  Writers write.  It’s short advice, but true.  You can read all of the books on technique you want.  You can take classes and join critique groups, but the only thing that will improve your writing and get your story on the page is sitting down and writing words.


Q14): What’s up next for Molly Harper? What do you have going on in the next couple months that your readers might be interested in?

MOLLY: I was fortunate enough to be included in an anthology called THE UNDEAD IN MY BED, which will be released in September.  It will include stories from Jill Myles (as Jessica Sims) and Katie McAllister.  My contribution is another Half-Moon Hollow spin-off story.
And then, starting in December, Pocket Star e-book originals will release my series focusing on the characters in a Kentucky tourism office.  MY BLUEGRASS BABY is the first book in the series and is available for pre-order now.


Q15): Is there anything special that you’d like to say to your readers while we have you here today?

MOLLY: Be sure to check out my blog at singleundeadfemale.blogspot.com and my websitewww.mollyharper.com.  You can find me on Facebook at Molly Harper, Author or on Twitter at @mollyharperauth


LITERAL ADDICTION/Book Monster Reviews: Molly, thank you so much again for being with us today. We’re very happy to help you promote your new release and your entire backlist! We’d absolutely love to have you back to promote your next book if you’d be interested.

MOLLY: Thanks for having me!


If you want to keep up with Molly, you can find her here:



Molly is graciously offering up  a copy of The Care & Feeding of Stray Vampires* to a winner from LITERAL ADDICTION and a winner from Book Monster Reviews.

*Prize may be subject to change

To Enter, fill out the Rafflecopter widget for Molly’s Event, follow the directions, take action, and mark as ‘Done’.

Make sure that your Rafflecopter email address is correct.
Want a 2nd chance to win??  Go to LITERAL ADDICTION  and enter to win the contest on their site too.

GOOD LUCK!!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

3 comments:

Victoria said...

I'm wanting Care and Feeding SO BAD!

Allie said...

This looks great. So glad I read about it.

Barb P said...

I am a huge fan of Molly Harpers' and of Book Monster! I would love to enter the contest unfortunately I don't do Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for the awesome giveaway though.