It brings the Sheep great pleasure to share with you our latest interview with Award-Winning PNR and Fantasy author Crista McHugh! You may know her from books like; Alchemy of Desire, Cat's Eyes, Provoking the Spirit and the ongoing Kavanaugh Foundation Series. We hope you enjoy the interview as much as we enjoyed conducting it, truly a fun gal we hope you will all check out. Contest details following the interview!
Rome. Catacombs. 2 Sheep and 1 Witch meet.
Katie: Hi Crista, thanks for being with the ladies of Sheep today. Can you start out by tellings folks a little about your latest book Kiss of Temptation?
Sharon: Yeah, yeah, tell us about Luc! Arrogant alpha males taste good! Er, so I have heard ;)
Crista: Thank you both so much for having me! Kiss of Temptation is the 3rd installment in my sexy paranormal romance series, The Kavanaugh Foundation. Daniela, the 3rd most powerful witch in the Foundation is out to find a magic relic before the vampire witch, Colette. Luc is the only one who knows where it’s hidden. It’s definitely a “keep your enemy at arm’s length while wanting to rip his clothes off and throw him on the bed” type of story.
As for Luc, he’s more of a take-charge alpha male now, but he once was a simple village priest. Um, and yeah, he’s got a lot of sins to confess…
Katie: Daniela sounds like my kind of gal! Was she loosely based on anyone of just totally made up?
Crista: Visually, she looked like a lot of the young Italian women I saw on the streets in Florence. But otherwise, she’d just your typical witch who likes to play with fire.
Katie: Where did you come up with the idea for this book?
Crista: It flowed out of the previous book. The baddie got away, so I needed to find a story where teamwork trumped a seeming unstoppable villain. The heroine was easy to write. For the hero, though, I had to dig deep and come up with a good backstory for him.
Also, there’s some “flashbacks” between the characters that came from my morbid curiosity from the 79 AD eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Thank you, History Channel and National Geographic Channel! Then I got a few more ideas from Ghost Hunters International and Rick Steves Europe.
Sharon: I am always interested in how an author picks her character names. In The Alchemy of Desire I *loved the names Jebediah and Micajah. How did you come up with them and which brother do you have a crush on? I think I am a Cager woman ;)
Crista: I actually picked the names off an 1850 census record. It’s hard to believe old fashioned biblical names could be sexy.
As for which brother I like best, well… I like them both for different reasons. Cager is the brother I’d love to take to bed, but Diah’s the one I’d take home to meet my parents. Too bad I don’t write ménage – I could’ve had them both. ;-)
Sharon: Will we see Cager’s book?
Crista: Yes, you will see Cager’s book eventually. Right now, though, I’m working on their little sister, Hannah’s, story. Of course, Cager will be part of it.
Katie: Is there any ritual you have before sitting down to write?
Crista: I need absolute quiet – no TV, no animals, no family, no distractions. Oh, and a jumbo mug of coffee.
Katie: Caffeine! What's your favorite coffee?
Crista: I usually drink Tully’s Italian roast or Boca Java coffees. I’m a drip girl – none of those frou-frou coffee drinks for me.
Katie: If you could go out to dinner with ANYONE from past or present who would it be and why?
Crista: It varies from day to day, mood to mood. I suppose, at the moment, it would be Cleopatra. We know so very little about her, and what we do know was tempered by Roman historians who hated her. We know from coins that she wasn’t Helen of Troy, but she somehow seduced two of the most powerful men in her time and launched a war.
Sharon: What would you eat for dessert?
Crista: Definitely NOT the chilled monkey brains from Temple of Doom. ;-)
Sharon: Well, May was zombie awareness month so brains might actually be an option ;)
Katie: What's the craziest thing you did in college, well that you can tell us anyway?
Crista: I was a wild child in college. For example, there’s a picture of me in the Emory Wheel (campus newspaper) passed out in the bushes at the Beta House. Then there was the time I was on a dating show in the UK. I would share more, but I don’t want to incriminate myself further.
Katie: Dating show? We will talk about this more off the record. *evil laugh*
Katie: You live in the Seattle area; does all the rain ever bring you down?
Crista: Not at all. People have this mistaken perception that it rains all the time in Seattle. Actually, it rains more in Mobile, AL, where I did med school. The short days in winter do get to me – I admit that – but the long, sunny days in summer make up for it. And I love the lush greenery here. Seattle is the Emerald City, after all (thank goodness there isn’t a Munchkinland nearby, though).
Sharon: What? Not a fan of the Lollipop Guild? ;)
Crista: The Munchkins totally creeped me out when I was a kid.
Katie: As we are all well aware Seattle is a big area populated with many vampires. So how many have you noticed, are they hot and do you know any that are single males?
Sharon: (rolls eyes) Excuse her Crista, she has a slight vamp fetish. (Throws book to distract Katie) psst… Crista, *do you know any?
Crista: Nope, I haven’t noticed any disco-ball vampires around here. But if you want hot vampires in Seattle, I suggest you read Laurie London’s Bound by Blood.
Katie: Sparkles or not I will take ANY hott vamps! But I will be adding that series to my reading list, thanks.
Sharon: I actually have that one on my kindle waiting to be read.
Katie: Other then vamps I do have a big love for mermaids but you don't really read about them in PNR or UF, would you ever consider doing a mermaid story?
Crista: I think the reason I’ve never considered a mermaid story is the fact I’d have to figure out how to write a sex scene without getting too squicky. I’d have to go all Splash and have a mermaid who could have legs on land or something. I’ll file it away for an idea for my PNR series, though.
Katie: Or, just an idea here, it could be like tail sex. But hear me out. Like in Avatar they had pony tail hair sex….could be something close to that.
Crista: Well, if you want more mermaid lovin’, I know Daisy Harris, Joey Hill, and Vivian Arend all have some good stuff.
Sharon: My kindle is my presssssssious, what is yours?
Crista: My Nook color. Jeff Bezos is Sauran from the land of Morder (evil!!!)… and I can now play Angry Birds on my Nook Color, too.
Katie: Where can fans find you in the coming months, any book signings or blog tours coming up?
Crista: I’ll be at RWA Nationals in NYC in late June and at the Emerald City Conference here in Seattle in late October. I’m planning on going to RT’s Reader Convention next spring in Chicago, too.
Sharon: Don’t forget your Ruby Slippers!
Katie: In the nursery rhyme "Mary had a little lamb" why was that lamb so clean and why did it follow Mary all over town?
Crista: Um… it followed Mary so the men in kilts wouldn’t get it dirty? (sorry – live in the UK way too long and heard too many sheep jokes)
Katie: Uh ok then lol…moving on!
Sharon: Maybe she should have a chat with Ben? He likes Sheep jokes…
Katie: Now it's time for our fun round of Rapid Fire questions. Please clear your mind Crista and answer with the first thing that pops up. Ready? Set…..GO!
Katie: Broadsword or Claymore
Crista: Calymore
Sharon: Elves or Orcs
Crista: Elves (duh)
Katie: Casablanca or Gone With the Wind
Crista: GWTW (I’m such a Southern Belle)
Katie: Vikings or Romans
Crista: Romans
Sharon: Youth or Wisdom
Crista: Wisdom
Katie: Coke or Pepsi
Crista: Cherry Coke Zero, please (Emory grads aren’t allowed to drink Pepsi products)
Katie: Ha ha! Love it! Coke wins again!
Sharon: (pouts)
Sharon: Firefly or The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.
Crista: Ah, you got me! How can I choose between my love of Bruce Campbell and my fellow Browncoats???
Katie: I know right?
Katie: Blood pudding or Haggis
Crista: Ew! Neither.
Sharon: Wine or Champagne
Crista: I’ll have a nice Chianti with my fava beans, thank you.
Katie: Black Hole or Worm Hole
Crista: Worm Hole
Katie: Jetsons or Flinstones
Crista: Jetsons
Sharon: Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Frosted Flakes
Crista: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Katie: Thanks so much for taking the time to sit down and chat with us today, would you like to add anything before we go?
Crista: Katie and Sharon, y’all have been awesome hostesses! I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much during an interview. Thank you so much for having me.
Prize Giveaway: Crista is giving away one copy of anything from her backlist (winners choice) and a $10 gift card to either B&N, Samhain or Amazon. Make sure to list BOTH things below to automatically get yourself entered to win! AND followers of our blog will DOUBLE their chances to win.
1. Your Email Address
2. What kind of Vampire are you attracted to? Example: Priest? Warrior? Guy next door?
Contest will run until June 21st at midnight.
Good luck!
