Interview: Molly Harper, author of And One Last Thing...
. This latest work, due out July 27th, will be her first published contemporary romance/chick lit novel.You've previously published three paranormal romances in the Jane Jameson series. Why the departure from the paranormal with And One Last Thing...?
I was between books 2 and 3 in the Jane series. At that point, I’d been writing about vampires for a while and I wanted to do something a little different. My deadline for book 3 was a ways off and I was due to have our son at any moment. I had an idea for AND ONE LAST THING, and decided to spend my maternity leave working on it. It’s about a woman who finds out her husband is cheating, and uses his company mailing list to tell everyone they know what he’s been up to. She’s exiled from her little town and has to rebuild her life from there. She meets the aforementioned yummy ex-cop neighbor, wacky romance and half-naked hijinks ensue.
I finished the book in about two months. My son would sleep during the day. I would throw in a load of laundry and work on my manuscript, instead of, you know, sleeping, like a normal person. It’s the fastest I’ve ever written a book.
Was your experience writing this novel different in any way to the way you've written your Jane Jameson stories?
I didn’t have to focus on world-building or supernatural rules, I could just work with the interactions between the characters. That, and all of the characters could go out during the day.
List 3-5 characters from And One Last Thing... and pick a word that represents them.Lacey - Resilient
Monroe - Snarky
Emmett - Meddlesome
Mike – Lazy
Beebee - Ambitious
I had another word for Mike. It started with “P” and ended with “rick.” But I didn’t know how family-friendly your blog was supposed to be. (Oh, I'm not too family friendly...)
What's your favorite thing about And One Last Thing... and what sets it apart from other contemporary romances?
I think Lacey and Monroe’s conversations are probably a little more candid that you would find in most contemporary romances. Lacey has had enough small talk and empty nothings to last her a lifetime. She says what she thinks and Monroe likes it.
What else do you have in the works?
My first werewolf romance HOW TO FLIRT WITH A NAKED WEREWOLF
will come out in February 2011. The sequel HOW TO FALL FOR A NAKED WEREWOLF will follow in March 2011.The summary for HOW TO FLIRT WITH A NAKED WEREWOLF:
Even in Grundy, Alaska, it's unusual to find a naked guy with a bear-trap clamped to his ankle on your front 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 up North - 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 he 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. Mo is convinced that Cooper is not the culprit. But if he's not responsible, then who is? Life is complicated when a when you fall head over haunches in love.
What do you have most in common with your heroine, Lacey?
Lacey’s sense of humor and ability to find really hurtful words when needed- that’s all me. (The hurtful words thing isn’t so much a skill as a liability.) However, if I ever found myself in the same position, I think my revenge would probably involve Super-Glue and chicken feathers.
If you were interviewing yourself, what would you ask and what's the answer to the question?
You’ve said that your mother is the first person to read your books, and that you have to leave the room when she gets into the love scenes. After four books, are you more comfortable with love scenes?
No. No, I am not. In fact, I’m doing everything I can to keep my mom away from repeat readings of AND ONE LAST THING, because the scenes are more explicit. Heck, until she read this book, my mom had no idea I ever attended a “brown bag party.” You have to read the book to find out what that references, because I will not go into it. I am going to pay my younger brother $20 to go after my grandma’s copy with a Sharpie, to mark out all of the inappropriate passages.
I would really like to be able to look Nana in the eye during Thanksgiving dinner.
Thanks for the great interview, Molly!
Everyone - be sure to check out Molly's site and blog for further info and shenanigans. Also, don't forget about And One Last Thing...
when it hits shelves next Tuesday, July 27th!
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