Straight Talk with Gina L. Maxwell – Entangled In Romance

Please welcome author Gina L. Maxwell for a little bit of Straight Talk!

When you are getting ready to start a new book, what’s the first
thing you do?
Honestly? I try to get over my fear that what I write won’t be good enough. The
absolute hardest thing for me is to start that first page, whether it’s with a new
book, or with one I’ve already started on but had to take a significant break from.
Once I get out of my own head and force myself to start typing out the words
floating in my brain, I get on a roll and feel better and better as I go along.

Have you had any fun fan moments since you became a writer?
The best yet is the night of my very first author signing a couple of weeks ago. After
reading a couple of excerpts, answering questions, and signing books, we made a
Harlem Shake video right there in the Barnes & Noble bookstore! I’d warned my
readers who planned on attending to prepare to open a can of crazy and they
delivered! It was so much fun; we had a hard time keeping straight faces in the
beginning. Then after that, 25 fans joined me at the Tilted Kilt pub where we
laughed, did shots—lots and lots of shots—ogled (and slightly harassed) some
nearby hotties we thought should be cover models, and generally had the time of
our lives. I decided I want to do that after every signing I ever have. LOL

If you could have dinner, coffee, or drinks with a fictional character,
who would you choose and where would you go?
I think I’d like to go out with Gideon from Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld
series. For those of you who don’t know who he is, he’s a warrior from Mt. Olympus
who was paired with a High Lord of the Underworld as punishment for helping open
Pandora’s box. He’s paired with the Lord of Lies, so he can’t say anything truthful
without experiencing extreme pain. He dyes his hair bright blue and has several
piercings, wears funny T-shirts and a chain on his wallet, and of course, is built like a
Greek god. I think holding a conversation with him would be entertaining all in itself
(“Hey, Gina, you look like hell, and I’m super pissed to be here with you tonight.”)
not to mention he’s got a wicked sense of humor. I’d just have to remember to keep
my hands off him because his wife is paired with Nightmares and can make my
nights a literal living hell.

Do you usually begin a book with a character or a plot?
I always start with my hero because to me, he’s the most important part of my
book. Once I have him figured out I can then match him up with the type of heroine
he needs to bring him to his knees. After that comes the story or plot. I figure out
how they know each other or how they meet, and let them tell me the rest.

Who would play your hero/heroine in the TV or film version of your
book?
This is the easiest question for authors to answer, I imagine, since I don’t know of
any who don’t find celebrities or models as our character inspirations. Marco Dapper
is a model and actor (currently on the Young and the Restless) and the character
inspiration behind Jackson “Jax” Maris. He’d be perfect for the role. My inspiration
for Vanessa MacGregor is model and former Miss America, Alyssa Campanella. But
since she’s not an actress, I’d go with Christina Hendricks. She has the classically
beautiful look I see for Vanessa.

Who are your favorite authors? What authors have influenced your
book?
I have two favorite sub-genres in romance: paranormal and contemporary. My
favorite paranormal authors are Gena Showalter, Kresley Cole, Lara Adrian, and
Larissa Ione. Some of my favorite contemporary authors are Lorelei James, Jaci
Burton, Lora Leigh, Ruthie Knox, and Roni Loren. I’m not sure I can say how any of
them influence this book in particular, other than I think they’re all made of total
awesomesauce and I’m always striving to be even a fraction as good as them.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?
Total and complete pantser. I have no formal training in fiction writing. I’ve taken the
occasional workshop and read more articles than I can count, but I was never
“trained technically” how to go about writing a book. I try to get a basic idea of the
story in my head and then see what happens as I go along. I’m often surprised by
what I learn as the characters open up to me. However, I am having to alter my
process somewhat as I learn to deal with tighter deadlines and working on multiple
projects. For the 3rd book in the Fighting for Love series, Fighting Irish, I had to think
ahead and write down major plot points I needed to hit throughout the story. This
was to keep myself on track as much as possible since I had less than six weeks to
write the book from conception to finish.

Where does the magic happen? Where do you write?
At the moment I write at a desk in the corner of my bedroom, but I’m hoping to
have my very own, secluded office in about a year. Until then I just deal with
distractions as best I can.

Do you prefer print books or eBooks?
For the sake of convenience (being able to carry around hundreds of books in your
purse is so awesome) and ease of holding with one hand and turning the pages with
a tap of my finger while laying in bed, definitely eBooks. BUT, I love seeing my
books and their pretty spines all lined up on my shelves! So for my absolute favorite
authors, I still buy their paperbacks and put them next to my other must-haves.
Everything else I buy for my Nook.

What’s in the works for you?
Fighting Irish is a great story with two characters I absolutely fell in love with. It’s
different from the first two books in the series, but still keeps the elements I think
readers enjoy about the series. Both hero and heroine are “damaged” from their
pasts for different reasons, and it was amazing to watch them help each other
overcome so many obstacles to find their HEA. Fighting Irish will be out this
September with the final book in the series releasing in January 2014!
I also have a paranormal romance trilogy called the Prophecy of Souls that will be
released through the Entangled Edge line. The first book in the trilogy, Desires of
the Soul, will release sometime this summer.

About the book: Rules of Entanglement

Seven days. And seven rules to break…

District Attorney Vanessa MacGregor firmly believes that structure and order are the stuff that dreams are made of. Happiness can be planned—and it starts with the seven rules she’s laid out for her future. But as she’s organizing her best friend’s wedding in Hawaii, all of Vanessa’s best-laid plans are about to meet their match in a wickedly hot MMA fighter…

Jackson “Jax” Maris is focused on surfing, training, and fighting. That is, until he opens up his big mouth, and finds himself having to pretend he’s engaged to his little sister’s best friend, Vanessa. When they’re forced to share a romantic bungalow, however, their little charade suddenly takes a turn for the seriously sexy. And while Jax is definitely not part of Vanessa’s long-term plan, he has seven days—and seven naughty nights—to turn her seven-rule plan upside down.

Title: Rules of Entanglement (Fighting for Love, #2)
Author: Gina L. Maxwell
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 397 pages
Release Date: March 2013
ISBN: 978-1-62266-794-9
Imprint: Brazen (Special Edition)