Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Interview w/ Bella Love-- find out what her hubby gets her every year!


Jane MacInnee doesn't get spun up much. Only three times in her life, and two of those involved Finn Dante, the youngest of the dangerous Dante boys who roamed the backwoods town where her family reigned supreme at the top of their swampy social pile.

But eleven years ago she broke free and started an event planner business.  Now she's aimed at the stratosphere with her newest, richest client. Nothing's going to stop her from succeeding.

All she has to do is what she's best at: fake it till she makes it.  Relentless determination, white-knuckled control and a perky smile.  No one wants anything else from her.

Except Finn.

When their paths cross again, eleven years after their river-side, body-firing kiss, Jane is about to lose the white-knuckled control that's got her so far from the backwoods she's spent her life running from. 

Finn knows he doesn't need to chase her down.  He just needs to show her what she's made of.  Unwind her, slow and hot.   And never let up, not even when she begs him. 

Because he's been waiting for Janey Mac to come undone his whole life.


Bella! Good morning hun! Come on in to the kitchen. I'm working on chocolate croissants this morning and they just have a few more minutes. I want to hear all about Spin while we wait. So, what can you tell me a little about Jane, Finn and their journey? These two have a little bit of history together, right?
Did you say chocolate croissants? You did??  :sidles up closer:  It's just that Janey, the heroine of Spin, is really into food, and she would love chocolate croissants.  Unfortunately, her subconscious (coughmecough) hadn't yet provided that particular bit of information, that such things exists. I'l be sure to let her know. 
Yes, Finn and Jane (or Janey, as Finn calls her) have a history. It consists of two kisses. Two Janey-sponsored kisses. Two very dangerous kisses.  Janey thinks of Finn a "dangerous bookends to my errors in judgement."   
See, Finn's the youngest of the dangerous Dante brood, the troubled sons of the local pawnshop owner, and Janey is the mayor's daughter.  A bad mix.  But Finn is like electricity for Janey; all he has to do is show up, and she starts sparking. 
The first kiss came when Jane was 13.  It lasted about three seconds and almost made her pass out her heart was pounding so hard.   
The second came five years later when she graduated high school, and was at the end of her rope, thinking she was going to be stuck in their swampy hometown of Dodge Run forever.   
She stumbled down to the slow-moving river that runs through the center of their town, and ran into Finn "almost literally and mostly accidentally," and starts complaining about being stuck in Dodge.  Finn points out she had choices.  
"It’s just a town, Janey Mac,” he’d said, all lazy and half-smiling in the moonlight.  “There’s lots of towns.  If you don’t like this one, pick another. If you don’t like the way those colleges turned you down, get a back up plan. If you don’t like cheerleading, do something else.” He gaze dragged down my body like a stick through embers, and I started sparking.  “There’s not much need for cheerleaders anymore, Janey, now that school’s over.”

He didn’t know so much.  There's always a need for cheerleaders.            

Still, this was an exciting thought.  I felt hot and fluttery, and attributed it entirely to the new-sprung hope of a Back-Up Plan and none whatsoever to the sensual heat of Finn Dante.

Pretty much without thinking, I pushed up on my toes and kissed him.  In thanks.  In grateful appreciation.  Nothing else.

Pretty much.

I might have started that kiss, but he most definitely finished it.  Finished me off like a glass of wine, and I went down hot, wet and willing.  We used every tool at our disposal, mouths, tongues, hands, zippers.  God knows how far it’d have gone if we weren’t interrupted by the group of juniors and seniors tripping down to the cypress and swamp maple-lined riverbank that divided our town in two: the have-nots and the wanna-be’s.

I was the wanna-be’s.  Finn was the have-nots.  But corny as it sounds, that night I thought Finn Dante had it all.

I’m not sure I ever recovered from that kiss.   I suspected things about myself after that kiss.  Things about what I might be capable of.  Things that scared me.  Things that felt turned off, right in the middle.  Like a light switch flipped off.

Like a genie stuffed back into a bottle.
So when the story opens, eleven years later, the sparks between Finn & Janey are just sitting there, like embers, ready to fly.   
Well, now. That sounds pretty entertaining! Alright, it's the Southern girl in me, I'm sure, but I'm nosy as all get out and have always had a thing for that show Pop-Up Video. Do you remember that one? I'd love to know a couple fun behind the scenes facts about Spin.
  • The hero & heroine's names made them.  In early versions,  the hero had a different name, and Jane's name was so...plain.  Obviously, right? That was my plan, but it just wasn't working.  I didn't know their names were the problem, of course, I just thought I was writing a bland story (every story I've ever written has started out bland).  I was just hoping I'd find the magic. Then, as I was rewriting the opening scene, writing the part where Jane remembers the riverside kiss, she suddenly thinks of the hero as "Finn Dante" (And I, the author, was like who??)  Then Finn called her "Janey Mac," and BAM, the story came alive.  *oh how interesting! who woulda thought!*
  • The story is in 1st person, but it started out being in 3rd person.  I certainly didn't intend for Spin to be 1st person, but when the characters got their names and the story suddenly came alive (see above), well,  BAM apparently required first person.  But it was a blast, and I hope you love it!
  • There is a love scene where, for emotional arc reasons, I had to choose between having the hero & heroine use ropes, or something from the kitchen.  I'm not saying which I choose.  Or what was in the kitchen.  Just that it was a fun choice.  (And, for curious souls, the other, deleted scene will be in the follow-up story, Dare.)
Ah that was just mean! Now I'm dying of curiosity! lol Totally gonna console myself by talking about Finn. He sounds like he's got some bad boy in him. What's your favorite thing about those bad boys and what gets you the most about Finn?
I love people who push limits, especially the limits of self-satisfied people.  Actually, I admire it.  And I think that's what a lot of 'bad boys' do. A core element of the 'bad boy' thing is about seeing through facades.  About not caring much for trappings or calcified rules or the limitations imposed by others.  I think that's its allure. 
This could go too far, of course, but in romance fiction, the 'bad boy' lets himself to be confined by things that are pretty universally acknowledged as 'good': love, commitment to a higher good, etc.  So, someone's not going to start out smoking cigarettes behind the school and end up shooting up a schoolhouse.  There are limits to badness; usually that there's some core goodness constraining it.  Something worthy of being redeemed. 
And there's something incredibly powerful about redemption, about a good man (or woman) gone wrong, ruined or hurt by circumstances outside their control, who ends up getting saved.  I love when love, commitment, something good and worthy, overcomes all the darkness.  To do that, you've got to first have some darkness.  Thus, bad boys.   
Wow, that was a long answer.  :)
LOL but a good one! So, was there any fun research you had to do or stumbled upon working on Finn and Jane's story? 
I researched some awesome stuff!  Mixed drink recipes (fun! I'll be posting some on my Facebook page--BellaLoveAuthor); military working dogs ( Love. Love love love love); pawnshops (with more research on the way); swamps (amazing places!), and travel in the eastern California region (I now need to get to Tahoe. Like, bad.)  
Oh wow that's quite the assortment! Definitely gonna be an interesting read. And speaking of reading...do your friends and family read your "almost-erotic" or maybe "damn straight they're hot" romances? (lol I really *love* that by the way). Does it make you nervous? Or wig you out?
Well, I am writing under a pseudonym....  ;)  My husband works with high-up military folks, my kid goes to a school, I live in a town where people know each other.  It's mostly for my family's sake that I don't need anyone else knowing (and judging) what is between me, my muse, and my readers.   
My husband is great about it. He's says, 'Why do you care what they think?"  Um, good question.  Partly because people are so ready to judge, and partly because I'm an incredibly private person, and partly they'll think they now know something about my sex life (weird how people don't assume mystery authors investigate corpses or thriller writers defuse bombs in their spare time, but whatever...) 
That really is an odd one isn't it? People are so funny sometimes. Alright got a few silly questions for ya before you head out...

Favorite book cover color?
Whoa, I never thought of that!  Um, I have to say, I love the blue on the cover of Spin.
Favorite Man Candy? Pictures welcome and encouraged ;)
Really?  Oh, the sufferin-- Okay.  You convinced me.  Since Finn's a working man, I'm on a bit of a working man kick....
I'm completely freaked out by...?
Do you want 'em alphabetically or chronologically?  :)  I'll say...spiders dropping down onto my arm while I'm writing.  Yep.  Way.  *oh geez, joining you in this one!*
Last thing that made you gigglesnort?
Uh-oh.  Is this not supposed to happen too often?  I do it a lot.  My kid, his friends, most of my friends...I'm surrounded by naturally funny people, so I end up laughing a lot.  And sadly, snorting is part of that. :)
Funky socks or plain ol white?
Oh, I'm a BIG sock aficionado.  My husband gets me boxes of hand-picked socks every Christmas.  :)  Fuzzy, wool, cotton, silk, doesn't matter. Knee-high, anklets or anywhere in between, in any and every shade, I'm totally into socks.  :)  *oh how fun!*
Cats!! or dogs?
Both!  But I do have a dog, and she's my writing partner.  She's with me everywhere I go, padding behind me from desk to treadmill to dining room table (aka the nerve center).  
Aw that's pretty cute! Thanks so much for joining us today Bella! It was great chatting with ya :) Now ladies (and gents) out there... feel free to leave Bella comments and questions!


I'm a New York published romance author branching out into self-publishing as Bella Love.  I stole the name from great-grandmothers on both sides of the family, so as not to play favorites on who gets the dirty mind attributed to their genetic line.  

I write super sexy, fun, contemporary romances about confident, alpha heroes who aren't afraid of equally strong women.  I never know if I should call some of them 'erotic romance' or not, because everyone has different expectations for that.  So why don't we call them "almost-erotic" or maybe "damn straight they're hot" and be done with it?  



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