Friday, July 18, 2014

Interview w/ VK Sykes-- kitchen disasters, sexy athletes and...handcuffs?!


Noah Cade, pitcher for the Philadelphia Patriots, has big problems. He’s recovering from a serious injury and he’s just been saddled with his sick aunt’s crazy dogs. Then there’s his dad, a wealthy oilman who wants Noah to retire from baseball and step into his shoes as CEO of the family corporation. All Noah wants is to pitch again and help his team win the World Series, but his family keeps dragging him in the opposite direction.

Teddy Quinn moved to the city to start a dog walking business for rich people, hoping the income will pay for law school and help her fight the oil corporations drilling the county where she grew up. When Noah Cade hires her as a full-time dog sitter for his high-energy pets, it seems like the answer to Teddy’s financial woes. But the boundaries get blurred when she starts falling for her boss, who uses all his formidable charm to lure her into his bed.

When Teddy discovers Noah’s father owns Baron Energy, she’s devastated. How can she work for—or love—a man whose family stands for everything she hates?

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Mornin' Vanessa!! It's so nice to see you again. Since it's so broiling hot out here in NC I thought
some Sweet Ice Tea and Lemonade would be nice for while we chat so come on in and we'll get to chatting :)
Thanks so much for hosting me, Anna.  And I’ll definitely have some of that sweet tea!
Alright I am ready for some bookish gossip!...if you wanted to hook someone between innings on Payoff Pitch what would you tell them to get them panting for more?!
Sexy billionaire ballplayer meets sweet but feisty dog walker from the country.  Lots of laughs, angst, bad dogs, and some very hot sex with a hunky athlete!  PAYOFF PITCH is book 5 in our USA Today bestselling series of sports romances, and it’s one of our favourites. 
Oh that sounds like so much fun! Hunky athlete and a herd. Love it. Okay, I'm totally being nosy here. But you write the VK Sykes books with your husband. How exactly does that work?! Do yall take turns? Or write everything together? See--totally being nosy. lol
We do take turns, and we’ve hammered out a process that works for us.  We start by brainstorming the general outline of the book - plot, character, theme.  Then Randy goes off, does a pile of research and writes an outline.  I tweak the outline and then send him off to write the first draft.  Then, back to me to revise and add the sex scenes.  Let me just say that Randy excels at plot but is a little lacking in the sex and emotion area!  Fortunately, this process totally works for us.
LOL that's so neat how yall make it work. Can you tell us 3 fun/sexy behind the scenes facts about Payoff Pitch? Think Pop-Up Video.
1) Toby, the very bad dog in PAYOFF PITCH, is closely modeled on my last dog, a standard poodle named…you guessed it—Toby!  
2)  When Randy hands over the first draft he uses this as a placeholder for the sex scenes: INSERT HOT SEX SCENE HERE.  
3)  In the first sex scene in the book, the hero and heroine joke about using handcuffs.  Randy assumed I would actually be including handcuffs in that particular scene, and was kind of disappointed when I didn’t.
::snort:: I might be with Randy on that one! lol On to the would be handcuff user...Most awesomest awesome thing about Noah Cade? I mean other than the stellar last name (asks the girl who shares is lol)
You mean aside from the fact that he’s a Cade and he’s great in bed?  I think it’s the fact that he’s so darn nice and always wants to do the right thing.  He’s ridiculously rich and yet he doesn’t flaunt his wealth.  Instead, he’s always trying to figure out how to take care of the people in his life—even if he doesn’t agree with what they might be doing at any given point in time.  In two words—he’s loyal.
He sounds pretty dang dreamy! What about Miss Teddy Quinn? What makes her a fabulous heroine?
She has a heart as big as the great outdoors, and will fight to the death for what she believes in.  And yet, she’s very vulnerable.  Teddy doesn’t have a lot of self-confidence, but she’s willing to stand up to the toughest and scariest of opponents if she thinks she’s doing the right thing.  Noah loves that about her too, even though they do have some very critical issues they disagree on.
Ooos she sounds awesome! Alright how about a couple quickies??

Favorite Man Candy?
Erp, too many to count. But how about this snap of Tom Hardy?
Best "burning soup" moment?
Ah, I had one of those just recently.  I made a veal parm with homemade tomato sauce for family who were coming to dinner.  The cans of tomatoes I used were pretty dented, but I figured they were okay.  After hours of cooking and getting ready to do the final assemble of the dish, hubby decided that the sauce made from those tomatoes was NOT safe.  So I had to ditch the sauce, race to the supermarket and buy bottled spaghetti sauce, and race back home to assemble the dish. Fortunately, it tasted pretty good but the kitchen was definitely a disaster area!  *oh my word. And so much work!*
I'm completely obsessed with?
My hair.  It ALWAYS looks like I was caught in a windstorm.
Your quirkiest quirk?
I don’t think I have any.  Randy, now, that’s a different story! *snort*
Something you'd totally do if you could get away with it?
I’ve already done several of them, and I’ll never tell what they are!!
What's up next for yall?
We have a new contemporary romance series coming out in 2015 from Grand Central Publishing.  The first book is called MEET ME AT THE BEACH, and it’s set on a small island off the coast of Maine.  We’re really excited about it!  I also have more books coming out in my Renegade Royals historical romance series.  Info on both the books are on my websites:  www.vksykes.com and www.vanessakellyauthor.com 
Oh exciting! Can't wait to check out the new series. Congrats on that! And thanks so much for dropping in Vanessa!
Thanks for having me on, Anna!

Find VK Sykes Online!


Vanessa and Randy are giving away an ecopy of their anthology. 
It's open international :) Just fill out the widget below!


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