I’ve got a great treat for you today, book worms! Faye Hughes and Christie Craig are here to talk about (and give away one copy of) their new book WICKED & WANTON: 101 WAYS TO LOVE LIKE YOU’RE IN A ROMANCE NOVEL.
US readers: comment to enter to win this book! And now, for your reading pleasure…the interview!
Hi Girls! Welcome to the blog!
CC: Thanks for having us. And congrats on the release of your new book!
FH: It’s our pleasure to be here, Lisa.
I love this book concept. What inspired you to come up with the idea for WICKED & WANTON: 101 WAYS TO LOVE LIKE YOU’RE IN A ROMANCE NOVEL?
FH: Ah, a good question. What originally happened was I had the basic idea for the book but when I pitched it to my then agent, she was a little less than enthusiastic about it. I told Christie – don’t you just love having a good writing bud you can both celebrate and commiserate with? – and we started brainstorming ideas. Christie made the comment, “You know, if women paid as much attention to choosing their romantic mates as we do in plotting our romance novels, there would be a whole lot more Happily Ever Afters.” I agreed and then we both had this moment.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Christie said.
“That we should break for some Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey?” I asked.
“Besides that,” she muttered. (What can I say, Christie just doesn’t appreciate my belief that ice cream is therapy.)
“That we should collaborate on another book and write about that?” I tried again. “Because I totally agree!”
So, we talked about it some more and then pitched the idea to an editor at Adams Media who loved it.
CC: And we really loved how Chelsea King, our first editor, and then Katie Corcoran-Lytle, at Adams Media “got” our idea and supported us. I mean, Faye and I are both romance authors and we love our genre, so the message of the book really resonates with us. And hey, just for the record, I like ice cream as much as the next girl!
What kinds of lessons can readers learn? And do you take those lessons from familiar books, or are they more generalized?
CC: Well, in Wild, Wicked and Wanton, we have a fictional romance heroine named Jayne and in each chapter, which is about a different theme, we describe her romantic adventures—or her romantic disasters, which is more accurate. We then show the lessons she learned from each experience, such as “If he’s keeping a secret, it’s a safe bet it won’t be anything good” and “Never let passion blind you to the truth,” which are from Chapter One: Keepers and Creepers.
We’ve read, and written, romance novels for years, so we had a wealth of info at our fingertips for writing Jayne’s tips. In fact, we believe that every romance novel will have at least one lesson a reader can take away with her, and possibly even more. In my own humorous romantic suspense novels, I write about people who’ve been hurt in the past and are a little skittish about falling in love again. But just as I did when I met my real-life hero, they learn to get past their fears and open themselves up to the wonderful possibilities before them.
FH: Of course, we don’t advocate that women or men ignore common sense and all those warning signs that the universe sends our way that a relationship may have a problem.
CC: Oh, goodness, no! We tell our readers to trust their guts. Just don’t let your hormones be in the driver’s seat without allowing your heart and head to give you directions. After all, Destination Lust is not a bad place to go, but don’t let your heart get mangled on the drive over there.
FH: Good point. And coincidentally enough, those are both lessons that Jayne learns in the book . . . well, eventually, anyway. LOL.
Any favorite romance novels relationship advice to share?
FH: Well, I think the best piece of advice you can learn from romance novels is that no matter what life may throw your way – evil vampire cults out to dominate the human race, government conspiracies that threaten world peace or your boyfriend’s ex who decides she wants a do-over, you can find a way to overcome it. Romance heroines may want to give up, and sometimes they may take a time out, but in the end, they get back in there and keep fighting. Now, they may not always achieve their original goal, but by the end of the book, it’s a safe bet that they’ve found a path to happiness that works for them. It’s a goal we should all aspire to reach.
CC: Agreed. Also, it’s wise to remember that while relationships are seldom 50/50, if you find yourself always doing the giving, you need to speak up. In the book, we have a section where Jayne’s mother advises Jayne that sometimes every woman needs to shake the sugar tree, meaning to ask, or set out to get what you need. And Jayne’s mother is right, but as Jayne learns, sometimes that tree just needs to be pulled up by the roots and burned. I guess what I’m saying is that to really love like you are in a romance novel, you need to find the right person to love. And if I could add one more thing, it’s this: One of the keys to personal happiness is to remain positive and remove the negativity from your life. Reading romance novels makes us smile more and that by itself is a great way to promote the positive!
Where can readers learn more about you?
CC: Oh, thanks for asking, Lisa. Readers can visit me at my website, www.Christie-Craig.com where they can read about my upcoming releases, my speaking engagements and any breaking news about my books. I also blog every Tuesday at Killer Fiction. I invite everyone to drop by and sit a spell, as we say down south. I guarantee you’ll laugh.
Faye and I also have a joint website called www.WritewithUs.net, which has a lot of writing advice for aspiring writers.
FH: We’ll also post info about any new joint projects and our speaking schedule at our joint website, too. My personal site is www.FayeHughes.net. I’ll be doing a re-launch soon and will have a semi-regular blog. Oh. Almost forgot, you can also join us on Twitter – I’m @Faye_Hughes. Christie, what’s your name there?
CC: Oh, that’s right. My Twitter name is @Christie_Craig and please visit me on Facebook, too – Christie on Facebook.
Thanks so much for coming on the blog!
FH: And thank you for having us.
CC: Yes, this has been fun. Now, I hope everyone leaves a post. We’re giving away a copy of Wild, Wicked & Wanton! Maybe you can tell us what you’ve learned from romance novels.
FH: Absolutely.
You’ve heard it, ladies. Leave a note about what you’ve learned from a romance. Or, just comment to enter however you please.
Happy commenting and good luck!
Lisa Dale
I think I needed this book fifty years ago!
Congrats, ladies.
Oh I would LOVE to get my hands on this one! It sounds like an awesome book with lots of tips
Hi, Estella,
Thanks for the congrats and thanks for dropping by!
Faye
Christie and Faye -
Where were you in the late 60′s when I needed you? Fortunately I finally found romance novels and realized that moving across the country away from my old sweetheart was the best move I ever made. It took me three more years and another move to Florida but I finally found “the one” and we have now been married for over 40 wonderful years.
Personally I think that reading romance novels sound be a mandatory college course – it sure would have helped me to clear out the “less than desireables” a lot sooner! Keep up the good work on both romance novels and romantic advice!
Hi, Jeanne,
Boy, howdy, can I ever relate to those “less than desirable” men. I’m glad you met your real life romance hero.
Thanks for dropping by!
CC
what a fun book!!!
Thanks, KarenK,
Faye and I had a lot of fun writing it.
Thanks for dropping by.
CC
Your book sounds like I need to see what I’m doing wrong…I know having a 4 yr old doesnt help me…I’m always falling asleep when he goes to bed. But you never know,if anything I’ll stay awke to read your book and it will help me out…
Thanks for a great post…
Heidi
I cant wait to read your book, any help I can get I’ll take….
Hi, Heidi,
Oh, wow. With a four year old, it’s no wonder you’re exhausted at the end of the day!
Thanks for dropping by.
Faye
In our almost fifty years of marriage, we have found that 50/50
doesn’t always work. At times we have found ourselves giving
more, gladly giving more, it all depends on the situation.
Pat Cochran
Hi, Pat,
You make an excellent point. My grandmother used to say that marriage was a compromise. “Both parties should give 60 and expect 40 in return.”
Thanks for dropping by.
Faye
I’ve learned that you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow but good things might be around the corner.
I’m familiar with Christie’s romantic cop novels, but Faye is a new to me author.
I’ll have to read the book to learnmore, it sounds fun.
Hi, Maureen,
Yep. I’ve heard the same thing and I think it’s true.
Thanks for dropping by.
CC
Great comments, ladies!
The advice I’ve learned…is probably “go after what you want.” In romances, people don’t just wait around, they take action. They get it done. It’s def a good lesson!
My hubby and I have been married 47 years..he was 17 and I was 16 when we decided to become a family. We have shared so much and are still each other’s best friend. We learnt the best way to keep things going and to have a good marriage is to talk out whenever we had a problem. No Yelling..just set down and talk quietly. susan L.
Thank you for your post, Christie and Faye. It’s great to learn about authors who think outside the box!
Frankly, I don’t think I’ve learned anything from romance fiction, or any other kind. But then, I don’t read it for that purpose. I read fiction in order to experience vicariously that which is meaningful to me, but which is unlikely or impossible to occur in my real life.
If I want to learn something, I used to pick up a non-fiction book. Nowadays, of course, I google it.
Keep up the good work!
Hi, Lisa,
Exactly! Romance heroines don’t sit around and wonder if they can — they go out and do it.
CC
Hi, Susan,
What an inspiration you and your hubby are! Your relationship is truly what romance authors mean when they write “and they lived happily ever after!”
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your story.
Faye
Hi, Mary Ann,
You’ve made some excellent points. And, like you, I always find myself Googling things – honestly, I can spend a whole day just surfing if Christie let me. lol.
Thanks for dropping by.
Faye
Lisa,
Thank you so much for having us join you on your blog. Christie and I had a blast!
Faye
One thing that I’ve learnt about being in love is that it is a fantastic feeling, but once you are dumped, it is the worst feeling in the world and looking for love is the hardest thing in life.
Thanks for this lovely post today. I know that romance novels provide me with a novel perspective. In real life it is impossible to duplicate those scenes. We are always looking for the one and never achieve that goal.
The one thing I’ve learned is not to only listen to what your partner is saying but also watch their body language and pick up on the little tells that show you that he or she doesn’t mean what they are saying, they might actually think they are saying what they ‘think’ you want to hear.
miztik_rose@yahoo.com
Enjoyed reading the comments. The one thing I learned in my marriage is it is easier to just do it yourself if you need something done. Saves me a lot of head aches. Of course, he does the electrical work- that I don’t do but I really learned to be “hammer savy” and learned to fix most stuff.
(I hope this giveaway is still active.)
I’ve learned that life is too short, and you should never pass up an opportunity, or you will regret it later…
Romance? I still don’t know what romance is. Could I need a new man? Maybe but I always seem to pick the same kind of man and they NEVER know what romance is, lol. Guess I am just a romanticless person.
WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT ROMANCE?????? I REALLY DONT KNOW…..WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE IS THAT I LOVE READING ROMANCE AND AM IN LOVE.
I am late posting but just had to say I love Christie’s books, so funny! What I have learned from romance is that I don’t have it here at home with husband, so I get it from books. I don’t think men know what true romance is!
I learned that horoscope dating was true, I can never have a relationship with a scorpio!
I almost wept when it said US readers. I must hunt this book down & read it.