Author Interview: True – Erin McCarthy

We have Erin McCarthy with us today chatting about her New Adult release, TRUE.  Help me in welcoming Erin to Cocktails and Books.

Tell us about yourself.

I’m a typical neurotic writer, who is fortunate enough to write full time because I’m not fit for traditional employment anymore, and I mean that most sincerely.  I was a stay at home mom for years and now my awesome kids are almost grown, but I have the dog and the cats to shadow me.  I love live music, ice cream, tattoos, and all things creepy and scary.

How did you get your start as a writer?

I knew I wanted to write romance so I sat down and wrote 9 manuscripts, amassing a hundred rejections along the way, over about two and a half years.  But I knew I was getting closer when editors starting personally responding to me with valuable critiques and when an editor at Harlequin called me to talk about my book.  But it was actually Kate Duffy at Kensington who bought my first novella, which I had written in ten days after receiving encouragement from Lori Foster, who read the first few pages.  Kate called me and said, “Are you busy?  Because I’m putting you to work.”  That was ten years ago and I’ll always be grateful to her.  Oh, and I now work with that same editor at Harlequin who rejected me a decade ago.  Full circle. 

What is your typical writing schedule like?

Write.  Stare into space.  Write.  Change the playlist on my iPod.  Push the cat off my stomach.  Write.  Eat.  Be annoyed with myself for never hemming the drapes in my office.  Write.  Repeat all day until 3 o’clock when I have to pick my son up from school.  Five days a week.

Tell us about TRUE.

TRUE is my first new adult story.  Rory is socially awkward and is just looking to have the same sexual experiences as other girls, only she is not prepared for the feelings she winds up having for Tyler.

Where did the idea for the storyline come from?

I honestly have no idea.  I’m not even sure where Rory came from, though I grew up in a neighborhood like Tyler’s.  I just knew I wanted a heroine who was a virgin, not entirely by choice, and a guy who was totally different from what you expect based on his appearance.

What do you think readers will like/love about Rory and Tyler?

I’m hoping that readers will empathisize with Rory and her feelings of never quite fitting in.  I think all of us have felt socially out of our element at one time or another (I know I have!) and yet Rory is still open and caring and willing to take risks, despite her fear.  For Tyler, I want readers to fall in love with his loyalty, his determination to do the right thing, and his earnest love for Rory.

What was your favorite scene from the book?

When Tyler has brought Rory to his house and his mother is verbally abusive to him and his brothers and then hits him… not because of the violence of the scene but because we see the very best of both Rory and Tyler.

What are three things about you that might surprise your readers?

I went to college at 17, got married at 19.  I’m not afraid of spiders, heights, snakes, or horror movies, but horses scare me. I can’t ride a bike.  God gave me legs and a driver’s license and that’s good enough for me.

If you had to pick a favorite cocktail of choice, what would it be?  (It can be non-alcoholic too)

A vodka martini.  Or if I’m in a dive bar where martini glasses haven’t been invented, I’ll take a Captain Morgan and Diet Coke.

What’s next for you?

I am working on a second new adult book, which features the heroine from TRUE’s roommate, Jessica.  Rory and Jessica are total opposites, and while Jessica may have a ton of sexual experience, she has never let a guy into her heart- until now.

About the book

When Rory Macintosh’s roommates find out that their studious and shy friend has never been with a guy, they decide that, as an act of kindness they’ll help her lose her virginity by hiring confident, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job…unbeknownst to Rory.

Tyler knows he’s not good enough for Rory. She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t resist taking up her roommates on an opportunity to get to know her better. There’s something about her honesty that keeps him coming back when he knows he shouldn’t…

Torn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves caught up in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future, and hers, Rory will need to decide whether to cut her ties to his risky world or follow her heart, no matter what the cost

 About the Author

Erin McCarthy is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 40 novels and novellas in the paranormal, contemporary romance, and young adult genres.  The author is a RITA award finalist and an American Library Association winner of the Reluctant Young Reader award.  She lives with her family in Ohio.

Website: www.erinmccarthy.net/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/authorerin

Facebook: www.facebook.com/erinmccarthybooks

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7941.Erin_McCarthy