Welcome to Books à la Mode, Monica! Let's get this interview started.Will you please share a brief introduction with us?
New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author Monica Murphy is a native Californian who lives in the foothills below Yosemite with her husband and three children. She’s a workaholic who loves her job. When she’s not busy writing, she also loves to read and travel with her family. She writes new adult and contemporary romance and is published with Bantam and Avon. She also writes romance as USA Today bestselling author Karen Erickson, and is published with Samhain Publishing, Entangled Brazen, and Bliss.
It's amazing to get to feature you today, Monica! Readers, here's a bit about the book, which hits shelves today:
New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy begins a sexy new contemporary romance series—perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Emma Chase—that introduces three sisters born to wealth, raised to succeed, ready to love, destined to make waves.
I’ve moved through life doing what’s expected of me. I’m the middle daughter, the dutiful daughter. The one who braved a vicious attack and won. The one who devoted herself to her family’s cosmetics empire. The one who met an ambitious man and fell in love. We were going to run Fleur Cosmetics together, Zachary and I.
Until he got a promotion and left me in the dust. Maybe it’s for the best, between his disloyalty and his wandering eye. But another man was waiting for me. Wanting me. He too has an overwhelming thirst for success, just like Zachary—perhaps even more so. He’s also ruthless. And mysterious. I know nothing about Ryder McKay beyond that he makes me feel things I’ve never experienced before.
One stolen moment, a kiss, a touch... and I’m hooked. Ryder’s like a powerful drug and I’m an addict who doesn’t want to be cured. He tells me his intentions aren’t pure and I believe him. For once I don’t care. I’m willing to risk everything just to be with him. Including my heart. My soul.
My everything.
Buy the book from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Books-A-Million | iTunes | Kobo | Google Play | Publisher
Describe the Owning Violet in six words.
Sexy, mysterious, hot, dark, glamorous, love. :)
How did you arrive at writing NA romance?
I was flat out inspired by all of the wonderful NA out there in 2012 and decided hey, I want to write one. So I did and that became One Week Girlfriend. I decided to self publish it under a new name (I also write as Karen Erickson) because I thought, if it failed, no one would know.
To my surprise, it didn't fail. Karen got jealous, Monica took over, and the rest is history.
What was the inspiration for the book?
Owning Violet is the first book in The Fowler Sisters series. I've always wanted to write about three sisters named after flowers. I've been cleaning out my office and I found notes about those sisters from as far back as 2007! And do you get why they're named Fowler? Switch the letters around and you get... flower. (!)
I wanted to write something sexy and glamorous, set in the fashion industry (cosmetics, close enough). I wanted to create an alpha hero who was up to no good. I wanted a heroine who would slay the hero emotionally. All of those things came together and created Owning Violet.
I can't wait to read it—it's exactly my type of setup. As a huge fan of first lines, I’d love to hear the first line of Owning Violet. Could you give us a brief commentary on it?
Tonight, my life is going to change.It's from Violet's perspective and yes indeed, her life IS going to change, but not in the way she expected it. She has things planned out. Her job, her love life... she thinks her boyfriend is going to propose to her. But she's wrong. Everything is turned on its head and she has to adjust to that.
I also started one of the last chapters in the book with that line (something I've never done before). By then she's come full circle.
Love it, absolutely love it. That line would send shivers down my spine reading it later! Are the characters from your book based off anyone you know in real life? How much else of your actual life gets written into your fiction?
An author said a long time ago that a little bit of herself appears in every character she creates and I have to agree. I think all of my characters share one of my traits. Now, I've never lived in NYC, I've never worked for a cosmetics company (though I did work at a department store, is that close? LOL), everything I write comes from my imagination.
But lines... small moments, references, even the occasional one-off character name... comes from my life. I just won't tell you exactly what. *winks*
How do you react to a negative or harsh review to your books?
Agreed, one of my biggest pet peeves in the reviewing world is when authors ARGUE with a reader's perfectly well-formulated opinion!
Blog babes, click "Read more" to find out Monica's random favorites, what makes her book stand out from every other romance written, as well as her best personal and professional advice. We're also hosting a giveaway for a finished copy of Owning Violet, so you don't want to miss that either!
