Reader Interview with Erin McCarthy

Erin McCarthy, author extraordinaire and very dear person, consented to answering questions from readers on the Vamps, Scamps & Spicy Romance loop. Here are the questions and her answers. Erin will drop in tomorrow (the 30th) to visit and comment on your comments. :)

Which of your books would you like to see made into a movie and who would you cast? - Jennifer Y

Since my books are character drive and a bit thin on plot, I have a hard time picturing any of them as movies. ;-) But I think Heiress For Hire would work on ABC Family or something like that, and Houston, We Have a Problem could be done in an ER sort of way. We did have brief interest in A Date With The Other Side from a network, but alas it came to nothing. As for actors for the starring roles? I'd love to hear what you all think!

Which of your heroes is most resembles your husband and why do you feel this way? Also are you like any or your heroines and if so which one are you most like? - Barbara

Well, my husband is very loyal, very hard working, a perfectionist, a wonderful father, loving, has a slightly strange sense of humor, and evokes strong emotions in people, both negative and positive. :-) I'd say Damien from The Pregnancy Test is most like Heath, though I didn't base Damien on him at all. Damien just has more similarities than any other hero. I finally put a picture of Heath and I up on my website on my fun page, though we're about a speck tall in it. ::g:: Mostly the pic is meant to be the scenery behind us.

What is the strangest thing a reader has ever asked you? The scariest? The funniest? - Laurie

The woman who insisted I had based a hero on her ex-boyfriend, and accused me of sleeping with him. How else would I know *exactly* what he always said in bed? Umm... because men aren't all that unique? LOL. I can't remember which hero she was talking about though. The funniest thing a reader said to me was how she found my book in the bargain bin at the used book store. It was fifty cents, the cheapest one in the whole store, but she just decided to take a chance on it even though obviously no one else wanted it, and she loved it. That absolutely cracked me up. I don't think she realized quite how that sounded.

If you could...which one of your heroines would you trade places with and why? - Cindy

If we're talking for like a few hours or a day, I would take Amanda's credit card and go shopping. Or be Reese and have the privilige of saying *exactly* what I'm thinkin, but in real life can't. ::g:: Or I'd be Mandy, just so people would think my British accent was cool. But if we're talking a permanent thing, not just for fun, I wouldn't trade with anyone. I've got a great hubby, wonderful kids, and a career I adore. Life is good. :-)

If you had to make a choice from all the books you've published and/or written, which story did you most enjoy writing and why? - Joni

Two books and a novella come to mind. "Hard Drive" from Bad Boys Online was written in a sort of glorious frenzy right before I was published, when I felt so close I could taste it, and I just closed my eyes and wrote that story completely on faith, exactly the way I wanted to. The first book is Heiress For Hire, because I love those characters, and the story came so easily to me, it was just all there, writing magic, and I enjoyed weaving both humor and a deeper emotion together.

The other book is one that I just finished writing and sold to Berkley. It's called The Seduction of Sin (unless they change the title) and will hopefully be out in mid to late 2007. This is the most complex book I've ever written and is something I started about four years ago and abandoned when I sold my first book. It's a darker paranormal with an immortal hero and it bounces back and forth between the past and the present. It was a personal triumph for me to come back to something I still loved and make time to write it, with no guarantee of a sale. This one's not comedy, but I do hope readers will find it an intriguing and sensual story.

Where would you go for the "perfect" vacation? - Jodi

Jodi, this is such as easy question... anywhere it's warm and sunny! But preferably the Carribean, where there is no glass in the windows, no air conditioning, no doors in the hallways, just warm tropical breezes blowing over me, a big fat sun overhead, a beach chair, and some fruity drink in my hand. Totally paradise! Second to sitting on my behind in the sun would be any large city. I love New York, Chicago, New Orleans. I like the pulse and crowds of the city and exploring all the nooks and crannies.

What was the strangest thing you did in the name of research for a book? - Judy F

This wasn't strange as much as humorous... I did have to have a home party for research purposes when Ashley became a Pleasure Party consultant. :-) And for those of you who know my friend Eddie, the two of us together while romance enhancing products are being discussed is not a quiet thing. We tend to egg each other on. We once got separated at an RWA chapter meeting when the prison expert guest kept saying things that sounded suggestive to Eddie and I. ::g:: For Heiress for Hire, I went to two different farms and it just wasn't pretty. I am such a city girl, and for those of you who've met me, you might have noticed I don't wear flat shoes. Ever. So I thought wedge sandals would work for the farm. I was wrong. Enough said. ::g::

As a writer do you have any other artistic talents...painting...playing musical instruments, etc.? - Emma

Can you hear me laughing? I have no artistic talent. None whatsoever. I did dance when I was younger, does that count for anything? I did ballet and then was on the dance team in high school (it was like being a Laker girl, but with more clothes).

Your last book that you wrote "An Heiress to Hire" was so funny, I was wondering were do you get your ideas from? - Danielle

My ideas tend to come from characters. I had written both Danny and Amanda into A Date With The Other Side with no intention of giving them their own story, but they both just leaped off the page for me. So once I have a character and want to do something with them, I play the What If? game. What If Amanda had to stay in town? What If Danny had a daughter he didn't know about? And the idea grows from there.

What is one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you? - Jenny

That I'm not funny at all in person. :-D Thanks for such great questions!! I had a lot of fun answering them.
Erin