Interview with Calinda B: 'It's not what happened to you in the past. It's what you do with it in the present that counts'

An award-winning web designer and certified SEO specialist, Calinda B has worked in the Internet industry as a web page designer/developer since the early 1990's. She has also explored crazy adventure including rock climbing, bending rebar with her throat, breaking boards with her hand, and firewalking. In addition to writing, Calinda B creates fine art and music, and enjoys scuba diving, kayaking, and havoc wreaking. Calinda B makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with the love of her life and her two red-headed cats.

Her secret mission is to inspire the planet to be chock full of loving passion and she's doing her part by working on the fourth book in The Wicked Series, tentatively entitled A Wicked Ending, or the third book in The Beckoning Series, The Beckoning of Badass Things, or maybe those are done and she's working on.... She loves to write sexy books and does it daily.

Her latest book is the erotic romance/romantic suspense, Looks Like Trouble To Me.

For More Information

• Visit Calinda B’s website.
• Connect with Calinda on Facebook and Twitter.
• Visit Calinda’s blog.
• More books by Calinda B.
• Subscribe to Calinda B’s videos at YouTube.
• Contact Calinda B.

About the Book:

"Last name's Savage -- it means wild and uncontrolled," Jace, a party boy, yacht builder and skilled photographer with a quicksilver temper, tells the pretty waitress at Chica Rios. He's desperate to get laid, but there's something in the way of his driving, overactive libido and the girl standing before him - trouble...big trouble, and a whole lot of it, from the trustifarian prick who works by his side, to his messed up twin sister, to the secret hiding at his house.

He sets out to woo Marine Dubois, keeping her away from his trouble at home, encouraging her to let go of her inhibitions and live “Savage style,” riding with him on the back of his motorcycle, exploring the great outdoors in a variety of oh, so delectable and naughty ways.

He ends up with way more than he bargained for. Turns out she's the kind of woman who demands the truth...and that's just not the way he rolls. He uses his sexual experience to teach Zoe how to surrender. She leverages his love for her to get him to let her in - something he's not used to. Their passionate, erotic, romantic connection keeps them bound together while the trouble he brings threatens to tear them apart at every turn.

(Mature content for audiences 18+ only.)

For More Information

• Looks Like Trouble To Me is available at Amazon.
• Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
• Watch the trailer at YouTube.
• Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
  
  

Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life!  Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process.  Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning?  Where did you come up with the idea to write your book?

I’m always interested in exploring what it might take for a character to change…to rise above his or her circumstances. In Looks like Trouble to Me, I wrote about a guy, Jace Savage, whose lead a troubled life. When he meets Zoé Dubois, he’s a sexy, extremely horny party boy, yacht builder and photographer, and he thinks he’s going to get laid. What he ends up with is far more transformative, involving “f-f-feelings” (smiles). I wove in some seemingly tragic circumstances I’ve witnessed in friends, as well as experiences I’ve had, in which passionate love leads to transformation.

My editor, a savvy gal who works with several NYT and USA Today bestselling authors, pushed me to add more and more conflict, without letting up. I believe we ended up with a wild ride of a story.

Q: How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?

The difficulty in writing this book came when my editor wrote me an email, saying, “Let’s try an experiment. Tell me five of the worst things that could happen to these characters.” I became suspicious. “Why?” She urged me to do the exercise and she’d tell me the whys. I took up the challenge.

I had to really step outside my comfort zone in describing the new scenes. I wept for the characters. I laughed with the characters. Both the editor and I felt like we had a really good story on our hands, when finished.

Q: Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

I’m an indie author. I’m currently being pursued by a publisher, which feels great, but I’ve always enjoyed having total control of my work.

Q: Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?

I launched into the fiction writing world when indie publishing burst onto the writing scene a few years ago, setting traditional publishing on its heels. It surprised me how easy it was to accomplish—sort of like when desktop publishing became readily available in the 90s and everyone with a daisy wheel printer suddenly thought themselves a graphic artist. The difficulty lay in the marketing, networking and acceptance of the writing. I, and many of my indie writing peers, work hard to write solid, well-edited books. There’s still a stigma attached to being an indie writer. I’ve even heard NY Publishing industry veterans’ state, “When we see a self-published writer’s work on our desk, we immediately dismiss them as a wanta be writer.” That opinion is slowly changing as self-pubbed authors reach the top of lists such as New York Times Bestsellers.

Q: What other books (if any) are you working on and when will they be published?

I’m always writing. Currently, I’m polishing a manuscript to send off to the publisher who requested my work. Beyond that, I’m working on a sci-fi novella and have plans for the second book in my contemporary romance series, and the fourth books in my Beckoning and Wicked series. The next CR book will be available in the fall of 2014.

Q: What’s your favorite place to hang out online?

I love to hang out at https://www.facebook.com/calindab, and https://www.facebook.com/CalindaBauthor I get to interact with authors and readers in a variety of ways, from supporting one another to entertaining, hilarious threads.

Q: Finally, what message (if any) are you trying to get across with your book?

As mentioned above, I consistently have a theme in my writing that you’re greater than you think you are, and, if you apply yourself, take responsibility for your actions, and be willing to face your flaws, you can grow past hardship and misfortune.

  

Q: Do you have any final words?

Thank you for the interview! I hope readers will take a read of Looks like Trouble to Me. And, remember one of my personal taglines: It’s not what happened to you in the past, it’s what you do with it in the present that counts.