Author Interview: KELLY FITZPATRICK

Ladies and gentlemen, today I am especially pleased to welcome debut contemporary romance author Kelly Fitzpatrick to the blog. You see, booklovers, I knew Kelly when Lily in Wonderland was a twinkle in her eye. Today that book is available from Cerridwen! In my (hopelessly biased) opinion, if you're looking for a new author with a bright, original voice and you like a little whodunit in your romance, you can't go wrong with Kelly & Lily. And now... welcome, Kelly! (Applause!)

First of all, thanks for having me Vivi. Let’s get this party started.

Q - What do you find attractive in a hero?

A – I enjoy a sense of humor. A guy can raise the attraction meter just by being fun and funny. Personally, I like the tall, dark and handsome—Latin if we’re getting specific. I know, I know. My husband is a 5 foot 9 inch tall, fair skinned Irishman with blue eyes. Go figure. But he makes me laugh. Sometimes I laugh with him, sometimes at him.

I don’t like to go into too much detail about looks until the reader knows what he’s about, because what if the reader’s college boyfriend was a tall, lanky, sandy haired basketball player with blue eyes and so is my hero, and he knocked her up and slept with her dorm mate? I want the reader to fall in love with the man inside. With that said, Deputy Tobias Dodd, my hero in Lily in Wonderland is hot.

Q – If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?

A – You know, my day job is so dull I want to stick a sharp number 2 pencil through my skull. If I weren’t terrified of public speaking, I’d be a standup comedian. Hecklers would make me cry. Too much attention makes me turn cherry red.

I also have a passion for antiques. I’ve fantasized about owning an antique store. I enjoy the treasure hunt, but not so much the idea of selling them in a storefront of a sleepy little town. That’s the beauty of writing. My characters can do all the things I’m terrified to do.

Q – What three things do you absolutely need in order to write?

A – I need quiet above all else. Solitude. No distractions. I like to write early in the morning or late at night when everyone else is asleep. When the house is empty is even better. Next I need either my laptop or paper and pen (I can use a pencil in a pinch, but I prefer a pen). That’s it. Sometimes I listen to music, but not too loud. I like to have a bottle of water, but it’s not essential. When I’m totally dehydrated, it’s time for a break.

Q – In ten years, where do you want to be as a writer?

A – Yes, Vivi, I’m going to answer this question. I want to be financially able to support myself with my writing. That doesn’t mean I won’t have a job outside of writing, but I want to be able to tell the day job to “suck it” if I want to. There is such freedom in money. Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it can buy chocolate, clothes, and an annual dental cleaning, all of which make me happy. But just to be clear, I’m very cheap so I don’t need much money.

I’d like to be nominated for Rita. There, I said it. Why not? Shoot for the moon. I should say I’d like to win, because I said I wanted to be a Golden Heart finalist and I was, but I didn’t win, maybe because I didn’t want it bad enough. Although it was out of my hands.

(Okay, I am flat out stunned Kelly answered this question. I've been nagging her about having a vision for her writing career for... well, years.)

Q – What was your path to publication?

A – Contests, contests, and more contests. Lily in Wonderland won the Rose City RWA Golden Rose in 2008 with a full request from Cerridwen Press. They rejected it with suggested changes and invited me to resubmit. My dear friend, Vivi, critiqued the manuscript within an inch of its life. I resubmitted. Bada bing bada boom, eight or so weeks later it sold. I got the e-mail while Vivi and I were out to lunch. If I remember correctly I’d spent the entire meal whining about not hearing anything back about my resubmission.

Q – What is your favorite writing memory?

A – I have a couple. No, I take that back. I have a few. Wait, I have so many. Every time I was a finalist in a contest was special to me. I’ll tell you every time I was moved to cry, but only happy tears, because writing has made me cry often. I cried when I got the call from the RWA that I was a Golden Heart finalist. Less than a month later, I cried when I got the e-mail that Cerridwen wanted to publish Lily in Wonderland. I think I cried a little when Lily won the Golden Rose only because (A) I’m a crybaby. (B) I’d been told over an over again Lily Tucker was not likable. She’s just misunderstood. So if you like gum-smacking, sass-talking, wise-cracking heroines, Lily is your gal.

She's my kind of heroine. :) Thank you, Kelly, for joining us today! On this fine Thursday, one lucky commenter will win a download of Kelly's debut novel, Lily in Wonderland. And Kelly has another contest going on she'd like you to know about, so I'll hand it back to her...

I’m having a drawing for a lap quilt I made myself. If you’d like to be entered in the drawing, leave me your e-mail address and I will pick a winner at the end of my whirlwind promotional tour. Please, only continental US entries. I don’t want to mail it to Bora Bora and blow my promo budget. For more chances to win, you can visit my website,

www.kellyfitzpatrick.webs.com

and leave me a comment. You can e-mail me. You can stop by any other site I’m blogging at, which will be on my calendar at my website.

Thanks again, Kelly! And good luck, booklovers!