New Adult Book Club discussion

Hi NABC! We have a special treat for you this week! The amazing Leisa Rayven is here for a Q&A! Leisa has written such fabulous books as Bad Romeo, Broken Juliet, Wicked Heart, and the upcoming release, Mister Romance. Please leave her your questions below!

Hi Ms. Leisa! From all the books you've written, what's your most favorite quote/line?

Hi Leisa! What is your favorite book of all time?

Who was your favorite character to write and why?

Hi Leisa! Which one of your books did you write in the shortest amount of time and was there any specific reason? And which one did take longest?
Thank you for answering our questions! :)

Hi Leisa! Are you writing new book at the moment? Who is your favourite character and Why?
Thank you so much for answering questions.

Hi Leisa! What was your last 5 star read? Thanks!

What was you favorite or easiest book to write? Your hardest?

Do you share any of the same quirks as your characters? Like do you love cheese as much as Elissa?

What was your inspiration for writing Mister Romance?

Hi! Who are some of your favorite authors?

What is one of your favourite things to do to celebrate the completion of a book?

LeAnn wrote: "

Hi NABC! We have a special treat for you this week! The amazing Leisa Rayven is here for a Q&A! Leisa has written such fabulous books as Bad Romeo, [book:Broken J..."

Hi, Beatrice! Hmmm. What's my favorite line? The one that comes back to me most in my everyday life is this one from Bad Romeo/Broken Juliet -
"Without passion, life is meaningless."
This applies to so many areas of our life - love, work, family, education. A life filled with passion isn't necessarily easy. Passionate people fight and cry and get hot under the collar when they stand up for the people or things that they love, but to me, that's the life I want to live. If when I die they write, "She lived a passionate life," on my tombstone, I'll be a happy woman. :)

Jacqueline wrote: "Hi Leisa! What is your favorite book of all time?"

Hi Jacqueline! Wow, why don't you ask me which of my children I love more? Hahah! I have so many favorite books, it's ridiculous.

I think I'd have to go with the book that really launched me into full-on bookworm mode when I was eleven, and that was The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. As soon as I finished it, I had to read EVERYTHING by that woman, and that's when I discovered the joy of binge-reading. :)

Verna Loves Books wrote: "Who was your favorite character to write and why?"

Hey, Verna!
God, hard question. I have so much fun writing funny characters like Josh from Wicked Heart, or Jack from Bad Romeo/Broken Juliet, but I also have fun writing people in pain, like Elissa, Cassie, Ethan, and Liam. I think I'm secretly a sadist. ;)

When I was writing Bad Romeo/Broken Juliet, I did a writing exercise where I wrote a whole bunch of journal entries from Ethan's point of view, just so I could really get inside his head. I enjoyed that a lot. A few of them even made it into the books. :)

What's a current show you love?

InBookEden wrote: "Hi Leisa! Are you writing new book at the moment? Who is your favourite character and Why?
Thank you so much for answering questions."

Hi, honey! Yes, I'm just in the process of making my new book all shiny and ready for release on April 30, and I've LOVED writing this one. It's called Mister Romance and I've really enjoyed writing Eden. She's a hard nut with a gooey marshmallow center (that she denies she has.)
In case you haven't seen the lowdown on the book, here's what it's all about:
Max Riley is the man of your dreams. Or at least he will be … for a price.

As his alter-ego Mister Romance, Max is an escort with a difference. No sex, just swoon-worthy dates to die for, and the cream of New York's socialites can't get enough. Whether they want a dominating billionaire, a bad boy with a heart of gold, or a sexy biker, Max can make it all happen, but he's careful to keep his real identity a secret.

Enter investigative journalist Eden Tate. Having caught wind of the urban legend of Mister Romance, Eden is determined to publish a scathing expose on Max and his ability to swindle lonely society women out of their fortunes.

Desperate to protect his anonymity, Max challenges Eden to give him three dates. If she doesn't fall in love with him, she can run her story with his blessing. If she succumbs to his charms, the story dies.

Cynical Eden has no doubt she can resist Max’s romance-novel personas, but when he admits he’s falling for her, she must decide if the professional liar is telling the truth, or if the passionate man with the mysterious past is just one more character designed to con her out of her career-making story.

Can't wait for everyone to check it out. :)

Hi Leisa!!
What's your favorite part of the day and What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Hugs & Kisses <3

Hi Leisa!!

How do you come up with the names for your characters?

Hi!
Loooved your starcrossed series! and also can't wait for mister romance!!

my q: do you get inspired by music? if yes, what was the most recent song?

Hi Leisa!
Will we ever see Cassie and Ethan again? :)

Is there a contemporary novel you've read and loved that you wish more people knew about?

How did you come up with your book Mister Romance?

Hi Leisa! First of all, let me tell you that I'm huge fan of your books! Love love love them!

Alright so here's my question: Where do you get your inspiration from? xx

How do you come up with your characters?

Hi!
If you could be any book character for a day, who would you choose and why? :)

Hi Leisa! Out of all the characters you've written, who is your favorite and why? Also, have you patterned any of your characters to yourself or anyone you know? :)

Zeljka wrote: "Hi Leisa! Which one of your books did you write in the shortest amount of time and was there any specific reason? And which one did take longest?
Thank you for answering our questions! :)"

Hi Zeljka! Bad Romeo Christmas is my quickest book to date. I expected it to take me longer but I had some unexpected health issues that kept me in hospital for a week, followed by a couple of weeks recovery, so that threw my entire schedule off. I ended up working around the clock to get it done on time and finished it in under 3 months. Luckily, the words flowed easily for my beloved Starcrossed characters. I thoroughly enjoyed writing that book.

The longest was Bad Romeo/Broken Juliet, because initially, I didn't write those books to be published. I just wrote them because writing was my zen time and those characters rumbled around in my brain until I was able to purge them out onto paper.
I wrote a couple of hours a day, usually when my kids went to bed, and it took me around two years to finish both books. Then, I didn't do anything with them until family and friends convinced me to try to get them published. I stuffed around and procrastinated like a champion for another year, but then when I finally started querying agents, things moved very fast. Within a month I had an agent, and three months after that, I had a publishing contract. 11 months later, Bad Romeo was published. :)

Mercedes wrote: "Hi Leisa! What was your last 5 star read? Thanks!"

Hi, Mercedes! I've been a total book funk recently and haven't been reading much, but I really enjoyed Wynn In Doubt, by Emily Hemmer. Just sweet and swoony, and really well written.
I have a stack of amazing books on my TBR list though, so as soon as Mister Romance is out there in the world, I look forward to more quality reading time. :)

Tanja wrote: "What was you favorite or easiest book to write? Your hardest?"

Hi, Tanja! Actually the easiest book I've ever written is one that hasn't been published yet. It's my Nanowrimo project from last year called Same Stars, Different Sky, and I can't wait to get back to finishing it up. I don't think I'll get it edited this year because my schedule is a nightmare, but definitely next year.
I think my hardest book is the one I've just finished, Mister Romance. The truth is, I can be incredibly fussy when I write, and if I'm not 100% in love with a scene, I'll keep re-writing that little bastard until I am. With M.R, I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve, how I wanted the plot to go. It was all planned out, chapter by chapter, but when I reached the 3/4 mark of the book, my characters rebelled. They refused to go in the direction I had in my outline.
This is sometimes a thing for authors in general and for me in particular, and I should have known better than to fight it, because it just leads to angst and banging my head against the keyboard.
Anyway, I was a stubborn cow and kept forcing this ending that wasn't working, then I'd rewrite, and rewrite, and rewrite, desperately trying to shoehorn everything into my planned ending. Eventually, I had to admit defeat. I scrapped the last 1/4 of the book and went in the direction the characters wanted to go, and of course, it flowed like a particularly flowy river and worked brilliantly.
*sigh* Sometimes my stubborn streak is the course of many headaches. :)

Michelle wrote: "Do you share any of the same quirks as your characters? Like do you love cheese as much as Elissa?"

Hi Michelle!

Hahaha! Yes, actually, I share a lot of characteristics with some of my characters. I LOVE cheese, just like Elissa, and I'm very averse to exercise. Like her, I'm in the Fitness Protection Program.
When I was younger, I was very much like Cassie - a people pleasure. Insecure about my talent.
I have Ethan's brutal cynicism, and Josh's love for all things geeky. I have Jack Avery's sick sense of humor, and Angel's soft spot for all things pretty, sparkly, and girly. (And I strive to emulate her vendetta with carbs, but don't always achieve it. Lol!)
So, yes, there's a lot of me in many of my characters. Thanks for the question! :)

Ruth wrote: "What was your inspiration for writing Mister Romance?"

Hi, Ruth!

My inspiration came one day when I was thinking about all the different romance tropes that have their own very passionate following. I mean, we've all binged on our fave tropes, right? I loved 2nd chance romance for a while, but I know that there are passionate followings for damaged billionaires, bad boy bikers, and hot-as-hell rockstars.
And an idea popped into my head about a guy who could bring all those romantic fantasies to life. A book boyfriend chameleon. That's how I came up with the concept.
In writing the book, I didn't get to showcase as many of the tropes as I would have liked, but honestly, I loved writing these characters so much, and there's so many scenes that I still have in my head between Max and Eden, I could write a whole series of books about them. (But I won't. ;) Too many other projects to get on with.)

Nicole wrote: "Hi! Who are some of your favorite authors?"

Hi, Nicole!

I've met so many amazing authors since beginning this incredible journey, and every time I come to a signing in the states, I inevitably make a complete fool of myself by fangirling over some of my heroes. Like you ladies here, I love me some New Adult books, so when I see my fave authors, I always embarrass myself. I've accosted Colleen Hoover, and Jamie MacGuire a few times. I was a total idiot when I met Jen Armentrout because I couldn't believe she was so young. I boob-clinged E.L.James after have way too many margaritas. I babbled my head off when I met Kristen Ashely. Really, the list of my transgressions against these ladies is long and colorful.
I also love my fellow Aussie, Kylie Scott and her wicked sense of humor, and a hero I've never met but would really like to is Mia Sheridan. :)

Kym wrote: "What is one of your favourite things to do to celebrate the completion of a book?"

Hi, Kym!

My all-time favorite thing is to take some quality me-time by sitting my ass in a bean bag and playing video games for hours on end. (Yep, I'm a gamer girl.) My ultimate favorite game is Dragon Age. (Such fantastic characters and SUCH an incredible narrative. I love that series hard.) And my 1st runner-up would be Mass Effect. (I can't freaking wait for M.R. to be released so I can spend some time playing it. :)

Nicole wrote: "What's a current show you love?"
Hi, Nicole!

I've recently binge-watched 13 Reasons Why, and loved it. It was such a difficult show to watch at times, especially toward the end, but I thought it did a really great job at showing the slippery slope from bullying and vilification to suicide. I kind of want to show it to my boys (who are 12 &13) so they NEVER become the kind of a-holes the boys at that school were, but it's way too adult for them. Maybe in a few years. :)

Hi Leisa! Do you like to listen to music while writing? If so what is your favorite type of music?

Thanks :)

Leisa wrote: "Mercedes wrote: "Hi Leisa! What was your last 5 star read? Thanks!"

Hi, Mercedes! I've been a total book funk recently and haven't been reading much, but I really enjoyed Wynn In Doubt, by Emily H..."

Wynn In Doubt is one of my most favorite books ever!!! I got to meet Emily last year and I cried a little.

Do you have a lot of time to read? What's your favorite genre to read?

Hi Ms. Leisa! I would like to get to know you better but asking you what kind of music do you like? Thank you, I love this series <3