Author Interview - Suzanne Carroll

Today I'm welcoming author Suzanne Carroll to the blog. She's stopping by today to tell us about her new release Over the Edge.

 Suzanne lives in Sydney with her husband and children.  By day she works in an office where she sneakily scribbles plot ideas on yellow sticky notes and hopes they don't accidentally end up on the departmental monthly report.

One such sticky note has turned into her first novel, Over the Edge.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuzanneCarrollWriter
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Suzanne_Carroll
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6935248.Suzanne_Carroll
Website: http://suzannecarroll.com/ 

1.  Have you always wanted to be a writer? How did you get started writing romance?
Yep. I wrote my first story when I was seven, and I loved the idea of creating characters and worlds and different scenarios, and that was it - I knew writing was what I wanted to do.

I don't really know how I got started writing romance.  It was never a conscious decision.  Ideas for new stories come to me and they're all quite different.  They can be inspired from something I've seen or heard, and some of them are romantic ideas, and some aren't.  Over the Edge is one of the romantic ones :)

2. Tell us about your writing process. Do you outline, or are you more of a seat of your pants type of a writer?

I'll usually start with one key idea.  One scene that is so clear in my head, and then I'll work around that.  There is outlining, but also a lot of flying by the seat of my pants.  I can be writing a scene, based on my outline, and decide it's just not working and the whole direction of the story will change.  Very frustrating when I have a deadline.

 3. Are there any romance novel cliché that make you cringe when you read them?

Euphemisms for body parts.  Years ago I read a book where the hero talked about opening the heroine's precious petals.  Yeah, that made me cringe.  And then laugh.

 4. What is the hardest scene you’ve had to write, and what made it so difficult?

Zoe's epiphany at the end of Over the Edge. The whole book comes down to that moment. I knew so well what I wanted her to say and feel in that scene, but the words had to be just right.  It took many, many attempts, but I'm really happy with the result.

 5. Which of your heroines would you say is most like you, and why?

Mm...I'm probably more like Zoe than I am like Georgia in The Thunderstorm, though neither of them is based on me.  Zoe's closer to my age and some of her more embarrassing moments, are also mine.  Oh, and she has an overactive imagination sometimes (you know, the noise in the night is an axe murderer, the new neighbors are serial killers, that sort of thing) and, um, she might get that from me too.

 6. What are you working on now?

I'm working on another romance, set in Australia and the UK, and the couple have more difficult barriers to cross than just geographical distance.  It's very early stages, I'm still fleshing out the ideas, but I'm very excited about it.

In six weeks Zoe Harper will marry Dan Costi in an over-the-top Sydney society wedding, complete with fire-eaters and belly dancers. But when she receives an unexpected gift from her future mother-in-law, Zoe realizes she’s making a huge mistake. In a blazing sidewalk argument, she breaks up with her fiancé, and his mother—who has joined the fight via conference call.

Following the advice of friends and co-workers, along with some inspiration from late-night-television self-help guru Dr. Pam, Zoe sets out to find the life she thinks she should be living. Always a planner, she makes a list of goals: travel, career, tattoos, and no romantic entanglements. It’s all carefully laid out, until she meets Angus Creed.

Angus is supposed to lead the opening waltz at a charity ball in New York City. Only problem is the handsome billionaire construction magnate with the tabloid past can’t dance. Not one step.

Tainted by gossip and with a well-publicized failed engagement behind him, Angus has become a master at keeping an emotional distance. Until he meets Zoe.

What starts as dancing lessons, slowly becomes something more. Angus begins to let down his guard and open his heart, even when his past makes an unexpected and unwelcome return. As Zoe discovers the real man behind the headlines, she questions where her new choices are taking her. Her goals look good on paper, but are they what she really wants? And by the time she realizes where her heart lies, will it be too late?

Buying link: http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books/detail/74