Tag: Nicola C. Priest

1. Can we start with your name and where you’re from?
   I write under my given name, Nicola C. Priest, but people tend to call me Nicky. Midlands girl, born & bred.
2. Most authors love reading, is this true for you and if so who was/is your inspiration?
   Completely true.  When I was younger, I used to love reading Stephen King and James Patterson, mainly because my mom loved to read those authors so I picked up her books, but now I’m predominantly a romance girl and love to read Nicole Edwards and Kristy Bromberg
3. What genre do you write in or do you cross over into many?
   Most of my books are contemporary romance, but one of my in progress books, Perception, leans towards the Crime genre, with a touch of romance thrown in.
4. If you could take any character from someone else’s book and make him/her your own creation who would it be and why?
   Just one character? Don’t think I could do that, but Id happily take all seven of the Walker Brothers from Nicole Edwards’ Alluring Indulgence series.  Seven hot, sexy cowboys; what’s not to love there?
5. When did you first start writing?
   I’ve loved writing since I was in school. Our creative writing classes were always my favourite.  I started writing fanfiction based on various TV shows but it wasn’t until a certain trilogy came out that I decided to have a go at writing something original. I figured if she could do it, then so could I.
6. Do you plan every inch of your books or do you just let the words flow?
   I do plan to some degree, but I tend to just write and go where the characters take me.  I never know how a story is going to end until I get there. Two of the books I’ve released ended in completely different ways to what I originally envisioned.
7. Who is your favourite character and why? (your own character)
   Tough one, but I’d have to say Jackson MacKenzie out of Somewhere Love Remains.  I won’t go into details, but there are parts of that book that mean a lot to me and I’ll leave it there.
8. Was there an event in your life that triggered a particular book, or even a scene in a book? If so what was the book and what was the event?
   Somewhere Love Remains.  I had an armed forces penpal back when I was a teenager.
9. Are you working on anything at the moment? If so can you share any tasty morsels?
   Yes.  I’m working on the sequel to Heart & Soul, called Mind & Soul which has a couple of twists people won’t see coming.  The second I’m working on is Perception, which is a little different to what I usually write.
10. What one piece of advice would you give to someone starting out?
    Just write.  I’m a firm believer that everyone has at least one book inside them, but you won’t get anywhere unless you write.  All the editing and formatting comes after, just get the words on the paper and the rest will follow.
11. What do you do when you’re not writing?
    I work full time as a financial services contractor so that takes up most of my day.  When I’m not working or writing, I go to the gym and catch up on my reading list.
12. What is the hardest part of the whole writing, editing, marketing process for you?
    Definitely the marketing.  Getting a new book out there is hard and I hate pestering people or posting repeatedly on pages/groups.  I know how it makes me feel seeing the same post over and over, but then I remember that this person is trying to do the same things as me, they’re just being a bit more forward lol
13. We all have those friends or family members who make sweeping statements about our writing or the process, which is your particular bug bear?
     I hate it when people assume that just because I have a book on Amazon, I must be raking in the cash.  I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve heard “You’re an author? You must be loaded” or words to that effect.  I wish I was loaded, but as most of us indie authors can attest, that’s just not the case
14. What is your idea of happiness?
    Being able to give up my full-time job so that I can write for a living instead.  I’d love to be able to earn my living as an author.
15. For this one I want you to showcase your creativity by painting me a picture, with words, of your ideal setting to write in.
     For me it would have to be a log cabin in the middle of nowhere, with an open log fire and huge armchair.  I’d have a glass of my favourite wine next to me with the fire roaring, warming the room and casting a soft glow over the furnishings.  I’d have my Macbook on my lap and just let the words flow.
16. What makes you laugh/cry?
    I’m a big softie.  Anything that my nieces and nephews achieve always has me in tears, and they’re not even m kids!  My niece recently took park in the Children in Need choir which was televised and when I caught a glimpse of her on the TV I teared up.  I’m a sucker for sappy movies too.
17. You’re stranded on a desert island and you can take three men/women who would they be and why? This can be practical or purely sexual in nature. Hmmmmm.  I think I’d take the inspirations behind my leading men.  Henry Cavill inspired Alistair Lockwood; there’s just something about him and I could look at him all day.  That man can wear a suit like no other.  Canadian actor Yannick Bisson inspired Jason Harper, again, very easy on the eyes, but also a fantastic cook so he’d be able to keep all of out energies up.  The last one, and I’m not giving a name here as it’s personal, is the inspiration for Jackson MacKenzie.  He’s a good friend of mine and has helped me through some tough time.  I wouldn’t be without him in my life.
18. What is your most annoying habit?
    I’m the queen of the saying “I’ll do it in a minute.” It drives my husband mad as whatever it is never gets done and he ends up doing it himself.  My memory is terrible so unless I do something there and then, I completely forget about it.
19. Please tell me about your books? For each one please send a pic (kindle cover would be perfect)
     I have three books out at the moment: Heart & Soul is part one in the Heartland series.  You have Alistair Lockwood, Hollywood moviestar and heartthrob, you meets clerical assistant Samantha Westfield during a meeting.  There’s an instant attraction, but both have dark secrets that they want to keep hidden.

Somewhere Love Remains tells the tale of Olivia and Jackson, two people who connect when Olivia places an advert for an armed forces penpal.  Throughout the years Olivia falls for Jackson, but he falls for someone else and they lose touch.  Jump to 14 years later and a chance encounter has them reconnecting, but they’re both different to what the other remembers.

Chase the Knight is a novella you can read in 45 minutes.  Abigail’s life is threatened by her dad’s shady work dealings so he hires Alexander Chase, and undercover cop, to protect her.  Can’t really say much more without giving it away.

Mind and Soul & Perception are currently in progress. Mind & Soul carries on six weeks after Heart & Soul ended with Alistair and Samantna trying to move on with their lives.  Perception is a little different to the other books in that it is a crime book where several girls have gone missing, with two turning up later, apparently murdered.

1. Lightning round
   Tea or Coffee? Tea
   Cash or credit? Cash
   Cats or Dogs? Cats
   Beach or Mountain? Beach
   Summer or Winter? Summer
   Sweet or Savoury? Savoury
   Early riser or late riser? Late Riser
   Morning or Night? Night
   Christmas Tree – real or fake? Real
   Sex – Lights on or off? Both
   
   Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions.
   Please leave Facebook, Twitter, Website links so we can check you out further.

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nicola-C.-Priest/e/B00GW2VPUE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1484058652&sr=1-1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolacpriest

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/NicolaCPAuthor

Website: https://www.nicolacpriest.co.uk