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Cate Lord Lucky Girl Interview + Giveaway
Filed in Cate Lord , Giveaways , Interview , The Danger Lover Posted on September 19, 2011 @ 6:00 am
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Please join us in welcoming Cate Lord to Book Lovers Inc. today! Cate is here for the next stop of her Entangled Publishing Blog Tour in celebration of the release of her contemporary romance, Lucky Girl, which was released from Entangled Publishing on September 6, 2011. Cate also writes as Catherine Kean and is a multi-award-winning author of historical romance. Her novels have garnered numerous accolades, including two Reviewer’s Choice Awards and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. Her books also finaled in the 2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and the 2008 National Readers’ Choice Awards. Lucky Girl is her first contemporary romance writing as Cate Lord.
Lea: Cate! Welcome to Book Lovers, it’s such a pleasure to be able to chat with you about Lucky Girl! 😀
Cate: Thank you so much! I’m thrilled to be here to talk about my book.
Lea: Cate can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
Cate: Absolutely! I live in Central Florida and have been married 19 years to a smart, witty, lovable Brit who looks like a cross between Dr. Who actor David Tennant and Mr. Bean 😀 And yes, my husband drives a Mini (although he’s over six feet tall!) 😀 We have a teenage daughter in High School. We also have a three-year-old male rescue kitty who believes I am his personal slave (and he’s so cute I can never say ‘no.’) 😀
As you mentioned, Cate Lord is my contemporary pen name, and Lucky Girl is the first Chick Lit romantic comedy I’ve written using this pseudonym. I decided to use different pen names for my contemporary and historical books because they’re very different in style and tone. Readers buying a Cate Lord novel are going to get a funny, sexy, quirky romance, whereas a Catherine Kean book is dramatic, emotional, and enriched with historical detail.
Lea: Describe a typical day of writing? Are you a planner or pantser?
Cate: I usually write in the afternoon and will work for several hours. Sometimes I write at my dining room table, with my kitty curled up snoozing in his bed beside me. Other days, I head out to a local coffee shop or Barnes & Noble and work there. I like to produce a minimum of two or three solid pages per day. I’m not a fast writer. I wish my muse wasn’t so picky about her word choices and sentencing, but she has to get them right. 😀
I wish, too, that I could be a pantster. Some of my author friends craft excellent books without doing an outline/synopsis or character sketches ahead of time, but my creative muse doesn’t like to work that way. She’s definitely a planner. We/I usually start my books by penning a few scenes, to get an idea of who my hero and heroine are and their story goals, motivations, and conflicts. Then I work on a detailed synopsis/outline. I like to get the synopsis reasonably solid before I continue on with the novel; it helps to know where I’m headed with the story and I’ve sold books before on the partial (first three chapters and synopsis).
Lea: What do you think is the difference between a reader and a real Book Lover?
Cate: In my opinion, a reader is someone who picks up a book when she has free time, but that may not be every day, or it may be just for a short time before another commitment intrudes and she has to put the book aside.
A real book lover is someone who “lives” books. By that, I mean she reads voraciously, every day, and usually gets through three or more books per week. She’s likely reading more than one book at a time. Without books, her poor soul would shrivel into nothingness. 😀
Lea: What can we expect of Lucky Girl?
Cate: The book is a fast-paced, light-hearted, fun romantic comedy that’s guaranteed to make readers giggle! 😀 It’s the story of American beauty editor Jessica Devlin, recently dumped by her fiancé, who flies to England to be maid-of-honor in her cousin’s wedding, and the gorgeous British marketing exec she’s intensely attracted to, but believes is completely wrong for her. However, fate keeps throwing her and hottie Nick Mondinello together. She refuses to believe he could possibly be her Mr. Right. How could Sex God Nick be attracted to Plain Jane her? He wouldn’t be . . . unless she was one very lucky girl! 😀
Lea: You wrote Lucky Girl in the first person from Jessica’s POV so readers are given up close and personal insight into her life. Jessica is good fun and even though she has had a rough time in her personal life recently and has put on a few pounds she keeps her spirits up by giving herself sort of metaphorical pep talks. Can you tell us about “Chickey Dee”? lol
Cate: Oh, yes! Chicky Dee! I loved creating her. She’s the sassy female sidekick of a James-Bondish spy extraordinaire named Plucky Penguin. She and Plucky Penguin are products of my wild imagination, as is the cancelled British TV show called The Adventures of Plucky Penguin that’s mentioned in the book. Jess constantly imagines Nick as Plucky Penguin, and herself as his Chicky Dee.This adds extra humor to the story and is one of the elements that highlights their romance.
Lea: Jessica made me laugh out loud on a number of occasions Cate. I found her almost a little neurotic. lolol As an example, she stays in the home of a family friend for her two week vacation. Part of the deal is that she will look after the friend’s enormous very personable cat Casanova who is only fed home cooked food. Jessica can’t cook worth a damn, here is a little snippet when she is brooding about cooking for Cass:
My shoes thudded on the carpeted steps. Cooking for a cat. Sheesh. Did Laura know I was the worst cook in the whole world? I could blend eye shadow shades like a pro, but give me a recipe, the ingredients, and ask me to end up with something edible? Forget it.
What if I couldn’t make the food the way Casanova liked? What if he lost weight and ended up at the vet? Laura might come home to find a little cat tomb in her own backyard.
Oh, God, no.
Lucky Girl © Cate Lord
LOL Lucky Girl is full of scenes like this where Jessica envisions that the absolute worst possible scenario is going to unfold, when in fact it doesn’t but her introspective thoughts are just hilarious! The thing is, she doesn’t let her worries consume her does she?
Cate: Jess is definitely neurotic, but I intended her to be that way. 😀 I think if we can laugh at a character, sometimes that humor encourages us to take a closer look at ourselves and own reactions to situations. 😀
Every woman has insecurities, about her weight, appearance, finances, dating, workplace politics, fashion disasters, family conflicts, and more. While Jess deals with a lot of these issues in the story, you’re absolutely right; she doesn’t let her worries consume her. I think that’s an admirable quality in her.
From the perspective of story craft, the issues Jess confronts are part of her character journey from being worry-wart with very low self-esteem (thanks to her nasty breakup with her fiancé) to a woman who’s finally happy with who she is and her place in the world. She’s “whole” again at the book’s end. And she’s finally found Mr. Right.
Lea: Jessica has recently split with her fiancée Stan and through her account of their relationship the guy sounded like a narcissistic ‘fiend’ as her Aunt rightly called him. Even though readers never meet Stan we learn of him through Jessica introspection. I really felt for Jessica because Stan’s cruelty when they broke up took its toll on her confidence. Did you intend to place Stan in an antagonistic role in the story?
This is a great question! I did intend Stan to have an antagonistic role in the story. It was the only believable role for him, really, since the book is told entirely from Jess’s point of view. He hurt her pretty badly by being unfaithful to her when they were engaged and in the midst of wedding plans. I don’t think she’d think of him with fondness.
Lea: Jessica is an American but the novel is mainly set in Britain where she travels to attend a family wedding and for a vacation. She meets the drop dead gorgeous hero of the story Nick Mondinello who she knows from a previous encounter years earlier. This guy is a real head turner and Jessica sees him as a “Sex God. Playboy. Heartbreaker.” However hero Nick isn’t shallow at all is he? In fact he completely surprises Jessica. Can you talk a little about Nick’s background? He and Jessica have a lot in common don’t they?
Cate: Nick was born and raised in England and works as a marketing exec in a prestigious London firm. He’s smart, sexy, and every woman lusts after him, but he’s far more noble a character than Jess ever imagined. His dad died suddenly when he was young, a shock to him and his mom. Nick’s mother started drinking to help her through her grief, and she became an alcoholic. Nick was responsible for helping her overcome this problem.
Two years ago, when Nick saw Jess drunk at the English pub, he recognized a soul overwhelmed by grief and loss, and understood she was enduring pain similar to what he’d experienced when his dad died. That’s how he knew what to say to comfort her, and how he made such a strong impression upon her. That powerful emotional bond is still “live” between them when they meet again at Jess’s cousin’s wedding, and ultimately it’s what brings them together romantically.
Another thing they have in common: collections of limited-edition Plucky Penguin figurines. 😀 Yep, Jess and Nick were meant to be together.
Lea: I couldn’t help but see Jessica as an American Bridget Jones while reading Lucky Girl and read a few comments after finishing the book and noticed the story elicited the same thoughts from other readers. Did you think Jessica’s voice and your story would spark the Bridget Jones comparison?
Cate: No, but I’m very flattered that that Jess is compared to such a well-known fictional character.
Lea: I have to ask is “The Adventures of Plucky Penguin” an actual old television show? I looked it up but couldn’t find it anywhere! lol
Cate: It’s completely fictional. 😀 You’re not the first person to think it was a real show. I take that as a compliment that I did my job as an author in developing my story world. 😀
Lea: What can readers expect next from the desk of Cate Lord?
Cate: I have a lot of projects percolating right now. Among them, the glimmer of an idea for a follow-on book from Lucky Girl. After all, Jess has three beautiful English cousins who deserve stories and happily-ever-afters of their own.
Lea: Can you summarize Lucky Girl for us twitterstyle (in 140 characters or less)?
When American beauty editor Jess Devlin goes to England for a wedding, she meets again sexy marketing exec Nick Mondinello. Her single gal mission: not to fall in love.
Lea: Now can you tell us 3 reasons why people should read your books?
1. Lucky Girl will make you laugh (Don’t we all need a good laugh now and again?)
2. Nick has a delicious British accent (Don’t all of us gals melt inside like a warm chocolate truffle when we hear handsome British men talk?)
3. By reading the book, readers will learn a lot about snogging (Don’t we all like to read about kissing? Who doesn’t like a good kiss?)
Lea: Cate, thank you so much for joining us at Book Lovers today, it’s been wonderful to chat with you. And, thank you for Jessica, she is great fun. 🙂
Cate: Thank you! I loved this interview. What great questions. 😀
Where to find Cate:
Facebook | Goodreads | Website
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*~*Giveaway*~*~
Entangled Publishing has generously offered a digital copy of Lucky Girl to one lucky commenter! 🙂
All you have to do is leave a meaningful comment about the interview!
(You can read our full giveaway policy here)
Please leave us a way to contact you.
(Email in blogger profile or twitter name – no way to contact you – no entry).
This giveaway is open worldwide!
Giveaway ends on Saturday, September 24, 2011; and we will announce the winner on Sunday.
Good luck!
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Sounds great. I like to through a fun book into my mix every few reads and this should work nicely. What's the title going to be for the sequel to LUCKY GIRL?
vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com
Fab interview! I love reading about the writing process. 3 pages a day sounds good to me! Do you sometimes write out of order? (I read that somewhere – another interview, but can't remember which author). Out of order as in you pick a scene to write rather than chapter 1-end. A heroine from the US in England. Oh my god that sounds SO great. For some reason looking at the cover it's exactly what I wished for (in terms of setting).
Thanks so much for the chance to win!
sk_86(at)gmx(dot)de
Greetings from Germany!
I liked the interview questions AND answers! The interview has whetted my appetite for the book.
Mickie T
mdturett at juno dot com
Lea, thank you SOOOOO much for making my interview look so wonderful! I love the photos you included. 🙂
Hi, Victoria! 🙂 It's nice to meet you! I'm so glad that LUCKY GIRL sounds good to you. I haven't decided what to call the follow-on book yet, but the word "lucky" will be in the title somewhere. 🙂
Hello, _yay_! Thanks for your kind words about my interview and LUCKY GIRL. 🙂 Yes, sometimes I do write out of order, if a scene is really clear in my mind and it's nagging me to be written. I've learned that there's no one "right" way to write a novel, and sometimes, we authors have to listen to our creative muses. Thanks for the great question. 🙂
Hello, Mickie T! 🙂 I'm glad you enjoyed the interview. 🙂 It was a lot of fun. Lea asked some great and fun questions.
Hi Cate,
I enjoyed your interview. LUCKY GIRL is such a fun read. I can't wait to see what happens in subsequent stories about Jess' cousins Anna and Charlotte! 🙂
I love a story with a sense of humor! I have seen this story around the web recently and I would love to read it. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.
jepebATverizonDOTnet
Hiya, Tracy! 🙂 Thanks for your kind words about LUCKY GIRL. I think Charlotte's story will be next. Can't say for sure, though. I need to consult my muse and see what she thinks. 😉
Hi, Jen B! 🙂 Humor is definitely present in LUCKY GIRL. 🙂 Thanks for wanting to read my book. Yay!
Sounds like a great book. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com
i want to learn more about snogging! XD
the interview was fun to read. the excerpt about the cat food was really funny and i am looking forward to the book.
also: who the hell is this plucky penguin? lol that sounds like a book for me ^^
witchvela at web dot de
Would love to win this book if not too late.\
patoct@yahoo.com