In this segment, authors will be subjected to a list of awkward questions that may reveal more about themselves than they really wish to share, and they will receive a score on the ‘Braveometer’. If they choose to answer only five questions, they are a ‘Brave Author’, if they answer 6 to 9 questions they are a ‘Mega-Brave Author’, and if they answer all 10 questions they are an ‘Ultra-Brave Author’!

Today I’d like to welcome Emmie Dark to the blog!

1.      If only one of your books could have been / could be published, which one would you choose? (C’mon, I don’t want to hear ‘Oh, I love them all, there’s no way I could choose.’ Time to be ruthless, these are the Ten Awkward Questions after all!)

You do go straight for the heart! 🙂 Okay, my truthful answer is the one I’m writing now – title-less, only five chapters written, and I’m totally smitten by it. The hero is the hero of my heart – if I could find a way to make him walk off the page and into my life, I’d do it!

2.      Okay, now which one of your children/family members would you… nah, just kidding! Which of the following words most accurately describes your best personality trait (you must pick only one!):

Punctual. Good listener. Neat. Graceful. Generous. Cheerful.

Hmm. I’d like to think more than one of these apply to me. But I’ll go with neat. I travel a lot for work, and my friends and family are always amazed that by ten minutes after getting in the door, my suitcase is unpacked, put away and the first load of washing is in the machine.

3.      Which of the following words most accurately describes your worst most challenging personality trait (even if you’re perfect, you must pick one):

Always late. Blabbermouth. Slob. Complete klutz. Scrooge. Grumpy pants.

I think probably more than one of these apply to me too! I’ll go with Always Late. Not by very much, but I’m regularly a ‘just past the hour’ than ‘before the hour’ kind of person.

4.      Have you ever had a romantic crush on one of your characters? Who and why?

Every single hero I’ve written! I always fall in love with my heroes. In my book “In His Eyes” that comes out in August, I have a secondary character called Morris who’s a grumpy old guy with a heart of gold. I think I’m a little in love with him, but it’s more of a girl-crush than a romantic one.

5.      When writing an important scene, do you act it out to allow you to better describe what’s happening?

Yes, I have done that! I also read some of my dialogue aloud – I sometimes wonder what my neighbours are thinking!

6.      Do you talk to yourself when writing or coming up with plot ideas?

Well, there’s an easy awkward question given I’ve already answered it! 😉 Yes, I will definitely read dialogue aloud. I also find when I’m coming up with plot and character arcs, I need to talk them through with someone. I have a few friends and a couple of crit partners who are handy sounding boards.

7.      Who would be ideal to play YOU in a movie of your life?

I’m loving the show “Once Upon a Time” at the moment and I’d love to say Jennifer Morrison. But she’s not really like me – probably I’d more accurately go with someone more quirky, like Tina Fey.

8.      If you could be any book character for one day, who would you be and why?

I’d like to be Bastian in The Neverending Story. He gets to have a fabulous adventure and once he’s overcome the Nothing, he gets to create a whole new Fantasia for himself. I’ve always loved that book and I’d very much like to have my own luckdragon.

9.      You’re about to be left on a deserted island for a year, and while your basic food and water needs will be met, you can only bring one extra thing from the following. Which would you choose?

a) A pen and notepad that never runs out

b) An unlimited supply of books

c) An unlimited supply of chocolate, coffee, or alcohol (your choice)

d) A gorgeous man/woman depending on your preference

This is a very tough one! I’m hopeless writing long-hand, so the pen and paper would be no use to me. I think I’d probably like an unlimited supply of book, but I’d be lost without an occasional glass of chardonnay. And a gorgeous companion… sigh. I’ll go with books. At least then I can imagine wine and heroes!

10.  If you had the attention of the whole world for two minutes what would you say?

Be kind to each other. That’s all.

Thanks for participating, Emmie. You have been awarded Ultra-Brave Author status on the Braveometer!

Check out Emmie’s new book, CASSIE’S GRAND PLAN. PLUS, to WIN a copy, leave a comment for Emmie below!

CASSIE’S GRAND PLAN
BACK BLURB

Four steps to a brand-new life

Cassie Hartman knows what she needs to do to get her life under control. First, she’ll get herself promoted. Then she’ll update her appearance. Steps three and four—marriage and family—well, those will have to wait.

Then Ronan McGuire shows up. The too-sexy, too-polished business consultant has the power to derail Cassie’s plans before she’s even really started. If he doesn’t approve her promotion, she’ll be back to square one—and that’s not an option. Cassie needs to keep her focus on that first step, no matter how much Ronan tempts her to skip ahead to the third and fourth ones….

Buy Links:

Harlequin                                Amazon                           Amazon UK
B&N                         Book Depository

Emmie Dark’s Bio:

After years of writing press releases, employee newsletters and speeches for CEOs and politicians – none of which included any kind of kissing – Emmie Dark finally took to her laptop to write what she wanted to write. She was both amazed and delighted to discover that what came out was sexy, noble heroes who found themselves crossing paths with strong, determined heroines. And plenty of kissing.

Emmie’s overnight success has taken about five years to achieve. She began fiddling around with story ideas when the urge to write fiction became overwhelming. In July 2011 she sold her first book to Harlequin SuperRomance and she’s not looking back, with her second sale in September. Both books will be out in 2012.

Emmie lives in Melbourne, Australia, and she likes red lipstick, chardonnay, sunshine, driving fast, rose-scented soap and a really good cup of tea. Like, a really good cup of tea. She’s particularly fussy about it, and has been known to pack her own teabags when she travels. Most members of her family are too scared to make her a cuppa, in case they get it wrong.

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…What about you, do you have a Grand Plan for your life?