I’m happy to have Penny Watson at Smexy today! Her first book, Sweet Inspiration comes out today! Let’s get to know her better.
Who is Penny Watson – give us the lowdown.
Wife of a fly-fishing anesthesia cowboy, mom to two awesome adopted Filipino kids (and one obsessive-compulsive wiener dog), member of the totally rocking romance critique group known as The Quirky Ladies, author of assorted scientific papers and romantic fiction, and enthusiastic fan of gardening, Vermont, beards and Top Chef.
Sweet Inspiration is your first published book. Tell us a bit about the journey you went on to be published.
Hee hee heee….here is my “journey”….
1) Attempted a romance novel about a family of werewolves who live in Maine. Had no clue about central conflict, POV, voice, tone, over-use of adverbs, passive tense. Mission aborted.
2) After joining the NECRWA and finally figuring out a few things about writing romance, decided to pen the story that had been kicking around in my head for a couple of years. About the North Pole, Santa Claus, and his five sexy sons. People laughed when I told them my idea.
3) Wrote the book. The Quirky Ladies liked it. Entered some contests. Some judges really liked it, some judges crushed me like a small bug. (I was aghast to find out some women do not find beards smexy! Shocking!) (What?? I’m shocked as well)
4) Won first place in a contest. Pitched my story, queried my story, figured out that most publishers were not interested in a 55,000-word light paranormal Christmas-themed romance.
5) Discovered that some e-pubs actually had a niche for this sort of story. Got lucky with The Wild Rose Press.
How did you come up with the idea for Sweet Inspiration? You must have a love for baking – I don’t know how many cookies I ate while I read this!
I’m a pantser (writing by the seat of my pants). I have no idea what is going to happen in my story until I sit down and start writing it. I usually get a couple of “scenes” in my head as a starting point, and I go from there. With Sweet Inspiration, two scenes popped into my head. One was of a man and woman making love in front of a roaring fire, and I thought…wouldn’t it be cool if they were in the North Pole, and he was the son of Santa Claus? (Yes, this is how my brain works! :) I also saw a man standing on a freezing street corner, with snow falling on him, watching the warm, cozy interior of a bakery. Nicholas came to life….an uptight, inflexible pastry chef, falling in lust with a carefree café owner. (I heart your brain)
I love baking, cooking, growing fresh herbs and vegetables in my garden. Many of the dishes described in my book are favorite meals we prepare at home. The apple pie is killer!
Who knew Santa had such smexy sons. Nicholas, the hero in Sweet Inspiration is the eldest and a bit more serious. His brothers are quite the characters. Who do we get to hear from next? Will Nicholas and Lucy still play a role?
The next book is called Sweet Magik, and it’s Oskar’s story. (Oskar is the youngest Klaus brother, a green-haired, snowboarding punk with lots of tats and of course hunk-alicious muscles). Nicholas, Lucy and all of the brothers will definitely pop up in Sweet Magik. So will a lot of new elfin characters, both good and e-villlll.
One source of inspiration for this story was JR Ward’s Brotherhood series. I absolutely LOVE the camaraderie of the brothers, and I thought it would be fun to play around with those sorts of relationships in a more light-hearted and humorous way.
In the book, Lucy looks upon Santa’s house and says she can actually “feel the Christmas spirit.” That is how I felt with all of your wonderful descriptions of Glasdorf, aka the North Pole. Give us some insight into coming up with this magical world.
I had a great time writing the magic scenes. As ideas started popping into my head, I just let them write themselves more or less. I got a big kick out of creating the elfin world and all of those characters. Paranormal romance is one of my favorite sub-genres. I think paranormal elements really add something exciting and fresh into the story.
Nicholas is described with a thick full beard and spectacle rimmed glasses – a somewhat different look than an everyday romance hero. Although Nicholas is set to take over for Santa, the current Santa does not have the full belly or rosy cheeks. Not even a red coat. Why keep the beard?
Let’s just say I have a thing about beards. (Can you hear the Quirky Ladies laughing their asses off?). A big, big thing about beards. Yum! Smexy!
The cover for Sweet Inspiration is perfect for this book! How much input do you have on your covers?
Thanks, Mandi! I think my cover is really cute and definitely reflects the fun, festive feel of my story. At TWRP we get to fill out a manuscript sheet and make suggestions for our cover.
How important is Twitter, Goodreads, and your blog to you as an author?
I am a huge Goodreads fan and a huge Facebook fan. Twitter not so much (too much information!). But all of them are incredibly helpful in terms of communicating with readers, other bloggers, and other authors. It can be very isolating to write all day long on the computer, so these social networks offer a great way to stay in touch with like-minded folks.
I have two blogs…one is for my critique group, The Quirky Ladies, which is obviously writing-centric. The other one, Penelope’s Romance Reviews, is geared toward readers and writers, and gives me a chance to relax and unleash the power of my unbridled opinion. It’s a blast to write, and I love the whole network of romance bloggers…it’s a great group of people.
Since you are in Smexyville, I must ask:
Which fictional character do you lust after the most?
This is a really difficult question. I lust after a lot of characters. Hmm. One of my all-time favorite heroes is Alec Kincaid from Julie Garwood’s The Bride. A massive, arrogant, hot-blooded Scottish warrior laird. What’s not to like?
If you could switch places with any heroine, whom would it be?
Lucy from my own book Sweet Inspiration, because I really love Nicholas. He’s got a beard, he’s an awesome cook, and I would get to celebrate Christmas every day. Sounds like heaven!
Hairy chests on your heroes – smexy?
Hairy chests…smexy!
Beards….smexy!
Mustaches….if they are on Eric Bana, smexy! (<---I agree!)
Hairy forearms….smexy! (<---interesting....)
Hairy backs….not so smexy.
Congrats on the release!!!
Usually I don't go for full out beards but on some guys it does look very hot. But scroff on all guys is hot.
usignolc(at)yahooDOTcom
I'm all for beards, but they have to live in a rustic place…beards in south florida on the beach, so not smexy to me! But scruff is a hell yes!!!! Mustaches too old school…not cute when food catches in beards abd mustaches. BLAH!! Love the idea of the book Penny! I wish you the best of luck now and in the future!!
nmaggi2993@yahoo.com
Nikki
Congrautlations on the new release!
Usually, I do like a beard – maybe I am weird – but it has to be a nice looking one – not one that's over grown and gross! :)
BTW you have a little award on my blog :)
E-book and a giftcard, yes I am in :D
Oh that guy, hot! I like beards, well certain types, not full beards, Those are too much, but you know enough, they can look a bit rough and oh so sexy.
nice interview, I do love that cover
Congratulations on your release! *sigh* – Love Alec Kinkaid too…
This book sounds delicious – Santa's sons certainly sound sexy (haha – say that out loud)!
Congratulatons, Penny! What delicious fun! You've given a whole new meaning to Christmas Cookies : ) Beards can be very sexy on the right man. Tim Daly (YUM)wore a goatee/mustache in the Western TV movie "The Outsider". Lord, was he gorgeous!
gcwhiskas at aol dot com
Hey Mandi….Nice photo of Hugh. He has 2 adopted kids, also…did you know that? One of the Quirky ladies, my friend Vicki, got to meet him in person! So jealous!
Thanks, everyone, for the good wishes.
Virginia…I gotta go google Tim Daly (who I love, by the way) and see this beard. Viggo Mortensen also looks rockin' in a beard. He was in the western Appaloosa with Ed Harris, and I have a photo of those 2 smoking guys on my bulletin board for inspiration (sweet inspiration, hee hee!). Yum!
Congrats on the book release Penny. Very nice cover.
I like scruffy facial hair. It's smexy. And I think Gerard Butler with beards or any facial hair is just hot. I have to say Terry Spears Wolf Darien Silver(Destiny of the Wolf) is still my smexy man of the year.
Congrats on the release!
And the beard question: it really depends on the man. Gerard Butler and Hugh Jackman are smexy with and without. I think the man must be a real man or the beard looks hilarious.
Loved the interview! And hairy arms are smexy. Really interesting! LOL
A neat, trimmed beard is always a good thing and it's especially appreciated on already sexy gentlemen (Gerard Butler, Johnny Depp, etc) LOL
Well trimmed beards are sexy…. especially if they are soft and tickle my lips during kiss – super sexy, like butterfly kisses times a million!
Congratulations on the book release Penny. :)
I like well groomed facial hair, think Vishous. *waggles eyebrows*
I had no idea hair could be such a smexy topic. I love the look of a bit of scruff but not the feel. Ouch. Congratulations on the release. I love the cover.
Great interview Penny and Mandi. I'm with Fiction Vixen, Vishous doesn't it for me for facial hair. I also may or may not have had a crush on Paul Bunyan when I was younger O_O
High five to all the facial hair lovers!! Woot!
I make my husband keep a layer of scruff going – it nice ;)
My favorite celebrity w/facial hair is Matthew Fox – the first time I saw him on Party of Five there was a major *swoon* and now that he is on Lost, he still maintains the perfect amount of scruff, even though he is on a deserted island!! :)
Scruff or a beard like sexy hunk Hugh can always rub my skin. I'm a big fan of well maintained facial hair and find it draws out my inner Jane ;)
Congratz on release day Penny!
Penny–I'd say I'm 80% there on your evil conversion of me to a beard lovin' fool. Though ultimately it depends on what hot go the facial hair is placed. I don't need to be part of your contest, but how about we get together and bake cookies, listen to Xmas music and find pictures of smexy men on the web all night? That would be the perfect way to celebrate your release. Congratulations. Nicholas is seriously smexy.
Beards–it depends. That stubble a couple of hours after a fiveo'clock shadow? Yum. That Howdy Ma'am Man-of-the-Mountains scruffy thing they've got going on makes everything turn to jelly.
It's called friction. :)
Speaking of LOST — OhMyGawd Sawyer. And I wonder what Alexander Skarsgard looks like scruffy? Hmmmm.
[Ebook! Giftcard! :)]
– Sasha
Sasha & The Silverfish
esashamartinez(at)yahoo(dot)com
Oh, don't even get me started on Vishous. I love him! He has that delicious combination of super-computer smart/brilliant brain and hot lusty bod AND as an extra bonus the facial hair. Perfection. Now I just need to kick Jane's ghostly ass out of the picture, and everyone will be happy. Hee hee hee…. (Well, at least I will be happy.)
By the way, loved the Tim Daly photos I found with his beard. Nice. Also agree about Gerard, Matthew Fox, etc. I also like really scruffy older men like Harrison Ford. The beard with the salt and pepper thing going on is smexy.
Congrats on your book release.
Beards smexy? Well it depends on the face underneath it :)
Ooh, I'd be part of that, Michelle! No fair using Hugh Jackman to sway the cause, or Johnny Depp, for that matter! Those guys look hot no matter what. Case in point, Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow.
Don't enter me in the contest – already had the great pleasure of reading Sweet Inspiration.
Sascha – Sawyer – le sigh. I like him better than Jack actually!!! Skarsgard should def go scruffy.
Penny – Vishous – nom nom nom.
Elaing8 – LMAO – I choked a bit on my coffee.
I have been waiting for this book since last March. I can't wait to get it tomorrow, unless I win this fabulous contest. Anyhoo, this is going to be a great story and I am looking forward to reading about the brothers.
Congrats on your new release!
Yes a beard can be sexy but depending on the man and if he keeps it well manicured and trimmed!
Hi Natascha! I'm so psyched for you to read my story! Thanks for being my German language consultant. :)
I love the storyline to these books! They sound so fun and I'm really hoping Santa delivers this to me. As for beards, I'm not a fan of full beards. But I'm totally turned on by goatees. The commenter above who mentioned Vishous, I'm in total agreement with you. Ooh La La!
And since we're talking facial hair, how funny is it that my word verification is lions.
Wow! Sounds like a great book. I love romance novels which involve food and then the unusual idea of introducing us to Santa's sons is a great one. Would love to read this. Thanks for the chance to win a copy. Not really big into beards normally but there are some exceptions.
cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com
Even though I'm pretty sure my email is in my profile, I'm including it again just to be on the safe side.
joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com
Congrats! Never thought I would hear these words together (light paranormal Christmas-themed romance), but it is the holidays!
Love a bit of hair on men… some absolutely need it! Too much hair is scary though :)
Hi rldesign! The first time I pitched my story at a conference, the agent looked at me like I was a total whack. Seriously. It was not a good pitch. Some people just don't like the idea of sexing up their Santa. :) But I personally love sexy holiday stories. Thanks for stopping by!
Great interview! And may I just say Penny you have great taste in heroes, I love Alex Kincaid in the Bride as well! I liked beards, but I also really like that scruffy look even more, hmm, how I envision my favorite red haired Scot – sigh.
Thanks for posting this interview!
Congrats on the release of your book.
No beards or mustasches wanted here.
kissinoak at verizon dot net
Hi Penny :)
Congratulations on your debut novel.
Beards or moustaches make a man look so different. Tom Selleck without a mustache just doesn't look like himself.
:)
All the best,
RKCharron
xoxo
PS – email's in blogger profile
I was aghast to find out some women do not find beards smexy!
*raises hand* Ahhh, me *shy grin*
Very interesting interview – thank you Penny & Mandi. All the best with your debut release Penny!
beards ? i'm usually don't like it. exception if it's well trimmed. i can call it as smexy :)
uniquas at ymail dot com
Okay, ladies. For those of you still not on the beard-loving bandwagon, I think you need to stop by Penelope's for the "beard of the day"– here's a good one….
http://penelopesromancereviews.blogspot.com/2009/11/beard-of-day.html
Smexy! :)
The Wild Rose Press has my book up! Yay! Here is the purchase link…
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/sweet-inspiration-p-3789.html
Thanks to everyone for your good wishes!- Penny
Congrats!
I love beards…Pretty much every guy I have ever dated has had one :)
Raelena
throuthehaze at gmail dot com
Please count me in to the giveaway, this book sounds good.
Beards are sexy in some men. I love Eric Dane's from Grey's Anatomy.
milkavainamo@lyseo.edu.ouka.fi
Oooh, I'm intrigued. That cover is yummy too. Please put me down for the contest. Thank you! : )
Beards = totally not smexy. I kind of like a sort of scruffy forgot to shave look, but actual beards – ick!
What a scrumptious cover! Sign me up!
zedster.tbb(at)gmail(DOT)com
Beards, not so smexy. Strong hands and long fingers, very smexy. It's a weird thing, I know.
The book sounds fantastic. Congrats. Put me down for the contest.
Beards are definitely smexy! If kept and groomed right and on the right type of male… That pic of Hugh for example…*sigh*
Beards aren't Smexy! (running away)
kimi kaio @ yahoo.com (no spaces)
Okay, I totally got side-tracked by Hugh Jackman. OMG have you seen him in X-Men Origins???? *purring* He's my fantasy.
Okay, now some comment time for Penny. I'm with you girl, hairy arms are smexy, I must say. Don't know why I think so…but I do. ;)
That was a really great and fun interview ladies. I really enjoyed reading about your publishing journey, Penny, and congrats on finding a home for your light-hearted paranormal Christmas story.
;) VFG
Urteter nuytre: http://tesari.t35.com