Holla!! It’s Tori. I’m so pleased that I am here with Deirdre Martin to talk about life, books, hockey, smexy men, and her newest release-Icebreaker-#9 in her New York Blades series.

Hi Deirdre! (insert fangirl SQUEEE) Thanks so much for being here with me today at Smexybooks. I LOVE hockey and smexy men so your New York Blades series excites me in many ways I really can’t say aloud on here. Your newest release, Icebreaker comes out today. Will you tell us about it?

The heroine, Sinead O’ Brien, is a high powered Manhattan attorney (She’s one of the siblings featured in the WILD HART saga) who has a rule about never dating clients—that is, until she meets Adam Perry, the newest star of the New York Blades who is also her newest client.

Adam has been charged with assault after a borderline hit on another star player. But off the ice he’s a private, no-nonsense guy who knows the Blades are his last shot at Stanley Cup glory. Assembling her case, Sinead at first assumes he’s some bone headed jock. But as things progress, she quickly discovers that there’s a wounded man under that jersey, and she’s starting to fall for him hard—so hard, in fact, that she’s tempted to break her ‘no dating clients’ rule. As for Adam, he’s having trouble focusing on the goal with Sinead in his sights. But true love prevails…

Adam and Sinead were interesting to write, because they’re both highly driven and highly guarded, but inside, they’re completely vulnerable. I enjoyed taking them on the journey from cautious regard to love, trust, and passion. And of course, it was great to be back in the Blades locker room with the guys.

I saw on your bio that hockey is the only sport you like to watch on TV. What drew to this particular sport? Besides the smexy men.

I have to confess, it pretty much WAS the smexy men that drew me. No, what happened was that I started watching hockey with my husband, and I realized very quickly that not only was the game itself exciting, but that the players made perfect romantic heroes. They’re warriors on a quest: the quest for the Stanley Cup. They’re willing to sacrifice, whether it’s physical, mental, or spiritually, to achieve their goal. These guys are tough. And let’s not forget, they have fabulous bodies.

What type of research is involved in writing this series? Do you base your characters on any real hockey players?

I LOVE doing research. It’s really, really important to me that the details in my stories are as real as possible, whether it’s for the Blades books or the others I’ve written. For BODY CHECK, I spent time with the New York Ranger’s (then) head of PR. I checked out the team’s locker room. (when it was empty, unfortunately). For CHASING STANLEY, I followed a Manhattan dog walker around for a few days, since that’s what the heroine does for a living.

The hero of my first book, BODY CHECK, Ty Gallagher, was an amalgam of the New Jersey Devils’ Scott Stevens and the New York Rangers Mark Messier, both of whom are now retired. Both were extremely tough, as well inspirational to their teammates.

The rest of my hockey heroes pretty much spring from my imagination.

A lot of people ask me who my favorite hockey hero in the series is. So far, It’s Michael Dante from FAIR PLAY.

I see you are on #9 of this series. How many more do you have planned all together?

The door is open on that. As long as readers keep buying the books and telling me they want more, I’ll keep writing them

Let’s talk about you now. I see you lead a very interesting life. Have you always had stories to tell?

Yes. I’m sure there a lot of my teachers along the way got sick of reading what I wrote. For example, my fourth grade teacher was subjected to an ongoing, G-rated romance between me and George Harrison. Another gem was one about a kid who scrawls a curse word on the inside door of a confessional. I got in trouble for that one, though looking back, I can’t understand why.

What drew you to the romance genre? What other genres interest you?

Romance is like comfort food; you read a romance and you know it’s always going to end happily. It’s a great escape.

As for other genres, I like fantasy. I think the Gormenghast books are great as well as the Golden Compass Trilogy. I also just finished an amazing book called “The Hounds of the Morrigan.” It was written before the Harry Potter books, and how film rights for it weren’t snapped up immediately mystifies me.

Do you ever see yourself ever writing a non romance book?

I actually did write one, called Investing for Retirement. I took it off my husband’s hands because he had too much to do. Stupid move: it was like being tortured. My main memory is of me clutching my head at the keyboard, whining, “I have never been this bored in my LIFE!” But we needed the money.

What are your “must have” things to write?

Coffee. Quiet. My husband mocks me because I have three reporters’ notebooks on my desk, as well as four or five pens. I love jotting thoughts down longhand. Actually, I prefer to write longhand, but that’s not feasible, since I only type with two fingers and it would take me ages to transcribe.

Where do you picture yourself 5 years from now?

On a yacht in the Mediterranean. I wish! It’s hard for me to say. I just hope I’m still working at home, writing fiction.

I see your husband’s an author also. Do you bounce ideas off each other?

I wouldn’t say we bounce ideas off each other as much as offer suggestions to each other, and edit. My husband enjoys editing—maybe too much. He likes his prose very lean and spare, and there have been times when he’s edited entire paragraphs out of my books that I have to put back in. When I first started writing romance, he was really good at helping me get a handle on the way guys’ really think and speak. Were it not for Mark, the heroes of my first couple of books would have sounded like Russell Brand: overly erudite and mildly insane. Mark helped fixed that.

What authors have a permanent spot on your bookshelf?

Nora, of course, Diana Holquist. David Sedaris. Nick Hornby. Janet Evanovich. P.G. Wodehouse. Stephen Fry. SMP.

What big thing do you want to do that you haven’t done yet?

I’d really like to live in Glasgow. And when I’m older, I’d like to serve in the Peace Corps.

Now for the quick responses:

Coke or coffee?

Coffee, direct from an IV drip if possible.

Big breakfast or a donut on the run?

Donut

Do you agree that Starbucks is THE evil empire that must be destroyed?

It depends. There’s a Starbucks here, and there’s a Gimme! Coffee, too. Service is fast at Starbucks. Gimme! Coffee, not so much. There have been times at Gimme! where I SWEAR they send someone to Columbia to pick the coffee beans while you wait. The service is excruciatingly slow, and the college kids working behind the counter all have names like Obsidian Girl and Yurgo ,who glare at “worker bees” with contempt. At least at Starbuck’s they pretend not to hate you.

Wait, what was the question again? No, I don’t think Starbucks is the evil empire that must be destroyed. Their coffee is good and I get served quickly, which is important to me.

Dead tree books or e books?

Both. Some books, for whatever reason, I want to be able to cradle in my hands, and others I’m perfectly happy to download.

Mac or Windows?

Mac. Always.

Where can we find you on the web?

www.deirdremartin.com. I’m also on facebook.

Is there anything you?d like to say to our readers?

Thank you!

Thanks Deirdre! Today, Deirdre is giving away one copy of Icebreaker! To enter, just leave a comment. Open to US/Canada through February 4th.