Friday, October 21, 2011

FRIDAY FIRSTS with Laurie London

First five sentences of...
Enchanted By Blood
from the anthology A Vampire for Christmas


“So who are you planning to kill?”

Trace Westfalen didn’t glance over at the sound of his friend’s voice. Instead, he shoved his phone into an inner pocket of his suit, strode to the wet bar in the corner of the conference room and poured himself a straight shot of Jack. Without waiting for his fangs to retract, he drained it in one swallow.

“I wish,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “That would improve my mood substantially.”
(Becky here: Okay, so that's six sentences, but I liked that sixth one... )

Laurie will give away a signed copy of her book to one lucky commenter this weekend! We will draw a name on Sunday.

FUN FIRST QUESTIONS ABOUT LAURIE


Q: What was the first Rated R movie you saw?
My first R rated movie was Saturday Night Fever. I saw it with a bunch of my horse-riding friends and our instructor. But the one I remember the most was seeing Body Heat with my dad. OMG, I was mortified watching all those sex scenes with him right next to me.
Q: What was the first romance novel you read?
I don’t remember the title or many of the details, only that I loved it! It was a Harlequin (I think) and the cover had a woman wearing a beautiful, flowing purple dress and the man had an unbuttoned, ruffled white shirt. He was a pirate ship captain who was secretly an aristocrat, and she was a woman who’d stowed aboard his ship. My sister (yes, Becky, you!) thinks I got it from my boyfriend’s mom, but I think a shirttail relative who lived with us for a couple of weeks left it at our house a few years earlier. (I was 15 when I was “going with” that boy, but I think I started reading romance before that.) Every month, Becky and I would buy several romances and swap them. I liked the daring ones about pirates and women in danger, while Becky liked family stories.  It’s funny, because our reading tastes are the same as they were back then.
Q: What’s the first thing you do when you start reading a new book?
I’m pretty methodical when I’m considering reading a new book. First, the cover and title need to catch my eye either online or in the bookstore. An uninspiring title is a turn off to me. Next, I read the back cover blurb to see if it sounds interesting. Then I read the first page of the book and then a random page inside to see if I like the writer’s style. And finally, I read the dedication and acknowledgments to see what the author has to say in his/her own voice. In fact, my love for reading this often overlooked part a book prompted me to create a weekly feature on my blog called Thank You Thursday, where authors talk about their book’s dedications and acknowledgments.
LINKS:
You can buy A Vampire For Christmas at Amazon, B&N, most online bookstores and on the shelves of your favorite stores.
About Laurie: A graduate of Western Washington University with a BA in Business Administration and a former tester/programmer for a Fortune 500 company, Laurie London writes from her home near Seattle where she lives with her husband and two children.

When not writing, she can be found running, reading, or riding and showing her horse. Someday she hopes to qualify for the Quarter Horse World Show – that is, if her horse doesn’t get hurt again.

20 comments:

  1. really great,

    thank you for sharing

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  2. OMG, I can't imagine watching Body Heat with Dad. Especially not as a teenager. Yikes. :)

    Thanks for coming on, Laur.

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  3. And I stand by my conviction: you borrowed that first romance from your boyfriend's mom. :)

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  4. Thanks for having me on, Beck! I'm still mortified that I saw that movie with Dad. And I'm pretty certain you're wrong... :-)

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  5. I remember the first romance I read. It was Rose in Winter by Kathleen Woodiwiss! I loved the interview. Thanks for sharing with us today!

    ~Johanna

    evjochum[AT]aol[DOT]com

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  6. When I was 20, my Dad mentioned wanting to see Sleepers & I told him I'd go with him. Talk about a disturbing movie. I remember we were both really quiet when we left & finally he looked over at me & said, "That was awkward. Sorry about that." LoL

    Anyhow~glad you added that 6th line!

    harlan_michelle(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  7. I can't wait to read this book. I can't believe you watched that movie with your dad. I still feel weird watching anytype of sex scene with my parents. =)

    iqb99@yahoo.com

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  8. My very first romance was actually recommended to me by you, Laurie!! The Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. And do you remember the words you used to describe it?????

    Of course, before reading that book, I'd read several that had 'romances' in them but would not qualify as being a pure romance. Nothing like this book. This opened my world to the Regency era. And really, I've never been the same......

    The scene were he removes her glove? Best scene ever.

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  9. Fun post!

    I still find it awkward watching adult scenes with my father. More so now than I did when I was a teen, actually!

    amanda(at)lettersinsideout(dot)com

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  10. Great Interview! I can't wait to read A Vampire for Christmas! Thanks for the giveaway!

    bloggingbooks @gmail .com

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  11. Hi Rebecca and Laurie!
    I am like you when I start a new book, usually I let my mood decides if it's from a book in my TBR pile. I figure if it makes the list that means I am already interested, either now or eventually. Though, even before that when it's the first time seeing a book, it's the cover, then blurb and a skim of the first few lines.

    This book is going on my TBR list. I like Christmas stories but haven't read a paranormal one yet :)

    Cambonified (at) yahoo (dot) com

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  12. There is NO WAY I could watch anything like that with my folks...too awkward!! Not for me...
    for them ;) My mom blushes and gets all puckery and then I laugh and that's just not always a good thing. Ya know? Anyway...I LOVE the reviews on your book and would really like to have it! It's on my MUST have list. Just sayin'...

    barbbattaglia@yahoo.com

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  13. On the other side I took my then 18 yr old son to see Deep Blue Sea. It's the movie where the couple go on a scuba dive and are left by the charter boat. Well in the beginning there is total female nudity. I got embarrassed for my son having to be with me.
    I'm looking forward to A Vampire For Christmas.

    vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com

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  14. Loved this blog & the Q&A! The cover for Vampire for Christmas is fantastic! And I never thought about reading a random page, but will do that in the future. Cheers!

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  15. I didn't go to the movies hardly at all when I was a kid ... now I go practically every Friday. So I don't recall my first rated R movie. I do remember once my older sisters were watching some scary movie at home and they allowed me to watch with them but on occasion they would ask me to go into another room for a bit. LOL
    I'm very much looking forward to reading A Vampire For Christmas!

    Pam
    vanillaorchids69@gmail.com

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  16. Thanks, everyone, for your comments!

    Johanna, I'm pretty sure I read that book too. I read all her books.

    Michelle, I can imagine!

    Hehe, Danielle. Mortifying, huh?!

    Janna, that wasn't your first romance, was it? Maybe your first non-paranormal romance??? (Janna and I are fangirls of a bunch of PNR series.) Yes, I do remember what I said about that book. Something about rolling around on the floor with it because it was so good. ;-)

    Thanks, Amanda and Blogging Books!

    Na S, yep, you sound like me. And thanks for putting it on your TBR list.

    Aw, thanks, Barbara!

    Victoria, I'm cringing! In fact, just last night, I was watching American Horror Story w/ my son. (He's a SR in HS.) There's a part where the guy pleasures himself! I'm like, Eek, close your eyes/plug your ears.

    Thanks for popping in, Vicky!

    Thanks, Pam!

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  17. OMG Laurie-major squirm factor sitting next to dad! Good thing it wasn't "Body Double"-I bet that would have had you run screaming from the theater-lol!

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  18. please enter me for the giveaway

    thank you a lot

    isabelle(dot)frisch(at)gmail(dot)com

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  19. And the winner is...Danielle Gorman! Congrats. I sent Laurie your email addy.

    :)Becky

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  20. Yay! Thanks so much Rebecca and Laurie. =)

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