Author Interview and Giveaway: Elizabeth Michels

Please help me welcome Elizabeth Michels to my blog today :)

1. Tell me about yourself Elizabeth.

EM: First of all, thank you for hosting me on your lovely blog.  I’m excited to be here to celebrate the release of Desperately Seeking Suzanna! Before yesterday, I would have called myself a debut author, but I suppose I’m now whatever you call a new author with 2 books on the self over the span of 4 weeks.  Is there a word for that? Debut-ish?  The thesaurus app on my phone says I am either unweathered or new-sprung, but I can’t say that I’m a fan of either option.  I’ve been writing for 4 years.  I squeeze it into the spaces of time when I’m not chasing my little boy around the house as we play super heroes and when I’m not cooking dinner for my family.  Sometimes I even write while I’m cooking which always makes eating at my house an adventure.  I love shoes, sparkly things, books, coffee, laughter, flowers, books, and writing stories...wait, did I say books twice? 

2. What was the inspiration behind your new book Desperately Seeking Suzanna?

EM: I’ve always called this story my ”Evil mother book.” So, you would think the inspiration would have come from an evil mother, but my mother was a wonderful person and I couldn’t ask for a better mother-in-law.  *shrugs and laughs* I’m not sure where all the evil mothers came from.  This book actually grew out of a conversation I had with a friend a few years ago.  She thought it was odd that she had been married to her husband for almost a year and yet she’d never been to his parent’s home.  His family had come to visit her, but she hadn’t received an invitation to go to his childhood home.  Now, I happen to know her husband and while he wasn’t hiding anything more than a meager upbringing, I began to wonder.  What if he was hiding something terrible?  What if his secret past could destroy his own life and endanger hers as well?  And that was when Holden Ellis, Lord Steelings began to take shape.  He seems like a charming rake, but that’s not entirely true. As for Sue Green, she simply wandered into book 1, Must Love Dukes, and started talking too much.  But, I’m glad she did.

3. I am going to give my readers a chance to get to know the characters. Tell me something fun, something sad, something normal about Sue.

EM: Something fun about Sue: She is an artist.  She paints landscapes, usually has paint on her hands, face or clothes and sells her paintings anonymously in London. The only time she’s ever quiet is when she’s busy painting—she’s quite loquatious. 

Something sad about Sue: She lives in the shadow of her beautiful younger sister and no matter what she does, has never been able to gain the favor of her mother.

Something normal about Sue: She is an emotional eater and when she’s upset, she goes straight for the carbs.  Bread, cake and anything sweet are her weaknesses.

4. And the same thing with Lord Steelings.

EM: Something fun about Lord Steelings: He hired his cook based solely on her ability to bake chocolate cake and always has cakes and candy on hand in his home. 

Something sad about Lord Steelings: He blames himself for the childhood death of his older brother.

Something normal about Lord Steelings: He adores his cousins and spends most of his free time with his aunt, uncle and their unconventional family.

5. And now to make us see them, who would play them in a movie?

EM: If I could choose anyone to play Sue’s role for a movie, I would cast Scarlett Johansson, but with no makeup and no hair dye allowed.  Sorry, Scarlett.  I’m evil like that.  Sue’s hair is not brown enough to be dark and dramatic and not blond enough to be light and fun.  She’s never considered herself to be beautiful and often gets overlooked as people turn their attention to her younger sister, Evangeline.  Of course, that’s before the champagne, the makeover and the masquerade ball…

For Lord Steelings’ role, I would cast Bradley Cooper.  Holden

Ellis, Lord Steelings is a joville rake.  He always has a smile on his face and a charming word for the ladies.  And, all will remain pleasant on the surface as long as no one discovers his family’s dark past that threatens to destroy his future...

6. What are you working on right now?

EM: Now that How to Lose a Lord in 10 Days or Less is mostly out of my hands, I’m working on the next 3 books.  I don’t know at this point if they will be under the umbrella of Tricks of the Ton or not, but the story follows characters you’ll recognize from Must Love Dukes and Desperately Seeking Suzanna.  I’m really excited about these 3 ladies getting to tell their sides of the story.  I hope you will be too, since I’m working on Evangeline Green’s book now, with Isabelle and Victoria to follow...just writing that sentence makes me chuckle since Victoria would never agree to follow anyone.  *grins* 

Thank you so much for hosting me here on Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell! What’s something fun or normal about you? 

Giveaway

1 copy of Desperately Seeking Suzanna

1. US and Canada only.

2. Ends March 15th

3. Answer Elizabeth's question to enter.

DESPERATELY SEEKING SUZANNA BY ELIZABETH MICHELS – IN STORES MARCH 2014 

Her Cinderella Moment…

Sue Green just wanted one night to be the pretty one. But a few glasses of champagne and one wild disguise later, she's in some serious trouble. Who knew the devastatingly handsome face of Lord Holden Ellis would get in the way of her foot? And how exactly did all that high-kick dancing start in the first place? At least she blamed it on her new persona—Suzanna—so Society's most eligible bachelor will never find out the truth.

All Holden wants is the truth. Who was that vixen who seduced him so thoroughly, then disappeared? The only one who seems to have any answers about Suzanna is Miss Sue Green. She's promised to help him find his mystery woman, but she's not being all that helpful. And the more time Holden spends with Sue—witty, pretty, and disarmingly honest—the more he realizes he may have found exactly what he's been looking for all along...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elizabeth Michels grew up on a Christmas tree farm in rural South Carolina. After tip-toeing her way through school with her focus on ballet steps and her nose in a book, she met a boy and followed him a thousand miles away from home to Kansas City, Missouri, before settling down in North Carolina. She attended Park University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Interior Design. Elizabeth is a lover of happily-ever-afters; she invites you to read her stories, get lost, and enjoy. For more information, please visit 

http://www.elizabethmichels.com

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