LOVE ON LOCATION RELEASES TODAY!
Welcome Cassidy, we’re excited to have you on Reader’s Entertainment.
First, tell our readers a bit about yourself. Where you’re from, where you live? Is writing your full-time job? Thank you for having me! I love your site! I was raised in the South, but I currently live in Phoenix, Arizona. I split my time between writing and book editing, professionally.
How long have you been writing? I’ve written for as long as I can remember. I used to carry around blank notebooks all through middle and high school to write stories in. But, publishing, I’ve been doing that since about 2009. I was with Carina Press for my first eight titles under another pen name, took a break for a few years, and now I’m back with Hallmark and really enjoying being back to writing romance.
Briefly describe your writing day. It’s more like a writing night! I usually spend my days editing, wrangling kids, and doing writing prep—research, outlining, anything that I need to so that I can have my structure ready when I sit down to draft. Then I write in the evenings. Of course, if I’m really going strong on a particular stretch of a book, I don’t limit myself to writing at any particular part of the day; I just keep going!
Tell us about your latest release, LOVE ON LOCATION? Love on Location is a really fun book, set in a really, really fun location. The Cabins in the Pines is meant to remind us all of that wild, pristine that many of us either grew up in or visited as children. Lush forests, spectacular nature views, fireflies, and perfect summers—and the small town that inevitably goes along with such a place. And when our Cabins in the Pines crew invites something modern in—a reality TV show—it sets up a nice conflict between what’s “good change” and what’s risking the important essence of what they have. And, of course, there’re echoes of the same conflict between our hero and heroine, who have been friends since childhood.
What inspired this book, and I heard there are recipes included? Do you like to cook? I was inspired by scenic locations in northern Arizona; the perfect backdrop for a romance, in my opinion. And, yes, there is a recipe in the book, for blueberry cottage cheese pancakes. They’re based on a dish the diner in the book serves, and that dish is in the book because my husband likes those pancakes. I do love to cook, but must give credit to Hallmark for developing the exact recipe that’s printed in Love on Location.
You’ve written a novel from a Hallmark Movie. Can you tell us about that experience? My first project with Hallmark was the novelization of the Hallmark movie The Perfect Catch. Novelizations are so much fun, because you get to take the spectacular work that’s already been done and add your own contribution. I love the movie, the cast, everything about The Perfect Catch, and I was honored to be able to do the novelization. It’s a bit tricky, because you have the chance to go further with detail in the book, but there’s always the feeling that you want to be faithful to and respectful of the original material, since so many people were involved in bringing that to life. No pressure!
Will there be more of these novelizations in the future? I know that Hallmark will be doing more, but I’m not involved with any new novelizations at the moment. We’ll see!
Will you be writing any scripts for Hallmark? Gosh, wouldn’t that be fun? I would love to. I know I’m repeating myself, but we’ll have to see what the future holds!
Could you share one detail from your current release with readers that they might not find in the book? Perhaps a juicy bit of back-story, or something only you know about a character. Ooh, great question. Slater, the handyman at the Cabins in the Pines, has had two disappointments in his past—one in love and one in life—and his story is so sequel-worthy!
Who has been the most difficult character for you to write? Alexandra. Because I didn’t want to make her too good at some points, but I didn’t want to make her so bad that readers hated her. I wanted her to be a soft-boiled villain, LOL!
Are you a hybrid author? Both Indie and Publishing House? I am just traditionally published, but would absolutely consider self-publishing. I have so much respect for self-pub authors. It’s so much work! If I do self-publish, you’ll see me on twitter asking for help from all the self-pub warriors out there.
If you could be one of your characters for a day which character would it be? Why? Rachel, because she’s on summer vacation the whole book.
All writers are readers. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you? Too many to list here! I’ve been reading romance since before I was a teenager. I bought paperback romances out of a quarter bin at a local bookstore when I was growing up—you could buy a pile of twenty-five-cent books for a few bucks. That was where my obsession with romance started, because I was such a voracious reader, and romance checked every box for me—so many subgenres that I never got bored. I would say that romance as a genre influenced me to write overall. Whatever genre I end up writing in, I couldn’t see writing without there being some form of romance.
Do you have a secret talent readers would be surprised by? I can sing. I actually sang in musicals in high school.
Your favorite go to drink or food when the world goes crazy! Anything that qualifies as Southern-style comfort food. Please give me all the fried chicken, gravy, mac-and-cheese, collard greens, okra, and honey-butter biscuits.
What is the one question you never get ask at interviews, but wish you did? Ask and answer it. I can’t think of a thing. I even googled. Can we open this up to say that readers can ask me questions in the comments?
Thank you so much for joining us today Cassidy! You heard her readers, if you have more questions, post them in the comments!
Find out more about Cassidy and her books at her website.
LOVE ON LOCATION releases today!! Here’s a link to grab your copy.
