Erotic Romance Weekend - Bella Andre (Interview & Giveaway)

Celebrating erotic romance weekend today we have an interview & giveaway with best selling author Bella Andre! This fabulous lady writes some hawt romance that you must check out, enjoy!

Hi Bella, it’s a pleasure having you over today for our Erotic Romance event! J

Let’s start off by learning a bit more about you; can you please share with readers five fun facts about yourself?

1. I was a singer/songwriter and shared the stage with a lot of famous acts including Jewel and Santana and Crosby, Stills and Nash.
2. After a long day at the computer writing about my hot Sullivan boys, I like to sink down in my hot tub and stare out at the moon and the stars.
3. I'm a big believer in feng shui so I don't have trash cans in my home office. Every time I leave the room, I throw my stash of post-it notes and crumpled papers away in the kitchen.
4. When I'm writing a book, I'll listen to the same song over and over and over and over again. For my latest, FROM THIS MOMENT ON, I must have listened to the Glee Cast recording of I Feel Pretty/Unpretty a hundred times.
5. Even though I love books, I have a weakness for good television. I'm so excited that Castle is coming back this Fall. I have to know what happens after Castle says "I Love You" to Beckett!

When you aren’t writing, do you have any favorite hobbies that you like to do? If so, what are they?

I also love to eat and cook and have meals with my friends and family. I live in the Northern California Wine Country where I have access to a great farmer's market and amazing restaurants. And lest you think I'm a total glutton, I also love to swim and hike! I also laugh a lot. And LOUDLY.

You started off song writing, what made you make the jump from that to writing romance?

One day I was surprised to realize two characters were having a conversation in my head! Rather than assume I was going nuts, I decided to pull out a notebook and write that scene down. About a year later, I found out that my old college roommate Jami Alden (who writes sexy thrillers) was writing a romance and she convinced me to attend a Romance Writers of American meeting with her.

Are there any authors that have inspired you in your career?

I'm inspired by lots of the books I read - there's always something that gives me an “a-ha” moment - like a great line, a sexy exchange. I really love Jennifer Crusie's books and her combination of sizzling, funny and sweet.

You’re the author of many titles ranging from contemporary romances, romantic suspense, and erotic romances; why did you choose to write erotic romance as well instead of sticking to the more mainstream romance genre?

Honestly, I just write the story that comes to me and try not to think too much about whether the story is mainstream or suspense or erotic. With that being said, my natural inclination as a writer is for my characters to interact on a physical level quite early in my stories. I suspect it helps that I'm a big fan of erotic romances and I personally believe that a great deal of juicy conflict arises from those intimate encounters.

When plotting a story, how do you determine whether it will be erotic or not?

When I'm plotting, I'm mostly trying to figure out who my characters are and what they believe, what's hurt them, what they want out of life. I truly enjoy writing love scenes. I love the emotion and I love watching two people learn to trust each other with what's in the deepest part of their hearts.

With so many titles under your belt release days must be a breeze for you now, how do you celebrate them?

I wish that were true! There's a lot of work that goes into each release, but I love it. When I get a moment to breathe, my husband and I will do a little dance in the living room with the kids and maybe go out to dinner and a movie together.

The erotic romance genre features a wide range of smexy scenes from light bondage to ménage a trios and everything in between; what can we expect from your works like Candy Store?

You can expect hot scenes and a little bondage here or there, but what I strive for in all my sex scenes is heart and emotion.

You are known for creating strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, do you have a process for pairing the perfect couple together? A list of qualities you compare or anything? And how to you prepare for writing those scorching scenes with them?

I want my couples to be perfect for each other, but in addition to qualities that bring them together, I also need to give them qualities to keep them apart and they're usually two sides of the same coin. For Marcus and Nicola in FROM THIS MOMENT ON, Nicola is drawn to Marcus' tender side and how he loves his family, but this same sense of responsibility and caretaking is what makes Marcus think he needs to stay away from Nicola. As for the scorching scenes, I just slide into my character's POV and let my fingers do the typing.

If you could go on a date with one of the characters from your books who would it be?

I'm currently in love with Gabe, my firefighter from my third Sullivan series book, CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE, which releases this December.

Thank you, Bella, for taking the time to join us today!

Thank you so much for having me!
You can learn more about Bella and all her works on her website: http://www.bellaandre.com/ And be sure to check out her spanking new release From This Moment On!

~*GIVEAWAY*~

Bella is offering one lucky reader a digital copy of her title Candy Store. To enter, just leave a meaningful comment or question for Bella and fill out the rafflecopter below!