Regina Carlysle Interview and FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY!!

What do you get when you mix Southern charm, sass, and an infectious laugh?  Regina Carlysle!  This gracious and talented author is in the hot box today revealing personal secrets, as well as providing an opportunity to win a FREE BOOK from her back list!!!  Just leave a comment.  We'll post the lucky winner later this week.  Good luck!

Which of your books is your personal favorite and why?

My personal favorite is Trouble in a Stetson. I wrote this for Ellora’s Cave as part of a series with Desiree Holt (Trouble in Cowboy Boots) and Ciana Stone (Trouble in Chaps). My heroine, Lola, really touched my heart because she was often judged, and inaccurately, because of the way she looked. She was a flashy blonde with a heart of gold who’d endured a lot of hard knocks but fought her way to the top. I was proud of my depiction of her and believe the story had a ‘moral’ that folks could identify with.

Best piece of advice you’ve ever been given.

The best advice I’ve ever been given was to allow criticism to roll right off your back. In this business everything is subjective so just write what you love and let the rest go.

What’s your birth sign and does it accurately reflect your personality?

I’m an Aries and yes, I’d have to say I fit my sign perfectly. I’m creative, ambitious, innovative and a go-getter. My personality is friendly, fun and fiery.  I can get ‘feisty’ when attacked and I’m loyal to the bone. Aries tends to get gung ho about a project but can easily lose interest when right in the middle of things. Baaaaad. It’s something that I fight all the time. Hey, nobody is perfect. LOL.  I just keep working on staying motivated (even when I’m feeling really ambivalent about a project or chore).

Describe your perfect day.

My perfect day would be simply sitting around a big table with fun friends, drinking chocolate wine (or another other tasty cocktail) and just talking. No make up required. I’d love that.

List 3 adjectives that describe you best.

Friendly, compassionate, sensitive

What did you do last night?

Last night, I spent the evening with my daughter and my sister and her family. Since moving from Texas to Florida, I’ve come to love being able to spend more time with my sister. We’re having such fun hanging out together.

What actor would play you in a movie about your life?

I’d have to say Meryl Streep. LOL. I say AIM HIGH.  She is hands down my favorite actress because she is funny and seems so down to earth. I love a woman who is ‘at ease’ with herself. After years of angst about one silly thing or another, it’s nice to feel I’ve grown into my skin and am comfortable with that. For me, Meryl exudes that comfort and self-acceptance.

Back in high school, which group were you in? The popular crowd, the jocks, the nerds, the burnouts???

High School? Oh boy, that was a long time ago. I was actually part of the popular crowd and the nerds. Of course, the jocks were part of the popular crowd, too, so I guess it’s a combination of those three.

Who is your greatest source for inspiration?

My family and closest friends are my greatest source of inspiration. Each has her own trials and share of suffering but manages to come out the other end stronger and more self-assured. I think we want to read things that inspire us to be adventurous, kind, and strong and I draw on family and friends for that.

What was your most embarrassing moment?

Ahhh, tricky question because I think I might be the queen of embarrassing moments! I’m the girl who seems to always give in to ‘inappropriate laughter’. You know…cracking up when the timing couldn’t be more wrong. But the embarrassing moment that most quickly comes to mind is when I was very young and touring a college campus. I was a senior in high school at the time and coming from such a tiny town, I was so excited and unsure of myself.  So I’m walking around on campus, taking it all in, when I bumped into an ‘older guy’ who’d graduated from my school and I thought he was the CUTEST GUY EVERRRRR. He stopped to talk with me and, boy was I flustered. So I’m in the middle of chatting it up, flirting like crazy, when a pigeon crapped right on the top of my head. Instead of laughing about it (after all, it happened. It was obvious). I pretended I wasn’t actually standing there with pigeon shit all over my forehead and hair. So dumb! I tried to casually brush it off. I knew it was ridiculous because he was grinning but, dumbass me, just kept right on pretending.  Yeah, pretty embarrassing.

If you could be a super hero, what power would you like to have?

I would LOVE to have superhero powers. I think my absolute favorite would be to transport. You know how the guys in Star Trek could just say “beam me up, Scotty”? Wouldn’t it be nice to avoid traffic, airplanes, buses and taxis and just magically arrive at any destination you wanted? I think so. Now if there was a superhero who could magically trim off that excess twenty pounds? I’d be all over that one.

I can do impressions of  -

Ahhnald Swartzenegger (except in a very female voice…lol)

If you could take a trip anywhere for 30 days with money not being a consideration, where would you go and what would you do?

I would go to Italy, rent a villa in Tuscany and explore the sites, much like Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun. siiiiigh

Blurb:
 

Tinderbox

Regina Carlysle

Set in the same world as Jaguar Hunger.

Private investigators Nate and Daniel don’t expect to find their mate while working a case. But they recognize Olivia as theirs the second they catch the missing woman’s scent—the scent of a female jaguar shifter in heat. Nate and Daniel’s task? Find then claim Livvy in every raw, animalistic way possible…and release her inner beast.

An Excerpt From: TINDERBOX

Copyright © REGINA CARLYSLE, 2012

Livvy thrashed and pulled at her bonds for what seemed ages, but to no avail. She desperately needed some kind of weapon but she was trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey and seemingly helpless on the hard dirt floor.

Summoning what little bit of energy she had left, she wiggled around, managing to scoot a few inches at a time in her attempt to find something sharp that she could use to cut her bindings. Surely she could do this. Livvy had always been slightly stronger and faster than human females. But her arms were screaming a ragged protest each time she moved. What she wouldn’t give to be fully jaguar at this moment.

A scent rolled through the air. Wild, savage and strangely familiar.

Livvy’s spectacular hearing picked up the padding of footsteps and the occasional cough-like sound distinctive to her species.

She was no longer alone.

She knew some of her kind lived in this part of central Texas, but to date, she’d met none. Yet she could smell the scent of jaguars in the stagnant air, feel the heat of them even through the walls of her prison. The sounds of stealth continued. A raspy cough was answered by another.

Livvy went still. Tension radiated through her body and she caught her breath as her heartbeat accelerated. A sudden burst of energy zipped and zinged around her and the familiar sexual heat she’d experienced randomly over the past few weeks kicked into high gear.

Talk about bad timing.

The sizzle and pop in the atmosphere told her all she needed to know and before she could blink, she heard the sound of the door crashing inward. Hands touched her. Male hands that were hotter than those of humans.

Shifter.

“You’re okay now,” a deep voice murmured. “We’ve got you, honey. You’re safe.”