· Hi Chloe, and welcome to ⒾⓃⓉⓇⓄⓈⓅⒺⒸⓉⒾⓋⒺ ⓅⓇⒺⓈⓈ. First of all
congratulations on your book She’s a
Spitfire Can you tell our visitors where you grew up? I am curious
about your school’s prim library; I attended all girl Catholic schools.
I grew up in a suburb of Western Pa. It was a
public school library that for the most part only held squeaky clean reads, but
I managed to find this historic Celtic fantasy that had a whole twisted
suspense plot and lots of young adult “steam”. I don’t think the librarians
read it too closely before shelving it, because it was explicit! But I honestly
found it incredibly heartening as a teen to read it. I felt normal, and didn’t
feel nearly as much shame for some of the feelings and desires I was coming
into. A big part of why I write explicit romance is because I believe in
putting realistic, good sex that informs the story, out in the world. It’s all
part of shaping a more sex- and body-positive culture. And if it gives women
and men permission to feel and want on those fronts, I’ve done my job right.
· Describe your
special writing place.
In my living room on my sofa, after my kids are
in bed! I tidy up, turn on a few low-light lamps, and either make myself a cup
of herbal tea or a pour of whiskey and get writing. I also have a coffee shop
nearby that’s a good place to go when I need to be away from the house
reminding me of all the other non-writerly things I could be doing ;-).
· Coffee or Tea?
Both! I drink ginger lemon tea in the morning
after a cup of black coffee, then I try to stick to black or herbal tea for the
rest of the day.
· Steamy Romance, do
you write any other genre?
I have a very particular viewpoint on this,
actually. My romances, and even if I branch out of the romance genre, my stories will
probably always include “steam”. I feel strongly about including it in the
sense that it serves the narrative, propels the arc of the story forward, and
reveals to my reader a quality, development or feeling in and between my
characters. Sex is an integral part of most people’s lives. I don’t want it
sanitized out of any of my books. But I also believe in it being well
done—realistically from an emotional and physical standpoint.
· She’s a Spitfire has a fabulous cover; did you get a say so on the
design?
Thank you! One of
my dearest friends, Jennie Rose Denton of Lamplight Creative designed it. We
collaborated on the concept. I told her I pictured Nairne in her lab, in her
scientific element, with that hint of fiery passion imbued in her environment
and appearance, and Jennie brought that stunningly to life. It’s one of my
favorite aspects of indie authorship and publishing—I get so much more say in
how my book is represented and it’s a joy to get to collaborate with people I
love and share life with!
· Your female
protagonist is a scientist, the male an athlete. Were they inspired by any real-life
individuals?
Women in STEM are underrepresented to begin with,
even more so in fiction. I knew Nairne was fiercely practical, that she had a
scientific approach to life, especially after passionate and less practical
living seemed to lead her to some traumatic experiences. Science is both her
coping mechanism and her great strength. It’s an emblem of her resilience—her
ability to reclaim her life and find new identity and empowerment as she moves
beyond trauma and injury. As for Zed, I liked the idea that his athleticism is
his peace—the one part of his life that is a natural and freeing expression of
himself. And it’s also a symbol of how he holds himself back for duty’s sake.
He could be playing in Europe, be the next world-class phenom, but he stays and
settles for American soccer (which really isn’t as competitive or prestigious
as European soccer). Neither of them were inspired by real people though J.
- The Mafia angle in the book sounds like a clever infusion to the storyline, did it require research?
A lot, actually. And what’s funny is, besides big
busts here and there and more historic stories of extreme violence/corruption
during the mafia’s birth on the East Coast, a lot of what I found were pieces
describing how boring the mafia actually is to be in. It was almost comical. “It’s
just driving around, dropping off boxes and envelopes. Hauling crates of cigs
and delivering messages.” That kind of thing. Apparently the real heavy hitting
stuff isn’t often done nearly as much as the little petty crimes that stack up
to decent income and let mafia economies stay under the radar. So our
romanticized idea of gory, extreme mafia life seems to be just that—a
romanticized notion. I’m not saying bad, horrible crime doesn’t happen in the
mafia—it definitely does. But most of the crime seems to revolve less around
human damage and more like financial swindling/sneaky deals. I liked showing
how Zed’s just dealing with all these little BS to-do’s, about how he keeps
pushing their income to source from these more boring aspects that avoid
hurting people and exploiting them. Some readers felt disappointed by the lack
of “mafia-ness” in He’s a Brute but I do deliver on some mafia drama in She’s a
Spitfire in a way that feels both realistic to me and satisfying. I hope
it’s that way for the reader too!
· Timing in life and
especially in love is something I often think about. As a writer, now that
people can keep in touch with ease do you think it makes creating love lost
harder?
I do in one sense, yes. And that’s part of why
this book starts over a decade before our current time. I couldn’t have
Facetime and track my iPhone, all these highly connecting devices, making it
easier for Nairne and Zed to find each other in the tough moments. I needed
that Romeo and Juliet missed opportunity, where the letter just misses Romeo
before he dashes off. If he’d just waited a moment longer, he’d know Juliet was
alive and wouldn’t die tragically. Zed has to miss Nairne by that minute and be
unable to find her, to have to work within himself and his world to make sense
of how to get out of his current circumstance and make his way to the woman he
loves. So yes I’d say modern technology does make it harder to “lose” our
loves, but at the same time, I think as humans we still struggle with timing,
and manage to drift from each other, passing each other as two ships in the
night. It just happens on the interpersonal communication front. We have the
phones. Doesn’t mean we always know how to connect verbally or emotionally, or
how to work through the poor timing simply because we have ready access to each
other. The question of timing in love is a human one to me, that will always be
challenged by our questions of self and identity, what we’re willing to
sacrifice and what we want to prioritize to make love work in any time in life.
· Anything else you’d
like to share with us?
Nope! Thanks for the questions J.
Thank you
for joining us today at ⒾⓃⓉⓇⓄⓈⓅⒺⒸⓉⒾⓋⒺ ⓅⓇⒺⓈⓈ best wishes for the greatest
success with She’s a Spitfire.
She’s a Spitfire
Chloe Liese
(Tough Love #2)
Publication date: June 24th 2019
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense
One fiery-haired, sexy scientist finds her perfect complement in a dark and handsome soccer star. Opposites attract, and they’ve got chemistry that’s explosive—literally.
Physics calls it entropy. Philosophy calls it Murphy’s Law: If something can go wrong, eventually it will. Professionally and personally speaking, Zed’s familiar with the principle. After a decade of trying to alter the atomic makeup of the mafia from its nucleus, now he’s set on leaving The Life and pursuing his heart. Problem is, the sassy, hot-headed spitfire he can’t quit is meddling in his slow burn escape plan, and turning it into full-on combustion.
Not to mention, Nairne’s got a painful history she won’t talk about and more secrets than she has lab instruments—which is really saying something. In an ideal world, the bad boy footballer would follow the brainy beauty overseas and they’d live happily ever after. But Murphy’s Law is proven true, as Zed finds his world imploding and his escape plan foiled. These enemies turned lovers end up discovering how costly it can be to meet the right person at the wrong time.
A present he can’t escape.
A past she can’t forget.
A future they won’t stop fighting for.
They say all’s fair in love…and war.
Book Two in the Tough Love Series—an enemies to lovers, suspenseful romance, full of sexy Italians, feisty heroines, globe-trotting action, and an ending that’ll both satisfy you and leave you ready for more!
Author Bio:
Chloe’s always been a sucker for a suspenseful steamy romance, ever since she managed to find the one saucy mystery series hiding in her high school’s prim little library. Nothing drives her crazier than a story that cranks up the heat, then closes the door on the reader’s face, so don’t read her books if you don’t want to know what actually happens when the lights fade to black…
When she’s not writing, Chloe’s busy reading books of all genres, rereading Harry Potter (which she can’t help but make her characters similarly obsessed over), and playing catch-up with her bad@$$ little girls. She’s also been known to scramble around the pitch for a pick-up soccer match and run along the river while dreaming up her next book.
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