I was tapped by Rebecca Lamb to do a Next Big Thing Post.  What is that, you ask? Well,  I answer several questions below about my novel manuscript that she sent me.  Then I pick some other authors to link to, and you my dear reader can skip merrily along the links discovering, hopefully, a whole slew of exciting new authors.  By the way, you can learn more about Rebecca Lamb’s work on her website here.  (Her manuscript, LADY VICE,  is glorious!)

Here are the questions:

What is your working title of your book?  I have two erotic romances that I’ve written: WICKED APPRENTICE–which is a fantasy erotic romance & BE MY BRIDEZILLA which is contemporary.  I’m going to talk about BE MY BRIDEZILLA today, since I’m sending that out to Loose Id this week.  They’re having an I Do, Unless I Don’t call for submissions call for wedding-gone-wrong erotic romances, and BE MY BRIDEZILLA is perfect for them!

Where did the idea come from for the book?  Basically, I thought about all the elements I was looking for in a romance: Sex, Fun, & Luxuriousness–With a little crazy thrown into the mix.  For instance, there is a hot wedding cake battle at one point that was soooo much fun to write.

What genre does your book fall under? Erotic romance, but with a lot of witty dialogue and a robust plot–a la Victoria Dahl.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? This is a GREAT question because I almost always base my heroes on an actor.

BE MY BRIDEZILLA’s hero is 100% shamelessly based on my obsession with John Krakinski.

As for the heroine, this may reveal how out of it I am, but I was looking at People Magazine one day in the doctor’s office and I saw this photo and said:  “That’s her! That’s Becky.” It was Kim Kardashian pre Kris Humphries and the wedding-with-a-budget-bigger-than-Mexico’s-GNP.  As a result of this, I now feel a little sympathetic towards her marital breakup woes.  I mean, I feel that in picking her for my heroine I sent a lot of kharmic wedding break-up vibes her way.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? A naughty bridezilla gets dumped on her wedding day, then runs off to Paris with her hottie wedding guest after discovering his penchant for taming bad brides.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?  Come on you agents out there, represent me.  I dare ya!

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?  Two years, but that includes a lot of non-essential TV watching. It took me six weeks to reduce the manuscript by half.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?  While the sex is more explicit than Victoria Dahl’s contemporary erotic romances, it has that same light comedic tone that her books have.

Who or what inspired you to write this book? I was watching an ad for Bridezillas one day where this actress dressed up as a sexy bride in long satin gloves was screaming at a chef and throwing spaghetti right into his face. I was riveted–I just couldn’t look away.  It was so out of control, and almost sexy in a way.  I thought to myself: Taming of the Shrew meets Bridezillas.  And voila!

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?  The ‘villian’ in the book is the hapless groom who turns out to be a sweetheart named Spencer.  About three-fourths of the way through the book, I found myself in one of those Casablanca situations wondering who Becky would end up with–Spencer or Braden? I didn’t quite know myself, and it made writing the ending very interesting because I found both men very sympathetic and really hot.

Include the link of who tagged you and this explanation for the people you have tagged.

I was tagged by Rebecca Lamb.

I’m tagging:
Liz Everly and Nara Malone.  Click on their names and check ’em out!

I’m also tagging Leah St. James here cause the tag line on her book SURRENDER TO SANCTUARY just kills me.  “Love and Danger collide when FBI Agents David Owens and Anna Parker go undercover in a BDSM ring.” Doncha wanna read it? I do!