Interview with Author Eliza Daly and Giveaway

Today I am happy to welcome to RFTC author Eliza Daly. Eliza is celebrating the recent release of her debut book Under Her Spell and has stopped by to answer a few questions. Please give Eliza a warm welcome.

Eliza Daly’s first attempt at creative writing was in fourth grade. She and her friends were huge Charlie’s Angels fans and she would sit in her bedroom at night writing scripts for them to act out at recess the following day. She was Kelly Garrett. Fast forward to the present, she’s still writing stories about beautiful women who always get their men. The journey from fourth grade script writer to published author wasn’t an easy one, but it was always an adventure and the final destination was well worth it.

When Eliza isn’t traveling for her job as an event planner, or tracing her ancestry roots through Ireland, she’s at home in Milwaukee working on her next novel, bouncing ideas off her husband Mark, and her cats Quigley and Frankie.

Places to find Eliza:

| Site | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter |

First off, can you tell us a bit about you?
First, I’d like to thank you Danielle for helping me celebrate the release of my debut novel, Under Her Spell, a lighthearted contemporary romance. This is a very exciting time for me and I’m so glad to be sharing my news on Ramblings From This Chick.

I’ve lived in Wisconsin my entire life. I’ve been in the Milwaukee area for almost 20 years. I live with my hubby Mark and my cats Quigley and Frankie. I’m an event planner and I travel about 100 days a year for my job. When I’m not traveling for my job, I’m at home busy writing. In addition to romance, I also write young adult and women’s fiction. I am obsessed with Ancestry.com. I’ve been tracing my Irish ancestry roots for 5 years and I’ve traveled to Ireland twice to visit me Irish rellies.

Did you always want to be a writer?
No, I wasn’t one of those authors who read the entire Nancy Drew series then had an epiphany she wanted to be a writer. However, my first attempt at creative writing was in fourth grade. My friends and I were huge Charlie’s Angels fans. I would write scripts for us to act out at recess. Fast forward to the late 1990s when I attended an RWA conference in Chicago with my sister. I met some wonderful women, who encouraged me to write about my often humorous travel experiences for work. So the journey began.

What kind of writer are you? Panster or Plotter?
Surprisingly, I’m a panster. I’m an extremely organized, and somewhat anal, person in every other aspect of my life, so I have no clue why this doesn’t carry over into my writing. I forced myself to plot out one of my more recent books in advance, because I’d just finished writing a book to discover it had no plot. Well, maybe it wasn’t that bad, but the book was definitely missing some key elements. So I’m trying to be more of a plotter.

Where do your ideas come from?
A lot of my inspiration for characters and plots comes from real life experiences. I’m an event planner and have written three heroines who are planners. Paris is my favorite city and I’ve set two books there. I’ve been researching my Irish ancestry for several years and the women’s fiction book I’m currently working on is set in Ireland.

A la Twitter style, can you describe your book (or series) in 140 characters or less.
I’m a big talker, so that’s really difficult. I always complain that pitching your book in a one page query letter is harder than writing the 400-page book. How about this: It might take more than a few spells for a divorce lawyer and romantic event planner to live happily ever after. Hmm. Guess it’s a good thing I don’t tweet much.

What are some of your favorite kinds of stories to read?
My reading tastes are very eclectic. I love humorous romances, amateur sleuth, young adult, and lighthearted women’s fiction.

Do you have a favorite book and if so what is it?
I’ve never been able to pinpoint one favorite book. My favorite series are Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series and Lawrence Sanders’ McNally series.

What are the scenes that are the hardest for you to write?
Love scenes. And not just because I know my mom will be reading them, but emotion is one of the most challenging things for me to write. And love scenes are all about emotion.

If you could have dinner with any three authors, who would you choose and why?

• Lawrence Sanders. I was a huge reader before I went to college. During college, I studied so much I rarely read for fun the entire four years of school. About a year after graduating, I mentioned to my now husband how much I missed reading for fun and he recommended the McNally series by Lawrence Sanders. He said it was a quick and light read. I laughed through the entire first book then devoured every book in the series. So I’d like to take Lawrence Sanders out to dinner and thank him for enabling me to rediscover my love for reading, which ultimately led me to becoming a writer. And his writing style also influenced the type of books I wanted to write.
• Oscar Wilde. The Importance of Being Earnest is my absolute favorite play. I laughed through the entire thing. I also own the movie with Rupert Everett (who I love) and Colin Firth. Being of Irish descent myself, I’d love to travel back in time and share a pint with Oscar Wilde in a Dublin pub.
• Dean Koontz. I tried reading one of his books and it freaked me out so much I didn’t even make it a quarter of the way through it. I’m intrigued by a writer who can have such an emotional impact on his readers. And I’m curious exactly how his mind works.

Last question, are you working on anything right now?
My next book from Crimson Romance, Identity Crisis, comes out in March 2013. It’s a romantic suspense and completely different than my quirky lighthearted romances. I have always been intrigued by the witness protection program and art forgery, so when a story idea popped into my head one day, I ran with it. I’m also currently querying a women’s fiction book set in Paris. Hopefully I’ll have exciting news about that book in the near future.

Thanks for stopping by today. Please check out the upcoming stops on my blog tour, October 22-November 21, at Eliza Daly's Blog Tour. I’ll be giving away a variety of gifts, such as e-books, writing journals, Amazon or B & N gift certificates, and chocolate on Halloween. If you comment on 5 or more of my 20 blog stops, and are a Facebook fan, you’ll be entered in a drawing to win one of two $25 Amazon or B & N gift certificates at the end of my blog tour.

When a series of failed relationships and business ventures have Monica Jackson doubting her self-worth, she turns to spell casting to attract positive energy and the opportunities needed to achieve her goals. But can Monica’s belief in spells restore her belief in herself?

Monica creates a spell to find her soul mate, and one to ensure the success of her new romantic event planning company, Enhance Your Romance. Monica is confident she has found her niche until divorce lawyer Reed Walker opens a practice next door to her office. The anti-marriage slogan plastered on his office window, and his down-on-love clients, quickly prove detrimental to Monica’s business. When his arrival appears to trigger a string of bad luck, Monica fears one of her spells sent negative energy into the universe and it has returned to her threefold. Although Reed is beyond sexy, and she admires his self-confidence, she’ll do whatever it takes to get the universe back on her side, and Reed out of her life. No way is she losing another business.

Reed finds himself attracted to Monica’s beauty and her optimism. His job and his parents’ divorce have made him a pessimist, especially when it comes to love. However, he soon finds that Monica’s pro-love attitude is rubbing off on him, causing him to lose his edge. If Reed doesn’t distance himself from Monica, he’ll likely destroy his reputation as a pit bull divorce lawyer.

Can Monica and Reed look past what they might be losing to realize the love they have found?

Purchase: | Amazon |

2 lucky commenter will win a copy of Under Her Spell

To Enter:

• Please leave a comment answering the question: If you could have dinner with any author who would it be?
• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

Good Luck =)

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