Ramblings From This Chick: Interview with Author Darcy Burke and Giveaway

Friday, November 20, 2015

Interview with Author Darcy Burke and Giveaway

Meet Darcy Burke author of The Idea of You.

Darcy Burke is the USA Today bestselling author of hot, action-packed historical and sexy, emotional contemporary romance. Darcy wrote her first book at age 11, a happily-ever-after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan who loved him, with exceedingly poor illustrations.

A native Oregonian, Darcy lives on the edge of wine country with her guitar-strumming husband, their two hilarious kids-who each seem to have inherited the writing gene in some form-and two Bengal cats. In her "spare" time Darcy is a serial volunteer enrolled in a 12-step program where one learns to say "no," but she keeps having to start over. Her happy places are Disneyland and Labor Day weekend at the Gorge.

A la Twitter style, please describe your book in 140 characters or less.

Movie star seeks peace & anonymity. Finds guy with limited social awareness. Guy charms movie star with lack of filter. #oppositesattract

What types of scenes are your most favorite to write?

Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue! I love snappy, witty scenes between the hero and heroine and funny, snarky scenes with the Archer family.

If you could have dinner with any three authors (alive or dead), who would you choose and why?

Stephen King so we could talk about pop culture and writing craft, JK Rowling because I want to know how she plotted that behemoth series, and Shakespeare because, well, Shakespeare! And he lived in one of my favorite time periods. (And yes, I’d ask him once and for all if he stole anyone’s work. Spoiler alert: no.)

What are you favorite types of stories to read?

I generally prefer happy ever afters, but I pretty much love anything with great characters who stick with you long after the story ends on the page.

Last question, are you working on anything right now?

Always! I’m currently finishing up the next Ribbon Ridge book, YOU’RE STILL THE ONE, featuring Hayden Archer, then I’ll go back to editing a Regency –set historical.

What’s the one thing you need every day and what happens if you don’t get it? (Keep it clean, lol!)

Evan Archer has always preferred peace and solitude to the loud antics of his large, hard-to-navigate family. But when Archer Enterprises needs a new creative director, Evan jumps at the chance to claim the job he’s always wanted. Moving home is easier than he expected, but Evan isn’t prepared for the stunning A-list celebrity hiding out in his family’s garage apartment.

Following a major tabloid scandal, movie star Alaina Pierce escapes to Ribbon Ridge. She’s immediately drawn to the quiet, picturesque town and the incredibly sexy—if a little quirky—Evan. He may be built like a Greek god, but he’s honest and straightforward… so different from the Hollywood types she normally dates.

Their attraction is undeniable, but Alaina can’t elude the paparazzi forever, and Evan has no interest in being in the limelight. When the secret she’s been keeping is exposed, the idea of Evan—of real love and a family like the Archers—could vanish in an instant.

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Check out the Ribbon Ridge series:

“How were you moderately famous? Wait, I remember. That reality show with the sextuplets.”

He flicked her a quick glance. “You watched it?” The show had ended almost fifteen years ago, but Evan remembered it the way one never forgot the most unpleasant moments of one’s life.

“No, sorry. Sean told me about it.”

Evan noted the cookie sheet on the stovetop. It bore slender blackened strips. “Is that bacon?”

She groaned. “Yes. I read somewhere that you could broil bacon in the oven, that it was less messy than cooking it in a pan on the stove.”

“But you burned it.” Hence the smoke. “Did you forget about it?”

“Yes, actually. My assistant called, and I went into the bedroom to talk to her. Next thing I knew, the alarm was going off and smoke was clogging the apartment. Please apologize to your mother for me. I’m surprised you’re the only one who came running.”

Evan didn’t know for sure, but he suspected his parents were out. They’d been going on a lot of date nights lately. It helped them keep their minds off the one-year anniversary of his brother Alex’s suicide a couple of weeks ago. “I was coming back from a walk.”

More or less. Actually, he was getting pretty good at the lying thing, now that he thought about it.

“In the dark?”

He heard the surprise in her question. That was one inflection he could usually discern. Plus, even he knew walking in the near-dark in February was perhaps . . . odd. He shrugged. “It’s not totally dark yet.”

“Oh, okay.” Was that sarcasm? He couldn’t be sure. He also couldn’t care less.

Intellectually, he registered that her being here was extraordinary—something he probably ought to have picked up on when he’d first come into the apartment. She was a world-famous actress, someone he’d seen in countless movies and whose talent he admired. “Why are you staying here?”

“I’m, uh, hiding out.”

“Why?”

“Just stupid famous-person stuff. The paparazzi were annoying me.”

He’d hated the fame that had come along with their reality show. Everyone in Ribbon Ridge knew who they were, which he supposed was to be expected even without a show, given the size of the town. However, it was one thing to be acquainted with people and another for them to think they knew you on an intimate level, as if you were friends. He imagined it might be like that times a hundred for Alaina. “That has to be hard. Your life really isn’t your own. When we did the show, people were always talking to me like they knew me, like I was their buddy.”

She cocked her head to the side. “You totally get it. That’s . . . weird. I mean, cool, but weird. Most people don’t remotely understand.”

“But you signed up for that, right?” He hadn’t. His parents had agreed to put them all on the show when an old family friend had pitched the idea. After the third season, they’d pulled the plug because of Evan’s discomfort—something no one knew. Hmm, apparently he could keep secrets, too. Good to know.