Interview by Nicole Melanson ~
USA TODAY bestselling author and multi-award winner Nicola Marsh writes flirty fiction with flair for adults and riveting, spooky stories for teens. She has published 55 books with Harlequin, Entangled Publishing and indie, and sold over 6 million copies worldwide. Her first mainstream romance, Busted in Bollywood, was nominated for Romantic Book of the Year 2012. Her first indie romance, Crazy Love, was a 2012 ARRA finalist. Her YA urban fantasy, Scion of the Sun, won the 2014 National Readers’ Choice Award for Best Young Adult novel. She has recently been nominated for a 2015 RBY.
Nicola is also a Waldenbooks, Bookscan and Barnes & Noble bestseller, a 2013 RBY (Romantic Book of the Year) and National Readers’ Choice Award winner, and a multi-finalist for a number of awards including the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, Booksellers’ Best, Golden Quill, Laurel Wreath, and More than Magic. She has also won several CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Awards.
A physiotherapist for thirteen years, she now adores writing full time, raising her two little heroes, sharing fine food with family and friends, and her favorite, curling up with a good book!
Twitter: @NicolaMarsh
Facebook: /NicolaMarshAuthor
Instagram: nicolamarshauthor
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?
I started writing while working full time as a physiotherapist in late 2011. I was lucky enough to be offered a contract with Harlequin after my second submission. My first, to the Medical series, received a rejection. I got The Call in May 2013 and my first book, The Tycoon’s Dating Deal, was published in March 2014.
WHAT IS YOUR LATEST BOOK OR CURRENT PROJECT?
My latest book is BAD (that’s the title, not an indication of the writing!) It’s book 5 in my Bombshells series, centered around a burlesque club in Vegas. Every book features a character who works at the club in some capacity, and the later books feature the sexy Harrison brothers.
BAD features Wyatt Harrison, a geek, who falls for Ashlin O’Meara, lead choreographer at the club. It also features his equally hot brothers Zane, Steele and Kurt. Here’s the blurb:
Wyatt Harrison is a geek and proud of it. The IT freelancer prefers delving into the mysteries of motherboards than women. Until he upgrades the computer systems at Vegas’s premier revue venue Burlesque Bombshells, where he’s confronted by the biggest mystery of them all, stunning choreographer Ashlin O’Meara.
Ashlin prefers brawn to brains. She likes her men uncomplicated for a reason. But there’s something about Wyatt that she can’t resist. Unable to achieve satisfaction in the bedroom for years, he could be the guy to push all her right buttons.
However, Wyatt’s no fool, and in agreeing to a short-term fling with the sexy geek, will her devastating secret of the past be revealed, resulting in the collapse of her carefully constructed life?
WHAT IS YOUR WORK ENVIRONMENT LIKE?
Messy! I never have enough time to tidy my desk so it’s an eye-sore, covered in stacks of papers, receipts, Post-It notes of all colours, tax receipts, folders, plotting notebooks, pens…you name it, it’s probably on my desk. Though I do like seeing my awards on there…
WHEN DO YOU WORK? WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE?
I’m most productive in the morning. Once the kids are at school, I do a quick check of emails and social media, then dive straight in. I like to reach 3000 words average by lunchtime. My afternoons are usually busy with the kids, ditto with the evenings. If I can squeeze in a few more words at night I do, but that’s rare these days.
WHAT IS YOUR WORK PROCESS?
I’m a convert to Scrivener so I can’t imagine writing a book without it now. I find it helps me write much faster, by doing a rough outline of scenes required in the story before I start. It’s colour-coded for hero/heroine so once I start writing, the words flow much easier.
WHY DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO?
I always wanted to write, even when I worked 13 years as a physiotherapist.
What compels me to keep writing is the passion for it…writing is my dream job and I’m so lucky to be able to do it.
WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
My kids inspire me. Everything I do is for them.
Ideas for my books come from…everywhere! Maybe a newspaper headline, a magazine article, a bumper sticker, an expression on a person’s face in a photo… This job is fun!
WHAT IS THE HARDEST PART OF WHAT YOU DO?
The hardest part of writing is the ever-changing publishing industry. It’s constantly in flux, so just when you feel comfortable in a genre, it shifts, taking your earnings with it! The key to success in a tough industry is to be flexible and innovative and never stop learning.
WHAT IS YOUR ARTISTIC VISION?
My goal is to publish 100 books. I’ve just ticked over 55 so I’m over halfway there.
Better get my fingers stuck to the keyboard…
WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE FEMALE AUTHORS?
Barbara O’Neal, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Lisa Gardner.
WHICH FEMALE AUTHORS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE INTERVIEWED ON WORDMOTHERS NEXT?
All of the above!
Thank you, Nicola Marsh!
— Nicole Melanson
And thank you, Allison Tait, for introducing me to Nicola! Read Allison’s WordMothers interview here
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