Guest interview: Vivi Andrews

Please help me in welcoming Vivi Andrews, our special guest for today!

Vivi Andrews was born and raised in Alaska, and she still lives in the Last Frontier when she isn't bouncing around the globe. After graduating from Northwestern University, Vivi tested out a variety of careers—from the movie industry to accounting—but kept coming back to her first two loves, writing and travel. She lived in nine cities—on two continents and one tropical island—while pursuing her dream of writing romance professionally.

In 2009, Vivi won the Golden Heart Award, presented by the Romance Writers of America, and her debut novella, "The Ghost Shrink, the Accidental Gigolo & the Poltergeist Accountant," hit the digital shelves. Within two years, she wrote and released eight paranormal romances, including the popular Serengeti Shifter series and critically-lauded Karmic Consultants books.

Vivi is currently hard at work on her next happily-ever-after.

Welcome Vivi! Please tell us about No Angel. And do you have a review you could share with us?

No Angel is an unconventional Christmas story. When Sasha's boyfriend is sucked into Hell on Christmas Eve, an angel in cowboy boots appears in her apartment and tells her she has until dawn to fight her way into Hell and back out again if she wants to save her boyfriend - who, as it turns out, isn't as unfamiliar with Hell as he's been letting on.

Here's what Kelly at Reading the Paranormal Reviews had to say: "I loved, loved, loved the role reversal of the straight laced, half-demon guy vs the tough, can-shoot-a-gun-straighter-than-most, reluctant Champion of Good girl. Sure, Jay was hiding his demon side and trying to be the perfect boyfriend, but I just loved that Sasha saw him as a desk-jockey who wouldn't be able to fight his way out of a paper bag. AND SHE LIKED HIM DESPITE THAT. There was something fabulous about her and her attitude that I totally dug."

Wow that's an awesome review! Please tell us about your favorite character in the book.

The heroine Sasha is a badass Hollywood stunt woman. She's wise-cracking, gun-toting, and I couldn't lover her more if I tried. As the daughter of a celebrity family, she has massive trust issues about people using her for her parents' fame and she's built a wall of defensiveness and sarcasm around herself, but with a little Christmas magic - and a trip to Hell - she finally figures out how to bust a door into that wall.

I love tough heroines! What element of this story was the hardest for you?

I think one crucial part of my process is a kind of selective memory loss. I always forget the most challenging parts when I have the shiny finished product looking back at me. My editor did have to crack the whip and get me to add more world building in edits - since I always seem to skimp on the details that are so clear in my head and somehow miss the transition to the page, but that wasn't a painful fix. At least, according to my faulty memory it wasn't.

Please tell us about one of your other books.

My recent print release The Ghost Exterminator is another book with a wise-cracking tough-girl heroine. Jo Banks was born with the ability to shove pesky ghosts into the white light. Even though she might secretly long for normalcy, she's embraced her unusual gifts and made a career for herself as a premiere Ghost Exterminator. Her latest client, studly and stuck up Wyatt Haines, isn't sure he believes in ghosts or anything else Jo says, but when her extermination goes awry and throws two prankster ghosts into Wyatt's body to haunt him, he's going to have to learn to trust her and embrace the unexpected if he's going to get his body back under his sole control.

And you should have seen me dancing around my living room when Romantic Times reviews called The Ghost Exterminator "laugh-out loud funny" and gave it four and a half stars.

I can see why you'd dance! That's fantastic! :) What inspires you?

It seems like anything and everything inspires me. I have a hundred stories bouncing around in my head trying to get out. I don't know if I'll have time in this lifetime to write them all, but I'm sure going to try. :)

What was the most important thing you learned just before you made your first sale?

I think what I really needed to learn was not to sell myself short. Not to limit myself by telling myself I can't do things. I never used to think I could write paranormal because I didn't have the same passion for worldbuilding and creating world bibles that I'd heard my favorite paranormal authors swear by. I thought I'd never be able to write a novella because my stories always spun out with subplots on top of their subplots and I thought I couldn't write short.

But when I challenged myself to test my limits, I sold my first story - a paranormal novella. Stretch your boundaries as a writer and it can change everything.

That is truly fantastic and helpful advice! What do you wish you’d known before becoming published?

I wish I'd known to take a moment and enjoy the phase I was in, when it was all about the stories, before promo and deadlines and other businessy writing demands entered the equation. I miss the focus I was able to give to each story, without having to step away to do edits on another or promote a third.

It does get very hectic sometimes. What’s next for you?

I'm excited about my next shapeshifter release which completes my Serengeti Shifter series. Serengeti Sunrise releases this May from Samhain and features two very strong-willed lion-shifters, neither of whom are very good at compromising. Neither Zoe nor Tyler want the obligation of a relationship, but what starts as a no strings affair is quickly tangled beyond recognition in this steamy novella.

Congratulations on your upcoming release! Sounds fabulous! Would you like to ask readers a question?

I'd love to! In No Angel, my heroine is facing the pressures of the holidays combined with introducing her significant other to her parents for the first time. I'd love to hear if your readers have any stories about bringing a boy of girlfriend home for the first time or a particular tale of holiday mayhem. And I'd like to give a copy of No Angel to one randomly selected commenter, since it is the season of giving. :)

Thanks so much, Vivi! That's very generous of you! And thank you for being our guest today!

For more about Vivi's books or the life of a nomadic romance author, please visit her blog, Ramblings from the Road, at http://viviandrews.blogspot.com or stop by her website at www.viviandrews.com.

19 comments:

Carly Carson said...

I think holiday and mayhem go together like cake and frosting. In my family, we celebrated the annual "Christmas tree falling down" last night. A few broken ornaments, but some fun along the way. Your books sound great.

Kelly said...

I took my highschool boyfriend with me to California for one christmas... WORST Christmas ever!!!! Fight the whole time cause I was spending to much time with my cousins that I only saw at the time once a year.... Then he was mad that we couldn't sleep in the same room together... HELLO we were at my grandparents house... Gross!!!! Needless to say that relationship didn't last very long after that... He was freakin crazy!!!!!

Thank you for a chance to win your book..

Kelly M
crazyforbooks@comcast.net

Cindy McCune said...

My Dad started a tradition of always yelling "Humbug"! Yet every Christmas I always recieved the most wonderful gifts from him wrapped in newspaper. Daddy's gone now & I sure miss seeing those newspaper gifts under the tree. Peppermint & newspaper...that was my Dad.

Ari said...

I loved this interview! Thanks for sharing your insight...I just remember sneaking into my now husband's window, even though his dad knew I was staying over for Christmas morning our second year together. And there I was, miraculously Christmas morning!

Aria
ariadarkmuse@gmail.com

Nicole North said...

Welcome Vivi!!! Thanks for being our guest today!

Vivi Andrews said...

Carly - Sounds like a fun, if slightly destructive, Christmas tradition. ;) That's one of those times I probably wouldn't buy a new tree-stand because it's "tradition" to use the old one that always lets the tree fall over.

Kelly - Wow, gettin' it on at Grandma's isn't exactly my idea of romantic either. Ugh.

CL - Sounds like he had a lot of holiday spirit even if he did enjoy being curmudgeonly and yelling "Humbug!" Thank you for sharing that memory with us.

Aria - LOL, that's my kind of Christmas miracle! ;)

And Nicole - THANK YOU SO MUCH for having me here today. I really enjoyed the interview and I'm delighted to be visiting!

Elisa Beatty said...

Great interview!! My Kindle will hopefully be under the Christmas tree in just a few days, and then I can catch up with all this wonderfulness!

Congrats, Vivi, on the amazing publishing run this year!!! May it continue long and busily!!

Elisa Beatty said...

Oh, shoot...there's so much holiday chaos around here, I forgot to add that to my comment....

We're so backed up with "things that have to get done" here, I'm not quite sure how we're going to pull off Christmas. I DID just get the igniter on our gas fireplace fixed so we can turn off the pilot light so my husband can paint the living room wall so we can move the big bank of cabinets back into place so we'll HAVE a place to put the Christmas tree... And then we need to unload the huge stack of books back into the shelves so I can move our boxes of decorations in.... We'll pull if off somehow.

Rita said...

Christmas Eve was our big family celebration. My husband had a grey beard and he loved playing Santa handing out gifts. He wore a red shirt, Santa hat, and Christmas socks, Christmas underwear, suspenders and tie. He also loved the smooches he got from grandkids.

Linda Henderson said...

When I brought my second husband around for Christmas my mother HATED him. Of course she hated him before she saw him. And it never improved. We are divorced now, but she never gave him a chance. So of course I got to hear the "I Told You So" when it didn't work out.

seriousreader at live dot com

Taryn Kincaid said...

Angel in Cowboy Boots?

Hey, someone should write a country song!

I'm intrigued. sounds like a great story~

Can't think of a terribly hideous Christmas story...now Thanksgiving... we can talk frozen turkeys, raw turkeys, broken stoves, giblets cooked inside in their bag...what else you got?

Gwynlyn said...

Hey, doll! Nice interview. May the Spirit of Christmas sell lots of copies of No Angel! {{{Hugs}}}

Vivi Andrews said...

Elisa - Good luck getting all that done! Normally I'd be right there with you in the last minute holiday scramble, but this year I'm actually ahead, if you can believe it.

Rita - I was convinced my grandfather was the REAL Santa growing up. He looked so much like him! Sounds like your husband really knew how to make the holiday sparkle. :)

Taryn - I've destroyed many a turkey in my day. And then there was the year the dog got it...

Thanks for joining me, Linda & Gwyn.

Sherry said...

Most of the time Christmas goes off without any problem at my sister's house but a couple of years ago the power was off all morning and it threw everything off.

sstrode@scrtc.com

KELLY FITZPATRICK said...

Here's to more happy reviews! Cheers.

Vivi Andrews said...

Just wanted to say thank you to the Fierce Ladies for having me here today and here's hoping everyone has Holidays sans disasters this year. :)

Thank you!

Gabriella Hewitt said...

I just picked up The Accidental Shrink. The Ghost Exterminator is on my list to buy. It was great reading your interview and I'll definitely be checking out more of your books.

I live overseas and don't make it home for Christmas. It can be a challenge making a traditional Christmas here in Japan but it also means we get to create our own traditions. ( :

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Nicole North said...

Thanks again for being our guest, Vivi!! Happy Holidays!!

Vivi Andrews said...

And the winner is... Kelly M! Congrats and thank you everyone for playing along with me today. ;)