GET TO KNOW: CYNTHIA D'ALBA & Texas Two Step

This post is a stop on the TEXAS TWO STEP Blog Tour. For a complete listing of all stops on this tour, please visit here. All contests are for U.S. residents only unless otherwise noted. Comments left on this blog will be counted toward the Texas Two Step Faithful Follower Gift Certificate. To see a complete listing of Blog Tour Prizes, click here. Be sure to check out the freebies. Yours for the asking as long as they last.

Thanks, Plotting Princesses for having me today. It's not just another ordinary day at the D’Alba household. It's Texas Two Step RELEASE DAY! I’ll be giving away prizes all day on my home blog, so please encourage your readers to read my interview here, leave a message for a chance to win a digital book from Delilah Devlin, then jump over to ENALR and win something! There are hourly prizes, so lots to giveaway.

Okay, I’m all set…bring on the tough questions! J

How did you get from your day job to writing romance? Reading has always been a major pastime for me. When I left full time employment (I’d been Assistant Dean in the College of Business at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock) I spent most of my days either reading or working in the yard while listening to an audiobook. I was going through a book a day! After my husband watched me consume book after book, he finally suggested that I try my hand at writing romance since I obviously had a love for the genre. I confess my first few attempts were simply awful. In my first story, I had five different points of view in the first ten pages, and two of those were the dogs! So, as you can see, I had a lot to learn.  

What are your three favorite books of all time? Shanna by Katherine Woodiwiss, Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie, and My One and Only by Kristan Higgins.

Morning, afternoon, or evening person? Evening/night person. Sometimes the muse really kicks in about 11 p.m.! (I’ll be honest…I’m answering these questions at 2:15 a.m.)

Music--with or without? What kind? I write without music most of the time. When I do have music going, it’ll be contemporary country.

First or third POV? My book, Texas Two Step, is written in third person. I enjoying reading first or third. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m one of the few people who loves to read first person. It’s like having the person sitting next to me telling me her story. I want to write a first person mystery, but I have other books that need my attention first.

How's tricks? Do you juggle multiple projects? I have found that the more I have to do, and the closer to the deadline I am, the better juggler I become.

What's harder: beginning, middle, or the end? The sagging middle, without a doubt. I usually know how my story begins and how it ends, so it’s the middle that requires most of my imagination.

Revisions: Love 'em or hate 'em?  Love ‘em. I have words to work with. It’s getting those words down on the page in the first place that’s harder for me.

How did you come up with that title?  My books go through many, many titles before I settle on one. Texas Two Step? I have no idea where it came from!

Best advice anybody ever gave you? Stand up for yourself. You can be successful at anything you want to.

Fill in this blank: My ideal fictional hero would think me gorgeous no matter…that I’ve never worn a size 2, 4, 6, or 8 in my lifetime.

What's your favorite dessert? Chocolate Molten Lava Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream. YUM

ADDITIONAL/OPTIONAL:

Do you write at home or someplace else? I prefer to write away from home. At home, I see the dirty dishes, the carpet that needs to be vacuumed, clothes I should wash, glass doors with dog nose prints, etc.

What's your favorite type of hero/heroine and why?

Hard question because different stories call for different types of heroes and heroines. At one time I would have told you that I could never love a beta male, but in book one of The Bride Quartet by Nora Robers, Vision in White, the hero is a beta and I adored him. I realized when reading it that the heroine was such a strong alpha personality that there was no way she and a strong alpha male would mesh. They would kill each other. On the other hand, some of the strong alpha males found in Harlequin Presents stories leave me cold. I found myself wanting the heroine to slap him and walk out of the book to a more deserving guy. But I like characters who are confident in who they are and what they want and aren’t afraid to go after it.

Well, that was fun! I am happy to answer any other questions your readers leave in the comments section. I’ll be online all day, either here or at ENALR.

Today’s TTS Blog Tour Prize

Many guest bloggers can offer a copy of a backlist book to be given away as a potential prize for a blog commenter. As a debut author, I don’t have a backlist. But I do have some awesome author friends who have stepped forward and offered one of their books as a prize.

Today’s TTS Blog Tour Author Sponsor is Best Selling Erotic Romance author, Delilah Devlin. Delilah will send either Strokes or ­Lone Heart (winner’s choice) to one lucky person who leaves a comment. To find out more about today’s Blog Tour Sponsor, you can visit her Website, Twitter or Facebook.

To learn more about me check out these links:

Website , Facebook. Twitter, Group Blog , and Personal Blog

And if those aren’t enough, Sign up for inside scoops and special contests by receiving the newsletter I share with my blog buddies.

Remember! Leave a comment for a chance to win one of Delilah’s books!

Texas Two Step is available at Samhain, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. I will be forever in your debt if you would buy it! J

Tomorrow’s I have two stops on the tour. I’ll be at Leah Braemel’s blog and Petit Fours and Hot Tamales Blog.

Hope to see you there.