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November 29, 2012

Borrowing the Tiara for the day is...Nikki Duncan & Her Miracle Man

Today, we welcome a very special
DARA friend to the PP!
She's already very adept at wearing tiaras. LOL
Hi, Nikki Duncan!

Love ‘em or Hate ‘em? Morning or Night? What’s Nikki Duncan opening up about? Hey, Plotting Princesses! Thanks for having me here today.

How did you get from your day job to writing romance?  I still have the day job, I simply made a shift of using my personal time to read to writing instead. I do hope to one day make another shift so writing is the day job and reading again becomes my biggest pastime.

What are your three favorite books of all time? Divine Evil by Nora Roberts, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, The Lost Diary of Don Juan by Douglas Carlton Abrams


Morning, afternoon, or evening person? Hmm. It seems to vary from day to day. I think more often than not I’d say afternoon.

Music--with or without? What kind? With. Definitely with. As to what kind? Almost all kinds. I really only avoid the heaviest rock where it’s more screaming than lyrics.

First or third POV? Third when I’m writing. In reading, I can take both.

How's tricks? Do you juggle multiple projects? I’ve become quite adept at juggling. Family. Work. Hobbies. Writing. Suspense. Paranormal. Contemporary. YA. There’s always something going on in my head and even when I’m working on one story it’s common to have another blathering away in the background.

What's harder: beginning, middle, or the end? This differs from book to book, but I think overall that it’s the middle. I can almost always visualize the kick off and last scene the fastest and with the most clarity.

Revisions: Love 'em or hate 'em?  Hate ‘em when they break the flow of a new WIP, but then when I dive into them, I love ‘em. By the time revisions come back to me, I’ve forgotten most of the smaller details I’ve included. This means that the book is largely new to me, and I love that. I also love when I find a line or section that surprises me and makes me proud of myself.

How did you come up with that title?  Best advice anybody ever gave you? Titles are HARD. We work so hard on coming up with the perfect one only to discover that it often gets changed. The best advice I’ve ever heard on titles, though, came from Leah Hultenschmidt during a conference workshop. She said to always try to come up with a title that couldn’t be ignored. At the same time it needs to depict the feeling of the book. I like to think I’ve accomplished that on my books (with some editorial help in some cases.)

The Sensory Ops Series - Sounds to Die By, Scent of Persuasion, Illicit Intuitions, A Killing Touch

The Tulle and Tulips Series - Tangled in Tulle, Twisted in Tulips

Her Miracle Man, The Back-Up Fiance

Fill in this blank: My ideal fictional hero would think me gorgeous no matter…how big my bitch tantrums can become. Oh wait, I already have that, at least I do if hubby’s recent comment is anything to judge by. “You’re feeling like a real bitch today, but I’m still glad you’re with me.” It was impossible not to laugh at that. lol

What's your favorite dessert?  Strawberry Shortcake or Tiramisu or Chocolate or Cherry Cobbler or Peach Cobbler or White Cake or… Do I really have to name one?

Do you write at home or someplace else? Wherever I can find a few minutes without interruptions. I’ve even written on school busses crammed with kids. 

What's your favorite type of hero/heroine and why? Lately it seems I like wounded characters. Maybe they’re emotionally wounded. Maybe physically. Maybe both. It’s fun to explore why they’re damaged and what it’s going to take to bring them back to “life.”

In my latest release HER MIRACLE MAN that released 2 days ago, the heroine is the wounded one and the hero is trying to bring her back to “life” while they work together on a special Christmas project called A Month of Miracles.

Here’s the blurb for that one:
Children’s hospital administrator Ryland Davids was attracted to event planner Jennalyn James the moment he saw her. He thought there would be plenty of time to get to know her—until her younger sister, Sabrina, was admitted with complications from traumatic brain injury.
Sabrina’s bright courage broke through Ryland’s wall of professional distance, but once she drew her last breath, Jennalyn left the hospital and never returned. Though he understands her need for distance, there’s a hole in his heart that won’t heal. And a last wish from Sabrina he’s honor-bound to deliver.
When Jennalyn comes face to face with Ryland at a charity event, the pain comes rushing back, threatening to shatter her everything’s-fine façade. It doesn’t help that the lump in her throat is mostly her heart, leaping in response to his touch.
Despite her reluctance to return to the scene of her grief, she fulfills Sabrina’s final request to plan a series of Christmas events for the kids. Over the course of A Month of Miracles, Ryland and Jennalyn discover there’s the light of hope at the end of grief’s dark tunnel. But it may not be enough to heal her broken heart.

Find Nikki's Books at:
Samhain: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/her-miracle-man-p-7067.html
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Her-Miracle-Man-ebook/dp/B009VLBBIE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351709608&sr=8-1&keywords=her+miracle+man

Find Nikki at:
Website: www.NikkiDuncan.com
Twitter: @NDuncanWriter
Facebook: N Duncan Writer

And be sure to check out her blog party that ends this week. There are some AWESOME prizes still to be won.

What other questions do you have for Nikki? Pick her brain.
 

10 comments:

Sylvia said...

Hi Nikki,
Great to have you! How many books have you written/published now? I think I saw a really big number out on one of the loops recently. Congratulations.

Vicki Batman, sassy writer said...

Hi, Nikki! I agree with Sylvia--didn't I see something about TEN! Congratulations on Miracle Man

Nikki Duncan said...

Hi Sylvia and Vicki. This is #10 published for me. I have many more in that "box under the bed" though. :)

Thank you for having me here and thanks for the congrats.

Liese said...

Sounds like a very touching story. And #10! What a great achievement!

All the best and congrats!

chris k said...

I love those titles- I can't fathom having written ten books, never mind having published them!

Is Miracle Man a one time book or is this going to be part of a series?

Liz Lipperman said...

Welcome, Nikki. I love your titles, and the premise of your new one sounds terrific. See you Saturday.

Kathleen Baldwin said...

Hi Nikki, girl!

10 books! Wow you've been busy. HER MIRACLE MAN sounds interesting. Very catchy title.

Loved the advice you shared, "Pick a title that can't be ignored." You certainly did that with this one.

It doesn't surprise me at all that you have so many things going on in your head. Smarty pants! ;-)

That's what you get for thinking at the speed of light. Being a speed-of-molasses-in-January thinker myself, I'm envious.

Kathy Ivan said...

Hi Nikki and welcome to the Plotting Princesses. I've got this one on my TBR pile already, it sounds like a great story.

Ten books out. Its not hard to believe though, you work really hard and have earned every accolade you get.

Pick a title that can't be ignored. I think I'm going to take that advice to heart. Thanks.

Karilyn Bentley said...

Hi Nikki,
Sorry I'm late to the party!! It's great to have you on. Wow, 10 books?? I'm envious! :) Congratulations on Miracle Man!!

Nikki Duncan said...

Thanks, Liese.

Chris, Her Miracle Man is a stand alone. I may or may not write the story of a secondary character. I have to decide if I think there's enough there.

Thank you, Liz. This is by far my favorite story to have done.

Thank you, Kathleen. Sometimes I wish my brain would slow down just a touch.

Kathy, I hope you love the story when you read it.

And Karilyn, better late than never. :)

Thank you for all the congratulations. Every one means a lot.