Today I am speaking with Cara North. Hi Cara and welcome to Fallen Angel Reviews today. There are some anxious readers that would love to know more about Cara North.

I see that Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off is getting some great reviews. I have put it on my TBR list. Why not tell us how you came about writing this and let us know a little something about it?

I was on my way to work one afternoon and a semi drove past me. It had on its side the most beautiful scenery and on the back a website for Montana. There were a few cowboys in my head already and they decided that Montana was the place they needed to live. About a month or so later I was listening to the local country music station, WRNS, and the song Tequila makes her Clothes Fall Off by Joe Nichols came on. Needless to say I laughed and Jack, the hero of the story came to life in my mind’s eye. I pulled over, jotted the story down and the rest as they say, is history. The story is about Jack Johnson, a Montana rancher trying to save his family ranch. His grandfather left an inheritance but it came with a stipulation, they had to be married to get it. Jack meets Bethany in Las Vegas. She is there for her bachelorette party but really she is there to escape form her fiancé. They each think they are tricking the other but they marry none the less and so it begins.

Would you care to expound on some of your other upcoming projects?

There are 3 more novels in the Montana Series. I have three novels I am currently shopping around to an agent and other publishing houses. I have a short story about a pirate that will go into an anthology at Mardi Gras Publishing for charity, I have already volunteered to donate any of my portion of the earnings on that book to the organization. In addition I have three short stories at Midnight Showcase. Purple Monkey, which is a naughty little piece about the lengths people go to in order to get each other’s attention. Wild On Tuesday’s is coming soon there, it is about an undercover cop posing as a stripper and a preacher posing as a tough guy trying to discover who is kidnapping the strippers. Mistaken identities can be so much fun! Next year they also have a short story that will be in their Merlicious 2 anthology. I will be in that book with other members of my Romance Writers of America Chapter and we are pretty excited about that.
Works in progress, I have a young adult novel and a fantasy/sci-fi novel I am still fleshing out, in addition to another contemporary and contemporary erotic romance novel. I like to write like I read, and I read across the spectrum of genres.

What was the first story you ever wrote? Published or unpublished?

LOL! The first serious story I wrote as an adult is not published, it is in five journals, hand written, yet to be transcribed. (What’s really sad is the fact that I had a computer!) I had written several little short stories, little trysts along the way as gifts for friends. Words are great gifts.

How many hours a day do you spend writing?

As many as I can. Some days I get more time than others. I try for two hour blocks of time. On the weekends I can go for hours or until my wrists give out. Some days I only get thirty minutes or no time. It is a fact of life for me that I have to work, take my own graduate classes, tend to my family and find time to write. But I have to write, even if it means burning the midnight oil, I have to write.

Do you go with the flow or form an outline when you write?

I think I do both. When I get an idea, it either simmers on the back burner and just gives me hints or peeks at where it is going until it has formed completely, then I write down as much of it as possible in outline form. Sometimes the story remains true to the outline, other times it will take a new path and then come back to the outline, but I generally know where it will end up when it begins, even if that is as simple as knowing who will be together in the end.

What is the best advice that anyone ever gave you?

A couple of my favorite snippets of advice are these:
“Know yourself and seek self improvement.” Marine Corps Leadership Traits.
“You can fix crap; you can’t fix a blank page.” Judi McCoy
“They aren’t rejecting you, they are rejecting the book.” Alesia Holliday
“Write the first draft for yourself.” Stephen King.
“Get a MySpace and a Blog for crying out loud!” Stella Price.

What are some of your hobbies besides writing?

Laundry? Does that count? LOL! I still love reading, getting a book to curl up with and escape from my own life, and the lives of my own characters is still an awesome treat for me.

We all have one, so tell us yours. What is your favorite comfort food?

POTATOES. My dad still calls me, “The Potato Princess.”

Was there any one person or event in your life that finally inspired you to sit down and write your first book?

I saw a picture of Josh Hartnett on the cover of Details Magazine in the bookstore and a character just jumped out and came to life. I bought the magazine and went home to write again. (I had not written anything other than in my journal in years) That book is still in the five journals, but someday it might make it to the computer. At any rate, I found something I had lost that day and I always say he is my Muse, much to my husband’s displeasure.

Do you have a favorite movie that you could watch over and over again?

Circle of Friends. I just love that movie.

Cara, do you have another website other than, www.sirensandmuses.com that you would like to share?

That is my only “website” I have a blog and a myspace. http://carolinanorth.blogspot.com, http://strictlysirens.blogspot.com and www.myspace.com/caranorthwriter

Do you belong to any groups, or loops that help you promote your writing?

I am a part of a very eclectic literary group, Strictly Sirens, we have members that write a little of everything. I love my publisher yahoo loops because those are customers looking for books at those sites. The Sirens have a yahoo loop and I have my own little loop, Hi Ya’ll! Ann Cory and Brenda Williamson rock with promotions on their loop and are very nice to us authors. I personally love the chats here at FAR the most though. I like to type in real time with people whenever possible. Sometimes that works on the yahoo loops, but sometimes it gets so busy it takes forever to get through.

Cara, it has been a pleasure having you with us today. We look forward to reading your books and your upcoming works.

Thank you, Linda it was a pleasure to be here. Thank you to the FAR readers for taking the time to read this interview.

Interviewed by: Linda L