Author Interview – Liza O’Connor
/Fellow Sci-Fi Romance Brigade author Liza O’Connor recently let me crash her Multi-Verse blog, and now I have her over to chat about her paranormal romance Ghost Lover. Between March 21-23 (i.e. starting today), it will be on sale for $1.99 on Amazon.com (which is a bargain, if I do say so myself). And if you have Prime, you can even borrow it.
Alright, let’s dig into this irresistible story (and look at all the pretty pictures)!
1. Hi Liza, and thanks so much for dropping by. Is it true that your book has, not one, but actually two sexy British hunks? Can you tell me more about them?
1st, let me discuss the younger, bad boy of the two brothers: Brendon
You probably won’t like him right off because he steals Senna’s money, causing her rent check to bounce, resulting in her being evicted from her slum apartment. He didn’t need the money. He did it to force her into going to England with him so they can marry. You’ll want to strangle the amoral fellow on more than one occasion, but eventually you’ll grow to love him. It just takes time.
Brendon
Same goes for the older brother: Gar
Once Gar discovers what a great person Senna is and starts being nice to her, you’ll fall in love with him. At first, he’s way too grumpy and judgmental.
Which means the first thing you and Senna will fall in love with is the ghost cat,
Gar
Oh, by this way, this is Senna:
The ghost cat, Mr. Finch, is invisible.
Senna
2. That was exactly my second question. Does this adorable bundle of fur play a significant role? How did he come to be?
Mr. Finch is an ocelot that Lassier bought from a sailor back in the 15th century. The cat gave his life in battle saving Lassier, so Lassier buried him in the family cemetery. Anyone buried in this soil would becomes ghost for eternity. Turns out it works for cats too.
Here are pictures that Lassier painted of Mr. Finch when a kitten and later in his prime:
Mr. Finch
Mr. Finch provides comfort to Senna throughout her stay in England, as does Lassier the ghost, but the ocelot is cooler.
3. A birdie tells me this story is set in a castle! Can you tell me a bit more about it? Is it haunted?
Castle Durran
Castle Durran haunted? Never. Well, there are a few fellows in the dungeon which are ghost-chained for eternity, but the other 90 plus ghosts who occupy the castle never bother anyone. That’s probably Gar’s doing. He gets very annoyed if any of the ghost dare appear. So most of them just float about as globes of light. Materializing is too hard if everyone is just going to ignore or yell at you.
Here are the ghosts gathering at Christmas
Now, Lassier and Mr. Finch are an entirely different matter. Gar has no control over Mr. Finch. The cat, while invisible, is still forty pounds of muscle. He loves to lay on Gar’s feet to annoy him. He purrs a lot, and when Gar is especially rude, he’ll break something Gar likes.
Lassier comforting Senna
Lassier can materialize into what appears and feels like a real man, and he can take any face he wants in the process. He can also body nap Gar’s body and make love to Senna. He prefers the latter because in an actual body, sex is far more enjoyable.
4. Could you share a snippet from when Senna first meets Gar.
That would be when they arrived at Heathrow. Gar didn’t say much in the airport, so let’s join them in limo, shall we?
“Since I’ve obliged you, perhaps you will reciprocate by answering some questions.” Gar’s glare locked in on Senna’s large green eyes.
“What do you want to know?” the young woman asked cautiously, her eyes narrowing until she resembled a feral cat.
He’d never liked cats--sneaky and untrustworthy creatures.
“I understand you plan to marry my brother.”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“On if he really has a half-million coming to him when he marries.”
Had she really come out and declared herself a money-loving gold digger? “You’re marrying my brother to get your hands on half a million?” he clarified.
“Does he have such a sum?” she asked most earnestly.
Gar stared at his brother.
“Would you please tell her I have the money coming to me?” Ditz requested, his voice almost pleading.
It reminded him of the time Ditz lied to their parents about getting a star on his work paper. He’d pleaded with Gar to help him make it true by going to a store and buying one. Gar had refused on ethical grounds. When Ditz failed to present a star crested paper, their father beat him until he couldn’t sit for a full week.
“Ditz has said amount in his trust account,” Gar said, careful in his phrasing.
She noticeably relaxed and smiled in appreciation at Ditz.
“You seem relieved Miss Smith.”
“I am. I’ve been afraid Brendon fabricated the money so I would sell all my possessions. He believes they were dragging me down.”
“They were,” Brendon said.
“Maybe.”
Gar didn’t give a damn about her possessions. What he cared about were Ditz’s possessions, specifically his fortune. He did not want this gold-digger getting her hands on it.
Leaning forward, he asked, “Is this a new cultural difference with Americans, or are you abnormally mercenary?” He shook his head in disgust. “Isn’t it still customary to at least pretend to love the man you plan to suck dry?”
Senna’s face flushed crimson. “I don’t plan to suck anything.”
“What exactly is your plan?” He marveled this girl didn’t seem to realize how outrageous she sounded.
5. I know you’re busy with a ton of different projects, so I’ll let you run off with this last question. How did you get your start as an author?
I spent years happily writing novels, sending them off to critters and rewriting them. I just kept honing my craft and never submitted anything for publication. The number of full length, unpublished novels I’ve written is a bit embarrassing.
Then one day I wrote Saving Casey. A new critter declared the book unpublishable based solely on the blurb she read. I was outraged. I sent it off to one of my critters who happens to be a very successful author: Rebecca Royce. She actually read the book, not just the blurb, and demanded I publish it. So I did. The third publisher I sent it to offered me a contract.
The second book I sent out was accepted by the first publisher I sent it to. The book was Ghost Lover. Only it wouldn’t be published for a year, so I decided to try my hand at independent publishing so people wouldn’t forget who I was between my two books. To give inde-publishing a fair shot, I used the funniest book I’ve ever written, Worst Week Ever. It was part of a series called A Long Road to Love that follows a young woman though her search for love during the first three books of the series. In May the fourth book, which is Trent’s redemption, will come out. It’s titled Climbing out of Hell.
It turns out I love inde-publishing, and my books do better with me in charge of the marketing.
Also for this year, I plan to publish a humorous Late Victorian Mystery Series. Of all the books I’ve written, my critters love this series the best, and so do I.
5 b. Did you think you’d end up with such an impressive backlist when you first started?
Honestly, I expected to have more books published. I hadn’t realized how slow the publishing process remains. Between initial submission and publication, it can easily take two years.
The submission process is the biggest issue. Publishers can take up to three months to decide if your book is right for them, if they reject it, then you have to submit to someone else who inevitably wants a synopsis of a different length.
That is one of the many things I love about inde-publishing. I never make myself write a synopsis and I’ll let myself know in days if I want to publish the book next.
I’d like to thank Liza again for dropping by. Remember, you can get her book on sale for half price ($1.99). For more information about the book and author, just scroll down. Comments are always much appreciated.
Ghost Lover
Two sexy English brothers.
One irresistible ghost.
Who would you choose as your lover
Completely broke and with a criminal record to boot, Senna Smith is one day from eviction from her apartment when Brendon, her promiscuous roommate from London, suggests she go to England, marry him, and manage his fortune. With few other options, she agrees to an open marriage. But she’ll never, ever, have sex with him, knowing if she falls in love with him, he’ll break her heart.
As trustee of Brendon’s family fortune, there is no way Brendon’s older brother, Garrison Durran, is going to let him marry a self-professed American gold-digger. As Senna tries to embrace castle life and English society for Brendon’s sake, Gar discovers Senna is the perfect woman for him--beautiful and intelligent, kind and caring. Now, if she wasn’t already engaged to his brother…
The ancestral ghost of Durran Castle has to intervene if the Durran brothers have any chance of an heir. He can’t leave them to fix matters on their own. They are useless buggers when it comes to love. As counselor to Gar, matchmaker for Brendon, and lover to Senna, a ghost’s work is never done.
CONTENT WARNING: Allergy warning: Ghost cat in book.
Available at Amazon ($1.99 for a Limited Time!)
About Liza O'Connor
Liza lives in Denville, NJ with her dog, Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels. She loves to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.
