Interview with Jill Shalvis and book giveaway

**Giveaway is now closed**

Jill Shalvis is the author of over four dozen romance novels and has just started a new series (Lucky Harbor) with "Simply Irresistible." We got an opportunity to learn more about Jill and found that she has a great sense of humor and is very easygoing. With Halloween coming up, we even asked her some holiday-themed questions and enjoyed her answers to those, as well. (After all, who isn't a "ho" for Jill's favorite treat?)

After you read what she has to say here, check out her blog for more insight into what makes her tick. She also has three copies of "Simply Irresistable" to give away to some lucky US readers.

MP: What is your usual writing routine?JS: I try to write while the kids are in school or at practice but to be honest I'm not very good at routines. I can write anywhere, in the carpool lane, on my deck supervising the trampoline play outside, or while watching one of my kids' games -- though I don't recommend that because inevitably someone will want to read my screen and if it's one of THOSE scenes, it can be very embarassing!!!

MP: How did you celebrate when your first book was published?JS: Wrote another. :)

MP: Do you ever suffer from Writer's Block? If you do, how do you remedy it?JS: Yes, I suffer. But I tie that bitchy muse up and crack the whip. Or ... I eat cookies. My favorite is plotting with my eyes closed (aka: taking a nap ...) My point is, I just keep at it and work thru it. But there's usually lots of whining involved.

MP: How do you like to spend your time when you aren't writing?JS: READING! And hiking. And READING. And eating ...

MP: Can you tell us a little bit about how the "Lucky Harbor" Series came to be and what is it about?
JS: When I started this series about three estranged sisters who get stuck together running a beach resort, I decided I was out of my mind. I don’t have sisters. I have a brother, and we like each other just fine. Then at the dinner table that very night, my three teenage heathens started bickering and fighting, and I just stared at them in awe and wonder.
I had my fodder! “Keep fighting,” I told them -- much to their utter shock, since I’ve spent the past fifteen years begging them to get along.
After that night, it was a piece of cake to write the sisters — Maddie, Tara, and Chloe — their claws barely sheathed, with resentment and affection vying for space.
So then all that I had left to do was find the three sexy guys who could handle them.
It just so happened that, at the time, my neighbor was having an addition put on her house. For six glorious weeks, there were a bunch of guys hanging off the roof and the walls, in perfect line of sight of my office.
Which is really my deck. It’s a wonder I got any work done at all.
So I sat in the sun and wrote while in the background cute, young, sweaty guys hammered, and sawed, and in general, made my day.
And on some days, they even took off their shirts. Those were my favorite days of all. But I digress …
I was working very hard, planning out conflicts and plot pacing and trying to nail down my hero. And given what I was looking at for inspiration, it shouldn’t be any surprise at all that the hero for this first book in the Lucky Harbor series, SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE, turned out to be a master carpenter.
And a very sexy one at that.
I’m actually writing book two right now. I keep going out on the deck, sitting and patiently waiting, but my neighbor hasn’t hired any more sexy carpenters. Darn it.
Perhaps I need a new addition myself!

MA: Being a mother, where did you find the time to write over 4 dozen romance novels?
JS: Ha. Very carefully. There's the hours during school, when they're with friends, and ... drops head in shame ... I've been known to work while trying to watch their basketball games. Don't judge me. :)

MA: If "Simply Irresistible" were made into a movie, who would you cast in the lead roles?
JS: Don't ask me this! :) It's too painful. The characters are so real in my head, and so ... mine ... that I can never cast my own books. No one is ever quite right. Is that awful?

MA: What do you like best about living by Lake Tahoe?
JS: Well it's not the bears, coyotes and raccoons, oh my. But definitely the scenery. And the change of pace from being a city girl turned mountain mama.

MA: What was the best Halloween costume you ever wore (or that one of your kids wore)?
JS: Well one year the girls all went as adorable little precious fairies ... and about an hour before we were going to go trick or treating it started snowing. Like two feet of snow. So we were all adorable little precious fairies, in full snow, thick gear from head to toe. Which meant we were fairies turned Michelin Men.

MA: What is your favorite kind of Halloween candy?
JS: Candy corn!! I'm a 'ho for candy corn.

Special thanks to Jill Shalvis for her entertaining answers to our questions and for offering the books for the giveaway!

How to win "Simply Irresistible":
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US only. Giveaway ends Monday, November 1st, at 6 pm EST.