Literary Nymphs Interview
Title:
The Best Man
Author: Adriana Kraft
Publisher:
B&B Publishing
Genre:
Contemporary Erotic Romance
Release
Date: June 1, 2013
What would readers be
surprised to know about you?
There
are two of us writing together under the pen name Adriana Kraft, my husband and myself. We’ve met a few other couples
who also write together, and everyone does this a little differently. Whenever
we start a new project, we spend a mega amount of time upfront getting to know
our characters, developing the story arc and researching any angles we might
need to know more about. We love this stage, actually, and have explored a host
of fascinating settings, occupations and cultures, in person and on the web.
Only
one of us writes at a time, getting that first rough draft down on the page. We
read each day’s output out loud before moving on, checking for tone, grammar,
arc, and anything else that might get in the way of making the story work. Once
that draft is finished, we take turns going completely through it for edits, as
long as it takes.
Do you write in more than
one genre?
All
of our releases under Adriana’s pen name are erotic romance, including both
contemporary and paranormal. Our tag line is Erotic Romance for Two, Three, or More, so you can tell we write a
lot of ménage, often featuring two women together. The Best Man is also ménage, but none of the characters are
bisexual – we’ll leave the specifics for readers to find out, but we’ll just
say our heroine is quite partial to a special kind of sandwich.
When
we started writing together, we first tried our hand at romantic suspense, and
published a couple of those under a different pen name. We’re eager to get back
to that genre and have plans to release a suspense series set in the horseracing
industry, starting in October.
What if any, is the hardest
part of writing for you?
Getting
started is never a problem. We have more story ideas and plot sketches waiting
for us to put on the page than we’ll probably ever get around to!
Sometimes
the murky middle throws us a monkey wrench. That’s when it’s really beneficial
to have two of us – we sit down together, review the developments so far,
re-visit the story arc, examine what seems stuck and see if we can keep going.
Sometimes the problem is a conflict the characters are experiencing that we
haven’t fully understood – that can take a couple days to manifest, and we have
to be careful not to take on their
problems in our relationship!
Many
authors struggle with the editing process. That’s not so much a problem for me
– I free-lance as an editor, so the technicalities come easily for me. What’s
hard at this stage is letting it go – resisting that urge to go all the way
through a manuscript for what feels like the hundredth time at least, and
instead to send it on its way.
What inspired the story?
Is
it cheating to say our heroine, Kitty Paige, inspired it? We think she dictated
the opening scene, which came to us as one of those “what if” moments: What if
the mother of the bride messes with the best man at her daughter’s wedding,
only he’s the wrong man? It’s not one of her better cougar choices, but she
insisted we open the book in her hotel suite smack in the middle of that
liaison.
Of
course, she couldn’t do it alone, and once we understood her take-no-prisoners
character, she needed a hero who could match her. One of my very first writing
efforts was in high school, after I’d read Gone
With the Wind and seen the movie. I tried to re-write the ending so
Scarlett wouldn’t lose Rhett, which I thought was a huge, stupid mistake on
Scarlett’s part. So Rhett Butler (aka Clark Gable) surfaced as inspiration for
Jared Jacobs, with a handsome mustache Kitty’s eager to check out in sensitive
places. A seasoned man of the world, he’s easily her equal, and we had a tough
time keeping up with their escapades as they each kept upping the ante in their
efforts not to fall in love with each
other.
BLURB
Passionate, hard working and every inch a business woman, Chicago
Wealthy commodities middle-man and race horse owner Jared Jacobs is
father of the best man at Susan’s wedding. He is smitten by the vision in
yellow who exudes sex as she escorts her daughter down the aisle. Also single,
the handsome mustached California
Together and apart, their chemistry is explosive, and their sparkling
repartee and steamy sex catch both partners by surprise. Jared is first to
recognize he’s fallen in love. When Kitty panics, can Jared finesse his every
move and reel her in?
EXCERPT:
Leaning against the banquet room wall, Jared Jacobs
surreptitiously studied his prey one more time. The tall shapely blonde in the
canary yellow dress and yellow stilettos had drawn his attention from the
moment he’d seen her walking her daughter down the aisle.
She’d escorted the bride with her chin up and with
a satisfied smile on her ruby lips. Apparently she and her daughter didn’t mind
thumbing their noses at custom. Unlike many mothers of the bride he’d seen,
this one did not carry a Kleenex in her hand. She probably didn’t have any in
her tiny clutch purse, either. Tears wouldn’t come naturally to the
fair-skinned female exuding confidence at the chapel and here at the reception.
She appeared to laugh easily enough with
acquaintances at the table where she was seated. But a careful observer would
note that her laughter seldom reached her eyes. Like him, she was a sharp
observer. She’d assessed everyone in the room, particularly the men. When her
gaze had settled on his from across the room, she’d lingered ever so briefly
before moving her attention to the person standing next to him.
The small
band began to play in earnest. Considerable banter and movement was occurring
at the head table, where the groom helped his bride to her feet. Jared smiled.
The traditional first dance was about to begin.
He glanced back at the woman in yellow. Why hadn’t
she sat at the head table along with the wedding party and the groom’s parents?
He liked a woman who did things her way—to a point. He welcomed a challenge of
most any kind. He had little doubt the woman in yellow would be a challenge.
No one had bothered to introduce him to the mother
of the bride. He’d made a point to find out what he could about her. Kitty
Paige lived in Chicago Chicago
He smiled to himself. Well, most anyone. Jared
combed his narrow mustache with his fingers and pushed away from the wall. The
dance floor was already getting crowded.
Where can we find your website?
Readers can find me at the following links:
Website: http://www.adrianakraft.com/
Twitter http://twitter.com/AdrianaKraft
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