Interview with Nina Bocci & Alice Clayton #RomanCrazy + Giveaway



The Way I Used to Be
Roman Crazy
The Broads Abroad #1
Author: Nina Bocci & Alice Clayton
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: September 13th 2016
Review Source: Gallery Books

Avery Bardot steps off the plane in Rome, looking for a fresh start. She’s left behind a soon-to-be ex-husband in Boston and plans to spend the summer with her best friend Daisy, licking her wounds—and perhaps a gelato or two. But when her American-expat friend throws her a welcome party on her first night, Avery’s thrown for a loop when she sees a man she never thought she’d see again: Italian architect Marcello Bianchi.

Marcello was the man—the one who got away. And now her past is colliding with her present, a present where she should be mourning the loss of her marriage and—hey, that fettuccine is delicious! And so is Marcello…

Slipping easily into the good life of summertime in Rome, Avery spends her days exploring a city that makes art historians swoon, and her nights swooning over her unexpected what was old is new again romance. It’s heady, it’s fevered, it’s wanton, and it’s crazy. But could this really be her new life? Or is it just a temporary reprieve before returning to the land of twin-set cardigans and crustless sandwiches?

A celebration of great friendship, passionate romance, and wonderful food, Roman Crazy is a lighthearted story of second chances and living life to the fullest
Interview

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and a unique or quirky habit of yours.
Nina: I listen to a weather app while I’m writing. Mostly thunderstorms which sounds weird but it’s sort of zen and it prevents me from singing along while typing (which happened before I found the app : )
Alice: I either need total silence or music with no lyrics. Nina actually told me about the Harry Potter soundtrack station on Pandora, it’s all movie film scores which is pretty good to write to and NO SINGING. But occasionally, especially when I’m writing a sex scene, I go back to listening to Prodigy. Firestarter is great sex scene music.

At what point did you start writing fanfic? 
Nina: Oh, boy. I would say the first time was probably junior high school and Sweet Valley High books. The most extensive fandom participation before Twilight was Harry Potter. I was/am a HUGE Snermione fan. Please don’t judge me. Twilight though is the fandom I’m most grateful for because I made so many lifelong friends there.
Alice: I started writing fanfic sometime around 2008, just before the first Twilight movie came out. It’s been the only fandom I’ve been involved with. I loved it.

Did you do any writing before hand?
Nina: I’ve always written something but usually really bad poetry for school competitions. Honestly, it’s abysmal. A ton of short stories, also for contests. I’ve won a few as well but that was as a kid.
Alice: Nope, the first piece of fiction I ever wrote was Twilight fanfiction, what ended up becoming The Unidentified Redhead. In fact the only things I’ve ever written have ended up being published. I completely backed into this career in the most wonderful way.

How was the transition from fanfic to published books?
Nina: I detoured from writing fic to publishing myself through the path of publicity, which I love dearly. Being on the other side of things has been a test to my patience and very likely a test to Gallery our lovely publisher. I have a tendency of inserting myself into everything because I can’t shut the PR side of my brain off! Sorry, Kristin, Diana and Liz! 
Alice: When it happened, it was both amazing and awful. It’s easy to forget but at the time there was an enormous backlash from within the online writing community about publishing fan fiction. Once Fifty Shades of Grey came out, and then Wallbanger and Beautiful Bastard it just got worse. While readers were discovering these books and loving the characters and storytelling and entire community of fan fiction readers were making it their life’s work to troll the internet stirring the pot and doing everything they could to tear us down. Publishing Wallbanger is the single best decision I’ve ever made in my adult life, and I don’t regret it for a second. But that early success and the memory of it definitely has a strange underbelly when I think back on it.

What inspired you both to write Roman Crazy? How did you come up with the title?
Nina: I had just come back from Italy when a friend told me about her divorce/marriage explosion. It was just a completely awful situation and no amount of kind words or gestures seemed to be helping. I was on the phone with Alice and really just joked about my friend needing a trip to Italy to have a torrid affair with a gorgeous Italian as a way to get over it. Alice said, why just Italy, why not all of Europe. And thus, Broads Abroad was born.
Alice: There’s a fascination I think, especially for American women, about Europe. Specifially the men. Specifically hot men. Specifically hot men with gorgeous sounding accents. And as we get a bit older and a bit nostalgic for earlier crazier days, there’s something great about the idea of having an escape in Italy, or France, or wherever. Just throwing a leg around whatever you want in Europe, an ocean away from your real life. There are so many opportunities for adventure, for romance, that it just seemed to be begging for a romance series.

What are 3 things you must have while writing?
Nina: Thunderstorm app, hot tea and my dog warming my feet
Alice: Coffee, a quiet house or a crowded Panera.

What is your favorite books/authors? Any recommendations? 
Nina: That’s like picking a favorite child. I would say check my Goodreads. I do fill that out pretty frequently. I’m lucky enough to work with a ton of amazingly talented friends and authors.
Alice: I always say this, my all time favorite book is The Stand by Stephen King. I reread it every summer. Although this summer I’m behind on his last few books so I finally just finished 11/22/63 (incredible) and am about halfway through Revival (trippy). Also on my auto buy list is anything by Tiffany Reisz (The Bourbon Thief is wonderful) and Ruthie Knox (About Last Night is the best contemporary romance I’ve ever read.) 

There are many books out there, is there one that you said to yourself "Man I wish I had written that!"
Nina: Harry Potter  
Alice: Harry Potter. And Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs


Nina Bocci is a novelist, publicist, eternal optimist, unabashed lipgloss enthusiast, constant apologist, and a hopeless romanticist. She has too many college degrees that she’s not using, and a Lego addiction that she blames on her son.






ALICE CLAYTON worked in the cosmetics industry for over a decade before picking up a pen (read laptop).

She enjoys gardening but not weeding, baking but not cleaning up, and finally convinced her long-time boyfriend to marry her.

Now, about that Bernese Mountain dog



GIVEAWAY
The lovely Nina & Alice have shared a sweet giveaway! One lucky reader of this site will have the chance to win a $25 gift card to BN and a chance to win an ARC of Roman Crazy! Just enter below for your chance to win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

1 comment:

  1. Great interview! I think a lot of authors say they wish that they'd written Harry Potter. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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