Author Interview & Giveaway with Lisa Maliga

Please help me welcome author Lisa Maliga, author of Out of the Blue to A Buckeye Girl Reads!! She's here today to talk about her romance, Out of the Blue! 

Sylvia Gardner is a naïve cashier who lives with her mother in Richport, Illinois. Upset with being dumped by her first boyfriend; she later falls in love with an English actor after watching him on a TV show. For two years she researches Alexander Thorpe's life and career, saving her money to travel to his Cotswolds village, intent on meeting him. Staying in the village's only hotel, she gets room and board in exchange for working at the Windrush Arms Hotel. Complications ensue when the drunken hotelier, Harry Livingstone, takes a fancy to Sylvia. As in her fantasies, Sylvia and Alexander get together—but with unexpected results.

  
Can you describe the book in 160 characters or less?

A love story between two star-crossed lovers who couldn't follow the stars.

How did you come up with the idea & title for Out Of The Blue?

The idea was based on my travels around England. The village where I stayed had a hotel/pub/restaurant and staff occupied two of the six rooms. One of the staff members was an Italian woman who was there to improve her English.  There was a “television personality” who had once upon a time acted in some British “telly” shows. I'd never heard of him but the way he was treated by the locals clued me in that he was important. Strangely, the Italian woman knew about him—guess she saw his shows in Italy or something, and she was really interested in the actor. 

 

This book went through numerous titles but when I was rewriting the scene when she turns on the TV and sees him, it struck me that it was entirely out of the blue. Sylvia wasn’t expecting to find the man of her dreams on PBS. She only turned on that channel at that time because she was bored and wanted to watch something.

What was the hardest scene to write? 

 The last scene. Because I also write horror books, I almost resorted to killing off the main characters. That wouldn’t have been very nice to my characters, so I refrained.

What is the character trait you like best in Sylvia? 

  

Her naiveté. You don't frequently see that in contemporary romance or even mainstream fiction. I'm excluding the YA category, of course, as I don't write in that genre.

 
Did you have to do a lot of research for the book? If so, what was the most interesting thing you discovered?

 

Yes, not just online and in books, but watching films and making good use of the time I spent in England. I love doing the research part before writing my first draft. When I was in the U.K., I hung out in pubs. I learned that there was this innate tolerance for people who drank a lot—well, it was good for business. They weren’t discouraged from drinking and driving except in the most severe cases. One man pretended to be sloshed so he could get a free room in the hotel. Another man was so looped he just sat at the bar and agreed with everything I said. I tested out my theory by telling him I was related to Elvis Presley and he believed me!

Do you have a favorite scene from the book, if so what is it?

The library scene where Sylvia sees what her future could be. As I wrote, “Of all the painful sights she witnessed that Monday afternoon; Glenda's thirty-seventh birthday party loomed like a horror movie. She was more terrifying than Jason of the Friday the 13th horror movie. He tormented his victims for only a few moments; Glenda's distress had been inflicted upon herself for almost two decades.”

Who was the hardest character to write?

Alexander because I had to do so much research to get into his head.  I only took a few pictures while I was there and while I met people, I didn’t tape record them or take extensive notes.  I met a few Englishmen so I was able to get a feel for the accent and that helped me a lot.

 
Who was the easiest character to write?

The mother as she was so different and she’s not a main character, but she is an important character as she gives Sylvia some motivation.

Thank you so much Lisa for stopping by!

 Buy Links:

Buy the Amazon Kindle version: Out of the Blue
Buy the Amazon UK Kindle version: Out of the Blue
Buy the Barnes & Noble Nook version: Out of the Blue
Buy the Barnes & Noble Nook UK version: Out of the Blue
Buy the Kobo version: Out of the Blue
Buy the Smashwords version: Out of the Blue

Here is the giveaway: One winner will receive an ebook copy of Out Of The Blue, and another will receive an ebook copy of Out Of The Blue and a choice of one of the following books in ebook format:

Fiction: 

An Authors Nightmare 

Hollywood Office Temp
I WANT YOU: Seduction Emails from a Narcissis
Love Me, Need Me: A Narcissist's Tale
North of Sunset
Notes from Nadir
Satan's Casting Call
South of Sunset
The Wilkes House Haunting

Nonfiction:

12 Easy Melt and Pour Soap Recipes
Monoi de Tahiti: Spa in a Bottle
Nuts About Shea Butter
Squirrels in the Hood

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Author Bio:

Lisa Maliga has been writing ever since she learned how to put crayon to paper back in kindergarten. Since then, she has learned to type and uses a laptop, citing it as way more convenient. A fan of taking digital photos, you will find some of them on her website and in her nonfiction books. The masthead is a shot of the Pacific Ocean taken at sundown. Variations of this photo are seen on the covers of North of Sunset and her short story collection, South of Sunset. As an avid squirrel-watcher, all photos in Squirrels in the Hood were taken by the author.

 

Other stops on the tour: 

November 5 Cocktails and Books Excerpt
November 6 My Devotional Thoughts Excerpt
November 7 Hanging With Bells Guest Post
November 8 A Buckeye Girl Reads Author Interview 
November 9 A Buckeye Girl Reads Guest Post 
November 10 My Devotional Thoughts - Review
November 11 Cuzin Logic  Guest Post
November  12 So Little Time Review
November 13 My Cozie Corner - Review
November 14 Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer Excerpt
November 15 Passion For Pages  Review/Author Interview
 November 16 Books, Etc. Review
November 19 Amys Booket List Guest Post