The Dimple Strikes Back has got more dimples, more trouble, and more hot sex! What more could you want? Well, if it came with a bucket of fried chicken, that would be better... In the first book of my Samantha Lytton series, THE DIMPLE OF DOOM, Samantha, our heroine, met the art thief of her dreams and escaped the bad guys hunting them down. In this second book, she and her criminal Sam try to figure out how the heck you make a relationship work between a fledgling movie star and a guy on the run. I explore what it means to be noble, or selfish, or just how to take care of oneself in semi-terrible circumstances. Meanwhile, new nefarious persons spring into action to ruin Samantha's first film shoot overseas (in London!), and a super-hot co-star wants an extra-special close-up, if you know what I mean. I mean sex.
The Dimple Strikes Back
This is book two in the Samantha Lytton series so what can you tell us about the first?
Samantha begins my series as a depressed secretary/wannabe actress who has more hot dates with Pizza Rolls than male persons. She meets a sexy accountant named Sam at her terrible job at the Steam on a Stick company. She whisks him away to her boss' secret art room during the office Christmas party and they make out. Nice, huh? Yeah, it's all fun and groping until a man with a gun shows up inside her apartment in the dead of night. Turns out, the accountant is an art thief, and he brings with him a helluva lot more trouble than just the fact that they have the same name. In the end, Samantha fights for and achieves a fresh direction for her life, and maybe gets a criminal boyfriend who's very good at undercover nookie.
Please tell us a bit about the character of Samantha?
She's a loser. At least at the beginning of book one. She works a day job she detests, has dreams that refuse to bloom no matter how hard she works, and can't meet a decent man in Los Angeles. But does that make her a "loser"? I think it makes her human, but she thinks of herself as a failure, and when you repeat that enough to yourself, you start to believe it. By embracing (in every sense) this crazy art thief, she shakes the doldrums out of her life and decides to really fight for herself again. My heroine saves herself, and I'm proud of that. I tend to write about losers a lot, because I think that as long as you're working, and trying, and pushing through the hard times that you can never be a loser. It's not the end result that makes a person successful, but the never giving up on yourself.
You are a big daydreamer so does this ever contribute to your writing?
Yes! I conceive of a lot of my favourite snippets of dialogue and scenes when my mind is wandering. I'll get a dreamy, faraway look and put my head on my hand to ponder this new, wonderful idea of mine. Then my husband will grumble, "Are you listening to me?" and I'll snap to attention and try to bluff my way out of it. Doesn't usually work. Never marry a smart dude, kids -- they'll learn all your tricks.
What advice can you give to an aspiring writer?
Honour your voice above all things. Above trends, above writing "rules," above opinions. Technique and grammar can (and should be!) improved, but you're the only one who writes like you do, and staying true to your heart will make a sparkling, special book in a way that nothing else can. Not everyone will love you, but that's okay - you only need one yes. Find what you really want to say, write in your true way, and you'll be on the right track. And throw in some sex - sex sells.
What is next for you?
I've got several projects in the hopper - a paranormal rom-com about were-bunnies, vampires, zombies (basically everything - it's a kitchen-sink kind of paranormal universe), and a couple of humour ideas I'm polishing up. And, of course, a new contemporary romance to replace my work on Samantha's story; I've just finished up book 3, the last installment in the Dimple series. Sigh. I'm gonna miss that crazy Samantha and her penchant for Cheez-Its. And cheeseburgers. And cheesecake. Hmmm...maybe what's next for me is a snack!
You can purchase The Dimple Strikes Back from Totally Bound.