Authorsday: Misha Crews

1. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I can't remember ever not wanting to be a writer. I enjoyed stories so much as a child that the idea of creating my own just seemed a natural extension of that!

2. How long have you been writing?

I wrote my first musical-comedy variety show when I was about eight, and I never looked back! I don't remember what I called this theatrical masterpiece, but I do recall that it involved a "clown" wearing roller skates with a pillow tied to his derriere (I was safety conscious, even then!) and someone getting hit in the face with a powder puff. High comedy!



3. Do you plot or do you write by the seat of your pants?
I would definitely call myself a plotter, but I don't map out the whole book before I get down to work. I like to get a general sense of the story line and then start writing. I will usually plot and write, plot and write.



4. What drew you to the subject of HER SECRET BODYGUARD?

I’d been wanting to try writing a kind of light romantic suspense for a long time (my other two books are also romance, but they’re a bit longer and more serious). One night I was listening to an old Bob Seger song, and I thought, “This song has a great story. Somebody should make a movie out of it!” Well, I don’t make movies, but I do write books. I drew my inspiration from that, and though the book turned out very differently from where it started, I’ll always think of Hollywood Nights as the anthem for HER SECRET BODYGUARD.



5. What was the name of the first novel you wrote? Did you try to publish it?
My first novel was called HOMESONG and it was published in 2008 by Vanilla Heart Publishing. It’s a book that started out as a simple love story about childhood sweethearts who are reunited after twenty years, but it grew from there into an exploration of a small town and its secrets.



6. Tell me one thing about yourself that very few people know?
I love 1980s horror movies! I grew up in the ‘80s, and my mother would never let me watch scary movies. So of course when I was old enough to rebel, that’s all I watched! During the month of October I will usually end up watching all of the Halloween movies. It doesn’t matter how cheesy they are: I still love them!



7. Describe your book.

It’s a pretty straightforward romantic suspense: girl meets guy, guy turns out to be a thug, other guy is hired to protect girl…well, you get the picture!
Really, it’s about a young woman, Blake Sera, who finds out that Rube Jeffries, the man she’s been living with, is a dangerous criminal. The problem is, Rube is all that Blake’s got in the world, and she can’t help but care about him. At the same time she’s coming to this realization, a new man comes into her life: Caleb McKenna. Blake is kind of jaded; she thinks that Caleb is just some Iowa farm boy who’s come to Hollywood for a vacation. But Caleb is actually Blake’s secret bodyguard: he’s been hired to protect her, although he doesn’t know who or what is putting her in jeopardy.



8. What’s your favorite quote?

I admit I'm kind of a quote-aholic, so it's hard to pick, but one of my favorites is this: "I have a very simple philosophy. Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. And scratch where it itches." - Alice Lee Longworth. That seems to cover everything!



9. What three things would you want with you on a desert island?
A fully-stocked Starbucks, a fully-loaded Kindle, and a fully-charged iPod. (Hmmmm, maybe "roughing it" is not for me....)



10. What other time period besides your own would you like to experience?

Well, my second novel, STILL WATERS, is set in 1956. While I was writing it I became enamored of mid- to late-1950s art: the music, the paintings, the literature. All of it seemed to be speaking of a culture straining at the seams, ready to break out, and heralding the drastic and remarkable changes that came only a little more than a decade later. I would love to take a trip back in time and experience a little of that for myself.

STILL WATERS Blurb:

When a Special Forces veteran is hired to protect a Malibu playgirl, sparks fly faster than bullets. But will they live long enough to realize they're falling in love?


In an exciting twist on her timeless tales of heart and home, author Misha Crews sets her latest story in Los Angeles, playground of former model Blake Sera. Although she's not yet thirty, jaded Blake is sure she's seen it all. Until she discovers that the man she's been living with is up to his neck in the murky underworld of crime. When Special Forces veteran Caleb McKenna is secretly hired to protect the glamour gal, he's sure that Blake is just another pretty face whose only interests are sunning, funning and shopping till she drops. But soon he realizes that there's more to her than big blue eyes and a killer smile. Can they survive their passion? Can they survive at all?