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Noble Romance has a fantastic program to get new authors on the market and their books in your hands. Ingrid Michaels is one of the lucky few to be chosen so far. Please welcome her warmly and answer the question at the end of the blog to win her brand new book, Diagnosis, Love!

Please introduce yourself and tell us what has your journey to getting published been like?

Thanks for the warm welcome, Margie. Where to start? I’m a Canadian romance/erotica writer. I’ve been writing novel-length romances for a few years now. They're still in various stages of being edited. Because that’s what writing is about isn’t it? Editing. I write shorter romance/erotica between the longer pieces. I find it so refreshing to sit down and actually read something through in one day, unlike a novel that takes weeks to re-read and edit. My journey to being published has been a long and winding one, but I’ve learned so much about art and craft along the way! It’s easy to get discouraged when you work alone and the most common feedback you get is “thanks for letting me read your work, but it’s not for me”, but when each piece of valid criticism makes you a better writer, you have to be thankful for the chance to grow. I have to give a nod of recognition to Kelly Mortimer from the Mortimer Literary Agency. She’s an amazing literary agent who only signs unpublished authors, and those writers who haven’t been published in three years. Years ago, when I was just starting out, no agent would read my book, and I sent her a manuscript. She turned it down. (Laughs.) BUT, she had such positive, constructive comments, which were so spot on, that I decided to re-write the five novels I thought were finished at the time. She’s just one of the many amazing, kind-hearted ladies I’ve met on this road.

Speaking of which, I'd also like to acknowledge Jill Noble and the amazing staff at Noble Romance Publishing for accepting and publishing Diagnosis, Love. I'm part of the Hot New Talent Program, which means, among other things, that my novella is available at a reduced price for readers who might be wary of spending money on an unrecognized author. And while I'm thanking talented people, I have to thank Janine Southard, an amazing editor for Noble Romance Publishing. I don’t know why she does what she does, but I'm glad she does it!

Tell us a little about your hero/heroine and how you created these characters?

Gosh, where did Melanie and Jakob come from? (Laughs.) I have such a poor memory, I sometimes don’t even recognize my own words, much less remember the inspiration for writing them. Let's see… I regularly donate blood (O+, universal donor), and I’m always curious about everything so I’m always asking questions. I think that’s when the idea to write a story featuring a female phlebotomist first struck me, as I was giving blood. From there, I needed a doctor, of course, because what goes better with a pint of blood than a TDHD (a Tall, Dark and Handsome Doctor)? I have Hungarian blood in me, so Dr. Jakob Farkas just had to be Hungarian! I threw in a couple of twists along with my life-long interest in the visual arts (those mysterious cave paintings in Lascaux, France) and before I knew it, Diagnosis, Love was born.

What was the most fun/rewarding part of writing Diagnosis, Love?

The research, believe it or not. I’m not a fan of doing a lot of research. That’s why they call it fiction, right? (Laughs) But I learned so many interesting facts about hematology, I had to put a few in the story. Also, I was thrilled with how the whole plot came together. During the early drafts I watched a Nova episode on the mystical aspects of the Lascaux caves, and how the rising sun only enters some caves during the Spring Equinox. Well, there was the perfect setting to my story. I just had to figure out how to get Melanie and Jakob from their town to France!

When you're not writing, what do you enjoy doing?

I write every single day of the year but I do make time for some of my other passions. Spending time with my significant other (wink, wink), cycling (I’m an avid cyclist and I'm quite proud of the fact I met a personal goal last year to bike over 2200 kilometers, 1300 miles), I do some light hiking – no rock climbing! – and yoga. I also tend a couple of rose bushes around the house, although I really don’t have a green thumb. And I LOVE the hummingbird battles at the feeder while I write! I'm a fan of The Big Bang Theory, Cougar Town, Modern Family and Survivor. And I love to read.

Is there anything else you want to share?

I truly hope readers will enjoy Diagnosis, Love. It’s one of my favorite stories. I’d also like to give away one free copy. I will randomly choose a winner among the correct answers to a question based on the excerpt. And for those who do not win a free copy, Diagnosis, Love is available at www.nobleromance.com.

And now let's find out about her fabulous new book, Diagnosis, Love:

Sassy Melanie Marr is a phlebotomist who has terminal leukemia. The good news is that her TDHD (Tall, Dark and Handsome Doctor), has a radical cure. As a vampire, Dr. Jakob Farkas has the ability to heal her. But there’s one small hitch, tired of his lonely existence, Farkas has not fed in over 100 years and needs to be brought back to health before he can help Melanie, with whom he has fallen in love.

Although Melanie doesn’t believe the crazy doctor’s story, she doesn’t have much else going on at the moment besides dying. So she leaves her boring life behind in order to join Farkas on his travels around the world in search of a mystical cure.

As they await the arrival of the Spring Equinox in the legendary caves in Lascaux France, Melanie wonders if she can overcome the greatest obstacle to her cure: her mortality.

Excerpt from Diagnosis, Love

 

Shortly after we arrived in Buenos Aires, Jakob's enemies revealed themselves. Crucifixes nailed to our hotel room doors. Bibles left in places we were sure to pass. It all seemed innocent enough, unless you knew Jakob was a vampire. Cloaked figures in flowing robes trailed after us in dark alleys, hiding in shadows and pursuing us from one country to the next. Countless times, Jakob raced into our room in the middle of the night, covered in blood, only to announce we had to leave immediately.

I was scared shitless more often than not. One night Jakob flew into our hotel room and dragged a squirming man out of our closet. We'd barely arrived, but Jakob had smelled him immediately. With a hard shake, he made the man drop a wooden stake and a hammer.

Then he attacked.

Fleshy bits flew everywhere, and Closet Man was no more! Afterwards, we were both covered in sticky blood. It took hours to clean up the room, but the remains fit nicely in a small kitchen garbage bag.

I had roses everywhere we stayed. I would wake up, and there they would be. Dozens of them, placed around the room, on top of dressers, in our bed, in vases. All dethorned, most of them a luscious red, the deep color of healthy blood.

I fell in love with Jakob over room service steaks and five-star hotels. Most of the time, I could deal with the homesickness that snuck up on me. Okay, I did leave him once, while we were in Cairo. He'd stayed back at the hotel, out of the sun, while I visited the ancient city. One step led to another, and, the next thing I knew I'd bought a ticket for a steamer headed to Halifax, Nova Scotia. From there, I figured I could make my way back home. But the ship was delayed, and Jakob found me shortly after sunset, as I was readying to board the boat. He claimed to have used his sense of smell to follow my 'beautiful scent' through the city.

Now, if that's not love . . . .

You could win a copy of Ingrid's hot new book, Diagnosis, Love when you answer the following question. Please include your email!

 In what city is Melanie when she decides to leave Jakob?

 Here's how to keep up with Ingrid Michaels:

Ingrid Michaels' blog

Ingrid on Twitter

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ingrid-Michaels/171530772904736

I wish you great success with your book, Ingrid, and please come back to Romance With SASS soon!

Margie