Thursday 4 April 2013

My first fabulous guest on The Write Frequency, author Ros Baxter

I'm very excited to welcome Harper Collins Australia and Escape Publishing author, Ros Baxter, as my first guest on The Write Frequency. I'm fortunate enough to have her answering a few questions and sharing some information about her latest release, Fish Out of Water, available now from Escape Publishing.

Refresh your beverage of choice, sit back and enjoy Ros's fun interview.


Describe yourself in four words?
Busy (busy, busy, busy). Noisy (genetic). Affectionate (love a cuddle). Sleep-deprived. (Does a hyphenation count as one word?).

Do you write around anything? i.e. day job, kids…
I write around everything – four kids, a day job, a charity, and several voluntary roles.  But, as my mother, multi-tasker extraordinaire, always said:  you want something done, give it to a busy person.
Texting was invented for people like me. I have a thumb the size of a pumpkin.

Does your computer/iPad/laptop (choose one) have a name?
Sir. (In my head, it’s kind of bossy. I blame 50 Shades...)

Who would play you in a film of your life?
My daughter (when she’s a little older).  She does THE BEST impression of me.  Not particularly flattering, but accurate.  Loud.  Bossy.  But lots of cuddles.

Biggest writing-related mistake?
The first book I wrote was what I used to fondly call “kinda tangential”.  I had to learn that what works telling drunken stories to your mates doesn't necessarily translate to the page. 
For a start, you can’t scream at readers to “lissenup” if they’re getting bored...

Have you ever read/seen yourself as a character in a book/movie?
I think this is possibly one of those perspective things. Yes, I have definitely seen myself (dreamed myself?)as a character in a novel. Some flawed romantic heroine of course – you know: Catherine from Wuthering Heights, Anna Karenina et cetera.
My kids, however, possibly have a different perspective, depending on the day:  Mrs Dursley from Harry Potter, The Wicked Witch of the West, and various other killjoys.
My husband would probably cast a vote for some character who can’t say no and drinks too much wine.  Probably someone played by Meg Ryan (although I only wish my hair was that good).
And my friends would choose someone who frequently ends up in a muddle: Bridget Jones, Alison Scott from Knocked Up, and so on.

Are you fun to go on a holiday with?
Hell yeah!  If your idea of fun is lying in bed all day reading books in your pyjamas (oops, that’s my idea of fun)!!

If the story on the front page of the newspaper was about you, what would the headline say?
BRISBANE WOMAN FOUND DEAD STILL TEXTING.

Strangest place you’ve been writing?
I write everywhere – toilet, kitchen, kids swimming lessons, bed.  Strangest (as in, most unusual) place would probably be at my computer.

Many thanks Elise for having me.  Love the questions, and love your work!

Ros :)



















You can email Ros at rosbaxterink@gmail.com or find her at www.facebook.com/RosBaxterInk, on twitter @RosBaxter, or www.rosbaxterink.com.

Blurb:
“It’s  Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum meets Splash in a sexy, smart-talking debut about a mermaid in a desert, a city under water, and the secret that no-one is supposed to uncover.”

Fish out of Water
Dirtwater's straight-talking Deputy Sheriff has a lot on her plate: a nicotine addiction that's a serious liability for a mermaid, a solider-of-fortune ex who's hooked on her Mom's brownies, a gorgeous, naked stranger in her shower, and a mysterious dead blonde with a fish tattoo on Main Street.

Oh, and one other thing.

She's scheduled to die on her thirtieth birthday - in three weeks - unless she can 'change the course of destiny and save the world entire'. Throw in a Mom who's the local Mayor and a Dad who's been locked in the county jail for twelve years, and that's all the trouble she needs without her mermaid roots coming back to haunt her.


Rania's heading home to Aegira for a family wedding but she's starting to have a sinking feeling that's got nothing to do with hydroporting seven miles under the sea and everything to do with some weird connections that seem to be emerging between her, the dead blonde, her Mom's shady past and a ten thousand year old prophesy. Now if she can just steal a corpse, get a crazy Aegirian priest off her case, work out who the hell's trying to kill her and stop sleeping with the fishes, she might be able to unravel the prophesy, the mystery of the missing choirgirls and the secrets hidden in her Mom's past. And maybe even save her own ass while she's at it.

Fish Out of Water is available from Escape Publishing, or Amazon. Find out more at www.rosbaxterink.com

Excerpt:

          The mildewy pink curtain billowed forward and a large shape crashed to the floor, right between Missy and me, wrapped in the voluminous plastic.  Missy screamed.
My heart tapped out a tango and one hand went to my Glock without any conscious command as I tried to disentangle the curtain from the lumpy shape.
As I pulled it free, I had one of those moments.  You know the ones.  Where everything slows down and you know that for the rest of your life you’ll be able to describe it in vivid technicolor.  Like the time I turned on the tv and saw that plane crashing into the towers.
He was almost supernaturally beautiful.  And naked.  A long trickle of thick red blood ran from the side of one temple down to a graceful jaw.
And he was lying on the floor half in and half out of Missy’s teeming shower.
Had he been there, in the shower, the whole time?
“Sweet Jesus,” Missy whistled, clearly impressed as she studied the region I was studiously avoiding.  As beautiful as he was, it didn’t seem right to be copping an eyeful.
Especially when he seemed to be in pretty bad shape.
He was long and lean, dark blonde and strong like a runner.  Golden hair glistened on his wet, brown body, but he was curled like a fetus and moaning softly.  Something about the sight of him, which should have screamed “get the pervert outta here”, touched me right down inside. Right down in my belly.  And lower.  I wanted to cover him up.  I wanted to help him. And some parts of me wanted to do other things too, but I wasn’t giving them any airtime.

5 comments:

  1. Fun interview Elise and Ros. I chuckled my way through it, especially at "Sir". We can blame 50 Shades for so much!

    Fish out of Water sounds fun and quirky; I loved your excerpt, Ros. Looking forward to reading it.
    Cheers.

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    1. Thanks so much Susanne! I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for dropping in. ;)

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  2. Hi Ros and Elise! What a great post. I adored Sister Pact and this book sounds just as much fun. Great interview and all the best for Fish Out Of Water!

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    1. Oh thanks Louise, I'll have to tell Ali, she'll be stoked. Am actually wearing beautiful Sister Pact earrings right now, she just popped by and gave them to me. God bless sisters! ;)

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  3. Thanks lovely Lou!
    And hey, I still love the hell out of that tangential book!

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