4/05/2011

Maisey Yates

My love of the romance genre started when I was pregnant with my second son. Not long after I picked up my first romance, I picked up my first Presents. As a reader, I was hooked. As a very non-serious writer harboring secret (and silly, considering I didn't do a lot of writing) dreams of publication, I was inspired.

Soon after, Harlequin announced a contest for Presents, which I entered. And didn't win. But I did find the courage to submit through normal channels. And after several revision letter, I sold my first novel, His Virgin Acquisition. Just 29 days before giving birth to my daughter. (that makes three!)

Life a circus of babies and books, and I'm very lucky to have my handsome, diaper-changing, song-writing husband along for the ride, loving me even though I'm a crazy writer type.

My current release for Harlequin Presents An Accidental Birthright, is my second book and I'm very excited to see it on the shelves! 

An Accidental Birthright

An IVF clinic mix-up means eternally single Alison Whitman is now carrying the child—no, the royal heir—of Maximo Rossi, Prince of Turan!

Maximo had given up on the hope of fatherhood a long time ago—until this surprise second chance. Now, the dynamic ruler will seize this opportunity with both hands. However, tradition is high on the prince's agenda and he'll never stand for an heir born out of wedlock….

Alison is about to find out that royal marriage is a command, not a choice!


Read an excerpt here.

CAT:  What was the first story you remember writing?
MAISEY:  I remember it clearly. We had learned to use quotation marks in school. So we could do dialogue. And write REAL stores. I was completely thrilled. It was a bout a black widow that ate a scorpion. (I didn't start out in romance)

CAT:  What’s your favorite fairy tale?
MAISEY:  I love Beauty and the Beast (yes, the Disney version.) Love. It. Alpha hero, courageous heroine, singing candelabra. It's a classic.

CAT:  Who’s your favorite villain?
MAISEY:  Gaston, of course. Because he's the real beast, isn't he? More than just being handsome, he seems almost more goonish than evil, until he's pushed and you see just how dark and ugly he is beneath the surface. (good characterization, Disney!)

CAT:  How often to you get lost in a story?
MAISEY:  Daily! Either reading or writing. Sometimes I don't get as much reading in as I'd like, (I binge between books) but there's always a story in my head. And, ask my husband, who has found stray peanut butter jar lids in the silverware drawer)

CAT:  What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing?
MAISEY:  So many. Just being able to call myself a writer has been a childhood fantasy, really it has. Nothing is more mystical or tantalizing to a child who loves books than thinking about all that goes into writing one. Being involved in that process is a dream come true. (Plus, Orlando! I met Cat there! And this year...NYC!)

CAT:  What is something that not a lot of people know about you but you WISH more people COULD know?
MAISEY:  My writing background is firmly based in detective noir spoofs (comedic) featuring friends and family, also, comics drawn on napkins. Even though I don't technically write comedies, I do still like to add a little bit of humor to my books. It adds flavor.

CAT:  Do you read reviews of your books? If so, do you pay any attention to them, or let them influence your writing?
MAISEY:  I do read them. Good reviews can make my day, bad reviews...come with a range of reactions. They can hurt, or I can just as easily laugh them off, all dependent on how I'm feeling. But no, I don't let them really influence my writing. Because as valid as the opinion might be, it's one opinion. My editor pushes me until we're both happy with a book, and after that, there isn't much more I can do. (This does not mean I don't have the occasional cookie binge post bad review read.)

CAT:  Tea or Coffee? And how do you take it?
MAISEY:  Coffee. All the time. (okay, with cream and sugar.) Or, if I'm at Starbucks, my drink of choice is a grande, three pump, vanilla with whip latte. (If you're looking for me at RWA, look for the lost looking yokel holding a coffee cup!)

CAT:  What does it mean to love someone?
MAISEY:  That's a really good question. I try to bring that answer to life in each of my books. The emphasis is on different things for each couple, depending on their needs, but ultimately, it comes from this: Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.

CAT:  What turns you off like nothing else?
MAISEY:  Overly florid euphemisms. Gah. (can I say manroot on this blog?)

CAT’S GOTTA ASK:  If you were a T-shirt, what color would you be?

MAISEY’S GOTTA ANSWER:  I would be black. And I would say something random and obscure like 'I love blueberry pancakes'.

Question for fans:  Women know, it's not really clothes or money that make the man. (Though those things might enhance!) So what does make a hero sexy?

Maisey is offering a copy of her May release (not yet in stores) The Inherited Bride to one of today's commenters.

Find her at:  www.maiseyyates.com, follow her on twitter, @maiseyyates and Facebook

22 comments:

  1. Hi Maisey! Welcome to GLIAS :)

    Wow, after reading that excerpt, I am totally hooked! I'm going to have to buy an e-reader soon, so I can totally impulse buy more books!!! (Yes, that sound you hear is my pocketbook screaming...)

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  2. Hi Heather! Thanks for the welcome!! (it's looking very nice in here...lovely decor! ;) )

    Thank you so much!! You do need an ereader! Love mine. I use it for wicked-bad impulse buys ALL THE TIME. I still buy paperbacks too. Just whichever gets to be more impulse-y. :P

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  3. Hello Maisey,

    Wow! You write some hot heros! I loved the excert of AN ACCIDENTAL BIRTHRIGHT and would love to read this book of yours!

    A man is a hero, when he is a sensitive, caring guy loving all your imperfections!

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  4. I like a hero to be strong, determined, caring, and protective.
    Your books sound really good and I would love to read them.

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  5. Hi Maisey! Thanks for joining us. You are my role model for being productive. Every time I think about not writing, I ask myself if that's how Maisey sold...was it 6 books in your first year? You are a rockstar. And doing it with three little kids underfoot. I bow to your awesomeness.

    Congrats for dominating the top of the Border's Bestseller list! Not just productive, but incredibly talented as well!!

    I love your question about heroes and sexiness. As much as I love a rockin' set of abs and a great pair of dimples, I need a guy who's smart and has a dry sense of humor.

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  7. The book sounds so good and I haven't bought this month's Presents books yet - need to do that right away.

    What makes a hero sexy (besides nice abs?) I think kindness does. A man strong enough to help others in need - not just with money - but actually getting in there and helping with his own two hands.
    April 5, 2011 9:03 AM

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  8. Hello Maisey!

    I think confidence makes a man sexy. Nice hands don't hurt either. Most of all I want him to be protective of his loved ones.

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  9. Hi Anne!! Nice to see you here.

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  10. Hi all, sorry, am late this morning. :)

    Nas, yes! A man who loves you as you are, not in spite of any flaws. (not that we have any!)

    June, I agree. Love a protector hero. :)

    Cat...I missed the sixth being within a year by a few weeks! LOL. I give much credit to my real life hero, who is sexy, and does dishes!!

    Anne, I agree. I think kindness is amazingly sexy.

    Stacie, you have to lovee confidence! But I confess my brain stalled out on hands and I'm currently fantasizing about big, strong hands...hmm...One thing I love about the cover for AAB, those gorgeous hands careesing her pregnant belly!

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  11. WOW - this book sounds great! Can't wait to read it!

    I think what makes a hero sexy is how much he cares about and loves his heroine. *sigh*

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  12. Susan, thank you! And oh yes...*sigh* indeed.

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  13. Welcome to GLIAS Maisey. I'm normally a romantic suspense gal, but your blurb totally hooked me. I'm dieing to know what the mix-up was. Glad to ahve you here today.

    ??? What makes a hero sexy ??? Hmm...a glitch only the heroine can fix. For some reason having something "broken" is very attractive.

    ~~Angi

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  14. Angi, glad I'm enticing you to the dark side. ;) Oh, I have to say, I love a 'broken' hero. And I love even more the moment when the heroine can heal him with her love. Or the other way around. I think that HEA is so much more satisfying when the road to redemption has been steep and tough! (I am a mean writer!)

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  15. Hi Maisey! Hi Cat! I love a blog that gives me juicy blackmail stuff. *G* Really, though- we should have coffee. I like mine with Kahlua. Or vanilla creamer.

    Is The Inherited Bride the one I read? HVA in US format? Or is that the next one? Either way I've had it reserved for three weeks on Amazon for my Kindle to soak in upon release! I'm off to get now. Though I wouldn't mind a paper copy too.

    Hero: Someone who can admit they're wrong...without the guilt trip.

    CalisaML cmselfridge@gmail.com

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  16. Ready to be confused, Calisa? An Accidental Birthright is A Mistake A Prince and A Pregnancy, in US. The Inherited Bride is just Inherited Bride, same with HVA. Same titles! Only the one has been changed so far. :)

    Coffee sounds great to me!

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  17. Hello, Maisey: I was drinking my Starbucks when you asked if you can say manroot on GLIAS. Well ordinarily you could, but now that I'm wearing my coffee no :) How funny.

    Gosh, what makes a man sexy. Sometimes for me it's the way my husband looks at me. As if sending me a silent message across the room. Sounds silly, but I like that we've been together so long we can read each others minds.

    Thanks for joining us today!

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  18. Donnell, I apologize for the coffee incident. Best I left 'log of love' out of the equation I suppose. :) And thank you for having me!!

    I love what you said about your hubby. How sweet!

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  19. Mean? or great? LOL
    Chase 'em up a tree, let it flood, then throw rocks !!

    :-)
    ~~Angi

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  20. Great interview, Maisey! As for what makes a man sexy....hhhhmmm. A broken man who is gentle with a puppy or a kitten or a toddler.

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  21. Okay ... log of love ??? Seriously Who says that, and what editor left it in :)....So grateful I didn't have anything to drink :) What a fun day! Thanks for joining us ;)

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  22. Angi, yes, let's call it greatness!

    Alexa, thank you! And oh...yes...*sigh*

    Donnell, I heard it from an author who heard from an editor she saw it in a slush submission. So it was real, but no editor let it pass. :)

    Thanks for having me!

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