COLTON BY BLOOD by Melissa Cutler

Dear Readers,

I'm thrilled to welcome today's guest author, Melissa Cutler.  I first discovered her books a few months ago, and have been tearing through them ever since.  Her characters are real and appealing, and the chemistry between the hero and heroine is undeniable.

I was supposed to post this interview last week, but lost track of time due to traveling.  I'm sorry to have made you all wait!  Without further ado, let's get to it!

COLTON BY BLOOD by Melissa Cutler

Available now!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/XvLzns

B&N: http://bit.ly/13LhWlR

Audible Audio Books: http://bit.ly/19n0c2R

iTunes: http://bit.ly/17IWqNo

Rising romantic suspense star Melissa Cutler reveals more secrets from the Coltons of Wyoming… An unsolved murder haunts those who live and work at Dead River Ranch. When called to care for the ailing Colton patriarch, Dr. Levi Colton must face the father who never claimed him. He's not looking for distraction, but he finds it in Kate McCord, the irresistible pastry chef. Beneath her sweet smile are scars from her own tragedy—and a determination for justice.

As a wildfire forces them together with an unknown killer, Levi and Kate must confront an attraction that flares hotter than flames. They edge closer to the truth, discovering that the secret that links their pasts could lead them straight into the killer's trap.

Want to read a sample?  Melissa has Chapter 1 of COLTON BY BLOOD on her website at http://www.melissacutler.net/ColtonbyBlood

Meet Melissa Cutler!

Melissa Cutler knows she has the best job in the world, dividing her time between her dual passions for writing sexy contemporary romances and edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense for Harlequin, Penguin, and Kensington Books. She was struck at an early age by an unrelenting travel bug and is probably planning her next vacation as you read this. When she's not globetrotting, she's enjoying Southern California's flip-flop wearing weather and wrangling two rambunctious kids.

Melissa's Interview

Lara: What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?

Melissa: When I finish the last line of the last scene, I almost always pull a Joan Wilder (from Romancing the Stone). I weep and feed my cats and drink wine. Stereotypical, right? But it’s so utterly cathartic!

After that, I email my tight-knit group of writer friends and my husband to celebrate the news with them. On the night I finish a book, I never cook. My husband and I take the kids out and celebrate at our favorite Irish pub.

Lara: If you couldn’t be a writer anymore, what profession would you take up?

Melissa: If I couldn’t be a writer anymore, I’d fall back on the profession I was working toward when I realized I was meant to be a writer: a sociolinguistics researcher (I wanted to be the next Deborah Tannen. If you get a chance, check out her books on Amazon. Her research into how people talk to each other is incredible). In college, I fell in love with linguistics, which is the study of language as a science. I earned a minor in linguistics and had every intention of going to graduate school, then becoming a researcher/professor. Sociolinguistics studies language-based interactions between people, a.k.a., dialogue. I could spend hours listening to and analyzing people’s conversations! Maybe that’s why, as a writer, I love writing dialogue so much…

Lara: What’s your favorite fairy tale?

Melissa: Does “The Tale of the Three Brothers” from The Tales of Beadle the Bard (in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) count? [Lara: Of course!] That would be my favorite by far. I loved it in the book, and I loved the artistry involved in the animated telling of it during the movie.

Lara: What inspires you daily?

Melissa: My readers. I have the most amazing readers! Every day, I look forward to chatting with them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/MelissaCutlerBooks) and Twitter (@m_cutler), and I get lots of reader emails (to melissa@melissacutler.net), which I cherish. Knowing that they’re waiting for my next story of heroism and romance keeps my fingers flying on the keyboard.

Lara: Which of your characters would you most/least like to invite to dinner, and why?

Melissa: I’d love to have a dinner party with Kate and Levi from COLTON BY BLOOD over for dinner…and I’d ask Kate—who’s a pastry chef—to bring dessert. I think Kate would get along great with Amy from THE TROUBLE WITH COWBOYS because she’s a chef. Her man, Kellan, would probably get along marvelously with Levi because they’re both cowboys at heart. That would be an amazing dinner party!

Lara: What would you say is your most interesting quirk?

Melissa: Perhaps my fear of dolls. You know the kind, right? The creepy ones with realistic faces and glassy eyes that seem to follow you around a room. Those and ventriloquist dummies and marionettes and monkeys that play cymbals and…*shudder* Okay, I’ve officially spooked myself now. [Lara: Me too!]

Lara: Moving on to less creepy topics... What one thing about your hero drives his heroine crazy? And what one thing about your heroine drives her hero nuts?

Melissa: One of my favorite clashes that Levi and Kate in COLTON BY BLOOD have is that Levi believes he can control his future and his environment while Kate believes control, in any real sense, is just an illusion. This clash of philosophies leads to an intense—and very sexy—confrontation one morning in the pantry… [Lara: Ooh!]

Lara's gotta ask: What is your biggest vice?

Melissa's gotta answer: My biggest vice is not getting enough sleep. I really hate sleeping. I know it’s not healthy to survive on four or five hours of sleep, but I can’t help it. Sleep is so boring and such a waste of time. I have a friend who calls me a resentful sleeper, and she’s absolutely right. I try to make myself get five or six hours of sleep most nights, but I never sleep in, even on vacation, and I rarely go to bed before midnight.

Want to know more about Melissa?  Here's where you can find her!

Contact: melissa@melissacutler.net

Website: http://www.melissacutler.net

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MelissaCutlerBooks

Twitter: @m_cutler

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/13Sn6gC

What's next?

Up next for me is COWBOY JUSTICE this October. It features a small town sheriff and a cowgirl who lands in a heap of trouble when she shoots trespassers on her ranch. Learn more about COWBOY JUSTICE from its book page on my website: http://bit.ly/YEOcmO

What about previous releases?

I’m super proud of my release that came out in June: TEMPTED INTO DANGER. It features a black ops soldier with a bad attitude and a heroine who’s a math whiz. Learn more about TEMPTED INTO DANGER from its book page my website: http://bit.ly/YRb4Lx [Lara: I really enjoyed this one!]

Have a question for the readers?

I can’t wait to chat with GLIAS readers! Here’s my question: Kate, the heroine in my latest book, COLTON BY BLOOD, is a pastry chef. If you were inviting Kate to a potluck dinner party, which dessert would you ask her to bring?

Lara: Thanks again for stopping by, Melissa!