Happy Release Day: Interview w/ Author Christina Crooks & Int. Giveaway of Hands On

Yesterday I posted my review on the wonderful contemporary romance, Hands On, and today I'm happy to have with me the talent behind that great read: Christina Crooks. 

Thank you so much Christina, for taking the time to stop by on your busy release day to talk with readers!

Can you first tell us how you came to be a writer? More specifically a smexy romance writer!

I've always read everything I could get my hands on. As a kid I devoured whatever reading material was in front of me, from cereal boxes to Judy Blume books to dog-eared copies of Robert Heinlein (he wrote at least one romance short story! It's called "The Menace From Earth" and it's great) and Stephen King novels to naughty romance paperbacks containing every level of heat. I read Johanna Lindsey and Sidney Sheldon and Jennifer Crusie. I read literary novels and young adult books and fetish novellas. I read handfuls of category-length romance books. I was blown away by bestsellers. It was revelatory. I adored being transported to all those different worlds, and started to wonder if I could possibly attempt that too. In my first short romance book L.A. Caveman ( http://amzn.to/9WyQmA ) I stayed close to home, writing about an office romance at a magazine company -- I knew offices and I knew romances, so I pit a macho boss against a feminist employee and let them have at each other. The next story, a longer romance novel set in the world of grassroots drag racing (Thrill of the Chase - http://amzn.to/ckIQzT ), I had to research more deeply. But Thrill's characters actually sported similar core conflicts and tensions. One of the commonalities that grip me within most of the genres I read is romantic tension -- will the protagonists act on all that yummy tension or will they continue to torture themselves and each other in riveting ways? The genre of romance seemed the obvious choice for taking a stab at writing that.

What do you think makes for a steamy, passionate romance?

The stories that have left me most satisfied contain determined yet emotionally deep heroines, and clever, patient and powerful (sometimes nearly superhumanly so) heroes. I love encountering authentic romantic tension in a passionate story whether it's steamy or not.

Recently I read and reviewed Hands On, and absolutely fell in love with the relationship development between the hero and heroine. Can you give readers an insight into what the story’s about?

Thank you! I really appreciate that. In Hands On the story's about love, and control, and personal growth. I liked exploring the kind of passion that disperses old lingering issues that cast shadows over a person’s life. Here is Hands On in twelve words: Marionette operator versus hardass business tycoon: who will ultimately pull the strings?

I love the fact that your heroine’s career is as a Puppeteer. That’s just so unique! How did the idea of the inclusion of marionette’s make their way in to the story, because they’re more than just a career tool aren’t they?

Thanks! The concept of "strings attached" and control issues are a bit of symbolism within the context of this particular story. I hadn't seen puppets used in romances before, probably because dolls and puppets can be pretty creepy! But when I encountered some people who took the art of puppetry seriously and explained its international history and the distinct flavor of its audience-performer interaction, I had to look into it further.

Was there a character that was more difficult to develop and write?

Hmmmm... I can't say there was. This book unfolded pretty easily compared to the one I'm just turning in. In Hands On, the basic plot situation setup and character personalities worked well from the get-go without requiring many changes. It's not always that way.

Because today is the release day of Hands On *throws confetti*, can you give us a sneak peek in to this fantastic new book?

Yay release day! : bounces : I'm very excited to share Hands On with you. Let me give a sneak peek of a sexy scene where Ginnie's exploring her new-found spontaneity with Harry:

The man clearly had no idea how unusual this was for her.

Ginnie shifted her body, expediting Harry’s removal of her panties. And socks. He was taking the time to remove her socks. If just the skimming of cotton over her feet made her shiver with want, what would a more direct caress do to her?

His touch promised patience. Expertise. Sensuality. The fine hairs on her body rose with anticipation.

And the thing of it was, she felt perfectly shameless sitting there on the side of his large bed, naked. She wasn’t sure if it was the near-death experience in her destroyed house, or some kind of vibe he was putting out. Or maybe both. She simply wasn’t like this.

Ginnie grinned, ran her fingers through his hair. She felt positively wanton. The nude woman who currently watched a sexy-as-hell man—a near stranger, for god’s sake—rise from his knees to unzip his jeans, bore no resemblance to the woman who played the docile role of Rick’s fiancée for so long. But Harry was no Rick.

Her breath caught. With his pants off, he especially bore no resemblance to Rick.

“Lie down,” Harry commanded, one warm hand sliding up her calf. She felt his breath against her thigh. He kissed her just above the knee, tongued her lightly.

“Oh boy.” A zing of pure lust shot through her, lodged in her stomach. Her head felt pleasantly swimmy as she decided whether or not to obey orders. She wanted to lie back. Badly.

She also wanted to touch him. To push him onto his back and jump his bones. It felt easier, better, to be in control.

“Please,” she said.

He looked at her inquiringly.

“Can I…touch you?”

He closed his eyes. Movement caught her eye as his penis bobbed once, heavily, as if in answer.

She glanced back up. “I take it that’s a yes,” she said dryly and felt her heart give a small shimmy at the sight of his tight, pained smile.

“You.” Harry pinned her with a gaze that spoke of frustration, humor and lust all at once. “You’re unbelievable. I haven’t been so—oh. Ah.”

She cupped him with one hand, grasped and released with the other. “Impressive,” she declared. Not that she was an expert or anything. Rick had been her one and only. But comparatively speaking, Harry was magnificent.

But it wasn’t only Harry’s size and readiness. It was his sensual abandonment to her touch. He moved with her, thrusting deliberately, as if demonstrating what he would do to her. Her breath caught, and tingles shot up her spine. She could almost feel him inside her, though she hadn’t even felt his body against hers yet.

“I need you now,” she said, pulling him toward her.

He grinned. “I know.” With a quick movement, his fingers found and caressed between her legs, then withdrew. His smile widened at her cry of pleasure. “It’s not a leash, sweetheart. Let me have it back now.”

She let go, uncertain. Suddenly anxious.

He looked at her. “You’re worried,” he said softly. “Your face changed. Just in the last few seconds.” He reached to touch her head, but halted the movement before contact. “I won’t hurt you, Ginnie.”

“I know.” She said it automatically, but her heart leapt into her throat, making her feel a strange prickly tension. He said he wouldn’t hurt her. Rick used to say that. But Harry made a wild hope beat in her breast, fueling her desire until she shifted uncomfortably. She wanted to straddle him. She wanted to keep being the wild new woman he brought out in her.

Her body ached to jump on him, take him in. She also wanted to simply lean into his hand. Why hadn’t he taken her suggestion to move onto her, into her? His delay made her ache. It also made her increasingly nervous. How could he have such control? She could see how much he wanted her. “I just… I don’t know.”

Harry stared at her, thoughtful. It didn’t make her at all self-conscious. Oddly, it made her hopeful.

“Hmmm.” Harry let just the tips of his fingers brush the ends of her hair. Her scalp tingled pleasurably and her nipples tightened. “You like this, don’t you. And you like touching me. Yes?”

She was already nodding, emphatic.

“Then touch me.” When she hesitated, he gave her a small smile. He didn’t move against her suggestively, or otherwise direct her. He just waited, hard, magnificent…

Ginnie groaned. Her insides felt on fire, and her mind was full of wonder. How did he have such exquisite control? She sure didn’t seem to, not with him.

With a growl that sounded feral and aggressive to her own ears, she reached for him, first with her hands, then with her mouth.

Harry drew in a shocked breath at the feel of her hot mouth on him. He’d asked her to touch him. But this—this threatened his already shaky control over himself.

He saw the way her nipples had hardened and her breath came quicker at his suggestion she take charge.

Control.

It was the key to her.

Another time, he might have been more curious about it.

He let his breath go in a hard exhale. Very hard. How did she do that with her tongue…?

Control! He had plenty over himself. His numbers. He’d be saved by the numbers. One hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight…

No. A countdown as if to ignition didn’t help his concentration. He was anticipating it way too much. Interest calculations instead. Four thousand three hundred forty-six rounded off to the…no, he never rounded. Rounding resulted in a number that was less precise.

But easier and quicker to use.

He wanted to use Ginnie. Quickly. Her fingers on him, sliding up his thighs to cup him, were not subtle. He liked that. What was this…? Was she tugging him as if it were a leash again?

Harry laughed, a choking sound. She was.

He fell onto his own bed. Felt her slide atop him.

She needed to feel as if she were in control. That much was obvious.

That was fine, for the moment. She was doing a fine job. Better than fine. A little too damn fine.

But at some point, he would need to wrest that control back from her. He knew it, and knew some part of her knew it too.

For now, he certainly wasn’t complaining.

He gasped as the friction of her sliding body moved first up, then down him. She didn’t immediately seat herself atop him, though he wanted it desperately. Whatever past experience had put uncertainty in her movements and apprehension in her eyes wasn’t any part of her at the moment.

Her teasing movements jerked a groan from him.

Her hair, dry now, brushed against his shoulders. Strands trailed over his chest, a sensual caress where it touched the small hairs on his body. Ginnie’s quick little intakes of breath made him smile with pleasure. She was so sensitive. So wanton and erotic—when she wasn’t worried about issues of control, of course.

His hands itched to grab her sweetly rounded hips, jam her down onto him. His mouth craved the smooth, firm heaviness of her breasts. He needed more of her. It would be so easy to place her right where he wanted her.

He clenched his fists instead.

Well, Christina, that is nothing short of ... HOT! Thank you! :)

Now for some quickie responses…

What I love to do outside of writing...
Reading!

A few favorite romance authors of mine...
Jennifer Crusie, Johanna Lindsey, Nora Roberts, Jacqueline Carey, Tanith Lee (the last two aren't strictly romance but the romances in some of their books are Yum).

A favorite book I’ve read so far this year…
Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh.

My favorite type of hero…
Alpha, capable, clever.

My favorite type of heroine...
Funny and/or kick ass, preferably with some kind of darkness or another that haunts her

My view on secondary characters...
They should have personalities too.

My writing routine includes…
Trying to be a strict boss.

Something I always have to have near when writing...
A drink. Usually hot peppermint tea but not always.

Pantser or plotster?
Plotster with pantser prison breaks.

In regards to writing, something I wish I knew then, that I know now...
Pronouns require vigilance.

Five years from now I see myself...
Able to take more and better research vacations.

If I could have a supernatural power it would be...
Flying.

Is there anything else you would like to tell fans of your books?
I love you. I would adore hearing from you at my:

Facebook page -- 

Or at my Website,  

Or on Twitter

Thank you so much Christina, for stopping by and giving us a glimpse in to the makings of a fantastic book!

Thanks so much for having me!

My Review of Hands On

Giveaway:

• Whoo-Hoo!! Ms. Crooks has so generously offered up an ebook of Hands On to one lucky winner!! *You will not be disappointed I tell you!*

• Contest is International. (i.e. Everybody!)

• Leave a comment on something in the interview, and an email addy so I can track the winner down.

• Winner will be chosen using random.org

• The contest will close on Saturday, Nov. 21st.

Good Luck and thanks for stopping by!!