Vicki Batman and The Great Fruitcake Bake-off #romanticcomedy #Christmas

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Today we have an interview with romantic comedy author, Viki Batman. Yes, that's her real last name and I already messed it up. I am probably one of the few people who loves (well, loved) fruitcake--until I discovered I was allergic to cherries. Yeah, fruitcake is now the food of death. But Viki has written a wonderful romantic comedy featuring this much-maligned dessert and a couple needing each other more than they knew! 

~Mia

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Interview questions for Viki Batman… 

Quick round:
Coffee, tea or…what’s your vice? Diet Coke

Favorite Movie: Millions

Favorite Color: RED!

Favorite book/author: Come to Grief by Dick Francis

How do you feel about bacon? Life without would be tasteless.

The REAL questions…

Tell us a little about yourself.
My younger sissies are five-four, blue-eyed blondes. I'm the five-eight, brown-eyed older brunette. People would ask my mom "Where did she come from?" Silly, really as she had brown eyes and hair, too. I am married to Handsome, have two big boys, an old cat, and two rambunctious malti-poos.

What’s under your bed?
Absolutely nothing, except maybe a stray dust bunny.

What comes first, plot or characters?
I hear something and the story takes off, usually from dialogue.

Pantser, plotter, or hybrid? Tell us about your writing process.
I am a Pantser. Granted, I do have an idea of where the story is going, that's a given in romance: hook, stuff in the middle and a dash of romance, black moment, happily ever after. I let the story run until it can't any more. Then I go back and fill in stuff, edit, pretty it up. I really work hard at this.

Oddest thing on your desk?
A silver pitcher with lid made into a lamp. I have one made out of a clarinet too. Just love they are different.

What’s your most interesting writing quirk?
I have sticky notes lined up in front of my monitor with stuff to do on them. When done, I get great satisfaction in ripping it off and tossing.

What’s your favorite thing about the genre you write in?
Making people laugh. When someone is reading a story I've written and I see a grin or hear a chuckle, I know I've done a good job.

What is the hardest thing about being an author?
Marketing.

What’s the easiest thing about being an author?
I love meeting and making new friends on line or in person.

What do you wish someone had asked you for an interview question? Here’s your chance to get the soap box out!
Who is Handsome? 

LOL. I always refer to my hubby as Handsome. Beside the fact he doesn't break mirrors, he is an awesome guy. It all began when he addressed any kind of card to me as "Beautiful Wife." I wrote "Handsome Hubby." His stuck. Once in a San Francisco bookstore, I whispered loudly, "Handsome. Handsome." A different man looked at me. I caught his eye and said, "Not you, Handsome, the other Handsome." He grinned.

Tell us about your latest release!
Raise your hand if you like fruitcake. For the misinformed, I wrote The Great Fruitcake Bake-off, a holiday romantic comedy. I'm hoping to make some converts.

Here's the blurb:
To defend her five wins, Samantha Greene, has to find a new entry for The Great Fruitcake Bake-off and teams up with new neighbor, Dixon Roberts, only what they discover is baking a award-winning entry can be complicated, bad guys are plotting to take the crown, and ultimately, first prize isn't just about a ribbon.

And the excerpt from The Great Fruitcake Bake-off…
"I am not entering this year." I pinned an unbreakable stare on Bethany, my long-time friend. We were piddling over coffee in her cubical like we always did before getting to the nuts and bolts of company business. "Period."

"Why not, Samantha? You should be proud to be the five-time winner of the Great Fruitcake Bake-off. You're a legend."

"Is being a legend in the fruitcake world a good thing? It's exhausting finding the perfect recipe, then bake and exhibit it. Besides, shouldn't somebody else win?"

Bethany's fists went to her hips. "Sam, we're talking fruitcake. It's not groundbreaking like, like the Declaration of Independence or...the Pyramids."

"I'm shocked to hear you say that. Fruitcake is the cake of all time. It dates to--"

She bobbed her head. "To the sixteenth century."

I raised my finger. "It gets a bad--"

"Rap." She sighed a soul searching blow of breath. "You always say that. You also always say you love participating; yet, you're not defending your title this year."

"I've used up all of Grammie's recipes."

"You could start over with the first confection you entered five years ago, couldn't you?"

"It seems like cheating...in a weird way. And I don't cheat."

"You are a shining example of excellent values." Bethany drummed her fingers from the littlest to the index and considered. "I've got it! Why not check online and find a recipe?"

"They don't call you brainchild for nothing." I rubbed a finger along the divot below my lower lip. A tiny speck of excitement blossomed within me. "I'll need a brand new fruitcake. I wouldn't want to be like Crazy Wanda who enters the same freakin' lump of dough every freakin' year."

"It never hurts to expand your repertoire, even if it's by collecting fruitcake recipes."

Find The Great Fruitcake Bake-off at:

MuseItUp Publishing

And at other prime e-retailers

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Connect with Vicki Batman on the Web!
Blogsite

PlottingPrincesses

Facebook

Twitter

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Thanks for stopping by!