An Interview with Bella Andre

The Reading Cafe is happy to have the wonderful Bella Andre as our guest today.

Bella recently her 7th book in her simply wonderful Sullivan Series.  Our review of Come a Little Closer posted yesterday.

Let’s meet Bella.

 

 

Hi Bella and welcome to The Reading Café.  We would like to start with some background information.

TRC: Please tell us something about yourself?

Bella: I’m married to an amazing man. We have two children and our family splits our time between Northern California, where The Sullivan series is set, and the Adirondack Mountains of New York.

TRC: Have you always been interested in writing?

Bella: Yes! Before I wrote books, I wrote songs. I even toured and open for Jewel and Santana. I love telling stories. 

TRC: What challenges have you faced getting your novels published?  Especially with you being one of the top digital authors, and have made a great success in self publishing?

Bella: I wrote for 3 New York publishers for eight years, and then when my next books weren’t picked up for publication a friend suggested that I try self-publishing. Consider that my readers were emailing me daily asking for a sequel to TAKE ME, my first full-length novel (which was released by Simon & Schuster), I decided to write LOVE ME for my fans and release it digitally. I spent a week writing a personal email to every reader who had contacted me for five years and their response to the story I’d written for them astounded me! That was when I decided to throw myself wholeheartedly into self-publishing. And I’ve loved every second of it!

TRC: You have recently signed an agreement with Harlequin Mira for the print rights of the Sullivan series.  This is wonderful news for you, and congratulations are in order.  Will this change anything in your plans for future books or series?

Bella: Thank you! I’ve reached over a million new readers with my e-books and now that the first 8 Sullivan books will be put into print between June 2013 and April 2014, I can’t wait for new readers to discover my Sullivans. The sale of my print rights won’t change my future plans for The Sullivans: Lori’s story will be out in ebook Summer 2013 (the paperback will be coming April 2014), followed by her cousin Rafe from Seattle in ebook Summer 2013. I am planning to tell all 5 of the Sullivan cousin’s stories….and I have something very special in mind for Mary Sullivan (the matriarch) winter 2013. 

TRC: The Sullivan seriesis Contemporary romance, and has become immensely popular. Can you please tell us, for those who may not know the premise of this series?  How did you come up with the idea of this series?

Bella: The Sullivan family is a large, close-knit Northern California family of siblings (Six brothers and their two twin sisters) who find love one by one. I’ve been so amazed by how readers have responded to my Sullivans! I absolutely love sitting down to write every single day. There’s lots of laughing and sniffling over my keyboard as I write…just ask my husband and he’ll tell you what he sees when he walks past my home office. 

I’ve always loved reading about big families like Julia Quinn’s Bridgertons and Stephanie Lauren’s Cynsters. It was a natural fit for me to bring that big family dynamic into a contemporary setting…and to make the stories both super-sexy and emotional.

TRC: Come a Little Bit Closer is your latest release in your Sullivans series.  Can you please give us a brief description of the story?

Bella: In COME A LITTLE BIT CLOSER, movie star Smith Sullivan can’t afford any distractions. He’s staking his entire reputation on his new film…but he can’t stop thinking about Valentina Landon and the fire he sees smoldering just beneath the surface.

Valentina isn’t averse to sensual pleasure, or even to the idea of finding true love, but as a Hollywood business manager she’s watched too many smart women fall for actors…only to be torn apart when the fairytale comes to its inevitable end.

But when intense weeks together on set turn their heated attraction into red-hot flames of passion, Smith knows he has to find a way to convince Valentina to let him get a little bit closer. Close enough to completely steal her heart…the way she’s stolen his from the start.

Links to order Come a LIttle Bit Closer:
Amazon/ Barnes & Noble/ Kobo

 

TRC: Always on my Mind, is book 8 of the Sullivans series, will be released on March 5th..  What can you tell us about it?

Bella: Always on My Mind belongs to Lori, the “naughty” Sullivan twin. I can’t give too much away about her story….but I can tell you that her hero just might be the hottest I’ve every written. I can’t wait for everyone to read her story! It’s been a long time in coming for her.

 

Always On My Mind Preorder Link: Amazon

 

TRC: You have written erotic romance for Ellora’s Cave. Do you have a preference between writing Erotic or Contemporary romance novels?

Bella:  I love writing love stories, period. While I don’t write erotic novels anymore, my books will always be super-sexy because I think lovemaking is such a huge part of falling in love and the growing connection between my heroes and heroines. 

TRC: What are you working on now? Do you have any plans for a new series?

Bella: This spring I will begin writing about the 5 Seattle Sullivans that my readers have met in the past couple of books, and they have their own adventures brewing. I also have a brand new idea for a group of AMAZING heroes that I’m hoping to start writing soon…but mum’s the word on that for now.

TRC: Many authors bounce ideas and information between each other and their family and spouses.  With whom do you bounce ideas?

Bella: I have an amazing group of talented writing friends who help me brainstorm, and my husband is also a great help when I need to brainstorm a scene or character. 

TRC: Can you please tell us your writing process?  Do you have a favorite spot or specific time to write?

Bella: I write anywhere, everywhere, any time that I can. All I need is my MacBook Air. When I’m on “lockdown” mode on a book, I write 5-8 hours a day until I’m finished with the draft. At that point I revise and rewrite like crazy for several weeks until I’m happy with the book.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Bella: Thank you so much for having me! I’d love to hear from readers – you can find me at http://www.BellaAndre.com, at http://www.twitter.com/bellaandre, and http://www.facebook.com/bellaandrebooks.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food: Slim Jims

Favorite Dessert: thin mint cookies

Favorite TV show: right now I’m loving Go On and The Mindy Project. And Castle, of course.

Favorite Movie: Pretty Woman

Dark or Milk Chocolate: Neither. Can I have an oreo instead?

Favorite Author: Jennifer Crusie

Bella, thank you very much for taking the time to answer our questions.  The Reading Café wishes you good luck with your books, and we look forward to having you visit us again.

Bella is graciously offering a $25.00 gift card from your favorite retailer  to one lucky member at The Reading Cafe.

1. You must be a registered member at The Reading Cafe. If you are not a member, please register using the log-in at the top of the page, or by using one of the social log-ins.

2. If you are using a social log-in such as Twitter, please post your email address along with a comment as Twitter does not allow for email addresses.

3. Giveaway open to USA.

4. Giveaway runs from January 24th – January 27th, 2013