I first encountered Karla Doyle when I read an excerpt of her book, GAME PLAN, and it knocked my socks off. Heck, it knocked the socks off the heroine, thanks to all the naughty things the hero was doing to her in the alley of the club they were visiting. Whew. Just give me a minute, okay? Okay, anyway. . .
I'm still amazed I didn't have to douse my Nook in ice baths while reading GAME PLAN. After devouring that book, I got to read other delicious excerpts of Karla's works-in-progress on Six Sentence Sunday, and I'm a fan for life. Karla and I chat about coffee and wine on Twitter and Facebook, and she is as much wicked fun as her books are.
So hang onto your socks and welcome Ms. Karla Doyle to this week's edition of Friday Friends!
Of all the characters you've created, which one is your favorite? (*covers your other characters' eyes*) Why do you love them best?
First, thanks for inviting me to your blog, Donna! I brought coffee, here’s yours… :)
Of course you started with the hardest question ever! Hmm… If I had to choose just one, it would have to be Travis Graham, the hero from MORE THAN WORDS. But Brian Black, the hero in BODY OF WORK is a really close second. My favorite heroine is definitely Cassie from BODY OF WORK. As far as secondary characters go, my hands-down favorites are from BODY OF WORK—Brian’s family and his best friend all made me want to write more scenes with them.
I'm thrilled you're here! And you brought coffee? You're the awesomest! What's your go-to "writing avoidance" technique? (There is NEVER enough of these.)
I have soooo many “writing avoidance” techniques. Social Media is definitely at the top of the list. I love hanging out on Twitter or my Facebook page and chatting with people. Time really flies when you do that. LOL. I’d say the next one on my list is “book research”, which could be legitimately looking up information I need for a story, or… looking for visual inspiration online. ;)
We all know how important "visual inspiration" is for a writer. *cough* If you were able to go on a writing retreat, where would it be? (Feel free to answer while I finish packing my suitcases.)
Ooh, I love this question. Can we go anywhere? Okay, let’s go to Scotland for our writing retreat. I’ve always wanted to go there. I think I’d be VERY inspired to write surrounded by hot, kilted men talking to me in that accent. (Yes, that’s how Scotland is in my fantasy, so ssshh, let me dream!)
I loooove Scotland. I got to go once, years ago, and I didn't see any kilts, but the accents were swoonworthy. What's the word you love to use (and overuse, so you have to take it out of your book during edits)?
Easy question. JUST. I just love using it. It’s just so versatile. I can’t use it just once, I just have to use it over and over again.
Just as I thought. LOL Name the first thing you'll do when you make a million dollars from your books.
Pay off loans. LOL. So exciting. Take a vacation with my family, then write more books.
Yay for more books! And no more loans, of course. Okay, here's the Tasty Ten lightning round, where we get to know you in a speed dating kind of way:
Coffee or tea? COFFEEEE! Coffee! Coffee! Did I mention coffee?
Drafting or revising? Revising. I love tweaking the words.
Twitter or Facebook? Twitter
Winter or Summer? Summer! Bring on the heat!
Baseball or Football? Baseball. Oh yeah, definitely baseball.
Pecs or abs? Pecs
Beer or wine? Beer in the summer, wine in the winter.
Rare or well-done? Well-done
Morning or evening? Morning. I love the “blank slate/fresh start” thing.
Biter or licker? (Hey! I'm still talking ice cream cones here!) Biter, baby! LOL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author Bio
Karla grew up in a small town on the shore of Lake Erie. She trained and worked in the fashion industry, designing and making everything from swimwear to dog collars for most of her adult life. Karla has traded her needle and thread for a word processor, and now spends her time writing sexy romances. When she's not writing, she loves spending time with family, friends and her pets, as well as reading and hitting the gym.
Goodreads~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blurb for BODY OF WORK
Cassie has fantasized about the ginger-haired personal trainer for months. Brian is friendly, but never more—until he appears on her doorstep and shows her how much her flirting has affected him. The more she’s with him, the more Cassie wants the fairytale, not just hot sex with the six-two hunk. She can give Brian full access to her body, but after her ex’s reaction to her explicit photography business, sharing her secrets, and her heart, isn’t an option.
Brian knows better than to break the rules. Don’t date gym members. Keep his inner beast on a leash during sex. Cassie tested his resolve on number one her first day in the gym. Shattered the second rule when he touched her. The petite pixie shares his preferences in the bedroom. She makes him laugh and love—but past mistakes haunt him, emotionally and tangibly. Cassie’s worth the price he’ll pay for breaking the rules. Now he must convince her to give him her heart.
Excerpt (Adult topics ahead! Close your eyes, children!)
“On the topic of family,” he loosened his hold to lift her chin, “I dumped my Wednesday shift so I could have dinner with mine. Come with me.”
Not a good idea when she was trying to keep her heart in check. “I’m, um…”
“Booked up with appointments?”
Right there, he’d offered her the perfect out. So why was her head moving back and forth, instead of up and down? “No, just nervous.”
“No haggis with neeps and tatties, I promise.”
“I don’t even know what that means.”
“Traditional Scottish meal. Heart, liver and lungs, ground up and mixed with spices and stuff, then cooked in sheep’s stomach, that’s haggis. Neeps and tatties are mashed turnip and potatoes, normal enough.”
Haggis, in particular, sounded nasty. Then again, there’d been a time she felt that way about butt plugs. “Is it good?”
“Not always. But when it’s done right, yeah.”
“So it’s like sex.”
Laughter burst from deep within his chest and rang in the open, quiet space. “Now I’ll think of you whenever I eat that meal.” His hands trailed up her arms to cup her face. “And if I’m a lucky bastard, you’ll be sitting beside me every time.”
She didn’t need to taste them. Haggis, neeps and tatties were officially her favorite foods.
Book Buy Links
My last visit to Scotland was to a physics conf. at the university of St Andrews, combined with watching some golf. I didn't see any golfers wearing kilts! Though there was speculation over how much would be revealed with a good follow through swing!
Karla, I like a good bonk-buster when in the mood, especially if laced with lots of humour.
Which of your books would you recommend for starters ... remembering that I hate haggis!
Posted by: Quantum | August 23, 2013 at 06:31 AM
Donna! Thank you so much for having me over for Friday Friends! Refills of coffee all day, on me. ;)
We really have to meet up in person one day!
Posted by: Karla Doyle | August 23, 2013 at 09:29 AM
Hi, Quantum, thank you for stopping by!
(I think Donna's blog ate my first reply, so I'm posting it again. Sorry if both of them show up!)
My books aren't linked, so there's no set reading order to what I have out so far.
My most popular book is MORE THAN WORDS. Tattooed musician hero and a shy shopkeeper meet online, playing Scrabble... Dirty Scrabble.
I'd say the hottest book is BODY OF WORK. The hero and heroine already know each other, so it gets to the hot stuff pretty quickly. And yes, there's haggis, lol, but that scene is humorous and a bit naughty, so I think you might enjoy it. :)
~Karla
Posted by: Karla Doyle | August 23, 2013 at 10:29 AM
Karla, thanks for being here! And my apologies -- my blog has been hit with tons of spam the past couple of days, and now it doesn't know how to handle regular comments, so you ended up in the spam folder. Eeek! *pulls Karla out of the depths of spam* Here's some coffee to make up for it. LOL
Posted by: Donna Cummings | August 23, 2013 at 10:36 AM
Quantum -- I laughed out loud at the thought of the golf follow-thru swing revealing more than intended!
I've been to Scotland once, and managed to avoid haggis. Yikes! The accents were wonderful. Although there was an ancient taxi driver, who had NO teeth and a very strong accent -- I'm still not sure what we chatted about the whole time. Heck, I may have agreed to marry him or something. LOL
Posted by: Donna Cummings | August 23, 2013 at 10:39 AM
Yum! I love Karla's writing. It's a fabulous distraction to my day. Fun post, thanks. :)
Posted by: S. J. Maylee | August 23, 2013 at 10:48 AM
Thanks, Sidney! *big hugs*
Posted by: Karla Doyle | August 23, 2013 at 11:03 AM
Yay, more coffee! Thanks for pulling me out of the spam folder. LOL
Posted by: Karla Doyle | August 23, 2013 at 11:05 AM
Karla, I apologize for the spam stuff -- I'll keep pulling you outta there! (We may need to switch to coffee liqueur after all this. LOL)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | August 23, 2013 at 11:16 AM
S.J. -- I'm glad you're having a fantastic RELEASE DAY today. :) I can't wait to have you here next week!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | August 23, 2013 at 11:17 AM
Thanks, Donna. I can't wait either. I'm loving these Friday posts. Spam and all, lol. :)
Posted by: S. J. Maylee | August 23, 2013 at 11:38 AM
S.J., the spam has been wild today. Let's hope it calms down before next Friday. :)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | August 23, 2013 at 07:47 PM