Monday, August 11, 2014

Interview and Giveaway: Love Spirits by Diana Cachey




What inspired you to become an author?

I came out of the womb wanting to be a writer, or it seems like it anyway. I won a contest for advertising copy and design while in grade school and wrote poetry and stories as a teen. I loved literature, art, theatre, music, anything creative, but I started college as a science major because I thought I couldn't make a living as a writer. 

I also took philosophy and Shakespeare classes and couldnt deny the call of art so tranferred to a liberal arts college where I majored in English and wrote plays, poems, more stories. Everyone thought I'd pursue writing when I graduated, and so did I, but my practical side took over again and I became a lawyer. I was never a starving artist monetarily, just creatively. 

In law school, I published two academic papers and edited many law review articles. Let's face it, most lawyers must know how to write, the good ones write very well, especially judges who issue written opinions on a regular basis.  

Then, finally, I was compelled to follow my heart ... To Venice, in person and on the page.

Do you have a specific writing style? 

Somewhat literary because of my training but also quirky, comical and introspective.
Do you write in different genres? I love to read mysteries,  romance, suspense and anything in the supernatural arena. Naturally I gravitated to those genres when I began my novel. 
Love Spirits is a mix of those.

If yes which is your favorite genre to write? 

Writing romance is too much fun!

How did you come up with the title for your latest book?

Finding a title involved a long process of brainstorming with writers, people in mastermind groups and coaches. I gave some of my favorite choices to just about everyone and anyone to get opinions and votes. Then one day I was on a flight from London to Venice & asked the crew. A flight attendant said "What Happens in Venice" and we all went "yes!"

Do you title the book first or wait until after it's complete?

The title for the Trinity of What Happens in Venice books evolved like I said already, over time, while I wrote the books, but the titles for the separate volumes within it were decided after they were written.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Go for it! Follow your heart, travel, be adventurous,  then the universe will reward you with more ... In mysterious ways.

Is the book, characters, or any scenes based on a true life experience, someone you know, or events in your own life? 

But of course! And I'm not telling which ones are made totally up.

What books/authors have influenced your life? 

Wuthering Heights was the first long novel I read and couldn't put down. Ah romance! When I read Steven King's first novel, Carrie,  I Was In Awe. Still am, as a matter of fact.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor? 

Steven King, I'd walk over a team of professional linebackers to get inside that mind.

What is your current "work in progress" or upcoming projects? 

Finishing edits of Book Two - Lagoon Lure and Book Three - Magic Island. Stay tuned.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? 

Getting out the first draft then editing a billions times. So basically everything.  My humble opinion? Hardest thing anyone can do is write a novel.

Do you have to travel much to do research for your books?

I have traveled to Venice several times a year since my first trip in 2002, which has been essential to learning both the Italian and Venetian languages used in the book.  The lead character, Louisa, lives in Venice, so to know the town as well as her I had to live there for extended periods too, right? I've been to every location mentioned in the novel unless it is a fictional spot or place.

Do you have any advice for other writers? 

I Could Write A book on that! And might!

Do you have a song or playlist (book soundtrack) that you think represents this book? 

Well of course any classical violin by Verdi, any and all operas written by Puccini or Verdi, and some Frank Sinatra will get you in a romantic mood, so say the Venetian Ghosts in their letter to the reader in the beginning of Love Spirits. 

But the novel's characters are young and free so rock, pop and hip hop are in order too. Louisa loves classic rock like the Rolling Stones (Satisfaction, Wild Horses, Sympathy for the Devil, Not Fade Away, Miss You). 

The young Italian men love to sing Jim Morrison, Hello I Love you, Bob Marley's Don't Worry Be Happy, or the Beatles (like Elanore Rigby, Something, Yesterday, I Wanna Hold Your Hand) and they sing them all to English speaking women. 

And everyone loves hip hop and dance music because they are young, free and love to party. Beyonce All the Single Ladies, of course, Brittany Spears, Toxic and all time dance faves like It's Getting Hot in Here or I'm Too Sexy. 


Love Spirits
What Happens In Venice
Book One
Diana Cachey

Genre: Romance/paranormal.

ISBN: 1481031767
ISBN: 9781481031769

Number of pages: 160
Word Count: 40,000 

Tagline: Among the romantic canals of Venice—and oh so many Italian distractions—can a stunning American lawyer and her psychic sister help the Ghosts of Venice solve a hushed-up crime?

Book Description:

Louisa Mangotti is a gorgeous American lawyer and Interpol expert who, after being offered a job working with the international crime unit in Venice, receives a mysterious postcard from the Venetian Ghosts, the ancient protectors of the Republic. But Louisa assumes her bad-boy ex, Matteo, sent it in a quixotic attempt to gain her attention.  Louisa may have dismissed the ghosts, but the ghosts aren’t quite done with her.

When the bodies of two glassmakers wash up on Murano Island, the cryptic messages persist. Reluctantly, Louisa calls upon Matteo to help decipher the clues. And before she knows it, a flame that was never fully extinguished is rekindled.  Sensing that her sister is in over her head, Barbara Mangotti rushes to the rescue, only to be lured away by two handsome Venetian men.  

With time running out, can the two beauties solve a crime that could threaten the city of Venice itself?

Available at Createspace and Amazon

About the Author:

Diana Cachey is a licensed attorney, published academic, and former adjunct law professor. She also holds a BA in English, and while in law school, she was the first female editor in chief of her university’s law review. The author of the novel Love Spirits, she has trained with several New York Times best-selling writers, including Robert Allen, with more than seventy-two million books sold. For more than a decade, Cachey has been traveling to Venice, the setting of her novel, on extended trips several times a year. The cafés, restaurants, and many other haunts of Venice play a prominent role in her sexy paranormal mystery-romance about a beautiful American lawyer guided by the Ghosts of Venice in the investigation of a hushed-up crime.



@dianacachey


https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diana-Cachey/153347544749839

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3 comments:

bn100 said...

Nice interview

Unknown said...

Dear Roxanne, Writing this from my fav city -- Venice! Thanks so much for featuring my interview on your blog & good luck to all who entered the giveaway with your beautiful books swags, including mask & book cover charms of the book cover. Love you all, Diana Cachey
P.S. Thanks for agreeing to HauntedPalooza. Would one of your featured authors or readers) like to participate in my ONLINE HALLOWEEN PARTY? All month during October, we present chills, thrills, prizes, sexy supernatural and more for Haunted-Palooza. Let me know, D

Unknown said...

Thanks to bn 100 too, for stopping by. Glad you liked the interview. What Happens in Venice, where shadows dance with the heart.