. . . Marisa Cleveland. I can’t believe I have the good fortune of interviewing my fellow SWFRW (Southwest Florida Romance Writers) buddy. I first met Marisa back in March of 2010 at my second meeting of our local chapter. Newbies can bring up to ten pages for a fellow member to critique. She returned my pages the following month and graciously took me under her wing, reading soooooooooo much more of my crap over the next two years. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to land a publishing contract with Curiosity Quills without her help *gives round of applause* So you’re in for a real treat.
Me: Give us 3 words to describe your personality.
Marisa: romantic infinite dreamer
Me: Very accurate. You and Simon are still so in love I want to puke every time I see you. Ha! Just kidding about the puking part–more like punch you in the face;-) Tell us about what you write.
Marisa: I write about relationships.
Me: That’s a sweet way of saying it! (I’ll add that she writes both Adult Romance & YA paranormal novels–talking about herself is not her forte, lol). Can you give us a sneak peek into what it’s like to be an intern at The Seymour Agency?
Marisa: super fun, amazingly insightful, and reading until the words blur on the page/screen
Me: I bet! I’m surprised you don’t need glasses yet . . . maybe reading is your super power, hmm? What’s your favorite craft book for writing? Favorite fiction book?
Marisa: craft book: Whatever I’m reading currently to help with whatever I’m having problems fixing in my WIP. I have a minor *but totally appropriate* crush on
Donald Maass, so his
Writing the Breakout Novel and
The Fire in Fiction are definite faves of mine. fiction book: too many to name.
Atlas Shrugged helped define me in high school, but I will stop whatever I’m doing to read a new release from Susan Elizabeth Phillips or Sherrilyn Kenyon.
Me: Yessss, Phillips is a rock star! Never heard of Atlas Shrugged *rushes off to open another window and Google it* Okay, last question: Tell us anything fun about yourself, related or unrelated to writing.
Marisa: Fun… hmmm… I’m pretty tame. I save my drama for my characters. But I do have one thing that’s not fun, but it’s sort of interesting. I’m like a vault. I keep secrets better than anyone else I know, and when I have a particularly juicy tidbit, I get a pimple like a twelve-year-old. Like the one I have now on my cheek. 😉
Me: Well, I can attest that Marisa is a very private person, which is why I totally freaked her out at RWA Nationals in August of 2010 when I asked to spend the night in her hotel room and even though I barely knew her, unloaded my entire life story in all its ugliness. LOL . . . somehow she still spoke to me afterwards. Marisa, that wasn’t too painful, right? Right?
Marisa:
Oh, well! You can get to know Marisa better by visiting her
blog (well worth a follow), and she’s also fun to
Tweet with (psst . . . when she reaches 500 followers, there may be a contest involving an agent involved). Thanks for stopping by, fellow scallywags. If you didn’t know, this is all part of the
Buccaneer Blogfest during the month of July and it’s not too late to sign up! Our ship duties today included interviewing the person below us on the blogroll. You can go here to read my interview by
A.K. Morgen🙂
~Enjoy your weekend, matey’s!
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Jamie Ayres 
Lol! What a sweet friendship. Especially the part about punching her in ther face 😉 Sherrilyn Kenyon’s pretty awesome. Don’t you love/hate when your favorite authors come out with a new book and you have to stop and drop everything to devour it?! Wouldn’t have it any other way 🙂
Great to get to know the both of you better! Tuere, I rush to the bookstore when I hear Patricia Briggs has a new Mercy Thompson book out! Have a great weekend, Roland
Funny!
I’m rather private as well. Don’t lead a really exciting life either, so I can relate.
It’s super difficult to be private with a friend like Jamie blogging about you. Hahahaa… I write *try to write* playfully naughty contemporary romance… since Jamie insisted on a more elaborate answer. Hahahaa.
Great interveiw!
Jamie, that was one unique interview … the questions and the responses … funny and informative. So, what more could I ask for? Great to meet Marisa Cleveland and find out more about your journey to pubication … Thanks 🙂
Marisa! I think we’re related! I just finished reading Donald’s hardcopy of Breakout Novel. I read the workbook last year. And I have a crush on him too! Great interview. Best of luck with your career. Thanks, Jamie!
My crush developed from a workshop where he told the subway story, and ever since then, I always ask him to retell it when people from the audience can ask him anoyn questions. 🙂
how lucky to be such close friends:) Loved the Interview::)
I totally have a crush on Donald Maass as well. He’s a great inspiration, and his how-to guide is a must-have.
If you have time, check out my interview with Aldrea Alien! She’s so much fun!
Jamie, thanks for the interview! Now everyone knows I befriended a weirdo who infiltrated my carefully orchestrated personal space at Nationals. You think those rooms with king beds come cheap?!? Hahahaa…
This is such a cute interview. I love how you kept it up like a conversation, Jamie. Marisa had some great responses, too. I loved her answer to the “describe your personality in 3 words” question. Fun!
Very fun interview! Thanks for the reminder; I really want to make time to read ‘Atlas Shrugged’! Gonna get the Donald Maass too. 🙂
Loved this.
alright i really love how you did this interview. it was fun to read.
Wonderful interview, Jamie and Marisa! It was fun to learn some new tidbits about Risa!
What? Jen, no new tidbits here. You already knew all that, right? Right? Hahahaa…
What an awesome way to meet a writing mentor. You convinced me…I’m following her blog and tweets now. 🙂