An Interview with Alexia Adams

The Write Way Café welcomes author Alexia Adams, who is learning to be ruthless and put her characters through the wringer.

When did you first have the thought you'd like to write a book? Was that first thought related to writing romance?
I’ve always written stories in my head but I first thought of putting them on paper after the birth of my fourth child. My husband and I decided I’d give up work to care for the children but I worried I’d be bored so I decided to write down one of the stories I’d been thinking about. I’ve been reading romance stories since I was an early teen so when I began to write, romance was a natural niche for me.

What was your path to getting this book written and published? What type of research did you do?
The Playboy and The Single Mum is my tenth book and my third self-published venture. I’ve been a fan of Formula 1 for over thirty years so most of my research revolved around finding information about the behind-the-scenes stuff that happens at the races. And, of course, as the story follows the final five races around the globe, I had to research some of the exotic destinations I’ve not visited.

Where did the idea for your story come from?
When I wrote the first book in the series, The Vintner and The Vixen, I needed a charismatic, charming brother to offset the rigid control of the hero in that book. And as a passionate follower of Formula 1, I’ve wanted to write a racing driver hero for a while. Then I just had to give him his worst nightmare for a man who’d dedicated his life to winning—a woman and child who distracted him to no end.

Why did you pick the setting you did?
The settings were picked for me as the story follows the last five races of the F1 season (2015 schedule) to Russia, America, Mexico, Brazil and U.A.E. I threw in a few more exotic destinations, just because I love them.

Are your main characters completely imaginary or do they have some basis in real people? Do they reflect aspects of yourself?
My characters are completely imaginary. Daniel is a composite of several drivers currently racing in Formula 1 and Lexy is just a regular single mother trying her hardest to do the best for her child. There may be bits of me in Lexy, I’ll leave it to the reader though to figure out which they are.

Did you face any blocks while writing the book, and if so, how did you handle them? If not, what's your secret?
I can’t remember facing any blocks writing this particular book. Sometimes a scene will go off track and I’ll have to spend a little while working out whether I like the new direction or if I have to delete what I’ve written and go back to where I expected the story to go. I spend a lot of time thinking about the next scene or chapter while I’m not writing. If I do get blocked, I find reading always spawns an idea or two to get me over a problem.

What have been surprises you've encountered while writing the book and after?
I don’t know that anything really surprised me writing this book. The characters drove the story (sorry for the pun) and I kind of just followed them. I had originally only thought of writing two books in the Vintage Love series but then Genevieve and Santiago came along in book two and now there are three books.

What did you learn? For instance, what did you learn about yourself, your process, the writing world; about advertising and public relations, and about Formula 1 racing?
As with almost every book I write, the true story comes out in the rewrite. The book I submit to my editor and the one that gets published are very different. I can never seem to get the conflict right the first time, I’m too nice to my characters. So I’m learning to be ruthless and put them through the wringer. As for what I learned about advertising and public relations – I suck at it. I really need to hire someone to do this for me. As for Formula 1, as previously mentioned, I’ve been a fan for over thirty years so there was just some minor research on behind-the-scenes action. I also didn’t want to get too technical as I know not everyone follows the sport so I needed to be sure I had a book everyone could enjoy whether they’ve seen an F1 race or not. However, as this is a work of fiction, I made a lot of stuff up as well.

Tell us about your writing space and how or why it works for you.
I know the importance of having a dedicated writing space, but I don’t have one. I write on the dining room table while the children are at school, on the sofa in the evening after they’ve gone to bed, and upstairs in my bedroom on the weekend. I have a laptop so basically I can write anywhere. I’d love to have an inspirational office but until several of the children move out, that ain’t happening.

What are some of your favorite books and why?
My all-time favorite book is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I love how he wrote complete and utter nonsense and made us believe it all. And I have never looked at towels the same way. Another book that has stayed with me is A Rose in Winter by Kathleen A. Woodiwiss. I have had to buy this book several times as it has gone missing in my moves. I love the internal conflict the heroine goes through trying to live up to the vow she made to her masked and deformed husband while resisting the seductions of a handsome suitor.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on the edits for the third Vintage Love story, The Tycoon and The Teacher. It will be published on July 21st this year.

Would you like to try your hand at writing a different genre?  Which one and why?
Eventually I’d like to try writing an historical romance. It’s the genre I read the most, aside from short contemporary. I actually have a story outlined but haven’t found the time to do the research. I love how the heroines in historical romance have shifted from being demure, delicate little blossoms to women willing and able to take on the men in their society and live life by their rules.

If you were not a writer, what would your dream job be?
I’d love to be a travel blogger or someone who gets paid to visit different places and give feedback or design travel itineraries. Unfortunately, the majority of my travels were pre-Internet or I’d have been one of the first on that bandwagon. Imagine being paid to visit places on my bucket list. At least with writing romance I get to do it vicariously (without the jetlag or security lineups).

What aspect of writing gives you the most trouble?
Revisions and developmental edits. Once I’ve written a scene I find it very difficult to think of a different way to rephrase what I was trying to say. Thankfully I have a brilliant editor who always explains why a passage doesn’t work and then gives me ideas on how to fix the issue.

Who is your favorite hero/heroine?
This is a tough one. I’ve read so many great ones. It’s like choosing your favorite child, you love them all. Of the books I’ve written, my favorite hero is probably Luca in An Inconvenient Love. He has this idea of how his marriage of convenience is going to work, but finds things going awry from the “I dos” and has to struggle to keep up with his bride. My favorite heroine is definitely Rania in The Greek’s Stowaway Bride as she was unstoppable. I remember as I wrote that book thinking, “I wonder what she’s going to do next.”

Thank you so much for having me on your blog today. It’s been a pleasure. If anyone has any questions for me please leave a comment. I’ll be popping in for the next few days to answer them.

Amazon



Alexia Adams once traveled the world. However marriage and the birth of four children clipped her travel wings, so she took to vicarious voyages through the characters she creates in her romance novels. Her stories reflect her love of exotic destinations and unique cultures and feature locations as diverse as the wind-swept prairies of Canada to hot and humid cities in Asia. To discover other books written by Alexia or read her blog on inspirational destinations, Journey to Love at http://Alexia-Adams.com and sign up for her newsletter to keep up-to-date with new books and adventures.


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BookBub

Books:
The Vintner and The Vixen (Vintage Love Book 1)
The Tycoon and The Teacher (Vintage Love Book 3)
The Greek’s Stowaway Bride
Her Faux Fiancé
Miss Guided (a Guide to Love novella)
Played by the Billionaire (a Guide to Love novel) 
His Billion Dollar Dilemma (a Guide to Love novel)
Love, International Style (3 book bundle)
An Inconvenient Love
An Inconvenient Desire
Singapore Fling

Bundles:
Love, International Style (3 book bundle)
Tall, Dark, & Wealthy
Romance in Color
She’s the Boss
He’s the Boss