Interview with Carol Moncado & GIVEAWAY | The Engrafted WordWhen she’s not writing about her imaginary friends, Carol Moncado is hanging out with her husband, four kids, and a dog who weighs less than most hard cover books. She prefers watching NCIS to just about anything, except maybe watching Castle, or Girl Meets World with her kids. She believes peanut butter M&Ms are the perfect food and Dr. Pepper should come in an IV. When not watching her kids – and the dog – race around her big backyard in Southwest Missouri, she’s teaching American Government at a local community college. She’s a founding member and President of MozArks ACFW, category coordinator for First Impressions, blogger at InspyRomance, and represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency. For more, visit www.carolmoncado.com

————————————————————————————————————————-

Savanna:  Welcome to The Engrafted Word, Carol! First of all, Congratulations on your recent releases! I’m thrilled to have you as my guest this week. 🙂

Of all the heroes you’ve written so far, is there a particular one who has a special place in your heart? And if so, can you tell us why?

Interview with Carol Moncado & GIVEAWAY | The Engrafted WordCarol: Travis Harders, hands down. But his book, Grace to Save, won’t release until next year :p. He’s been seen a couple of times in books already as have his mother, Julie, and daughter, Cassie. My friend Laurie Tomlinson once described him as “hunky with a side of redemption.” Plus he was named for someone I knew in real life. The real Travis died about two weeks after I finished the first draft.

As for heroes that have released…probably Gavin from Falling for Mr. Write or Prince Malachi in the upcoming Hand-Me-Down Princess (now available for preorder, releases 8/31). I’m not sure why Gavin. I don’t think it’s anything I can put my finger on. But I love him! As for Malachi…first, it’s my favorite hero name so far. Second…He’s so… considerate of Jessabelle. They get married in Chapter 1 having never met each other before and she’s really not suited to life as a princess, in the public eye. He’s wonderful for her.

Savanna:  I’m sorry to hear about your friend Travis. What a special way to honor him, though. Sounds like you’ve written some great heroes.

Describe your favorite place to write. What’s your ideal setting for inspiration?

Interview with Carol Moncado & GIVEAWAY | The Engrafted WordCarol:  I tend to write at home a lot, but I also write at Panera all the time and love it. I pop my earbuds in, zone out the world, and go. I also do that in one of the small library study rooms sometimes. I do best with the earbuds in, zoning everything out. It can be hard to do with four kids and being a mostly-stay-at-home mom.

Savanna:  Gotta love Panera, right? 😉 Since we’re both Missouri girls, is there a famous Missourian – past or present – you would enjoy ( or would have enjoyed ) having lunch with? Explain.

Carol:  Hmmm. Probably Mark Twain? Or Harry Truman? Because Twain is a literary giant. And Truman was president – and I teach American Government (and have taught US History II in the past).

Savanna:  As an author of Contemporary Christian Romance, you’re obviously a romantic-at-heart like the rest of us. Can you name a favorite romantic movie and a favorite romantic book?

Interview with Carol Moncado & GIVEAWAY | The Engrafted WordCarol: Hmm…I really don’t watch a lot of romance movies – I tend toward Pixar and Marvel these days 😉 – but I love the concept behind 50 First Dates. That every day he sets out to help her fall in love with him again. Every. Single. Day.

My favorite book has to be Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer. I read it at least a couple times a year. Ah! Travis Archer! Love him!

Savanna:  Ah, I loved Short-Straw Bride too! I’ve read a lot of books since then and yet I still remember Travis Archer. 🙂

You are also actively involved with ACFW and have attended multiple conferences. Can you share with us a special memory from your very first conference?

Carol: The special memories from my first conference was just meeting all of the people I’d only gotten to know online before. That’s actually my favorite part of all conferences. 😀

My favorite memory from all conferences was in Dallas – my second conference. I saw someone in the elevator, thought I knew her, and greeted her like an old friend – hug and all ;). Halfway through the elevator ride, I realized that no, I didn’t know her after all. She realized the same thing, but neither one of us wanted to admit it. We ran into each other several times that weekend and quickly became friends for real. Two years ago, we became crit partners. Last year, we were roomies. Now, we talk once a week when she calls me on her way home from work on Wednesday night. We call it the best case of mistaken identity ever. 😀

Interview with Carol Moncado & GIVEAWAY | The Engrafted WordSavanna:  What a neat story! I sure enjoyed my first conference last year and getting to hang out with you!

What has been the most memorable book you’ve read so far this year?

Carol:  This is pathetically sad, but I’ve read few books so far this year. 🙁 Normally, I read well over a hundred books a year, but this year, not so much. This is also the first full year I’ve been doing indie pub full time. With three novels and a novella already out this year (three came out late last year), at least two more novels and two more novellas releasing in the second half of the year, I simply haven’t had time. My stack of books keeps growing though. I want to find a happy medium somewhere – when I can spend most of my time writing, but still read often.

The most memorable book in recent memory though, would probably have to be Iscariot by Tosca Lee. I went into it wondering how on Earth she could make Judas a sympathetic character. I came out of it with an understanding that, just maybe, he wasn’t the world’s top traitor in history after all.

Savanna:  What is one of your most unforgettable moments from your writing career to date?

Interview with Carol Moncado & GIVEAWAY | The Engrafted WordCarol:  Oh, gosh! Getting “the call” from my agent would be right up there. So would winning/finaling in a couple of contests. The day my first boxes of books showed up. (I have more coming today! Yay!) But honestly, and this probably makes me sound shallow, one of the coolest things is seeing money in my bank account every month. Not everyone is cut out to be an indie author (meaning I either do everything myself or hire/trade it out), but for me it’s been a great choice. I’ve been able to pay all of my writing expenses for the year with the money I’ve made as well as get the brakes fixed on my husband’s car, help buy new tires for both vehicles, and this month’s deposit is going to help the 11yo get braces. Yep – I sure go wild and crazy with the money I’ve made, don’t I? 😉 It’s also really cool watching the numbers go up and up. Whether it’s income dollars or the line graph of how many sales you’ve made in the last 30 days or total copies paid for (through sales and Kindle Unlimited), it’s way cool. Unless you sell none that day. Then it’s not fun ;). Right now, I’m giddy watching the preorder numbers climb for Hand-Me-Down Princess. By the way – if you want to know about new releases – and get the special preorder pricing I only advertise to subscribers and readers of the InspyRomance blog – sign up for my newsletter 😀

Savanna: Ah, the crazy fun and busy life of an author! Thanks for joining us today, Carol. Is there anything else you’d like to share with us? What’s next in your writing plans?

Interview with Carol Moncado & GIVEAWAY | The Engrafted WordCarol: Next in my writing plan is edits! Ugh! I hate edits, but I love having edited – you know – when it’s done! I’m editing Hand-Me-Down Princess right now, then will be working on Winning the Queen’s Heart (oh! I love this hero, too!), then what will be a freebie novella for those signed up for my newsletter (it’ll be available to purchase too). It’s book 2.5 in the Brides of Belles Montagnes series and fills the gaps between books 2 and 3. Then? Well, then I need to write book 3 ;). I really want to have it out this year, but we’ll see if that happens. It should, but…

As an FYI for your readers – Finding Mr. Write, book 1 in the CANDID Romance series, and Good Enough for a Princess, book 1 in the Montevaro Monarchy series, are both FREE to download (Amazon links included, but available across platforms).

Savanna: Sounds great! Hope you get past the edits soon, my friend. 😉 Have a great summer and keep writing!

GIVEAWAY!!

Carol has graciously offered to give away a kindle book – winner’s choice of her books, including SPLASH! Novella collection and Hand-Me-Down Princess – to one lucky winner. Enter below and it could be YOU! 😉

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for entering! Contest ends July 28, 2015.  The winner will be notified by email. Happy Reading, everybody!