Tell us about Pass the Hot Stuff.
Set in New Orleans and Memphis, it has a very southern vibe.  The focus is on Blythe Townsend and her bad track record with men.  She’s dated every creep along the Mississippi Delta.  Now in a relationship with the “respectable, safe” guy, she feels like she’s doing the right thing until she meets someone who looks like he stepped right out of one of her favorite Turner Classic movies…sexy with lots of swagger.  There’s no doubt in her mind that he’s sleeping with every woman in the French Quarter.  She fights the attraction like she’s fending off doubloons being hurled at her from a Mardi Gras parade.

With a preachy father, who is trying to save the world one virgin at a time, and her safe but claustrophobic relationship, she has to figure out what’s right for her.  Blythe is searching for her inner big-shouldered broad to deal with the confusion in her life, and she has a lot of mouthy, hilarious women cheering her on with spicy talk over big bottles of wine and…Karamel Sutra ice cream.

What genre is it?
Contemporary Romance/Chick Lit.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
Anyone who wants to laugh.  It’s a woman’s book, but I’ve been told a few men are reading it and enjoying it.  There are some amusing and bigger-than-life male characters that bring that audience into the mix.

Complete this sentence for us: If you like______________, you’ll love Pass the Hot Stuff.
A sassy, sexy, funny read.

You have talked about how the rejection letters you received early in your career gave you a chance to perfect your craft. Do you feel that the ease of indie publishing enables some writers publish books before they are ready?
Yes, I think it’s pretty common for writers to think they’re ready when there’s more work to do.  I thought I was ready to be published with the first book I wrote.  I wasn’t.  I have referred to it as the semi-incoherent ramblings of a therapy session.  Maybe it wasn’t quite that bad, but I can’t read it now without simultaneously throwing up and writing thank-you notes to the wise people who rejected me.  Long story…longer…I wasn’t ready at all.  I think I was so impressed when I finally did it that emotions took over.  You can’t do that; you have to step away from it and come back with a very critical eye and an editor’s thought process.  Mercifully, it wasn’t my goal to self-publish then.  I could have very easily wandered aimlessly into it and you all would have been treated to one chaotic read that would have had you poking out your own eyes.  With apologies to Margaret Mitchell, let’s call it “Gone With the Nutcase.”

With the recent rise of erotica some people are suggesting that chick lit’s reign is over. What do you think?
I think there’s room for all of it.  Erotica is very popular.  It’s also very specific.  Chick lit isn’t quite so defined.  It crosses genres sometimes, and I think humor and romance are always in vogue.

As a writer, I can’t focus on that too much.  I have to write the story I want to tell and I feel I can tell well.  Hopefully, readers will gravitate to my books.  If not, there are always vampires…they were the going thing in the literary world the last few years and are still popular.  Maybe my next book will be a vampire bedding belles up and down the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  I’m kidding.  Maybe…

Writing a book is never easy, but other than that, what has been the toughest part – editing or marketing? 
Marketing, without a doubt.  It’s difficult to get your name out there, especially when there are so many people trying to do the same thing.  I’m not social media savvy, and I’ve had to learn a million different things in order to market my book.  I’m also a very private person, so talking about myself isn’t always easy for me…

In that case I apologise for this next question!  Tell us a bit about yourself.
I was born in Arkansas about 60 miles south of Memphis, where I grew up.  Growing up in the South, everyone is a raconteur of sorts, or as we call them yarn spinners.  It’s small wonder I thought I could write, since there were so many colorful characters around me telling their own stories.   Journalism was my major at Texas A&M.  I knew I wanted to write creatively, but I don’t think I had the guts yet.  Journalism was a safe choice but a good one in that I’ve been able to work for newspapers, etc. and continue to write.  I’ve interviewed everyone from Rockettes to politicians; I have to say the Rockettes were more easy going and seemingly more intelligent than the politicians.

I love to sing, and I’ve had a couple of embarrassing turns in community theatre.  But one of my favorites was a non-singing role:  Amy Lee- a Southern Baptist, alcoholic, former homecoming queen who married the town’s richest man, the owner of the hardware store.

Now that you’ve brought up singing, we hear you’ve got a story about singing telegrams.
Oh, the humanity!  This was a while back.  I was trying to earn enough money to go to Europe.  So, for several months, I was dressed like a bunny (not the furry kind, but the Playboy kind) and singing my heart out to unsuspecting folks celebrating birthdays, anniversaries or just minding their own business.  The worst one, bar none, was when a woman sent me to sing a ‘happy vasectomy’ song to her husband at his place of business.  No, there is not a vasectomy song that I’m aware of, so I had to write my own lyrics to the tune of…wait for it…”The Old Grey Mare.”  This was at an oil company in Houston, so imagine a boardroom full of J.R. Ewings sitting around listening to this drivel.  The other men were amused.  The husband?  Not so much.  That woman had a wicked sense of humor.  I often wonder if they were divorced soon after that.

Have you got a blog where readers can keep up with your work?
It’s called Page One – the musings of an Arkansas Delta-born, peach cobbler-loving writer who flourished in a southern-fried family.  www.danapage1.blogspot.com

Which indie author should we interview next?
Marika Christian, author of “Phone Kitten.”  She’s very funny.

Where can we buy Pass the Hot Stuff?
Amazon for book or Kindle.  Createspace for the book (delivery might be a little faster from them)

What’s next?
I’m working on another book, but it’s only in the beginning stages.  It will have a different feel to it than “Pass the Hot Stuff” in that the focus won’t be completely on romance.  But it will still have the humor and light-hearted feel that I like so much.

And if the writing thing doesn’t work out, I thought I could go back to singing telegrams.  What else would a private person do, right?   I know I put those bunny ears somewhere…

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Enjoyed this interview? Then check out our conversation with Susan Buchanan.