I was inspired to write Teaching Mia after I graduated from business school in Spain. My experience during my time there was so rich and intense, it gave me plenty of source material to work with. Somehow I started imagining what it would be like for a girl to go through the same experience, but by herself and completely alone. That’s when the back story came to me of a wounded girl who was fleeing her past and trying to make a better life for herself in a foreign country. It just seemed like the perfect scenario for someone who had a lot of obstacles in front of them and presented a lot of challenges to struggle through. And of course, a romantic hero who would eventually save her from it all!

Tell us about this girl.

The heroine in my story is Mia Fuentes. She is half American and half Mexican and had been living in NYC up until she gets fed up with her life and moves to Madrid to attend graduate school. She is fleeing from her past and trying to make a new life for herself. She is incredibly shy and antisocial, but at the same time she is very strong as she’s faced many obstacles in her life.

What genre is this novel?

Contemporary romance.

In that case, tell us about the main male character.

The hero is Leo Durant. He is half British and half Spanish and hails from a rich family. He is super confident, outgoing, and is the most sought after guy on campus. However, he is also very guarded and easily distrusts people and stays away from forming close relationships. Mia is his one and only exception, and his ultimate weakness!

Who will the novel appeal to?

I think it will mostly appeal to females, ages 18+. The setting takes place in graduate school, so the core demographic is probably closer to 21-35, but I think the story has a little a bit of everything for everyone!

Have you written any other books that we should read next?

I’m currently working on translating Teaching Mia into Spanish. I’m a native Spanish speaker, so I did the translation myself and now I’m in the process of editing with the help of my mom! It’s been a fun process so far as I also thoroughly enjoy writing in Spanish as much as in English, but at the same time it definitely requires much more proofing than English as there are so many accents and grammar details to look out for!

Besides this, I’m also in the process of finishing up Book 2 of the Nights in Madrid Series, Stealing Emma. This story features the story of Leo’s older brother Max, and his hot pursuit of a love interest who just so happens to be already taken. Although there’s a lot of drama due to the ensuing love triangle, I feel like I’ve also had a lot of fun writing this book so far and the characters keep on surprising me.

Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in Mexico City, but have lived in New York mostly since college. I’m fully bilingual in English and Spanish and have been emerged in both cultures equally since a young age. If I’m not writing, then I’m most likely reading. But if I’m not doing either of those, I spend my time goofing around with my husband, watching a good show or movie, or eating out at restaurants with friends. I used to be an avid tennis player growing up and occasionally play whenever I get the chance. I’m also really passionate about traveling and try to make an overseas trip at least once a year. This past year I was fortunate enough to visit Israel as well as Argentina. In 2014, I’m planning on going to the World Cup in Brazil. Oi galera!

Do you have a website?

http://about.me/mcroman

What about social media?

@mc_romances

https://www.facebook.com/MCRomanAuthor

How easily do new storylines come to you? If we give you four random words – Man, Woman, Airport, Darkness – can you give us a brief storyline?

I thought this question was really interesting because I’m a real sucker for airport scenes and am always imagining different storylines coming out of them, especially since there is a lot of travel in my books. I think people tend to be very emotional at airports so you can get a lot of mileage from your characters out of this particular setting.

In Teaching Mia, Mia and Leo have an emotional run-in at the airport before taking off to Shanghai on a class trip, and then they have a deep and telling conversation at their return. Later on in the story, Mia also has a flashback where her ex-boyfriend had chased after her at the airport in New York right before she moves to Madrid. Stealing Emma also includes a few airport storylines where the main characters are either fighting or are all over each other!