Romantic suspense author Natalie Cross joins me today to chat about her new novel, Ballroom Blitz.
During her virtual book tour, Natalie will be giving away a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too.
Bio:
Natalie writes romances and cozy mysteries featuring main characters who accept each other as they are, and love deeply. Natalie lives in Los Angeles, where writing is an acceptable way to avoid sunburn. She is mom to two munchkins who despise brushing their hair and eat way too much cake. She is unapologetically terrible at taking selfies
Welcome, Natalie. Please tell us about your current release.
Ballroom Blitz is a cozy, fast-paced romance suspense novel set in the world of ballroom dance.
Long-time friends and professional ballroom dancers Patrick and Anita have agreed to partner at long last, if only for one competition. Patrick has been in love with Anita for ages, and this is his chance to prove to her how good they can be together.
If only they weren’t both being stalked…
Filled with dancing, pining, and a small town of diverse characters, this angsty slow-burn will have you on the edge of your seat. It’s written in the style of Jesse Sutanto’s Dial A for Aunties or Sarah Adams’s The Cheat Sheet.
What inspired you to write this book?
I have loved ballroom dancing since I was young, and I’ve dabbled in it on and off since college. During the pandemic, when we were all stuck at home, I spent hours watching dance videos on YouTube. I started to daydream about like as a professional ballroom dancer, and then what would happen if they were in danger. Of course there also had to be a romance because I need a guaranteed happily ever after nowadays.
Excerpt from Ballroom Blitz:
The music slowed to a close, and he gently lowered her back to the floor, his hands sliding along the sides of her body, trying to make the few beats last as long as possible. He breathed heavily, deeply, his heartbeat racing faster than was probably wise.
This woman would kill him one day. He would probably let her.
His gaze met hers. Had he remembered to temper the fire within him? Her eyes widened. Was that a flicker of desire? A momentary tightening of her hand against his? Finally, finally, maybe he could just incline his head a little—
And she pushed him away, standing up and moving back to the sound system all at once. She took a long, long drink of water from her travel mug. “Well,” she said at last. “Your standard isn’t bad. Let’s try jive.”
What exciting story are you working on next?
Ballroom Fever, the sequel to Ballroom Blitz, is currently in the editing process with The Wild Rose Press. It’s going to be really great. Patrick and Anita are back, and their road to love is…rocky, to say the least. I am so thrilled about how it is turning out.
Ballroom Blind Date and Ballroom Prom are out and available now, either through my newsletter or wherever you buy books online. Ballroom Prom is the prequel to Ballroom Blitz, which takes place at Patrick and Anita’s senior prom. Ballroom Blind Date is a standalone romance suspense novella featuring two minor characters from Ballroom Blitz who find their happily ever after in a very unexpected place.
A ballroom dance-centered novella will be included in a clean sports romance anthology, due out November 2023. That takes place in Vienna, so I get to do some fantasy travel while I’m at it.
I’m also working on a standalone LGBTQ Rockstar romance, and some other surprises along the way.
The best way to keep track of what’s in the pipeline is to join my newsletter or follow my website at www.nataliecrosswrites.com.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
A lot of the advice from more seasoned authors says that the minute you put words on the page, you are a writer. I love this advice, but it’s difficult to feel like a full-time writer when I have a day job and two kids at home who need me. Next year one of my goals is to lean into the writer identity, so I can take pride from it.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
Like so many people, I wish I could write full-time, but I have another day job where I work four days a week, and I have two young kids. I find time to write whenever I can. Before my girls wake up in the morning, or after they go to sleep at night. For ten minutes in between helping my eight-year-old with her homework and getting my four-year-old a snack. I am intensely grateful to my mom for encouraging me to practice typing with Mavis Beacon when I was young. Without that, I wouldn’t be quite so fast a typist.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I don’t write linearly. I’ve found I can finish the story more quickly and get the words out of my head better if I skip around a little in a story. If there’s a part where I’m stuck, but I have the dialogue for a later scene, I jump to that. Then when I’m ready or when I’m editing, I highlight those sections and fill them in. It takes me a good eight or ten edits to get a story the way I want it to be.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was a child, I wanted to be a large animal veterinarian and write books like Michael Crichton, my ten-year-old idol. In retrospect, perhaps I read Jurassic Park a little too young, but hey, it was the 80s. I had planned on living in a rattling, possibly haunted farmhouse with an obscene amount of pets, sheep and goats included.
Needless to say, life has turned out differently haha. I’d still like to write books like Michael Crichton one day.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I have been so touched and heartened by the response to Ballroom Blitz and Ballroom Blind Date. I love hearing from readers, so please reach out to me! In real life, I’m kind of goofy and awkward but I live by one rule: Kindness is always possible.
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Thanks for hosting!
Sounds like a great read.
It really was super fun to write. I hope you like it!
Great cover art – love it.
Isn’t it beautiful? I wish I had a dress like that
This sounds like an interesting book.
Thanks! Do you have any questions about it?
Thank you so much for hosting! I had so much fun writing this Q+A, and I hope you love Ballroom Blitz.
I can definitely say I loved this story.
This book sounds like such a fun, intriguing read!! Added to my Goodreads TBR List and look forward to checking it out!!
Thank you for sharing your interview, bio and book details, if Ballroom Blitz was made into a movie, who would you want starring in the leading roles?