Interview with romance author Misty Mount

Today’s special guest is romance author Misty Mount. She’s in the hot seat to chat with me about her new novel, The Nanny Song.

During her virtual book tour, Misty will be awarding 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:
Misty Mount has written since age five and was first published at fourteen. She resides in Wichita, Kansas.

Welcome, Misty. Please tell us about your current release.
The Nanny Song is about a young woman named Mallory who is thrown into the job of nannying two very naughty children for a handsome and mysterious widower.

What inspired you to write this book?
I worked for years in caregiving, including being a nanny, and those memories will always stick with me as the most stressful fun of my entire life.

Excerpt from The Nanny Song:
The old house seemed to come alive at night with unknown creaking and moaning sounds. It was as if the attic were whispering to the cellar, the home’s nighttime voices snaking up pipes and linking below the floors. It was no wonder Meela was afraid to go to bed alone.

Mallory gazed up at the ceiling, wide awake and speculating. The room was so dark that the white plaster overhead appeared blackish-gray in color. Every noise in the room was strikingly evident and relentlessly pestering: the clock on the nightstand, the squeaky bed frame, even Mallory’s own heartbeat. A new scuffle resonated into the room from somewhere out in the hallway.

Mallory froze, all other sounds hushed in the background of her ears. It seemed as if something was moving very slowly down the length of the hallway in front of her room, advancing closer and closer. Then, just as abruptly as it had started, the noise stopped. Silence engulfed the atmosphere like a dull static in her ears and Mallory wondered if she had imagined the noise completely. After a few seconds went by, she sighed and shifted in bed. That’s when a definite metallic squeaking sound started, and Mallory bolted upright.

What exciting story are you working on next?
I’m currently working on a space-opera-style science fiction that is set in two separate but connected time periods. It’s very different from anything else I’ve written, but I’m having a ton of fun with it.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
In kindergarten, my teacher read a story to the class, and I was hanging on the edge of my carpet square until the very ridiculous and anticlimactic ending. I was so disappointed by the way the story finished that I couldn’t relax until I had rewritten it at home using my best crayons. I’ve been writing ever since.

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?
I would love to have more time to write, but I suppose I’ll have to retire first. In the meantime, I work as a developmental editor and author coach, so I actually spend more time on other writers’ work than I do on my own. I plan remedying that and focusing more on my own writing this year. That’s the goal, anyway.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
The funny thing is: my significant other is always quick to describe me as “quirky,” but nothing in particular is really standing out here . . . maybe because to me it’s normal to be a little odd?

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Mostly I just wanted to be Harriet the Spy. She was into journaling and writing and I tried to copy her secretive “moves.” I have stacks of notebooks from age 10-16ish that are nothing more than my ridiculous observations about other people. Because of that I still look at anyone I meet as a potential character.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I just wanted to share that one of the biggest challenges for me as a writer has been opening up my writing for others to see, read, and comment on. Being introverted, sensitive, and shy has made it really difficult for me to let potentially critical eyes rove over what have always before been my private words and worlds. Thankfully, positive experiences have outweighed the negative ones overall, and I’m glad that I didn’t keep that part of me hidden. If you’re nervous about sharing your own work, just remember you can’t be as awkward as me!

Links:
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