Interview Misty Simon Author of Liv and Breathe

Give a warm welcome to Misty Simon author of Liv and Breathe! 

Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Misty and her new release Liv and Breathe!

How long have you been writing? I started writing in 1999 so that’s a lot of years but my first book came out in 2005 and I haven’t stopped since then.

Do you see yourself in your characters? Absolutely! I tend to write people who have at least one of my quirks.

What do you want your readers to take away from your books? Pleasure, escape, a time away from whatever life is throwing at them. I like to think of myself as Calgon – I take you away.

Why do you write what you write? Contemporary, paranormal,  suspense, etc. LOL, so um the only thing I don’t write is erotic and inspirational so I write whatever hits my fancy though for the most part they all involve mysteries of some sort. I love the game of seeing if you can figure it out before the big reveal.

Any tips to share with fellow authors/aspiring authors? What’s Know what you want and then go get it! If you want to be traditionally published then know what is selling and see if you can fit your stories into that frame. If you want to self-publish then know the ins and outs of what you’re getting yourself into. But always stay true to what calls to you to write it. Huge numbers of readers are awesome but if you are writing something that just doesn’t speak to you then I think it comes across to the reader and cheats both of you of what could have been an amazing story.

 SPEED ROUND FOR A LITTLE ADDED FUN:

Speed Round (one word only answer): Yep, I know torture for a writer!<evil laugh>

Favorite movie: Princess Bride
Favorite book: Maia
Last book read: Guardian of the West
Favorite color: Purple
Stilettos or flipflops: flipflops
Coffee or tea: Tea!
Ebook or audiobook or paperback: paperback
Pencil or pen: Pencil

Favorite song: Somebody by Depeche Mode

Streak or not: Nope

Favorite dessert: Pie

Favorite junk food: Tagalongs

Favorite thing to do to relax: Journal

Champagne or gin: Champagne

Paranormal or Historical: Both!

Wonder Woman or Top Model: Wonder Woman

Favorite TV show: Supernatural

Hot or cold: Cold

POV: First

I’d die if I don’t have: Silver Crayons

Review or Not: Review

Tell us about Liv and Breathe.

Olivia Jameson runs a summer camp called Breathe, giving inner-city kids a chance to see a different life. When the man who owned the camp died, leaving his dream to his son, Liv took charge, and the work means the world to her.
As far as Alex Campbell is concerned, the camp is a hands-off tax write-off. But when Liv calls because her boys are accused of property damage, Alex returns to the place he hasn’t called home since age twelve…and to a girl he barely remembers, now a woman who stirs him like no city sophisticates ever have.
This is Liv’s livelihood, her mission, her dream. Sharing it with a man who doesn’t understand the impact is frustrating. But as he begins learning truths that were hidden from him, both Liv and Alex may have a change of heart. Can Liv open up her life one more time to love?

Amazon, The Wild Rose Press

A sneak peek between the pages of Liv and Breathe!

The clink and clatter of silverware in the busy diner did nothing to block out the thoughts churning through Olivia Jameson’s head. She had made the call earlier this morning, and now she would have to live with the consequences. Hoping she’d survive the experience, she had her doubts it would be easy.

“What can I get you, hon?” Betty, the owner of Petri’s Dish, asked with pad and pencil in hand.

“Just coffee.” At the thought of the storm she may have created, Liv’s shoulders drooped.

Betty’s eyes narrowed behind her thick glasses. “Tell me what’s wrong. You never just order coffee, especially when I have my pineapple salsa pancakes on the Specials board.” Her hand went to her hip, while her expression became mutinous. “So you’re not still worrying about that little ruckus over at the Beckham farm, are you? I told you it would all blow over.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t blowing over. In fact, it had just gotten a whole lot bigger. “They’re pressing charges.” It was as simple and as complicated as that.

“What?” Bustling around the counter, Betty plopped down on the stool next to Liv. A crowd began to gather the second she did. She never sat down for anything, not even when she wasn’t working. “You better tell me what in the world is going on, right now.”

No matter what she said or did at this point, Liv knew the entire story was going to come out soon enough. Such was life in a community their size. Sometimes she wished she lived in Kissinger, the next town over, where everyone seemed to mind their own business.

She might as well take a chance and tell her side before Mr. High and Mighty came rolling into town—if he could unglue himself from his society life long enough to take any interest.

“Some boys in town say they saw my boys over in Beckham’s pastures trying to tip over cows. When these town kids came along, they said they spooked the camp boys, who took off running. According to the accusers, that’s how the fence was broken and how the alpacas got out and ran away. Beckham still hasn’t found two of them.”

By this time, there was a solid crowd of about twenty people hemming Liv and Betty in at the counter. As much as Liv appreciated the looks of outrage for her camp boys, and for the situation in general, she didn’t blame the Beckhams for pressing charges. Especially with the graffiti Mr. Beckham had told her was spray-painted on the side of his barn.

She just couldn’t wrap her head around the idea that her boys would do something so destructive when they knew the consequences and the punishment for not toeing the line.

“I don’t believe it,” Betty declared, and had the majority of the other people agreeing with her both verbally and by nodding their heads. “There’s no way the boys at Breathe would jeopardize their time here by doing something so stupid.”

Liv would have said the same thing to her boss, Alex Campbell, this morning if he’d picked up his phone. Instead she’d left him a message asking him to please come to the farm, and she’d explain when he got here. It would be far better to handle this face to face. That way she could plead the case for her boys and make him understand more easily than she could convey over email. She didn’t want him here, but she wasn’t able to figure out a way to avoid it.

“I agree,” Liv said to the diner at large, but worry still pulled her eyebrows together. “The problem is how do I prove it? I don’t want to accuse anyone else, and I can’t prove without a shadow of a doubt that the boys were all in their beds last night. Not even David. This is a huge mess, just in time for the annual cook-off.”

“Don’t you worry about the cook-off,” Tim from the mechanic’s shop said. “That’s all taken care of, except for a few details. We’ll figure something out with the boys, too. I’m coming there today to work on that car with them. I’ll ask some questions that maybe you can’t ask.”

There was a chorus of agreement while people all went their separate ways. She really appreciated the support, but who was going to be there when Mr. Campbell came riding in to shut down the camp because she wasn’t doing a good job as the director? She couldn’t—and wouldn’t—lose Breathe, a camp that had been around for almost eighty years. It housed underprivileged boys from major cities over the summer, giving them a chance to see real grass and real cows, to ride horses and learn skills and self-worth that would hopefully keep them out of gangs and make them productive members of society.

About the Author:

Misty Simon always wanted to be a storyteller…preferably behind a Muppet. Animal was number one, followed closely by Sherlock Hemlock… Since that dream didn’t come true, she began writing stories to share her world with readers, one laugh at a time. She knows how to hula, was classically trained to sing opera, co-wrote her high school Alma Mater, and can’t touch raw wood. Never hand her a Dixie cup with that wooden spoon/paddle thing. It’s not pretty.

Touching people’s hearts and funny bones are two of her favorite things, and she hopes everyone at least snickers in the right places when reading her books. She lives with her husband, daughter, and two insane dogs in Central Pennsylvania where she is hard at work on her next novel or three. She loves to hear from readers so drop her a line at misty@mistysimon.com.

Links:

www.mistysimon.com

https://www.facebook.com/misty.simon.18

It was wonderful having you with us today.  Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck withLiv and Breathe!

 

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