Christmas with Marta Acosta + Giveaway(INT)
Interview with Milagro
ME: Hey, Mil, how’s married life with your gorgeous husband?
Ian DuCharme, Milagro's husband
MILAGRO: I am loving it! Do you really think he’s gorgeous? I think he’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen, but my girly parts strongly influence my opinion. Our marriage hasn’t settled into any pattern yet. Since he’s a director on the Vampire Council, he’s always jetting around doing secret missions, and I admire the way he incorporates parties into his career. I’m just like that, too.
ME: It’s a rare talent. You don’t miss him while he’s away?
MILAGRO: Of course, but I have Sweet Pea, my puppy, and my friends. I enjoy those times when I can really dig into my writing projects – including my new ghostwriting book of spiritual advice from a nutcase who claims he can shapeshift.
ME: I’m sure it will be as, er, significant and serious as your other writing projects, like your story about the terrifying llama. I’m so glad you’re not one of those women who become entirely defined by her spouse.
MILAGRO: He wouldn’t have married me if I was. I’ll always be utterly committed to my writing – but I can multitask and fully intend to partner with him on critical situations – hopefully ones in which I’ll need to wear a disguise – you know, dangerous adventures that require a more delicate and subtle approach.
ME: Excuse me for saying, but you haven’t been specially known for your subtle touch. Your impetuous nature is how you got infected by vampirism the first time when you ditched a party to go with a cute guy to his hotel. You were infected the second time when you threw yourself between an armed attacker and his intended victim.
MILAGRO: Oh, I don’t regret those things, but now I’m much more sensible and mature! For example, for Christmas, I’m not automatically assuming that everyone wants the latest expensive trendy gadget. When I was broke and living in a rat-infested basement, I used to worry that I couldn’t get people the things they wanted. I’d just pretend to leave town for the holidays.
ME: Where did you tell people you were going? To your parents?
MILAGRO: Everyone knows my mother Regina does not want me to darken her doors. That’s why the holidays used to be so, well, lonely. No, I told my friends that I’d been invited on an archeological dig or something. Then afterward, I could give people rocks and tell them that they’d been discovered at an historic site.
ME: They believed that?
MILAGRO: I’d also give them a plate of cookies. As a general rule, any story is more convincing when cookies are included. Remember that for your books.
ME: Thanks for the tip. Won’t your mother Regina change her mind about you now that you’re married to an extremely wealthy, powerful, and gorgeous man?
MILAGRO: Yes, because she’s a horrible human being. But I don’t care about his money, power, or influence. My feelings for him go deeper….into his pants.
ME: You’re hilarious.
MILAGRO: I’m glad you think so. Not everyone agrees. My mother Regina certainly doesn’t, which is one reason I’m not interested in drinking diet eggnog with her.
ME: Do they even make diet eggnog?
MILAGRO: What would be the point? Beverages with eggs, cream, alcohol, and spices are weird, don’t you think? But eggnog tastes delish so long as you don’t actively think about what it is. That’s true about a lot of things in life: if you don’t overthink them you can enjoy more.
ME: I agree. What gifts are you giving this year?
MILAGRO: I’m giving my new husband (husband!) a coupon book full of sexy treats, which is both economical and creative. For everyone else, I bought a bunch of wool blankets!
ME: I like wool blankets.
MILAGRO: I know, right? I shrunk them in a hot wash to make felt out of them, and now I’m going to sew fun felt slippers. Everyone loves slippers in the winter.
ME: I know that you had to make a tunic for the first vampire wedding ceremony you planned—
MILAGRO: The one that got sabotaged by crazy-ass bitches and members of the Vampire Council? Don’t remind me. Driving off a mountainside road once was enough. And the recipe for vampire wedding cake, which is a fruitcake by the way, was dreadful. I’ve banned fruitcake from my house.
ME: Back to the felt slippers. I didn’t know your craft work had gotten so advanced.
MILAGRO: I’ve been watching videos on YouTube. Also, Mrs. K is going to help. She’s our housekeeper.
ME: You’re living the high life, having a housekeeper and butler and everything.
MILAGRO: She earns more money than I do, but it is odd not worrying about paying rent. My friend Mercedes once told me that I couldn’t always support myself with payoffs from botched murder attempts.
ME: How’s that working out for you?
MILAGRO: It’s mixed. On the good side, I don’t mind a few weeks without attempts on my life. I’m not opposed to sexy lingerie and handcuffs, but I think they should only be used in consensual relationships, not under threat from some maniac. On the bad side, those payoffs came in awfully handy. That’s how I paid for my old loft.
ME: How do you like your luxurious new house?
MILAGRO: I love it, especially the garden, which has been neglected for decades. I’m doing lots of digging and planting. My friend Nancy – you remember her?
ME: Nancy Carrington-Chambers, your posh former roommate from a Fancy University?
MILAGRO: Yes, Nancy from F.U. She lives in the neighborhood and she agrees completely that decorating my Christmas tree with a hundred tiny disco balls was a genius idea. Because it’s thematic and pays homage to…
ME: To the disco era?
MILAGRO: No, to the big disco ball I put in the living room. I like the disco era, but I’m not committed to it. I have issues with polyester and large collars.
ME: Okay, I have to ask you a rather personal question. Everyone wants to know: are there any plans for a baby? And, if so, would the baby be a normal human like you were at the start of your adventures, or a vampire baby?
MILAGRO: Oh, my! No plans to get pregnant right now, but you wouldn’t know by the way my husband insists that we keep practicing. Between you and me, I don’t think he needs any practice at all, but I don’t want to discourage his enthusiasm.
ME: Anything else you want to tell us? Any more crazy adventures planned?
MILAGRO: I only want to tell everyone to have a wonderful Christmas and fantastic New Year! The very best thing about all my adventures has been meeting so many wonderful people. This year, I won’t have to pretend that I’ve been suddenly recruited to act as a cultural liaison for an Australian rugby team, although that would be fun, and I can celebrate at home with my fabulous husband (husband!) and all my fantastic friends. It really will be the best Christmas ever!
Copyright @ Marta Acosta
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So here's the scoop. I'm from the San Francisco Bay Area and I can
never seem to get away from here for long despite my continual fear of
earthquakes. Yes, that's all I got out of the geology classes I took at
Stanford. That and a nifty rock pick. If you haven't gone to the
desert and smashed things with a rock pick, you don't know what you're
missing.
I went to Stanford and received degrees in English & American Lit
and Creative Writing, which qualified me to do very little except read
books. That was my goal all along, but no one pays you to do that. I
studied in England and missed the sun. I worked in non-profits and
the theatre and missed getting paychecks.
I live with the fabulous spouse and the force-of-nature spawn and our insane rescued dogs. A friend who recently visited said, "They are bad dogs." I prefer to delude myself that they are morally complex.
I've won some awards for my writing, but I get a real thrill when a fan sends me an email, or readers say they like the nonsense on my blog. My priorities have always been skewed.
I live with the fabulous spouse and the force-of-nature spawn and our insane rescued dogs. A friend who recently visited said, "They are bad dogs." I prefer to delude myself that they are morally complex.
I've won some awards for my writing, but I get a real thrill when a fan sends me an email, or readers say they like the nonsense on my blog. My priorities have always been skewed.
I've also written under the name Grace Coopersmith. Why Grace
Coopersmith? Because Grace Coopersmith is always elegant and
tasteful, and she never leaves her clothes in a pile on a chair or sings
to her dogs. Despite Grace's annoying superiority, she is hilarious
and always shows up with a good bottle of wine.
Find Marta:
Goodreads
I adore this series! It's really funny, beautifully written and full of various twists and turns.
I adore this series! It's really funny, beautifully written and full of various twists and turns.
GIVEAWAY
Giveaway is open to all.
Ends December 30th 2012.
Winner will have a choice of a signed copy of Midnight Brunch (book #2) + bookmarks from Marta Acosta or any other book in the series ordered by yours truly.
If you live outside The Book Depository countries of shipping the book will be ordered from BetterWorldBooks and might come in used condition depending on availability.
