FUNKY FRIDAY - with author Kimberly Menozzi

This week we welcome to the stage Kimberly Menozzi.  We settled with a cool Italian cocktail and had a chat. 

Kimberly, can you describe yourself as a writer in five words. 

Heartfelt, detailed, wordy, realistically romantic. 

As a writer of affairs of the heart, what do you do to motivate yourself on a day you're just not feeling it? 

If I'm really struggling, I'll set the scene aside and come back to it later. If at all possible, I'll sit and listen to music – often the music which inspired the scene in the first place – and that will get me through it. If there's just no hope at all, I might even take a full-on break from writing for the day. Unless I'm on a deadline, of course. When I have a deadline, I power through the scene and fix it ASAP. 

Tell us about your ideal writing day. 

I wake up after a fully refreshing sleep to find the day is cool and a little cloudy. I have my breakfast and after a short period checking my email, I ride my exercise bike (or go for a ride outside), shower, dress, prepare the ingredients for dinner in the slow cooker, and then sit down to write. I work for roughly six to eight hours, with only short pauses for lunch and/or to give the cat some attention. Ideally, I continue writing until the hubby calls to say he's on his way home from work. I finish up the scene I'm working on and conclude it, wrapping up as the hubby arrives home. On days like this, I can get through an entire chapter and work out the bones for the next one, too.

Unfortunately, those days don't happen very often. 

Dream time.  Ultimate dinner party? You can have anyone dead or alive there - who would you have and why? 

To be honest, I'm crap at dinner parties. At best, I'd like an evening hanging out having snacks with Stephen King and John Irving. I bet they have great stories to share. 

If you were offered a squillion pounds to never write again, would you take it? 

If that meant never publishing again, maybe. I could never stop writing, though. The only periods in my life when I didn't write were miserable. I couldn't do that again. 

What's your ultimate writing goal? 

I would love to be able to simply make a living with my writing. By which I mean earning enough money to stand on my own two feet financially with the income from book sales. I'd also like to be respected as a writer, which isn't easy as an Indie. 

I couldn't agree more, Kimberly - but we keep on keeping on, don't we? 

QUICK FIRE ROUND

Planner or Winger? 
Mostly, I'm a winger. 

Night or Morning? 
Night. 

Doer or procrastinator? 
Procrastinator. 

Writing/first draft or editing? 
Writing. 

Tea or coffee? 
Tea.

You can follow Kimberly on Twitter (@KMenozzi), Facebook or on her Blog.

Her books can be found on Amazon / (Amazon UK), Barnes & Noble, kobo and Apple.

Thank you for joining me Kimberly - it was great to chat and I wish you well in the future.

NEWSFLASH

My full length novel has been edited and is now with my test readers - release date is looking to be on 12th December and I can't wait to reveal the cover and 1st chapter - watch this space.

My fellow Indie and good friend, Michelle Betham won a competition run by Harper Impulse and I am so, so proud of her.  You can currently buy her books here. 

The sequel to 'Trouble at Toff Towers' by Anne Ullah has been released - if it's as funny as the first, I can't wait to have time to read it. Buy it here.