Welcome Back - Cari Quinn

Thank you for having me here today!

Music is a huge part of my life and it has been since I was a child. A lot of people don’t know that my original dream was to be a singer. My happiest moments were on stage, losing myself in a song. Now I lose myself in books—often others’s stories, sometimes my own. And one thing that helps facilitate that for me is putting together just the right accompaniment of songs for my story.

TEST SHOT was one of the most difficult books I’ve ever written, as well as one of the easiest. Sawyer came to me with no trouble. I “got” him and he was easy to write about. Layla, I could understand as well. Aidan was harder for me, because his closed-off nature on the page extended to when I was trying to peel back his layers and figure out what had shaped him into the man he’s become.

There were a lot of separate threads running through the book: Layla’s desire to grow as a person and face her fears, Sawyer’s need to remain honest despite the consequences, and Aidan’s fight to maintain the status quo, And then there were the relationship conflicts and connections…and man, you can see where I needed music to assist me with my persnickety characters!

There are two songs in particular that I associate with TEST SHOT. The first, A THOUSAND YEARS by Chrisina Perri, I had on repeat continuously during a big scene between Layla and Sawyer near the climax of the book and it literally brought me to tears because it so perfectly echoed their emotions. Even now, months after I wrote that scene, that song makes me teary. I know, I know, author sap in the house.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtOvBOTyX00

The second song is WANTED by Hunter Hayes. In TEST SHOT, Sawyer is on a one-man mission to show Layla all the amazing things he sees in her. This song is pretty much Sawyer’s theme.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruyaKdPfTN4

If it seems like I’m leaving out Aidan, not to worry, he’ll be getting his own book. He needs a full novel to explore what’s going on with him—and for the really hot sex he’ll be having, lucky guy. Which TEST SHOT also has plenty of, in case I neglected to mention that!

Here’s the blurb and link at Loose Id:

Layla Palmer is starting over in New York City with a new job at Hot Shots, an agency that specializes in hiring talent for jobs with an erotic bent. Happily engaged, she writes off the changes in her relationship with her fiancé, Aidan, as growing pains. But that all comes into question when her beloved fiancé comes up with a startling suggestion: he wants to watch her have sex with another man.

Aidan's a man on the edge, fighting demons he won't name for fear of losing the woman he loves forever. But the game he's playing can only continue for so long, especially when the man they decide to invite into their bed turns out to be Layla’s newest prospective model, Sawyer Blake.

Passion explodes between them, threatening to spill over and burn them all. Soon Aidan and Layla's already incendiary relationship hits the boiling point. Now she's fighting her own battles, including the conflicted feelings of lust and love she harbors for both men. But how can she figure out who to trust when everything she ever knew is changing, including herself?

Loose Id buy link: http://www.loose-id.com/authors/a-f/cari-quinn/hot-shots-test-shot.html#product_tabs_Excert

Now it’s your turn. How much does music influence you? Do you have a favorite artist?

Cari Quinn Bio:

USA Today bestselling author Cari Quinn saves the world one Photoshop file at a time in her job as a graphic designer. At night, she writes sexy romance, drinks a lot of coffee, and plays her music way too loud. When she’s not scribbling furiously, she’s watching men’s college basketball, reading excellent books, and causing trouble. Sometimes simultaneously.

Visit Cari Quinn at www.cariquinn.com