Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Luscious Literaries welcomes Melissa Blue!

Out of your published stories, which character is your favorite?

Sebastian from Weekend Lover and Down With Cupid. My reason for that is that I’ve finally had a character who probably uses the f-bomb more
than me. Love.

How do you come up with the titles of your books?

Out of the ether. It’s usually before I write the story because I suck at titles. If I try to give a book a name after I’ve written it, I end
up with stuff like See Megan Run. Lol The original title for that book was Overworked and Underlaid. My publisher at the time wanted me to
change it. Soo…yeah.

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced as a writer?

This probably sounds obvious, but writing is the biggest challenge.There are either more ideas than I have the time to write. Or no
ideas. Or wanting to write better with each book, but feeling like I can’t reach that goal. Not finding but making the time to write.
Writing is the only thing I can control. The rest just gives me a headache. When things aren’t going well with my writing there’s
nothing to fall back on.

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

My answer changes depending on my mood or what I’m reading. Today my favorite author is Jim Butcher. He writes paranormal private eye
detective mysteries. I love the main character. He toes the line of anti-hero. Butcher as an author steps up not only the stories and
characters, but his writing. I admire the hell out of that. Plus, I can read his work and not put on my internal editor hat.

Do you have a favorite out of the books you have written?

I have a top three: How Much You Want to Bet?, See Lynne Chased and Down With Cupid.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Nora Roberts. She doesn’t use or take any excuses. Things get done. I want to be that writer and I’ve strived to be just that for the past
two years. I have to say, I’ve gotten a lot done and my career has gotten better.

What’s your favorite scary movie?

Hitchcock’s Psycho. I still get the heebie jeebies when I think about the cleanup scene. You can see anything, not really. But it’s the cold
way he cleans up the “mess” that forces me to have the lights on.

What’s the first costume you remember wearing as a child?

I had to be in kindergarten or the first grade, but I was clown. I remember this because I cried long and hard about having to be a one. I wanted to be a ballerina or anything else besides a clown. I had the paint on my face. The nose. The wig. Lol I hated it.

Favorite Halloween candy?

I like this candy because it just feels like Halloween. It’s the hard, big pink bubblegum that can rip out a molar. Comes in a big ol’ bag with Tootsie Rolls. Love it. I will sit and try to break my jaw in half chewing it. I have it every year, but I promise to stop if and when I actually pull out a tooth with that stuff.

If you could dress up as anyone for Halloween, who would it be?

A Go-Go dancer. I have a fascination with boots so I think it would
marry the two things I love: Halloween and Boots.

Thank you for visiting with us Melissa!

Blurb:

Two months have passed since Nicole Harrison’s weekend of forbidden pleasure. It should have been more than enough time for Nicole
to forget Sebastian’s charming smiles and wicked kisses. Except, during those nights together, she managed to leave behind her driven
lifestyle as a publicist and took what she wanted, experiencing freedom and the wild abandon of their reckless agreement of no last
names, no shared details. And the woman she was with him is the hardest part to erase from her memory.

Unfortunately, one detail was tantamount—Sebastian Clark is a publicist and now he’s gunning for her job.

Sebastian never allows himself to get tangled in knots by a woman, and, yet, he can’t stop dreaming about Nicole’s silky thighs and ripe
lips, how she’d shuddered under his touch. He doesn’t need a woman who is more of a shark than he when it comes to PR, except he’s seen
every, single soft inch of her. Now they’ll have to work side by side and somehow ignore what feels like unfinished business.

Will the weekend they spent together turn out to be more than they could have ever imagined, or will past hurts and career ambitions
stand in their way? Only Cupid knows…

Excerpt:

“You’re cocky.”

“You should know.” His voice had gone husky without provocation.

Her teeth sank into the side of her mouth, pursing full lips. She straightened. “I do. Never doubt that.” She made a sound full of
contemplation. “Your confidence will be your Achilles’ heel. You think because you know something, you know everything.”

“I’m not new at this.”

“No, you’re not. At least not from the way you conducted yourself. But that doesn’t mean you can’t learn more tricks of the trade. ”

He hoped, like hell, they had stopped talking about the client. Then common sense prevailed and shot down the idea. He and Nicole had to
work closely together. What happened once could never happen again. The only reason he had the urge to play this game was to prove himself
to Anna and her publicity manager. Nothing else. Nothing more.

“I could say the same.”

A smile, slow and seductive, curved her lips. “What’s the prize?”

“A coveted contact.” He had more than a few she’d salivate over, and after seeing her schmooze Jeremiah, he knew she had a few he’d want.

“Then you’re on, Sebastian. May the best publicist win.”

You can pick up Down With Cupid at these retailers:

Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, ARe and Kobo