Determined to land a huge advertising account for his company, Nicolas Sinclair gets a LITTLE carried away and tells the potential client he’s married and about to celebrate his first anniversary. Now, Nick has a serious problem—he has agreed to a high-stakes cruise with this important client and must find a willing “wife” to join him.

Laney Parks is either in the wrong place at the wrong time, or the right place at the right time—She isn’t sure which. She isn’t even entirely sure how she got roped into posing as her hunky boss’s wife. She finds “sticking to the script” SERIOUSLY unnerving, especially when it involves cuddling up and kissing in public—and sharing the close confines of a cabin, and its single bed, with him.

Tiffany I am so pleased that you have agreed to be interviewed by The Diva’s Pen. Your steamy I/R novel ‘Love Script-Deluxe Edition’ is one I’m anxious to learn more about. It’s my goal to introduce and champion talent such as yours, to keep the Multicultural Romance genre front and center. Okay, let’s get started shall we!

Best Drama Fiction Book

Full of forbidden desire and unwavering strength in the face of danger, Melody is a chilling tale that will leave readers breathless as they navigate all the plot twists and turns. Struggling to survive until the end, the diverse cast of characters will be left questioning their loyalties, their passions and how far they might be willing to go to protect the ones they love.

Stacy I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to have discovered a National Best Seller like yourself agreeing to do this interview. Finding an author of crime mystery focused around a multi-cultural romance in our genre is a rare gem. I’ve just started Melody and I’m intrigued from page one. This is a genre I may myself want to explore one day. I dabbled with the release of the book ‘Aaren’ and I gleamed some of the ingredients around what makes a mystery compelling in penning a truly engaging tale. So let’s get down to what makes an award winning author such as yourself tick, shall we!

Wow, thanks for having me! It’s a pleasure.

Diva: For those of us that haven’t read your smart crime romantic tales can you share where you’re from? Where do you reside in now?
SD: I was born and raised in Houston, Texas and I still live here.

Diva: As a child, who did Stacy want to be when she grew up?
SD: I wanted to be tons of things. My mother (RIP) was a teacher so at one point I wanted to be a teacher. But I realized I didn’t have that kind of patience and I’m not comfortable being around children. I wanted to be an actress, singer, comedienne and beautician. There wasn’t much I didn’t wanna be. LOL! I still might pursue one of those other dreams.

Diva: Considering your awards and fast growing popularity, how does your family, spouse, friend’s handle your success in publishing? Are they fans as well?

SD: My family’s always been supportive and very proud. As long as I’m happy then they are all for it. My parents have always had my back and if it weren’t for them I wouldn’t have been able to focus on making writing a career. As for a spouse, I’m single with no kids. I’m a loner. *winking*

Diva: ‘Melody’, looks to be one of your most popular novels. The issues or race, identity, family and loyalty are all addressed in an urban contemporary way. Where did the concept for this novel come from?

SD: It started from just an idea. I started thinking about writing a thriller about a young woman in danger. I wrote the very first draft of Melody in ’97 and many other drafts throughout the years before the 2008 publication. The diversity of the characters came natural for me. I wanted to write a story with a variety of people from all backgrounds and put them in situations that weren’t stereotypical or based on myths. The most exciting part was constructing the suspense and thriller elements and pushing the envelope when it came to the characters’ emotions and actions.

Diva: How hard or easy is it to write a novel where you must stay one step ahead of the reader?

SD: It’s very hard to write a mystery. It’s composing a puzzle. You have to keep the reader guessing as well as laying out clues along the way. The trick is that while you gotta show them some signals, it can’t be enough to foil the mystery until the end. You also gotta make sure your ending doesn’t cheat the reader. You have to be very familiar with crafting suspense. Mysteries and thrillers are definitely genres you have to understand deeply to pull off. I came up watching Alfred Hitchcock movies and reading about how he crafted his work. I studied him and other suspense writers, filmmakers, etc. Hitchcock’s genius took me into another world. I admire him so much. What I love most about writing mysteries is fooling the reader. *winking*

Diva: I imagine this kind of story development requires lots of concentration. Where and when do you write?

SD: I write in the den on my computer desk. I write whenever the bug hits me. When I first started writing I wrote everyday for hours. I used to force myself to write. Now I am more comfortable with who I am as a writer and I know my pace and what I can accomplish so I take more breaks these days. I give myself time to rest and take in a story as it grows. I’m a fast writer and I can pump out more than four books a year if I put my mind to it. And these are full-length books that are at least 80,000 to 100,000 words.

Diva: I ask this question of all the authors, and I’m fascinated by their responses. Why Interracial or Multicultural romance? What about the genre draws you to it?

SD:: It’s a personal preference for me so it comes natural. I’ve always been attracted to white men. Black women and white men couples were always my favorite to watch on movies, television and to read about. Interracial romance is so fascinating and exciting. I love to be able to put IR couples in unique situations. Plus, IR couples can make an ordinary story more interesting and give it some style.

Diva: Are your characters and their stories modeled by anything in your personal life? Where does the inspiration for your work come from?

SD: Hmm, there might be a bit of my personality in my female characters. I’m kind of feisty and I consider myself strong and I definitely stick to my guns. A lot of my female characters are like that. The only thing outside of personality that might be the same is the black women having interests in white men.

Diva: Now here’s one of my favorite questions of authors, because I want the readers to hear from us specifically on this issue. What is your stance on e-book piracy?

SD: I’m against piracy on all levels. As an author I can’t support something that cheats authors or takes the money out of our hands. Authors work hard and we deserve to get paid when folks read our work. I love reading ebooks and yes, free ones. But I don’t read free ebooks that aren’t supposed to be free. I don’t think there is an excuse for someone to pirate. It can be devastating to an author’s sales. A real fan would buy your books. There are an abundance of free ebooks in all genres so there is no excuse for people to participate in piracy. If there is a reader who can justify piracy, that’s no reader I’d want. I think most authors would feel the same. Piracy is stealing, plain and simple.

Diva: What was one of the biggest obstacles you faced in becoming published?

SD: One of the biggest was how I was with myself. I had to learn not to be so hard on myself. I put more pressure on myself and my work than others do. I often chastised myself and never recognized my accomplishments. I had to learn to pat myself on the back and show myself love. I grew up thinking of myself as an underdog, scratching and clawing for anything I wanted or needed. So buckling down and believing in myself was an obstacle when I first started. But writing gave me a confidence I never knew I had and that helped me combat anything that got in my way. Also, I’m very determined and love challenges. I’m not one to just give up.

Diva: Do you have any plans to write outside of the Contemporary genre? Maybe a novella or novel in Speculative or Paranormal fiction since those are so popular now.

SD: I do wanna write a historical romance one day because that’s one of my favorite genres. It just so happens I am getting ready to begin a super hero series and I think fans will find it interesting. I am very excited about it and this will definitely be something new. It will of course have an IR slant, probably more than one and it will be unique in other ways. I also have a Romantic Comedy that could be released as soon as 2012. There’s a lot I am open to and I’m a writer who writes what comes to me naturally. I don’t write to market. That’s not me. I feel like you gotta be true to yourself and not write something just because you think it sells. I have to like what I’m writing and if I don’t read a genre or like it, I won’t waste time writing it.

Diva: ‘Giving up the Ghost’ promises to be another intriguing read. How do you balance the violence that is evidently part of this thriller with the romance as well?

SD: My books are basically crime and mysteries with romance being the subplot. So I don’t know if some would consider it 50/50 or not. It’s a detective novel so it’s heavy on the crime and sleuthing but balanced out with some romance. There are a lot of things going on in this book and plenty to keep folks on their toes. I just wrote the story how it’s meant to be written. As long as it’s entertaining I don’t care about anything else.

Diva: What inspires Stacy?

SD: At the risk of sounding corny just my passion for writing inspires me. I love it so much and I feel like it’s what I was put on earth to do. No matter what happens in my life I don’t ever plan to stop writing unless I don’t have a choice. The feeling I get from writing and from having people read my work outweighs any happiness I’ve ever felt.

Diva: What are your current projects?

SD: Whoa I got tons of things I’ll be doing in 2011! Book two of my series is slated for a 2012 release so I’m excited about that. I gotta get that to the pub. It’s finished I just gotta do a final read through. I am working on two more books in the series along with my super hero series I mentioned. There are also some standalone books I’ve gotta put the finishing touches on, plus some books already written. So I got a lot going on. LOL!

Diva: Do you have a specific writing style (first person, ominscent point of view, etc)?

SD: Third is my favorite to read and write. I hate to read first but I’ll write in first if it fits the story. But I’d prefer third because it fits me better. I’m able to showcase different characters. I stay away from Omniscient because to me it takes away from the story. I don’t like to read that POV and have never written it. I don’t like all the allowed head-hopping. With Omniscient it’s too much telling and you never get into the story in my opinion.

Diva: How have you dealt with rejection letters when seeking to publish mainstream or have you had too?

SD: I’m a realist so what helped me was accepting that this was part of the business. Rejection and writing go hand in hand and even after publication, you still don’t escape rejection. I knew that I wanted to be published more than anything so I was determined not to let anything stop me. Of course it got very hard to keep going when doors were slammed in my face but I knew in my heart this was meant for me.

Diva: If you had to choose, which crime/mystery author would you consider the greatest influence?

SD: Edgar Allan Poe wouldn’t be considered a crime mystery author but he is my biggest influence because of the suspense he captured in his stories. I also like the classic writers like Agatha Christie and some of the old-time detective novels. Also when talking about classic crime we can’t forget about the Sherlock Holmes books. All of the classics are treasures to me and something you can learn from.

Diva: What book(s) are you reading now?

SD: Lately I’ve been reading a lot of shorts in between writing. The last full-length book I read was Delilah by Sheila M. Goss about a month ago. I really enjoyed it. I’m getting ready to start on some historical romances and some Harlequins I just downloaded. I’ll mainly be writing so my reading will go on the backburner until it’s time for me to take another break.

Diva: What is the most surprising thing you learned in writing your first book?

SD: That writing the first draft was the easier part of the entire process. I also learned that the first book you write is most likely not to be the first published or published at all.

Diva: Do you have any vices that you have to follow in order to keep yourself focused?

SD: Now I have to. It used to be easier for me to stay focused but my main problem is the Internet. There is so much online that can distract you, before you know it, you’ve wasted hours just being online. One of my new year’s writing resolutions for 2011 is to go on lockdown with writing and limit online time. I always get stuff done but I slack sometimes and I gotta go back to being a little tougher on myself. LOL!

Diva: What constitutes a hero in romance for you? Is he Alpha, is he heroic, is he the average guy overcoming the most remarkable of circumstances.

SD: The most compelling type would be the average person who has to overcome obstacles because it’s what we all can relate to. I find perfect, macho-men heroes fake and unrealistic. I don’t want a man popping up to save the woman or save the day. I think it’s old-fashioned and it’s just not me. I love strong women characters so I want a woman who can save herself and conquer things on her own as well as be in love. If I read one more story where the woman becomes stupid after falling in love I’ll croak. She can need the man, nothing wrong with that. Just not to the point of losing her mind or where she becomes so helpless without him. I prefer a hero and heroine to be on equal footing.

Diva: Do you hear from your reader’s much? What kind of things do they say?

SD: All of the mail I’ve gotten has been extremely nice and kind. Most times people will ask me what I am working on or if there will be a sequel to something I’ve written. It’s funny because every time I get a fan letter it’s when I’m depressed or need lifting up. LOL! Can’t tell you how much it means to me that someone liked my work enough to tell me. I love hearing from readers. That’s something that will always be welcomed. Their opinions and appreciation help me stay on my toes.

Diva: Have you ever regretted a plot or scene that you’ve edited out of a story?

SD:: No if I took it out I figured it didn’t need to be there. I never regret what I put in a story. I write what I feel and what I think the story calls for. It might not be the most comfortable or relaxed scene but if it’s supposed to be there, it will be. You gotta go with your gut and instinct as a writer.

Diva: What are your expectations for your work?

SD: The highest they can be. I ride myself harder than anyone can ride me. I feel like all writers should put their best foot forward. Authors should get better with each book. That’s how you grow. So I expect each book I write to be better than the last.

Diva: Have you ever experienced writers block? Any technique’s to overcome it?

SD:: For some reason I always get a block at the end of my stories. I think I put too much pressure on myself, anticipating a perfect ending. The best techniques for me are taking a breather from the project and letting my brain rest or ditching a particular scene. I’ve found out that when it is hard for me to write a particular scene, most times I don’t need it in there. Blocks come sometimes when we try to force things just because we want them in the story.

Diva: Okay let’s get to some fun facts about you. What’s under your bed?

SD: One of those plastic storage containers filled with old papers, some old torn slippers and Osama Bin Laden. LOL!

Diva: Chocolate or Vanilla?

SD: Are we talking about ice cream or men? Vanilla for both! LOL!

Diva: Light’s on or Lights off?

SD: Off!

Diva: What get’s warmed most in your microwave?

SD: Precooked chicken patties

Diva: Dog or Cat person?

SD: Neither

Diva: Last movie you’ve seen (at a movie theater)?

SD: Titanic (Needless to say I don’t go to the movies often.)

Diva Tell me the last thing that made you laugh.

SD: Sarah Palin possibly running for president.

Diva: First time you knew you were in love?

SD: When I broke my “rules” and dated this guy who didn’t fit anything I’d been looking for. LOL!

Diva: Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. Is there anything else you want share about your work to your readers?

With her ex-lover and faithful partner, Steven Kemp, Bree thrusts herself into the case. It’s not long before they believe two unrelated British men are connected to the attack. Michael is a womanizing artist with a ferocious appetite for rough sex. Simon is a wealthy free spirit looking for love in all the wrong places, but has one too many skeletons in his closet.

Bree struggles to determine fact from fiction when it comes to Michael and Simon but her attempts are blurred by Michael’s manipulation and her sexual attraction to Simon, who Steven’s convinced, cannot be trusted.

Meanwhile the stalker does everything in his power to get close to Bree and his obsession evokes a spiral of violence.

Bree must trust her heart to find answers but her heart leads her to the most dangerous man of all.