This week I was super-excited to chat with romance author Anya Sharpe, where we discussed our shared joy for Red Wine and Crispy Bacon, gawking at nude beaches, and her new novel Royal Snapshot.
Keep reading below for all the juicy details…
Olivia: First off, tell us something ridiculous, funny, or inappropriate about yourself that no one would suspect?
Anya: Let’s just go with a trifecta of ridiculous, inappropriate, and embarrassing once the liquor wore off… Once upon a time when I was a journalist, I would assist another reporter (okay, so now he’s my husband) covering the Emmys and MTV Music Video Awards (early ‘90s) for the newspaper we worked at in LA. We got to go to an after-party. Got to “meet” David Spade. I’m pretty sure I made a less-than-stellar impression. (Again, liquor.) He was known for SNL and one of his skits was to be a receptionist for someone like Dick Clark. His famous line was to pretend he didn’t know the famous person with the appointment. He’d say, “…and you are…?” Yeah. So, we greeted him. And, being oh, so clever, I turned that line on him. Don’t think he was amused.
Olivia: What is one of the most beautiful things you’ve ever seen or most beautiful experiences you’ve ever had?
Anya: Jeez. I like to travel so I’ve seen a lot of amazing stuff. I guess scuba diving ranks up there. It’s like swimming in a fish tank. Best dive spots I’ve been to are Hawaii, Saint Lucia, Belize and Cozumel.
Olivia: Parallel parking: yes, sorta, or hells-no
Anya: Hells-no. I avoid it at all costs for the good of all humankind. I think maybe once in my entire life I’ve executed a decent parallel parking maneuver. Someone should have recorded it, because it probably won’t happen again. Holy cow, though. We visited a family in France and one in Belgium last fall. Now those bastards know how to parallel park. I think it’s genetic. Zip-zap-zip and they’re shoe-horned between two cars with about three inches to spare front and back. It’s a thing of beauty.
Olivia: Bacon: crispy or limp?
Anya: Crispy. Just don’t burn that sucker, either. Seriously, though, limp bacon? Who wants to gnaw on that gross fatty stuff?
Olivia: Red or white?
Anya: Dang. RED. My favorite color. I have a red toaster, food processor, blender. Even had a set of red-handled kitchen knives. Had to throw ‘em out because the red laminate coating peeled off and they weren’t good knives anyway. Used to have a red accent wall in the master bedroom, but we left that behind when we moved. Hey! My new book, Royal Snapshot has the heroine in a RED DRESS! Red Rules!
Olivia: Nude beach: Would you or not?
Anya: Do I have to be nude? Or can I just gawk? Fairly sure the scenery would be underwhelming, though. Including me.
Olivia: Your slightly neurotic pet peeve?
Anya: Semi-colons. (Ask Olivia.) They’re never used correctly. I say just make two sentences and call it a day. Another pet peeve is when I’m reading a really good book and the author uses a word incorrectly or the wrong word that sounds similar. Oh, and misspellings.
Olivia: What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?
Anya: There are actually two things that I’d say are “most daring.” The first is overcoming a bunch of fears to become certified as a scuba diver when I was in my early 30s. When you’re tested you have to—at a depth of about 40 feet—remove and replace ALL of your dive equipment without freaking out. The hardest are removing the breathing apparatus and putting it back on. I had a hard time with that, as well as removing and replacing my mask, which requires clearing the water out of it so you don’t breathe it in and drown.
Last year my daughter and son-in-law talked me into climbing an 80-foot rock at Smith Rock in Oregon. They’re big rock climbers, and I’m old and out of shape. I figured I’d get up about three feet, fall, and give up. They trussed me up in the gear and I got up about 8 or 10 feet and was about to quit because damn that’s hard. But, I didn’t. I don’t know why, I just kept going. It is NOT easy trying to find a tiny little nook on a giant slab of vertical rock to grab onto with your fingertips or to wedge your toes into. Eventually, I got to the top and then had to rappel down. I seriously thought I was going to throw up afterward. No one, especially my husband expected I’d go the whole way. (He went first and did it.) Heh, (polishes fingers on lapel) my son-in-law said my rappel was better than my husband’s. Neener-neener.
Olivia: Tell us a little about your latest book:
Anya: “Royal Snapshot” was started as an exercise to bust through a bad bit of writer’s block on another project (“Nine Hours,” free on Wattpad). An author friend had just released a royalty romance, so I thought I’d mess around with one because it was totally different than “Nine Hours.” Once I got started, I more or less developed the story as I went.
“Royal Snapshot” is about Gia Perrone, who is the last-minute assistant for a months-long project photographing the centennial for a Mediterranean island nation with a world famous photographer. This includes royal balls and galas, the Prince’s engagement, wedding and him being crowned king of Santoria. Her boss, Scott Wainwright is a bully, who she puts up with because the assignment is so prestigious. But along the way Scott becomes attracted to her. Prince Roman, meanwhile, dislikes the princess the queen is making him marry. When he meets Gia, he longs for a way to break his engagement and court Gia. Meanwhile, Gia is catching his vibes and tries to avoid encouraging his interest (because, you know, guillotines? Just kidding. No guillotines).
It becomes a balancing act when she discovers Scott is hot for her, too, and her cheating ex-boyfriend begs her to give him a third chance. It’s a triple romance whammy for Gia. Her heart truly belongs to the prince, who is off-limits, so eventually she decides to give Scott a chance—once he finally gets over being a jerk to her. Oh, yeah, she also has to shake off the ex’s renewed advances too. All while trying to be a professional and avoid the queen’s wrath over the prince’s interest in her.
I didn’t have a lot of crazy things to research for this book, other than a bit of royal protocol stuff. With “Nine Hours” I had to research Norway and translate some lines into Norwegian. This was easier.
Olivia: What’s the spice level? (My super-secret code question for “how hot are the sex scenes”)
Anya: I’m fairly explicit in my sex scenes. I’d like to think they’d burn down the castle. Or at least singe it a bit.
When is it available/ Where is it available? (please include URLs so I can link directly to it)
“Royal Snapshot” comes out on June 8. You can find it on:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3gUoW90
Barnes&Noble: https://bit.ly/2AxyPbY
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/royal-snapshot
Google Play: https://bit.ly/3gRabUg
GoodReads: https://bit.ly/2z5lnf2
Want to learn more?
Check out Anya’s author page: https://www.thewildrosepress.com/authors/anya-sharpe links to all of my books.