Guest Post: Monique Domovitch (author of Scorpio Rising and The Sting of the Scorpio)

I remember my mother taking me to the public library when I was as young as four years old. That was when she introduced me to Madeline, the little schoolgirl. As teenager, I discovered Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames, and then Harlequin books. And then I really fell in love for the first time. I was in England where my friends introduced me to a book by Wilbur Smith. 
I think I hadn’t read ten pages of his book–can’t remember the title anymore–when I knew this was it. I could spend the rest of my life in bed with this writer’s books.

Over the next few years, Wilbur Smith’s books made me discover Africa, where I met animals I’d never heard of, and villains the likes of which I hope to never meet. I was swept into his stories of love and passion and greed; stories from which I never wanted to walk away. I devoured book after book of his, until, of course, the inevitable happened. I caught up with every last one of his books and was facing a long void until his next book hit the stands. And I, fickle reader that I am, had an affair with a few other authors, and then it happened again. I read Dominic Dunne. And wham. I was in love again.

With Dominic Dunne’s books, I spent time with the truly rich and the truly manipulative. How can anyone forget books like The Two Mrs. Grenvilles, or An Inconvenient Woman, or A Season in Purgatory? Once I discovered them, I was hooked. Forgive me Dominic, for I betrayed you too when I discovered my next big love, Nelson De Mille.

De Mille is a master of sharp, snappy talk, and he makes all those words come out of the mouth of a sexy good cop with a bad attitude–John Corey. Now here’s the funny part. I don’t really know what John Corey looks like, except that he has scars on his chest from some bullet wounds. I also know that John Corey is almost as fickle when it comes to love as I am when it comes to favorite authors. He seems to fall in love with a different woman in almost every one of his adventures. That is, until he met and married Kate. But who knows, so far she’s only been around for a couple of novels. For all I know she’ll be dropped off, maybe even killed in the next book, and then sexy John will be available again and I can go on dreaming.

Now here’s something you might not know about me. I’m married, and—get this—my husband doesn’t mind my little dalliances with all these authors…as long as I don’t meet them in person that is.
And why am I blabbing about all these loves of mine? Because, every time I start a new project, I hope with all my heart, that I infuse my novel with enough passion and ambition and greed that when you, dear reader, read my work, you will fall—perhaps just a little bit—in love with my characters. And I promise to love you right  back, even knowing that I will never be able to write fast enough to keep your from someday leaving me for some other writer.

C’est la vie! 

Monique