Interview with Monica Murphy, Author of Holidate

by grant

in Author Interviews, News, Romance

14 Oct 2019

What can you tell us about your new release, Holidate?

It’s a fun, romantic Christmas story that has all the elements a holiday loving reader will want: a heroine who loves Christmas, a hero who hates Christmas yet his family owns a Christmas tree farm, a meddling mother, supportive friends, holiday events, gingerbread lattes…I could go on and on!

What books are currently on your nightstand?

I’m currently reading SHADOWS by Kristen Proby which comes out at the end of the month. Marni Mann’s BEFORE YOU is my next read – and it’s coming out in a little less than two weeks. This is why it’s nice having author friends. They send their books to you before they’re out!

What advice would you give your teenage self?

Stick with it and believe in yourself! All those dreams you have now? Keep going, you’re going to make quite a few of them come true! (I wanted to be a writer in my late teens, so my teen self would be really happy to know I made that happen!)

If you had an extra hour each day, how would you spend it?

Reading. I don’t have a lot of time to read lately and I need more!

What makes your world go round? Why does it bring you joy?

I love being with my children. They make me smile, they make me laugh, they make me annoyed, but that’s okay. I take the good with the bad. They’re getting older, they’re going to leave the nest soon, and I want to spend as much time with them as possible.

What scene in Holidate was your favorite to write?

This is a tough question – there were so many scenes that were fun to write! There’s one in particular where my heroine Candice is having a bad night, so Charlie takes her back to his tree farm, and tells her she can pick one item from the store that’s at the farm. She loves Christmas, so she’s so touched that he’s letting her be her holiday-loving self, and that he’s trying to cheer her up. This is a pivotal moment in the book, and writing it made me emotional! Candice lost her mother when she was a child, so she has some unresolved issues with the loss of her mom. Charlie sees that and he’s trying to help her in the best way he knows how. It’s actually very sweet.