Love Exactly blog tour Author Interview & Giveaway

Emma Walker was a writer who'd lost herself to someone else's anger--who had given up on ever feeling like herself again.
Evan Levesque was a rock-god--the one all the woman wanted, but he'd never gotten used to the loneliness between the stage and real life.
With just one cup of coffee they'll begin a journey of self-discovery at each others sides, but can Emma handle Evan's fame while dealing with her own demons? Emma's checkered personal past, a bad relationship that haunts the edges of her memories, threatens to make everything implode on them when Evan takes matters into his own hands.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your words...they'll destroy my soul--Can Emma handle being put back together and facing who she's become because of it?
GENRE: New Adult>Contemporary Romance
Mild to moderate sexual content

~ Goodreads  ~ Amazon

Cassandra doesn't remember a time when she wasn't writing. In fact, the first time she was published was when she was seven years old and won a contest to be published in an American Girl Doll novel. Since than Cassandra has written more novels than she can count and put just as many in the circular bin. Her personal goal with her writing is to show the reader the character's stories through their dialogue and actions instead of just telling the reader what is happening. In 2012 she became a published Young Adult author, releasing In Between Seasons (The Fall, #1) and Walking in the Shadows. In 2013 she branched out by using her artistic illustrating talents to publish her first Children's novel, The Adventures of Skippy Von Flippy: Tales of Friendship (Skippy Tales, #1). Cassandra will also release her first New Adult novel, Just One Cup, in the Spring of 2013.

Cassandra is a freelance professional photographer known for her automotive, nature and architectural shots. She is the owner of Gio Design Studios, a photography and publication marketing company that designs covers and marketing materials for authors utilizing the company's photography. She is currently studying to receive her associates degree in Marketing. Cassandra is happily married to the man of her dreams and they live in the rolling hills of New England with the other loves of her life their dogs, Bubski and Kanga.

Giovanni on Goodreads ~ www ~ wordpress ~ Facebook ~

*Hi Cassandra, thanks for taking the time to talk with us today. Let's start with where you're from.

I’m honored to be on your blog--thank you! I was born in Massachusetts, but I’ve lived in Connecticut for most of my teenager to adult life. I moved here when I was in 5th grade. Oh, and I hate snow, which makes it hard to live in New England!

*Tell us about your writing process. Music, movies or books used for research.

My writing process is rather unlike the rest of my life. It’s mostly unstructured: I write when I want, what I want, whenever I want, at whatever point in the book I want. I don’t use an outline, I don’t usually do research and I write all over the place. I may start with a scene right in the middle of the novel and then move all around from there. In general I have some very vague idea of where I am going, but I don’t concentrate on that until the finals stage, which I call the “tie in stage”. That’s where I link all my chapters together and create a better flow. I call my style “sporadic”, because it’s so all over the place. I usually get my best ideas when I’m listening to music and driving, or from a dream I had. I almost always have music on when I write. During the idea and writing stages it’s usually music with lyrics, but once I hit the editing stage I find classical music is the best.

*What are the pro's and con's to being a published author?

There are a lot of pro’s:

• I get to hold my book in my hands
• I get to say I’m published
• I have fans
• I get to meet amazing bloggers and readers from all over the world
• Seeing my book is being read in places like Austria
• Talking about my books to everyone I can
• Being able to accomplish a dream I’ve had ever since I can remember
• I don’t feel like I’m going nuts because I am holding a story inside
• Reading reviews of people who love the book and want more

There are less con’s, but as with all things there are some:

• Always running on empty--I work full-time, go to school full-time, run a photography and marketing company AND have to write and market my own books
• Being stereotyped as a self-pub who probably doesn’t have an editor and couldn’t get published traditionally. Neither of those are true, but I’ve had people attack me before with the assumption that those items are true. I have an editor, and I chose to not pursue traditional publishing for my own reasons
• Nasty, nasty reviews that attack me as a person--not just my novel

*What are you reading right now?

A Job From Hell by Jayde Scott

*Who is your favorite author?

Jane Austen

*Whom in your life would you say has influenced you the most?

My father--he’s such an amazing person. He’s always there to guide me, chastise me, be my friend, and above all he has integrity that I’ve never seen in another human being. My mother is also a strong influence--I’m much more my father, but my mother has the kindest heart I’ve ever met. She truly sees the best in people, even when they treat her like nothing.

*What's next for you?

I announced recently that when my Young Adult series, The Fall is complete I will no longer be writing the genre. I plan on focusing my attention on the New Adult Genre and expanding my Children’s illustrated literature line. The second book in my Children’s series, Skippy Tales, will be releasing by the end of the year. I also plan on releasing another New Adult book, but which one is yet to be determined. I just started writing a new novel this morning--so I’m not sure what novel will be published next!

Thank you again for your time! Happy Blogging!  Thank you Cassandra Giovanni for stopping by today and sharing your time with us. Until next time........

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