Monday 8 November 2010

Interview with Maria Zannini

Today I am hosting author Maria Zannini on her World Blog Tour. Please give her a warm welcome and enjoy the interview below!

Ps: There is an Important Update at the end of the interview. Don't miss it!



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Due to circumstances beyond our control, this interview has been hijacked by the author's husband. He's threatened to hold Maria's computer hostage until this interview has aired.

Normally, we wouldn't condescend to threats—especially from husbands, but there is something deliciously scandalous about getting insider information.

Greg Tells All

Favourite author: I'm going to say Anne McCaffrey. It's the first author we read together as a couple.

Favourite guy: Me, of course! Maria is very hard to please, so obviously when I came along she snapped me up.
(Editor's note: Hey, wait a minute. I didn't ask that question.)

Favourite animal: Definitely dogs. But Maria has an amazing affinity with all animals. She can actually tell when they're about to get sick. I call it animal ESP, but she says it's just simple observation. What a liar! Maria can read minds. Her super mind powers are so intense, I've resorted to humming the national anthem to keep her from knowing too much. The last time she read my mind I was in trouble for a week. Observation, my foot!

Favourite season: You've heard of Spring Fever? Maria has a fatal case every year. She's literally bouncing off the walls waiting for the world to thaw so she can get outside. In the meantime she alleviates her insanity by cleaning house, organizing closets, and starting seedlings. That wouldn't be so bad, but she insists I help her. There's got to a be a support group for poor abused husbands.

Favourite colour: Brilliant, fiery, blood RED. Believe me, it matches her personality. Her closet is full of red. Her flowers are red. Her eyes are… I better stop there. I notice there's smoke coming out of her ears.

Favourite way to relax: Relax? Maria? She doesn't know how to relax. Her idea of relaxing is WORKING. There is definitely something wrong with that woman.

Favourite artist: Ah, an easy question. Caravaggio. She spent so much time studying him for her thesis, I was starting to get jealous. Lucky for him, he died four hundred years ago. Otherwise it would've been paintbrushes at high noon.

Favourite shop: Maria does not like to shop. (Am I not the luckiest husband ever?) But she loves browsing antique shops, forever on the prowl for elusive dog figurines and animal paintings.

Favourite way to procrastinate: :groan: This is an ongoing feud with us. She never procrastinates—but she says she does. You couldn't tell it by the way she gets me up at the crack of noon. The woman is a slave driver (with cleavage).

Favourite thing about your home of Texas: It would have to be the trees. She insisted when we were house hunting that our future house be surrounded by trees. I aim to please, so I found her a house in a forest. She had to take my word on it too. Maria was recovering from eye surgery and nearly blind for several weeks. Bwahahaha…she was entirely dependent on me. Drove her nuts!

Favourite character from your upcoming book ‘True Believers': She has a book coming out? I was wondering why she was in her office for so long. I thought she was killing zombies on a computer game.

Favourite scene from 'True Believers': Oh, great. Now I have to open the book. :scanning pages: Well what do you know, this isn't half bad.

His head jerked back and he gasped as she seared the wound shut. He was saying something in his native tongue, but she didn't understand him. It was either a curse or a prayer. Considering their circumstances, either one seemed like a good idea.

She should've pulled back, but when her essence touched his, she flinched. They were more alike than she suspected. As her na'hala wandered inside his body, it absorbed strange images and feelings of inadequacy from this man.

Who was he? What was he? He was hiding something. Even now she could feel him close himself off to her as she ventured deeper into his consciousness. Whatever he was holding back had to be big.

She pulled out of him and felt the drain of bolstering his shell. He was out of danger, but still weak.

Rachel shook him gently. “Taelen. Can you hear me? I didn't know you were so hurt.”

He opened his eyes and mumbled something under his breath.

“What?” She leaned in closer.

“You are heavier than you look.” He groaned and closed his eyes again.


(Editor's note: Ooo sounds good!)

From Maria:
Finally! I have my computer back. Tell me gentle readers. Should I beat the husband for his Kiss and Tell or cut him some slack for being so clever? Your votes will decide his fate.



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Maria Zannini's latest release is a science fiction romance called TRUE BELIEVERS.

Mix one cynical immortal and one true believer and throw them into the biggest alien-hunt the world has never known. Rachel Cruz is a Nephilim masquerading as an archeologist and she's stuck with an alien who believes she can lead him to his ancestral gods. Black Ops wants to find these gods too. They want them dead.





You can follow Maria here:

Blog
Facebook
Goodreads
Twitter

She is also holding a contest! Every time you leave a comment, tweet or mention "Maria Zannini" anywhere with a link to her blog, your name goes in the hat for a chance to win a Texas sized prize. Go here for more information.

Thank you so much, Maria (and Greg!) Good luck with True Believers!

The Important Update: Maria needs your votes and your tweets! She has moved on to the second round for the Kensington Brava contest. Vote for her novel, Mistress Of The Stone. The grand prize at the end of this contest is a contract with Kensington. P.S. Maria is the one with the very cute dog!

55 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Awwwww I think Greg deserves a big glass of el vino!!! LOL!!!

He made me laugh in a good way and anyone who does that on a Monday morning deserves chocolate!! :-)

Thanks for a fun interview Jayne and hello there Mr and Mrs Greg and Maria! Good luck with your book - the snippet was definitely an "ooooh!!!" !! Take care
x

fairyhedgehog said...

That's a very funny interview!

Maria Zannini said...

Hi Old Kitty and fairyhedgeog!

Oh, yeah. Greg is a riot. ;)

One time we had a party at my house and my I could hear my women friends giggling and laughing out loud. Greg was entertaining them with the story of his latest escapade. One of my friends stumbles over to me, red-faced and tears streaming down her cheeks from laughing.

'Oh, Greg must keep you laughing all the time.'

I roll my eyes to heaven. 'Oh, yeah. All the time.' --at least the first 40 times I heard that story. :)

Old Kitty, he gets one glass of wine with your compliments.

Thanks for stopping in, guys!

Ellie Garratt said...

Bless. You can't beat him! He was funny, kind and very sweet. Can I swap him for mine? Seriously, a great post. Thank you for sharing.

p.s. we live in a road full of trees. In autumn the road is full of read, orange, and yellow leaves, and I love when the first buds of Spring arrive.

Maria Zannini said...

Ellie: LOL. I think I'll keep the old guy. He's kept me entertained enough through the years.

Ref: trees
Visiting the UK is on my bucket list. You can only get so much from movies and tv. I want to smell the air and see the countryside.

I live too far south to see the changing of the seasons. Your street sounds magical.

Dru said...

Don't beat him up, it was a very nice interview.

Maria Zannini said...

Aw, Dru. You're a softy. Okay.

Jayne said...

You must visit the UK, Maria! You'd love it in spring-time. Although where you live sounds wonderful with all those trees. :)

Old Kitty - I think Greg deserves a nice glass of wine as well!

Ellie - gosh your place sounds beautiful!

Fairyhedgehog - It so made me chuckle when I got the answers. :)

Robyn Campbell said...

Very funny interview. :) I love the spring fever. Hey. I. Have. That. Too. :)

I'll have to go meet this Maria. Thanks.

Joanne said...

Oh definitely cut him some slack. This was fun to read, getting to know you through your husband's eyes. It sounds like you've got a good thing going, and have lots of fun together :)

Maria Zannini said...

Jayne: If I visit, you'll have to suffer me if I swing by your place. LOL.

Robyn: Nice to meet you! Glad you dropped by. That is so true about me and spring fever. Greg clears a path for me when the weather gets warm.

Maria Zannini said...

Hi Joanne! Geez, he suckers everyone into liking him. LOL.

Okay, I'll cast your vote to save him.
Thanks for popping in.

Angelina Rain said...

Kiss him, don’t kill him. He reads books with you! How sweet is that? All my husband ever does is sit in front of the TV.

You have animal ESP. How cool is that. Come over to my house and tell me how my dog is doing. My vet told me to stop bringing in the dog until I’m SURE there’s something wrong with him. Even my husband thinks my dog is taken care of better than me.

Maria Zannini said...

Lia: You sound like me. I always over-worry about my dogs. LOL.

I was a vet tech for several years so I probably owe a lot of my 'esp' to that.

Maggie May said...

What a great interview!
I think he was very kind.
Maggie X

Nuts in May

N. R. Williams said...

LOL...how funny. A man like that is a keeper. On top of that, Maria's book sounds awesome.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Sherri said...

LOL, he sounds like the perfect compliment to you Maria. Fun interview!

Maria Zannini said...

Maggie: :) He's a big teddy bear in real life. But Lord, he loves to tease me.

Nancy: Every year I renew his contract. I am rather fond of him.

Maria Zannini said...

Sherri: What are you saying? We deserve each other? Oh nooooooooo!

We're doomed. LOL. Thanks for popping over. Nice to see you here.

Rula Sinara said...

Aw. He hijacked your computer out of love. Such a sweet interview. He's a keeper ;).

Mike Keyton said...

Yup, he's got you sussed.

Talli Roland said...

I'm with Old Kitty! Give that man some wine.

I loved this interview - something really fun and different to read. Thanks!

Maria Zannini said...

Rula, Talli: Oh, now you're just encouraging him. :-)

Mike: Another of your British-isms? LOL. I had to look up what sussing meant.

And, yes. He did.

Amanda Borenstadt said...

Oh, fun fun fun interview. And a sweet husband! :)

Maria Zannini said...

Amanda: Lord, I know eventually he'll come on here and read these comments. He will be insufferably then. LOL.

Carolyn V. said...

Great interview! (I think you should kiss your hubby for being so clever!!!)

Maria Zannini said...

Carolyn: If I keep kissing him, it's bound to give him ideas. :)

Thanks for casting your vote.

Happy Frog and I said...

There have been some great interviews in blog land over the last few days and this is no exception. Great stuff!

Maria Zannini said...

Happy Frog: I know my hubby will be glad you liked this one. Thanks for popping in!

Meghan S. said...

Awwwwww he's too sweet! Definitely no punishment for this interview, he deserves a big hug & kiss from you! :)

Linda Leszczuk said...

Well, Greg did a good job but I still think Tank and Iko have the edge. :-)

Maria Zannini said...

Meghan: I'll never be able to live him down.

Linda: Tank and Iko did a Lick and Tell. LOL.

Stacy said...

Definitely a glass of wine for his adorable interview! I think the person and critters who get to live with you are enjoying life a whole lot! It sounds pretty fun over there. I love trees too Maria - when I looked at our house with the realtor, I walked to the backyard first and said "We'll take it" and he asked "Don't you want your husband to see it or to know how many rooms it has?" Oops! But the trees were what made me know we'd be happy here. Sounds like you all are happy there too. I'm glad.

Maria Zannini said...

Hi Stacy! I'm so glad to see you here.

It's a good life. Now if I can only get Greg to retire so we can actually live together for more than a few days.

Hey, maybe that's the secret to a successful marriage--living in separate cities. LOL.

I know what you mean about 'shopping for trees'. It was very important to me. We house hunted for almost a year before we found our dream home--with lots of trees.

Cathy in AK said...

He sounds like a great guy, Maria, very fun and funny : )

And I loved the excerpt. Time to whip out the credit card....

Maria Zannini said...

Thanks, Cathy. I must have good taste--and a strong constitution for funny guys.

If you read True Believers, I hope you'll tell me what you thought of it.

Anonymous said...

What a prince, Maria! Great excerpt too. Definitely cut him some slack. But make sure he takes you out for a fancy dinner somewhere...

Jackie said...

You and I had the same idea with the trees Maria, we really do live in "The Forest" also... Only difference is as I grew up in a home surrounded by trees and blown down limbs and lots and lots of nasty dead leaves our home looks at the "forested area" in front of us, beside us and behind us... We personally only have 3 large tall Pine Trees on our property, my one big stipulation for finding a home was little or no trees on the actual lot where the house sits... Since we only have 1/4 acre of land it is easier to do the necessary yard work that way...

Your place sounds very private and inviting at the same time!

Okay, on to Greg. Kiss and keep him just as happy as he is now because "fun" spouses are hard to find!

jackie >_<

Maria Zannini said...

Liz: There will be no living with this man when he reads all these comments. LOL.

Jackie: I'll bet he's tallying his points on how many kisses he'll get.

But dinner out sounds like a good idea for both of us.

Thanks for coming over, guys.

Jayne said...

I so enjoyed you and Greg stopping by at my blog today, Maria! It was nice to meet new people and find out more about you, as well as to be tantalised with that snippet from True Believers! Cheers me dears. :)

Maria Zannini said...

Jayne, you were a lovely hostess. Thank you so much for putting up with our silliness. I had a terrific time and got to meet so many new people. I've already started visiting some today.

You'll have to come over to Texas some time soon--at least to cyber Texas. :) Thanks, hon!

Dru said...

Thanks Jayne for stopping by my blog.

Congrats Maria on making the second round.

LARCHMONT said...

Very clever! Lots of good questions and answers full of personality and verve. A great blog stop. I like the color RED, too...

Heather Moore said...

Funny, Greg! (Maria, you need to let him out more)

Maria Zannini said...

Samuel: Thanks for popping in and commenting!

Heather: You think so? I was thinking I needed to keep him in his box more. LOL. Thanks for coming over, Heather.

Helen Ginger said...

What a fun post. Thanks!

That's what we want every guy to say, right? You're heavier than you look. LOL.

Maria Zannini said...

Helen: LOL. Yeah, he's all heart. Thanks for coming over, Helen!

MTeacress said...

I sort of like the husband hijacked style. Thanks for the fun interview. Much luck and well wishes to Maria Zannini! :)

Hermana Maw said...

I loved the inteview! Such fun. I also slobbered all over my keyboard as I read the excerpt of the book. I can't wait to get my hands on it. Thanks for the great post.

Maria Zannini said...

MT and LeishMaw thanks so much for stopping by and commenting.

I will admit the husband won this round.

Melissa Sarno said...

Ha! I love this! I think more significant others should hijack interviews. Thanks for sharing this fun interview :-)

Rose said...

I think Greg sounds really fun and should not be punished- and good luck to Maria with the book which sounds great- I like the name Talean

Maria Zannini said...

Melissa, Rose: I'm so glad you stopped in. The votes seemed to have swayed to the husband's favor.

I'll let him know you approve. :)

Amanda Summer said...

lovelove this interview!!

and you've got me at hello with this book -- how can you resist a Nephilim masquerading as an archeologist stuck with an alien who believes she can lead him to his ancestral gods?

sign me up.

Maria Zannini said...

Amanda: Which begs the question: What better profession for a near immortal than historian and archeologist? Thanks for stopping in.