Rae: Welcome to the blog. I’ve got a spiced Latte with Almond Milk and a drizzle of chocolate in my mug. What’s in your cuppa?
MS: Thank you for hosting us! Your drink sounds heavenly! I’m among the dullest people in this regard. My morning beverage is usually water, though if there’s one nearby, I’ll grab an iced coffee from Dunkin’. My go-to evening drink is a cold beer. My husband bought this excellent sour beer from RAR Brewing called Stunts. When that runs out, I’ll go back to my stash of Seaquench from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.
Rae: Congratulations on your recent release of Lease on Love in the Anthology Love Gone Viral. I love that all the proceeds from the sale will be donated to World Central Kitchen and Feeding America. Romance fiction is so powerful and the community is so giving. I can’t wait to hear how much you all raise.
MS: Thank you! When Meg announced the project and its mission during a book club meeting she and I participate in, I jumped at the chance. It is shameful that anyone goes without food at any time and it is especially egregious that anyone goes hungry during a pandemic. If nothing else, I hope this collection brightens someone’s day. We, as readers and writers, must not forget that romance as an art form is a statement of hope and hope is revolutionary.
1. What is your must read book and why? That answer never stays the same for me. The book I currently can’t stop shouting about for everyone to read is Sarah Kendzior’s Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America. For your romance fix, I recently finished Joanna Shupe’s The Devil of Downtown and thoroughly enjoyed it.
2. If I visit your hometown, where am I going and what’s the best place to grab a bite? You’ll be heading to Fredericksburg, Virginia and if you want quality soft-serve ice cream, make your way to Carl’s Ice Cream.
3. What is one thing readers would be surprised to know about you? I’ve been writing erotica under a pseudonym since early 2016 and regardless of what I’m writing at the time, I turn to my playlist of religious choral music. Some of my best work has been produced while an all-male Russian Orthodox choir sings hymns on a low volume.
4. What is your guilty pleasure? This is gross, but I can’t get enough of dermatology procedures. I followed Dr. Pimple Popper before she got her show on TLC and am a frequent lurker on the r/popping subreddit.
5. What are you afraid of? Authoritarian creep, spiders, and needles
6. Tats or No Tats? If tats, how many and what did you choose for your first one? No tattoos for me. When I say I’m afraid of needles, I mean I’m one of those people who needs to lie down while getting bloodwork. In the aforementioned pimple popping videos, I either turn away or fast forward through the local anesthesia.
7. Binge watcher or weekly viewer? Which show(s)? It depends. I binge-watched the first two episodes of HBO’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and am incredulous that I have to wait for the next one. During the lockdown, my husband got me on to Top Chef and I have been devouring that, making commentary on the dishes, which I have no business doing since I am a terrible cook.
8. If you could pick a book you’ve read and make it into a movie, which book would it be (besides yours 🙂 )? I have to alter the question a little to answer this accurately. If someone from Hulu’s Harlots could get a hold of Sarah Maclean’s The Bareknuckle Bastards series and delve deeper into her depiction of Covent Garden, I’d be delighted. I’m an absolute glutton for the antics between Devil, Beast, and Grace.
9. What is the one thing you can’t live without? Forgive the saccharine answer, but I’ve come to rely on my husband for more than I should. He’s the first person to read my work. There are, of course, numerous qualities on which I could wax poetic, but I’ll spare everyone.
10. What’s the one career gives you the shudders? Coroner or medical examiner
11. If I opened up your handbag/bag/briefcase, what item would I be shocked to see? There’s an unused Starbucks gift card in there.
12. What app on your phone/ipad gets the most use? Twitter, for sure.
Rae: Thank you for hanging out today.
MS: Thank you so much for having me!
M Spencer is a little too excited that SCOTUS oral arguments are now available for livestream, especially since she’s not a lawyer. A bona fide bibliophile, she hides her piles of romance paperbacks in tote bags because her bookshelves are already stuffed with other titles. Her hobbies include wearing red lipstick, studying French and Russian decorative art, and replaying the Assassin’s Creed games. She is eternally grateful that she can count on the hero of her own romance to read her first drafts and point out any plot holes. She writes erotica under a pseudonym and dwells in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.
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