Interview & Giveaway with Lilou DuPont {DANGEROUS LOVE}

Book Blurb:

Please share with us readers who or what is the antagonist of your story.

Villains! I am so excited to be able to discuss this with you. In Dangerous Love, there are two! My book is structured with a devastating breakup, smack in the middle. Zsa Zsa – a woman from Byron’s past – comes between Laura and Byron. They run into her in Berlin:

Byron came face to face with a face from his past, one he preferred to forget.

Her long black hair framed the familiar high cheekbones and jutting square jaw. In that very first instant, he almost did not recognize her due to a set of new, big, black-framed eyeglasses.

“Byron?” When she took off her glasses, Byron thought her face looked puffier than before. She must be thirty-five by now.

Zsa Zsa blocked the exit. Enough of this, Byron thought. He started to brush past her. In her typical manner, Zsa Zsa did not yield …

Zsa Zsa grew up as a misfit in Dallas, Texas. She moved to Romania (the home of her ancestors) to pursue a career as an over-the-top performance artist. She is probably bisexual. She is the opposite of Laura, who is more of an All-American Girl. Here is Zsa Zsa, seen from Laura’s point of view:

In close proximity, Zsa Zsa reeked of meat. Laura guessed it was venison or wild boar consumed the night before. Under a dark, linty blazer, she wore a diaphanous top. She possessed bulbous knockers, the tops of which poured out of her formidable bra. Laura also was able to observe her rib cage and remarkably narrow waist …

In the second half of the book, the villain is Damjan:

His masculinity seemed to infuse every inch of the room. His Balkan eyes were broadly set and his blatantly asymmetric face was creased and lived in …

He reels Laura in and kidnaps her! Am is saying too much? Damjan is the challenge that Byron must overcome to win back Laura.

Which character has the most identifiable characteristics of yourself in them and what are they?

Laura is me. If I had fallen for the son of a Nazi, this is exactly how I would react. And her back story – of working 70 hours a week in advertising – is based on my past reality.

Do you have any interesting writing quirks.

I have some bad habits that I am trying to break. Like setting up a spreadsheet with word count goals and not sticking to them! Like staying up until five in the morning, editing one paragraph! On the plus side, I can write four handwritten pages in 30 minutes.

What is the best part of being a writer? What is the most difficult part?

The best part of being a writer is creating characters that seem real to me. I enjoy spending time with these people! The most difficult part for me is saying goodbye to them and moving on to the next project. I do have “letting go” issues IRL (in real life).

What makes the setting so unique in this book?

What is unique is that there are six Eastern European cities. My intention was to write a novel set in Prague. When I put pen to paper, however, my hero and heroine had other ideas. They left Prague for Bratislava and Berlin. They get thrown off a train in Vienna. Damjan lures Laura to Ljubljana. All’s well that ends well in Budapest.

My next book is set in Bucharest, Romania. I am disciplining myself to keep the characters in this one city. I am leaving for Bucharest a week from Sunday! My heroine almost took off for Florence, Italy, but I stopped her (when I saw the cost of adding Florence to my travel itinerary).

If you could trade places with one of your characters, who would it be and why?

I would love to find true love as Laura does in the story.

Short of that happening, if I could, I would trade places with Leo. (In Prague, Laura makes friends with Jolene. Leo is Jolene’s boyfriend.) Leo is studying to be a film director. For his student project, he blows up the Prague Castle. Really! He does it with a dozen small models and special effects. Leo’s movie screening, subplot, and point of view did not make it into the final version of the novel. He’s there, though. Here’s a snapshot:

Leo was in the shower. He had been in there for a good half hour. Jolene was used to his morning ritual of lathering up and shaving his head. She could picture the droplets of water beading up on his silken ivory skin.

The thought of his wet rippling physique aroused her. She eagerly removed her clothes and got ready to join him. She heard him turn off the faucet. Leo emerged from the fog wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

In case you are wondering, I identify with Leo’s artistic vision and also went to film school. Leo is me in my early 20s.

What can readers expect next from you?

Super sexy spy romance set in Bucharest, Romania during the Cold War and present day.

Can you leave readers with a little teaser from your debut release, DANGEROUS LOVE?

From the chapter, Sexbombe. It takes place the morning after a threesome involving Laura, Byron, and the 3rd player, Sergei.)

“She is my sexbombe,” Byron said.

“Huh, bro?” said Sergei.

“Don’t you speak German?”

“No. I speak Russian, English, and a little Polish.”

“It is the German word for sexpot.”

“Even I knew that,” Laura said.

“You look like Brigitte Bardot,” Sergei said. They all laughed.

“Thank you,” said Laura. “Did you ever see the film by Jean-Luc Godard, Contempt?”

Byron replied yes. Sergei replied no.

“It stars Brigitte Bardot. Throughout most of the movie, she keeps saying to her husband, ‘I have contempt for you. I have contempt for you.’ She says it over and over again. She says it in French, of course.”

“Say it in French.”

“J’ai le mepris pour toi.” Laura spoke in her perfect schoolgirl French.

“Why does she have contempt for him?” asked Byron.

“He tries to fix her up with another man.”

“Hah! That!” Sergei slapped his knee. “That’s no big deal.”

“Do you have contempt for me, Laura?”

“No. I do not have contempt for you, Byron.”

“What about for me?”

“Nor do I have contempt for you, Sergei. In fact, I have no contempt for any man on this planet today.”

Author Bio:

Where can readers find you on the web?

http://liloudupont.com
https://www.facebook.com/LilouDuPontWriter
https://twitter.com/liloudupont1
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6423073.Lilou_DuPont

Giveaway Details:

• One randomly drawn commenter from each tour stop will win a Dangerous Love eBook.

• One randomly drawn commenter from each tour stop will win a $5 eGC to Amazon, B&N, or All Romance eBooks.

Please follow the Rafflecopter directions:

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Remember, the more tour stops you comment on, the greater your chances of winning!

Tour Stops:

Find direct links to all past stops at: http://events.litconnect.com/dangerous-love-by-lilou-dupont