Liz Fichera and CRAVING PERFECT giveaway!

Today we have Liz Fichera and she's also doing a giveaway... but before we give over to her, just a reminder check on my sidebar for links and follow the Blog Tour of Kate Walker and Christina Hollis for MEGA GIVEAWAYS!

Writing a Novel, One Mile at a Time

Not all novels are written behind a laptop, at a coffee shop, or in a home office—you know, the quiet and dusty places where you’d most expect writers to write, surrounded by unlimited pots of black coffee and the occasional pastry. In truth, I write most of my novels in my home office but that was not the case for my latest release from Carina Press, CRAVING PERFECT.

At the time I wrote CRAVING PERFECT, I had this crazy idea that I was going to train for a marathon. Competing in a marathon has always been something on my bucket list and while I didn’t have any illusions that I would actually win a marathon, I certainly held out hope that I could finish one.

But training for a marathon takes time. A lot of time. Like, sometimes hours every day.
And since I’m supposed to be at home writing my next novel, guilt creep quickly set in because I was spending so much time at my local gym, training. There were days when I would spend anywhere from a minimum of two hours to almost four hours at my new home-away-from-home.

One day as I was logging mile after mile on the treadmill at the gym, wondering if I was kidding myself with the whole marathon thing, a book idea popped into my brain like a seed of sunlight. Soon, I began to see people at my gym who I thought would make great characters for the book. Then I started to flesh out a rough outline. Finally I began to write the first chapter. And the second. And the third. And so on and so on. All in my head.

Energized by my run and a head drunk on book ideas, I’d rush home and shower, of course, and then begin pounding out my story into my laptop. It got to the point where I couldn’t write without first running at least 6-10 miles. Talk about incentive! Some people call this runner’s high but I’m here to tell you that I had a full-fledged writer’s high.

CRAVING PERFECT was written one mile at a time. I went through four pairs of running shoes by the time I typed “The End” on my first draft. All of the characters are based on people I observed at my gym (which will remain nameless). And I have one very well used, industrial-sized treadmill to thank for it, although my knees may never be the same.

Where's the strangest place you've ever written or read a book?

Curious about CRAVING PERFECT?  Here's the back cover copy:

A Life Less...Hers

Grace Mills craves being perfect almost as much as she craves raspberry scones. In fact, her life would be perfect if only she could lose ten more pounds, if only the pastry café she co-owns with her sister would turn a profit, if only the hottest guy at the gym would look her way...

And then "if only" comes true. Grace is suddenly straddling two lives: an alternate reality where she's a size two, weathergirl celebrity and being chased by the hot guy. Only Mr. Gorgeous isn't very nice.

In her other life, she's starting to realize her sister is less than happy running the family café, and hunky Carlos, the gym's janitor, seems to have a secret crush on her. Maybe there's more to him than meets the eye...

Grace is living two lives and it's beginning to cost her. Is there a way to pick one...that's perfect?

******

Liz lives in the American Southwest.  She’s the author of CAPTIVE SPIRIT (2010), CRAVING PERFECT (2011) and HOOKED (Harlequin Teen, 2013).  She still runs almost every day, although mostly to balance out her daily chocolate intake.  When she's not training at her local gym or pounding out her next novel into her laptop, you'll find her in all the usual places on the web.  Don't hesitate to drop by her web site and check out the latest giveaways and prizes on her blog, Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.