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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Interview of Charlie Kramer

Today I'm pleased to present an interview of romance author Charlie Kramer!

Latest Book: Don't Quote Me
Buy Link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/38411

BIO:
Charlie Kramer lives in Melbourne Australia with her partner.

She has worked in the building and facilities management industries for a number of years as both a General Manager, private contractor and author of specialised technical manuals.

Charlie is also an award winning speech writer and published short story author. Today she enjoys writing romantic comedy screen plays and novels.

In her spare time, Charlie enjoys creative cooking and watching chick flicks.

Her ultimate dream; to write a one woman stage play

Q: Who is your favourite character in your book and why?
A: I would have to say Claire Montgomery from “Don’t Quote Me” tugs at my heartstrings. Claire is so unique and lives her life to the beat of her own drum. Thinking she knows it all but in reality, she doesn’t really have a clue.

In the story, Claire suffers some significant losses in her life such as friendships and her sense of identity yet she finds the strength to work through her issues and bounce back. Whilst she is still Claire in essence she has changed and let go of her self-importance.

One thing I love about Claire is that she is an Audrey Hepburn look-a-like, dresses in vintage clothes, has more shoes than most of us has hot dinners. She also loves the movies from 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s and her lives her life via quotes from the movie starlets of that time.

Q: If one of your books became a movie, which celebrity would you like to star as one of your heroines?
A: I really gave a lot of thought to which A- List Hollywood actress would do my character justice and unfortunately I could not picture any of them portraying Claire Montgomery.

In my imagination Ginnifer Goodwin would make a wonderful Claire. Ginnifer has a tendency to make characters shine even when they are the underdog.

Q: If one of your books became a movie, which celebrity would you like to star as one of your heroes? Tell us about your hero.
A: Clive Owen, oh please let me have Clive. With his dark good looks Clive would shine as my hero Sebastian Gionis from “Don’t Quote Me.”

Sebastian intrigues Claire from the moment that they meet in her studio. Sebastian however being a very wealthy businessman is less than impressed that he has made it to the top ten Chic magazine’s Man of the Year contest.

Sebastian is your typical alpha hero and that makes him the man of every woman’s dreams. He’s full of charismatic charm and yet keeps part of himself incredibly private and has a few secrets of his own he’s not willing to share.

Q: Do all your heroes and heroines look the same in your mind as you “head write?”
A: My characters come to me organically. When a character (usually the heroine) is ready she arrives in my imagination and I can see her clearly. It’s like meeting a person for the first time when you take in their facial features. No two characters are ever the same.

The hardest part is scouring the photographic websites for photos of people who resemble my characters. I use the photos in my book trailers, on my websites and blogs.

Q: Do you eat comfort food when writing? If so, what food inspires your imagination?
A: I keep a jug of water and a bowl of fresh fruit and vegetables on my desk. I started this because I found that I was so captivated in the writing of my novels and screen plays that I was neglecting to eat. Not deliberately but time did get away from me.

I also love to cook with fresh herbs and produce. Unfortunately I haven’t found any inspiration in my fruit bowl.

Q: What genre would you like to try writing in but haven’t yet done so?
A: I am planning on writing a post-world war II drama in 2012. I’ve been planning to write the book since 2009 when I originally penned the screen play. I have everything I need to write the story from my characters to my outline.

I wrote a scene in which a character is murdered. I cried whilst I was writing and for a few hours afterwards.

Tell us where to find you.
http://www.charlie-kramer.com
http://wwwcharliekramer.blogspot.com
http://quotablewomenblog.blogspot.com
Twitter: charliekramer36
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/charliekramer

BLURB:
Book 1 of the Quotable Women Series is Don’t Quote Me.
In this romantic comedy London’s hottest fashion photographer, Claire Montgomery has a problem.  Several actually.One; she remembers every event in her life by the shoes she is wearing at the time. Two; she has rules around dating. Three; her belief in monogamy stops her from marrying and four; her little hot pink book is literally on fire. She sees no problem that she lives her life from quotes of the movie stars of the 1930s, 40s, 50s, and 60s.

Then she meets Sebastian Gionis. Sebastian shakes up Claire’s and forces her to re-evaluate her life and beliefs.

EXCERPT:
So shoe me. It may sound odd, but I tend to identify the events in my life by the shoes I wore at the time.
Charla Lawhon

I, Claire J Montgomery welcome Charla Lawhon to the sisterhood, and one day, when I could actually manage to find a spare moment, I would do a search on her to find out who she was. I believed she would be famous, especially since they were printing her quotes. I often thought a more appropriate surname would be Shoehorn.

Women in my sisterhood have to remember every adventure in their lives by the shoes they were wearing at the time. Since the age of fifteen, in the years when I still had my virginity, my shoes have stored away in their leather memory banks every rendezvous, from my first kiss with David Ryder under the apple tree in the school yard to Pastor John.

My shoes are like a monument to the dating game. A walk down memory lane is simply a quick trip into my shoe closet. It’s not really a closet. I have a room in my ultra trendy Mayfair flat housing my footwear.

It was a challenge turning my spare bedroom into a shoe closet, inner city flats are not abundant in size. But with the right designer and builder I’d simply achieved the unachievable.

It’s a good thing my footwear can’t gossip. I have shoes for every shag and all the blissful moments of sexual satisfaction. Mmm, and some not so blissful, of course. I tried to avoid those shoes which had the tendency to remind me of bad dates. I didn’t need any recollections of my failures.

I took the last drag of my cigarette and crushed it under the pointy toe of my stiletto. My watch read eight- forty. With no bus in sight, I had no alternative but to walk the two blocks to my office. It wasn’t a hardship this morning considering the sun was shining before lunch. What the hell, I’d already run one block chasing the bloomin’ bus.

I’m not lazy. It’s just that I never knew who I’d meet on the bus. Of the one hundred people packed like sardines, fifty percent are men, and of that fifty percent, three percent are potential love chunks. I’m a positive person who likes to find the potential in every situation.

12 comments:

Liz said...

sounds like a GREAT story, thanks for sharing it with us. For the record, I think "Clive Owen" (sorta like "Jon Hamm" or "George Clooney") is a very lovely choice for your hero---like he is for many of them!
keep up your great work.
Liz

Sandy Sullivan said...

I love the theory on the bus! Potential love chunks...awesome!

~ Sandy

Cynthia Arsuaga said...

I love shoes too! What a great excerpt to get a taste of the story.
Love it!

Cindy Spencer Pape said...

Lovely interview and fabulous excerpt!

Bobbye Terry said...

Great sounding book, Charlie! Since I write a lot of humor myself, my interest is piqued.
Bobbye

jean hart stewart said...

I envy you being able to write humorously. I've never been able to pull it off, as least as much as I wanted. Great excerpt.....Jean

Hales said...

THis sounds like a fantastic story! Thanks

Cara Marsi said...

Hi, Charlie. this sounds like a great read. I attended a multi-national family reunion in your city of Melbourne ten years ago. I've got lots of rellies in Australia. It's a terrific country.

And I love shoes.

Marianne Stephens said...

I adore movies from the 30s-60s. Grew up watching them with my family. And the music from those decades will live longer than any of us! Many perfect love songs and romance movies.

Tina Donahue said...

I love romantic comedies - that's how I got my start in the biz. Your books sounds great Charlie. :)

Charlie Kramer said...

I'm so glad you all enjoyed the excerpt and the interview. Rom Com is something I love writing, watching and reading. I'm blessed that the humour comes to me quite naturally.

Thank you for having me on your blog Marianne.

Happy writing & reading
Charlie

Paris said...

Potential love chunks--what a hoot! I loved the excerpt and can't wait to read more:)

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