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Today I am very excited to be hosting A.M. Hargrove, one of my favorite authors! Take a look at her great answers to my questions, check out her links, and don’t forget to take a peak at my reviews of her Guardians of Vesturon series!

A.M. Hargrove resides in the south, dividing her time between the upstate of South Carolina and the mountains of North Carolina. She truly believes that chocolate, coffee and ice cream should be added to the USDA food groups.

Her books include the Young Adult/New Adult series, The Guardians of Vesturon (Survival, Resurrection, Determinant, reEmergent and the novella Beginnings); the Adult novels Dark Waltz (A Praestani Novel) and Edge of Disaster, Shattered Edge, and Kissing Fire. Her Mature New Adult novel, Tragically Flawed debuts on 9/25/13

What made you decide to become a writer? What was the first project you decided to take to publication?
I’ve always wanted to write, but sometimes life takes you in a different direction. Mine went the way of a job with a pharmaceutical company after college, and one promotion led to another. Before I knew it I was knee deep as a sales manager, and I loved what I did. However, as things go in the corporate world, my company got taken over by a larger one, namely Pfizer, and my entire division was slaughtered. So I took that as my opportunity to do a complete career change and here I am.
You have delved into Young Adult Paranormal/Sci-Fi Romance, but have also penned a number of well-received Adult Contemporary Romances. What do you think the biggest difference is between the two genres? Was there anything particularly challenging about one versus the other? They’re both challenging in their own right–paranormal/sci-fi particularly so in trying to make the make believe believable to a certain degree. But then in contemporary romance, you don’t have that truly fantastical element to rely upon to give your story that extra umph, so you have to focus on other things…perhaps some added suspense, drama or what have you. In either case, I find them both to be quite fun and thought provoking.
What made you decide to go indie with your stories?
When I started researching the whole process of the query letter and then the time it takes to get from acceptance to publication…or in most cases, NOT, I decided I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for things to happen. I’m a doer so I just did! I’m also impatient so that probably made 50% of my decision!
Of all your published works, do you have a favorite? Which one is it?
Ooooh, you never ask me that because it’s always the book I’m currently writing! Haha. But I have to admit, one of my most favorite characters ever is Jurek from the Guardians, and then Dark Waltz. He’s so freakin’ complex with issues on top of issues, but then deep down he’s a softie but you have to peel all his layers to get to him and believe me it takes for-effin-ever! I also loved writing Kissing Fire because it was a romantic comedy with some suspense thrown in, but the comedy part was so much fun for me!
What for you has been the most difficult part of being an author?
Turning it off! I love to write and have so many ideas brewing in my brain that I could write all the time.
What do you think makes a good love story?
I think one of the characters needs to have issues or be somewhat broken. There has to be conflict, of course, I usually like a bit of suspense and a curve ball and then some steam factor thrown in!

If you could have a dinner party with five guests—living or dead, real or fictional—who would they be?
Chris Hemsworth, Henry Cavill, Gerard Butler, Paul Newman, James Dean. Are you getting any ideas here? Chris Hemsworth is perfect in every way. Well, darn so are Henry and Gerard. I love all three of those men. Paul Newman had the most incredible blue eyes I’ve ever seen. Have you seen him in that old movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? If you haven’t, rent it now. You’ll be amazed at the color of his blue eyes. And James Dean… I’ve never seen any movie he was in because I don’t really care for old movies, but the black and white pictures I’ve seen of him look positively scrumptious.
James Bond or Jason Bourne?
Jason Bourne…Bada**! Broken and needs fixing! Smart and quick thinking. And of course, suspense!
What’s a question you’ve wanted to be asked in an interview? What’s your answer? How old were were when you learned to ride a bike? Answer–3 years old. I was the youngest in the family our of four so I was pushed to do everything because I wanted to keep up. So I bugged my sisters to death one day and they put me on one of their bikes and just yelled, “Pedal, pedal, pedal.” And I did. I couldn’t steer for anything and ended up crashing into the bumpers of cars a dozen times, but I learned that day. I told my kids because they were like six and seven when they learned and they swore I was telling a tall tale. My sisters had to tell them the story before they’d believe it.
Find A.M. Hargrove on her website
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Find A.M. Hargrove on Amazon
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Find A.M. Hargrove on Goodreads
My review of Beginnings
My review of Survival
My review of Resurrection
My review of Determinant
My review of ReEmergent