Winner from Misa Ramirez' Visit!

posted by Jo Robertson



And we have another winner in the Lair. Congratulations to

hrdwrkdmom aka Dianna.

Misa's husband picked your name randomly to win either a copy of Livin' the Vida Lola or Hasta la Vista, Lola.

W H O O T ! !



Please email me at jo (dot) lewisrobertson (at) yahoo (dot) com. jo.lewisrobertson@yahoo.com, sending me your book preference and your snail mail addy.





Way to go, Dianna!

Guest Writer Misa Ramirez

hosted by Jo Robertson

Put aside the glasses or mugs or flutes of your favorite beverage (mine’s a frosty Pepsi, but anything works – coffee, tea, wine, or even your favorite lover) and welcome our returning guest Misa Ramirez, who visited us last year to talk about her debut book, LIVIN' THE VIDA LOLA. Misa’s second release in the Lola Cruz series, HASTA LA VISTA, LOLA! releases February 2 and received 4 ½ stars from Romantic Times.

Check out her website at http://www.misaramirez.com/ for information on the third book in the series, Bare Naked Lola, out next year!

Hi, Misa, congratulations on your RT review! Even though you’ve left sunny California for Texas (mumble, mumble), we still miss you in our local chapter.


Thanks for hosting me today, Jo, and to all the Banditas. It is SO good to be back in the Lair.

There’s one thing that I’m asked (and sometimes not asked verbally, but with raised eyebrows) as a writer of a Latina mystery series. Bet you can’t guess what the question is. I’ll give you a hint. I’m not Latina. In fact, I say in my bio that I’m proud to be Latina-by-marriage.

So, the question is... drum roll...

“Why do you write a Latina character, and how did you manage to make her so authentic?”

The short answer is: “I’m a writer, of course, so it all comes so easily! Why not a Latina?”

That’s a complete lie (the part about it coming easy, not the part about me being a writer). Writing is hard work, and it’s true that you have to write about what you know. But, as I’ve already stated, I’m not Latina. I’m a white girl from California now living in Texas. But I married a smokin’ Latino man (almost 20 years married now) and I’ve learned so much about his culture through the years of our relationship so I do know Lola. I know her from the outside looking in. I know her though my children’s eyes. I know her through my husband and his family. His parents lived with us for several years, his sister is one of my best friends and the sister I never had, and so many elements of the Mexican culture speak to me. So I write this series and write Lola because there is so much beauty in the Mexican culture and it truly speaks to me.

When we had children, it became even more important that we find ways to bring that culture into our American lives, to show the kids the culture that is part of their history, and for them to embrace that part of them. When the character of Lola Cruz (given name Dolores) came to me, it felt right because in so many ways I felt that this family that I’d created in my mind represented so many things I wanted to emphasize about the Mexican culture for my kids. The family, the faith, the language, the food... But I also wanted to show how these elements can be balanced within an American life.

Lola balances (or struggles to balance) life with the cultural and familial expectations placed on her with her own passions and desires which stem from living as an American. I was particularly careful and conscious not to slip into stereotypes, and when people comment that my characters are so authentic and non-stereotypical, I take great pride in that!

So, who is Lola Cruz? Here she is in a nutshell:

Dolores “Lola” Cruz: Part Crusader, Part Swashbuckler, Part Sage

Stats:

Lola’s single, a good Catholic girl (usually), but willing to do a lot to live her dream of being a detective. She works for muy misterioso Manny Camacho, has always loved old high school crush Jack Callaghan, and has a modern day rogue for a brother. The long and the short of it is that Lola can definitely hold her own in any situation, even when her mother’s berating her for having a career instead of marriage and children, when her mafioso grandfather has her doing ‘family’ work, and when her grandmother thinks she’s a ghost.

The Look:

Long auburn hair with copper highlights, hips and boobs and curves to spare, stripper shoes (to go with her strip list), and a wardrobe full of clothes that Jack Callaghan can’t resist her in. A belly button ring…maybe. A black belt in kung fu and a love of yoga make her fit and strong.

Leading Man:

Jack Callaghan, newspaper columnist with a past and some baggage that prevents him and Lola from moving forward. Who is Sarah, anyway?

The Bottom Line:

Lola Cruz is a feisty heroine. She’s smart, sexy, and sassy. She’s a great friend, loyal, and kick ass. I like to say she’s my alter ego (if I were a super hot, sexy, Latina detective).

Lola’s next adventure has her investigating her own death–and Jack’s mysterious ex-girlfriend. There’s never a dull moment in her life!

Hasta la Vista, Lola! comes out February 2, 2010. Here’s the teaser:

What’s a girl to do when she finds out she’s been killed? Pinch herself to make sure she’s not a ghost, for starters. When Dolores Cruz comes home to her parents’ house to find every relative she has mourning her death, all hell breaks loose. With the help of on-again/off-again love Jack Callaghan, and juggling a new case thrown at her by muy misterioso boss Manny Camacho, it’s up to fledgling detective Lola to find out who’s behind the identity theft and suddenly wants her dead.

Click here to read an excerpt from the second installment in the Lola Cruz Mystery Series.

Thanks so much for joining us today, Misa. Read more about book 1 in the Lola Cruz series below. Misa will provide one lucky commenter a copy of her debut book LIVING THE VIDA LOLA.

Now our guest has a question for you. What kind of mystery book is your favorite? Cozy, hard-boiled, or something like Lola Cruz Mysteries, a sassy Soft-Boiled mix? Or if you're a die-hard romance reader, how do you like the mystery woven into the romance?

Living the Vida Lola, book one in the Lola Cruz Mystery Series

Dolores Cruz (Lola for short) loves shoes, chicken mole, kung fu (she’s a black belt) and her close-knit family. When her brother’s hunky old high school friend Jack Callaghan moves back to town, Lola falls hard. Now, after a year and a half as an underling at Camacho and Associates, a local private investigation firm, her oh-so-sexy and mysterious boss, Manny Camacho, assigns Lola her first big case: solving the mysterious disappearance of Emily Diggs. Can Lola juggle two men, her loving but demanding family, her PI exams, solve her all-important first case, and shop for fabulous shoes?

Excerpt: http://misaramirez.com/misas-books/livin-la-vida-lola/livin-la-vida-lola-excerpt/

Meet the characters! Read Lola and her crew’s On-Line Dating profiles.

The Writer's Journey with Misa Ramirez

by Jo Robertson

Please give a hearty welcome (and maybe a cabana boy or two) to debut writer Misa Ramirez. Mother of five, English teacher, wife, and now published author. Misa has had a long and rewarding journey to publication which she’s sharing with us today.

Jo: Misa, tell us a little about your debut book.

Misa: Living the Vida Lola is the first in a mystery series. The heroine is Dolores “Lola” Cruz and she’s a private investigator. She’s smart, sassy, and determined, has a black belt in kung fu, and only her family and their crazy antics give her a run for her money.

Jo: Lola Cruz sounds like our kinda gal. How did you come to choose a Latina as your heroine?

Misa: My husband is Mexican-American, my kids are half Mexican, and so when I started thinking of a heroine, I was drawn to creating someone like I imagine my daughter will be. Also my alter-ego if I were Latina!

Jo: LOL, your blonde hair tells us you're not, but I love the idea of your modeling the character after your daughter. Can you tell us something about your hero Jack Callaghan.

Misa: Lola’s known Jack since they were kids; he’s her brother’s best friend. He went away for college, stayed away, and now he’s back and part of Lola’s investigation. He’s smart and definitely a match for Lola, but he has a few secrets that Lola has to uncover.

Jo: Would you share your publishing journey with us?

Misa:

Living the Vida Lola, the first book in the Lola Cruz Mystery Series, comes out tomorrow! I can hardly believe how long it has taken from the moment I wrote the first word to now.

Six years.

That’s right, six years. I’ve written four more books in the meantime, but this is the first to be released [the second, DEAD GIRL WALKING, will be released a year from now].

Six writing years flew by. Here’s the way it played out, in a nutshell:

• Husband and I moved to the Sacramento area with our four children and I was pregnant with # 5.

• Baby 5 was born and I was going stir crazy in the house.

• Started meeting at Starbucks with a friend to write a children’s book to follow up on FLIGHT OF THE SUNFLOWER, a picture book of mine that was published a few years prior. Really, I had to get out of the house and do something just for me!

• Being surrounded by kids all day, every day, drained my creative juices; I decided to write something for adults with, gasp, swearing and, double gasp, sex [or at least the promise of sex...this is book one in the series!].

• Lola Cruz came to me in a moment of inspiration. I began writing.

• I wrote for almost two years [in between diaper changes, kindergarten, carpooling, etc].

• I revised. And revised. And revised. By now three years had passed.

• A friend of a friend’s sister’s mother-in-law [a literary agent] read the book, liked it, and offered to represent it. I revised again.

• A year + later, multiple rejections flew in. My agent retired.

• I queried and queried, was offered representation by three different agents, went with one, and found myself revising. AGAIN!

• I was a tiny, itty-bitty fish in my agent’s giant ocean, but she submitted for a year, and again. It was being sent to chick lit editors. The book is really a mystery romance. Slight problem.

• Another year passed. Agent and I agreed to part and I found the perfect agent in Holly Root. She submitted my book to mystery editors. It sold within a month!

• That was a year and a half ago. I went through more revisions, cover art, edits and copy edits, marketing, promotion, etc.

• And now, blink, the book comes out tomorrow!!!!

When I started writing, I had no idea what a journey it would take me on. Looking back, I don’t regret a single moment or a single rejection. Or a single year. I wouldn’t change a thing because I really do feel that the journey is the most important part of the process. I’ve learned so much, grown as a writer and as a person, and am happy. A person can’t ask for more than that [book sales aside!].

Jo: Thanks for joining us in the Lair, Misa. One lucky commenter chosen at random will be the winner of Misa's debut book Living the Vida Lola!

And now for our readers, if you’re a writer, do you enjoy the entire process, from the creation, to the revisions, to the learning that comes with rejections, etc? Or is there one thing that you love about the process and you simply tolerate the rest?

And if you’re not a writer, what one thing do you absolutely LOVE about your job (and, yes, that includes parenting, the hardest job ever!). What is the thing you hate the most?

Or ask Misa anything you want; she's a font of information!