Bitten by Books
BBB: Describe yourself with five adjectives.
DA: Short, spunky, quiet, sarcastic, loyal.
BBB: What real-life science, pseudo-science, history, religion, or mythologies did you research for your book?
DA: Hm… Well, the hero is a military man, so I kind of just base the way he would react to stuff off of how my husband would, haha. I also pulled a little bit of Steven McGarrett from Hawaii 5-0 out for Steven. Ha! Maybe I even named him after the character. I hadn’t even thought of that!
BBB: Would your main character win on the show Survivor by strength, cheating or not at all?
DA: Strength. He wouldn’t cheat because he hates liars!
BBB: Have you ever gone out in public with your shirt on backwards, or your slippers on, and when realizing it, just said screw it?
DA: All. The. Time.
BBB: Please tell us more about Say You’re Mine and the storyline that drives it.
DA: Say You’re Mine is the fifth book in the Shillings Agency series, and the hero is the brother of the heroine from the fourth book, and the best friend of the hero from that book. So, mostly, his book was already laid out after we met him. He’s a very loyal guy, and he comes home from war a changed man. Quieter. Harder.
The only person he really opens up to is Lauren Brixton, his other best friend. They’re been friends for more than twenty years, ever since he gave her his only pencil to keep her from getting in trouble in school. Adorable, right?
Well, they never crossed the line…until they do. And when they do the results are catastrophically hot!
BBB: How many more books will there be in the Shillings Agency series?
DA: As of now, there is one more contracted book, but I’m certainly open to writing more, if people want them!
BBB: What sets the Shillings Agency series apart from other books in the same genre?
DA: Hmm…I think it’s the camaraderie in the Agency, and the heroines that get pulled in from all walks of life, combines with the fact that the first hero of the series, aka the boss of the agency, is the Love Doctor of the series, haha. I love having him swoop in in every book and save the new hero from being a fool!
BBB: What types of characters can readers expect in your world?
DA: Strong heroines, hot heros, and side characters that you’ll just die to see get their own book. I like roping you in like that. I’m sneaky. 
BBB: What does your protagonist think about you? Would he or she want to hang out with you, the author, his creator.
DA: I think he’d like me! I, like him, don’t lie. I suck at it. LOL
BBB: What are the 5 books your hero or heroine loves best!
DA: Steven reads all military books (fiction and nonfiction) and Lauren loves: The Fault in Our Stars, the Hunger Games Series, the Out of Line Series, the Hard Ink Series, and the Welcome to the Point Series.
BBB: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve Googled?
DA: How to properly slice a throat, Cartel style, and blood splatter analysis. Oh, and wheelchair sex positions. LOL
BBB: What’s coming up for you into 2016?
DA: TONS of books. Three more Entangled books (one more Shillings Agency book, one more Modern Fairytales book, and the first in a new series!). One from Random House that involves a seminary student and a tattooed up girl. And the gritty Sons of Steel Row books from Penguin (anti hero gang members in Boston).
Buy a Kindle copy of Say You’re Mine from Amazon by clicking here. - ONLY $2.99!
Buy a print copy of Say You’re Mine from Amazon by clicking here.
Books in the Shillings Agency series in the order they should be read:
Temporarily Yours
Stealing His Heart
Seducing the Princess
Taking What’s His
Say You’re Mine
About Diane Alberts
Author Bio:
Diane Alberts is a USA TODAY bestselling Contemporary Romance author with Entangled Publishing. Under the name Jen McLaughlin, she also writes New York Times, USA TODAY, and Wall Street Journal bestselling books with Penguin RandomHouse. She was mentioned in Forbes alongside E. L. James as one of the breakout independent authors to dominate the bestselling lists. Diane is represented by Louise Fury at The Bent Agency.
11 Quick Things About Diane
Favorite Food? Donuts
Favorite Color? Purple
Favorite Movie or TV Show of all Time? Sherlock or Doctor Who
Favorite Drink? Appletini!
Favorite Current Book? Rule
Favorite Season? Summer
Favorite Online Hangout? Twitter for work related stuff, and Facebook for my personal account.
Favorite Animal? Cats!!!
Favorite Band or Musician? Idina Menzel
Mode of Travel? (Trains, Planes or Automobiles) I’ve done all the above. Depends where I’m going!
Favorite Vacation Destination? New York City
Connect with Diane
| Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Books by Diane Alberts
|
CONTEST INFO: Open to readers worldwide.
Prize: $25.00 Amazon Gift Card
Who are some of your favourite authors?
Oh, gosh, there are so many! Johanna Lindsay, Christina Dodd, Laura Kaye, Jen Armentrout, Jay Crownover-I could go one and on and on!
Hi Diane!
Welcome to Bitten by Books, it is great to have you with us today.
How’s the weather where you are today? It is raining to beat the band here.
You know, I had to get up and look! I’ve been writing all day! It’s chilly and sunny!
To answer your questions.
1. Have you ever gone from friends to lovers before?
UGH yes and YAY Yes, depending on the person and situation depends on how well this works out. My husband is my best friend now.
What about you Diane?
My husband and I started out as friends! He had a girlfriend when we met, and after they broke up, he drove up from Maryland (he was in the Marines at the time) to see me, and the rest was history. We’ve been together ever since.
2. Which trope is an automatic one-click for you?
Anything with paranormal/ UF that’s set in Egypt or series that I have grown to love.
Nice!!
3. What type of hero are you DYING to read RIGHT NOW?
Hmmm strong but not over the top. The story has to be good for me to even be interested in investing in a book man. LOL hahahaha
What about you Diane, besides your own hot heroes what others are you looking for?
I love antiheroes, but they can’t be assholes. And anything where it’s a best friend’s little sister trope. I eat those up. And, oh, historical romances. LOVE THEM.
What are your reading now?
I’m reading the Marked Men series by Jay Crownover!
Thank you
Hello! What writers have influenced you?
Old school books/authors influenced me, I think. Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Johanna Lindsay, Jude Devereaux, Karen Robards. I grew up reading those books, and ate them up as a kid. It’s when I decided to become a romance author!
Love Steve McGarrett. He’s PERFECT hero material. When you started the Shillings Agency series did you know you were going to be writing six books?
Nope! We’d only contracted four originally, but then we added more on. I supposed it’s possible we could add more on, too. You never know!
I’ve loved this series. I’m definitely looking forward to reading Say You’re Mine.
Congrats on the new release! Say You’re Mine sounds exciting. Since you love historical romance, have you ever tried writing one? In addition to contemporary romance do you write in any other genre?
Yes! I wrote a full length historical romance that I LOVE so much. It’s my goal to polish it up and submit it in early 2016. I really want it to hit shelves. It’s my baby. LOL
I write contemporary romance and New Adult. There are some of my older books that are paranormal, and one historical short story, but they’re, like, really old.
To answer your questions…
1) No. I’ve never gone from friends to lovers, though my husband is my best friend. Unfortunately, sometimes when I’m talking to him I forget he’s my husband first. Yeah, I probably shouldn’t say a guy is hot or “Hey look at this guy on Pinterest.”
2) I LOVE best friends to lovers romances. The couple seems to already know everything there is about each other. I haven’t read this book yet, but I loved Katee Robert’s Falling for His Best Friend.
3) I have a serious weakness for heroes who pack guns and know how to use them. But I think I’m dying to read something a little sweet.
Love these answers!!!
Hi Diane!
Welcome to Bitten by Books, it is great to have you with us today.
My question for you is; do you have a favorite book or series that you have written so far????
If so, which is it and why???
I think I have a soft spot in my heart for my historical romance that I’m hoping to one day publish! Also, I am in love with my Sons of Steel Row series. It’s been a blast writing antiheroes, and a challenge, as well.
Author questions
I have gone from friends to lovers. In fact, I am happily married to him.
Paranormal romance and urban fantasy with strong independent heroines are my favorite.
I enjoy reading about complex heroes who are strong, loyal, and passionate.
Great answers!
What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author, if any, and what has been the best compliment?
Oh Gosh, I’ve read some pretty harsh reviews of my books, but I don’t remember exactly what they said. As far as compliments, I love it when a reader takes away a personal meaning from one of my books, or relates to a character so much that they write to me to let me know. LOVE IT.
Hi, Diane!
I have SO enjoyed the Shillings Agency series, and am dee-lighted there’s another one coming out! Okay, serious question now: If you had to choose, Sherlock or Steve McGarrett? *ducking* And congrats on your new release!
BUT WHY?!!!!! LOL
Okay, fine. Sherlock…as long as it’s the Benedict one. Hands down, he wins.
I enjoy your books, and wanted to know which book (or series) is your favorite?
It’s a tie! I have a soft spot in my heart for my historical romance that I’m hoping to one day publish but I’m also in love with my Sons of Steel Row series. It’s been fun writing antiheroes, and a huge challenge, too.
What do you enjoy most about Christmas?
Happiness and Christmas lights!
Yeah I love the lights to much to my partner’s dismay. We have a few that I put up around the outside of the house.
Hi Diane and Congratulations! You have quite an impressive bio! How long have you been writing?
Thank you! I’ve been writing almost all my life, but I got my first contract with the first book I ever wrote in 2011.
Wow! You have made great strides since 2011! Nice!
If you could only give ONE piece of advice to newbie authors and writers, what advice do you think is the most important one to give? One PRO to becoming an author? One CON to becoming an author?
Have you ever gone from friends to lovers before?
— Nope… I have gone from friends to dating a friend but that was in highschool. We only met at school so nothing came of it.
Which trope is an automatic one-click for you?
—- If a book has any of the following: Druids, elves (especially drows. They don’t see much book love and other than DnD hard to find), dragons, anything Celtic, Scottish or Irish… Tropes are hard for me because I can list the ones that just does NOT suit me.
What type of hero are you DYING to read RIGHT NOW?
—- - Laughs- I would LOVE to read a hero who is kinda like Vegita on Dragonball Z. Bad ass, use to be a villain and slowly adjusting to his new life as a good guy, snarky, has anger issues but I kinda want him to be like Dean Ambrose on wrestling (he’s the best example I can think of even though I no longer like Wrestling. All the bad guys win, got tired of that, and the lame characters they shove out)
Never give up. Keep on trying and honing your craft. It’s not an unrealistic dream to be a writer.
Pro: I get to do what I love…tell stories!
Con: No salary stability. You never know how your book is going to sell, so there’s no budgeting or planning for income. LOL
Have you ever gone from friends to lovers before? No, I haven’t.
Which trope is an automatic one-click for you? Although I’ve never gone from friends to lovers, I do enjoy reading books with that storyline.
What type of hero are you DYING to read RIGHT NOW? A strong, self-assured hero who can handle anything that comes his way and is loyal to the ends of the earth!
Nice!
Hi!
Well….. what is your preferred first choice of donut? 
Lois
and your questions -
1 - oh no, not me… but I like reading it!
2 - at first I was going to say I’m not sure I really have a big one anymore… but yeah, there is one - I love Christmas themed books, but where Christmas is basically the third character in the story, not just the time of year it is taking place.
3 - any that aren’t my class textbooks!
Chocolate iced!!!
Do you have any favorite current shows or books?
I loved Jessica Jones! Also addicted to Sherlock and Doctor Who!!!
Love Sherlock, can’t wait for the Victorian Christmas special coming up soon.
ME EITHER!
Have you ever gone from friends to lovers before?
Thats usually how my relationships go
Which trope is an automatic one-click for you?
romantic suspense, paranormal suspense, bikers, men in uniform, highlander, mother alone, widow and the sheriff
What type of hero are you DYING to read RIGHT NOW?
tough guy who only softens for his woman
You’d love Sons of Steel Row, then!
Will have to check it out!
What authors do you read?
Jay Crownover, Jennifer Armentrout, Laura Kaye, Johanna Lindsay, to name a few!
Hi Diane!
Do you have any unusual Christmas traditions?
I have done the friends to lovers thing and almost every time it was just weird. My husband and I did meet on a blind date but he is my best friend now.
I guess a really strong but flawed heroine. The stuff I end up really loving is the character stuff that rises about a troupe. A supernatural setting is always a plus!
I like the flawed, bad boy, alpha types but again- I want well rounded.
Not really, no! I can’t think of any! I do watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation every time I wrap presents, though!
Hello,
Are there any other genres you would have an interest in writing ?
YA! I’d love to, and have! Just nothing I’ve published. LOL
To answer a few if your questions I’ve definitely crossed the line from friend to lover twice and both times I had to say goodbye and my poor heart hasn’t been the same. The kind of hero I’d love to read about is a sexy Cowboy. The man who stole my heart is a real life Cowboy and now that I’ve had a taste of that Bucking Bronco….I’ll never be the same.
Aw, I’m sorry!! *hugs*
My question for you is have you ever loved someone so much you could literally feel a connection to them? What did you do when/if you had to let them go? I’ve only had this connection once and it’s the purest sensation I’ve ever felt…but we got together at the wrong time and unfortunately it’s friends or nothing…since we both kind of have other love interests at the moment… And none of us like the idea of sharing
Besides with my husband? Yes one other time. I had a real connection, but it wasn’t meant to be. Wrong timing, wrong place. But then I met my hubby, and I felt it with him, too.
Deep question!
Yeah I’ve been in a contemplative kind of mood and even though it’s wrong timing…I’m grateful to have experienced this powerful of a love because otherwise I wouldn’t have known what my hearts capable of
How do you come up with names for your characters?
Sometimes I just come up with them immediately and other times I go to baby name websites! Other times, I go on FB or Twitter and pick from there-especially for last names! Haha!
how long does it take you to plan out a book? do you use story boards? then how long does it take you to write the book once all that is done?
friends to lovers definitely … hubby was my best friend who babysat my kids so I could start dating after a bad divorce… there were other fish in the sea he said… 3rd date I realized I wanted him
What were your favorite 2015 reads? I’m always looking for new recommendations!
Any advice for someone interested in becoming an author?
Have you ever gone from Friends to lovers?
Oops I meant to answer that question not ask you….. hehehehe anyway yes I have gone from friends to lovers before. One friendship it ruined and we don’t talk anymore, but in the case of my hubby well it’s almost 10 years now.
Where do you get your inspiration to write your book.
Shows, real life, and other books!!!
Yes I have gone from friends to lovers.
My trope that I click on are anything afterlife.
I am dying to be a hero that can fight against crime.
love those, too!
troupe is best friends to lovers
love those, too!
love to read always and excited for it is cowboys
yummy!
Hi Diane,
nice to get to know you and your books. what is the coolest thing that happened to you this year?
I got my first print book deal…and Idina Menzel followed me on Twitter!
cool!
Any special holiday plans?
My family is coming up to my house!
Who is your favorite author?
Jay Crownover, Jennifer Armentrout, Laura Kaye, Johanna Lindsay, to name a few!
If you decided to change your name, what would you call yourself?
Diane Alberts!
What are your holiday plans?
1. no
2. no automatic
3. alpha
My family is coming over!
Friends to lovers either NAUGHTY UP your world or KABOOM in your world. My heart bb started as male BF.I love those ALPHAs that are brought to their knees by a goody-to-shoes female. With her inner BAD GIRL drawing out his hidden BAD BOY!!
Now what was your WORSE & BEST oops in your own relationships?
Not listening close enough.
Do you write in more than one genre?
YES! I love lots of genres!
If donuts didn’t exist, what would be your favorite food?
GASP! I don’t know!! That’s a horrible world to live in!
Umm….I guess steak and baked potatoes.
I never thought of googleing for wheelchair sex positions but my late husband and I found enough on our own to enjoy ourselves
What do you do to enjoy yourself away from the world of books?
Watch tons of good TV, knit pretty hats, and just enjoy my family when I can!
wheres your favorite place to write
My desk, always my desk. Boring, I know.
Do you need quiet to write or do you have a favorite list of music you listen to while writing?
I have a Pandora station that plays a very tailored list of songs I can rock out to/zone out on when I’m writing. It has to be those songs, though. If it’s new/exciting songs, I stop to dance in my chair, and that’s not helping anyone. LOL
What genre would you like to write in but haven’t yet for whatever reason?
I’ve written in them all! Some aren’t submitted/published yet, but I have done them all!
if you could go anywhere in the world on a Vacation where would you go?
England/Scotland/Ireland/Italy. All in one trip!
Have you ever written a Mary Sue character?
Yes I have!
Oh Wow! So if someone you know, dies from having their throat slit, you will be questioned by the authorities? All kidding aside, some of the things authors research to write an actual story. You must have a strong stomach for the gruesome, real life.
Yes…I have gone form friends to lovers, and we are still married, 15 years later.
Who is your favorite Muppet and why?
Friends-to-lovers hasn’t happened to me…
I like reading friends-to-lovers, unresolved sexual tension between roommates, bandmates, or teammates (I’m an m/m fan), and, while I doubt it’s an official trope, the “reluctant porn performer who discovers he’s a natural” storyline is always fun!
I like an unassuming hero who surprises everybody by being awesome in the end. Or, barring that, a fireman or hockey player.
Have your ever decided to kill off a character and then just couldn’t do it because you yourself loved that character so much?
Depends on the book! But my first drafts/planning usually takes about 1-2 months!
1) friend to lover - no, never happened to me.
2) alien guy & human girl/woman pairing - there are too few books like this.
3) mmm, hot alien guy?:)
If you were stranded on a deserted Isle as long as the necessities were taken of what three things would you have to have. And your books sounds good.
Wine, coffee, and my computer!
Author Questions:
1) Have you ever gone from friends to lovers before?
— No, I have never gone from friends to lovers before.
2) Which trope is an automatic one-click for you?
—- I like reading friends-to-lovers, unresolved sexual tension between roommates, bandmates, or teammates (I am totally a m/m fan), and, while I doubt it’s an official trope, the “reluctant porn performer who discovers he’s a natural” storyline is always fun!
3) What type of hero are you DYING to read RIGHT NOW?
—- I am DYING to read about complex heroes who are strong, loyal, and passionate.
1. yes once but we decided friends were better lol
2. hot alien guys in space
3. more hot alien guys in space or people with abilities