I believe I may have met my match.
Lily Malone is one witty, wine-loving, lady. I am so glad I found her lurking on her blog (a blog that is littered with gold, BTW.)
Trouble is, every time I see her name I start singing Lili Marlène* over and over in my head. (For Gen X and Y – it’s an old Vera Lynn, WWII… oh, just forget it and watch the clip – or not.)
Okay, Lily, now I have that out of the way, start by telling me if it’s scones and tea or some other homemade delight you have whipped up for me today.
Hubby has previously described my attempt at muffins as “like ice-hockey pucks” and I dread to think what I might do to a scone… but I am a QUEEN of chocolate brownies. And in particular I make a white chocolate and cherry brownie (sometimes with crushed hazelnuts) that is kind of gooey and almost tea-cakey-chewy (very un-brownie like) but dang, it’s DIVINE!
(After so many Author Harvest posts I’ve learned not to be fussy, so… Plate ’em up, Lil!)
At home …
My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in 
your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?
No gnomes here. I do have an African lady that was a wedding present. (Here’s a photo). The idea is to put your keys in the basket on her head so if you forget your keys, you can always get in the house. Oops. Do any potential burglars read Author Harvest?
(Nah. You’re safe here. Anything about the family jewels you’d like to add, though?!)
What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?
Good tomatoes. I have struggled to grow tomatoes. They generally come out looking all Bonsai. But dare I say, this year I have thrown everything into the soil and so far, they are looking fab. One is VERY close to being picked.
(Is that it? The one behind you in the profile pic above? Well, I hope you enjoy it. I hate to tell you but I have tomato bushes just pop up every season on their own so I have to make chutney!)
If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?
Yikes! Right now there is a bottle of Jansz bubbles. Coopers Pale Ale. Coopers Stout. There are vegetables in the crisper which are probably the floppy side of crisp. Lots of condiments and a homemade muesli slice which, incidentally, I probably could also have shared for you with the white choc-cherry brownie I mentioned above. But the brownie is more glam, and for you Jenn, glam is the go!
(Lily, as I mentioned to Jaye Ford the other day on Facebook. As one ages, one needs to avoid making reference to anything being ‘floppy’.)
If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)
Definitely not a wardrobe sorter. Black would probably dominate. I’m also a bit of a purple/burgundy kind of girl. I own nothing orange and nothing green.
(Hmm? What was that you said? Burgundy? Why, yes, pour me a glass!)
What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)
It’s about 37 degrees in Adelaide today, so it’s a little blue sundress that my sister (who loves shopping and buys brilliant presents) gave me for Christmas last year (2012).
Whose home would you like to housesit and why?
Someone like Gai Waterhouse or Bart Cummings or Peter Moody. Actually, make that Peter Moody. I am a Black Caviar freak and I’d love to see memorabilia of all these amazing horses. If Peter Moody’s house looked over the paddocks and Black Caviar was out there… that would be pretty amazing. But any rural/horsey/paddocky type thing would do.
Country curiosities…
We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?
I love hats. The widest brim straw hat I have always blows off in the wind, which may mean my head is not big enough. (Some would argue this fact). But I really love wearing beanies in winter and I have quite a few.
If you were a tree (or animal) what kind of tree (animal) would you be?
I don’t know about tree. But I was asked what animal I’d be many, many moons ago at a Nutrimetics party of all places, and I said if I was an animal, I’d like to be an Otter. Go figure.
Now for the big question… Why did the chicken cross the road?
She saw Timothy Olyphant on the other side.
About you…
Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?
This is very very recent for me. In fact I still don’t think I can call it a “career”. But my biggest turning point was when a scene from His Brand Of Beautiful finaled in the RWA First Kiss competition in 2012. When Kasey from RWA rang me up to tell me, I was just blown away. It was the first time anyone who I felt “knew” the romance genre and so, made a good judge, gave me an indication that what I was doing was actually any good. (Or even potentially good – it still had a heck of a long way to go at that point). But I think this was a moment where I thought, okay, if I work and work and work… maybe I can just do this.
(And you did! It’s all official today, I believe. Fantastic.)
What is the hardest part of writing for you?
Finding the time. I have two young kids and I work part-time. It isn’t exactly the ‘time’ itself that is the hard part, but it’s quality time. I have struggled a lot with feeling that my writing is selfish time, and that I should be putting those hours to cutting out and colouring in and painting pictures with the kids… I really am not that type of crafty mum. And I’m a bit of a procrastinator. But once I get stuck in, I’m fairly disciplined.
(Not “THAT type of crafty mum”! So what sort of ‘crafty’ mum are you exactly?)
If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?
Lily Malone: Glass Half Full
(Ha! Love it! I’m definitely more full bottle. What? Why are you laughing?)
What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?
I can’t think of one! I have actually been the answer to a Hockey Club quiz night question once. Does that count?
(Was the question something to do with you puck-like muffins?)
Fun stuff …
What does your protagonist think about you? Would he or she want to hang out with you, the author, his/her creator.
Christina Clay would find my fashion sense very boring, but she would love my hats and we would drink beautiful champagne together.
If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?
Do you know? I think it might be Lady Di, or possibly if it was now, Kate Middleton. Just to see what it was like being a princess. That lifestyle is so far from mine…
If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?
Pop the cork on a bottle of Moet. I have two in the pantry right now, waiting for the day my book is released! But if you twist my arm, I’ll make an exception for you! (Ouch! That was a hard twist, Jenn!)
(I BYO’d Lily. Here you go. Today is the champagne occasion. Cheers to Escape Publishing for having the good sense to see your talent.)
What food would you be?
I love making icecream cakes… I’m not much of a baker otherwise, (outside of the Brownies in Q1 above). I think I’d be something vanilla-ish, with a chocolate swirl of crushed-up Flake and Tim Tams and with a couple of fresh cherries artfully plonked on top. I like artfully plonking.
(Yes, plonking much more acceptable than flopping!)
What was the best thing before sliced bread?
Mel Gibson in Braveheart, or perhaps Brad Pitt in Troy. Or no! Definitely Russell Crowe in Gladiator.
(So, men in skirts do it for you, huh?)
Name 5 uses for a stapler that has not staple pins.
My stapler rarely has pins. The kids are forever emptying them.
How weird are you? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not) to 10 (very).
I don’t think I’m weird, not really. So I’d go with a 2.
Thank you Lily, and congratulations on your contract.
Folks, if you aren’t already subscribed to Lil’s blog, do. She brightens a day and makes for fun procrastination moments. www.lilymalone.wordpress.com
Here is the blurb about her debut novel – for release March 2013
His Brand Of Beautiful – Lily Malone
When marketing strategist Tate Newell first meets wine executive Christina Clay he has one goal in mind: tell Christina he wont design the new brand for Clay Wines. Tell her: Thanks but no thanks. So long, good night.
But Tate is a sucker for a damsel in distress and when a diary mix-up leaves Christina in his debt, he gets more than he bargained for.
What does a resourceful girl do when the best marketing brain in the business wont play ball? She bluffs. She cheats. And she ups the ante. But when the stakes get too high, does anybody win?
Falling in love was never part of this branding brief.
His Brand Of Beautiful will be published by Harlequin Escape in March
For more information or to contact Lily, visit www.lilymalone.wordpress.com
Uh-oh! I have to admit to Googling extract vs excerpt today and still being no clearer. So, rightly or wrongly, I am making a decision and going with … excerpt – if the passage is to be read, and extract – if the passage is to be written or included in another document.