Okay okay, let’s get the disclosure out of the way lest anyone get shirty – Megan Hart is a friend, a dear friend and someone who, if I had to choose a group to be stuck on an island with, she’d be on the list. However, that aside, I can tell you it is my sincere belief that Megan is an amazingly talented author as well as having the very good taste to be one of my partners in crime.

Her second Harlequin Spice novel, Broken releases May 1 but it’s shipping now and showing up on shelves so I wanted to take total advantage of our friendship and coerce her into a quick interview for my blog or I’d pester her relentlessly at RT where we’ll be roomies and she can’t escape me.

Tell us about Broken (and don’t bore the kids at home with your recount of how Lauren Dane hated the idea because you know that was before you changed it and made Joe into a likeable guy instead of a tool):

Broken started, simply enough with an image: a man and a woman on a park bench. I had this overwhelming image of a very lovely man who couldn’t be faithful – why would a man like that be constantly seeking out women? Why would the woman with him listen? And what would stop them from just giving in to lust and consummating it? That’s how it started and it grew from there. And oh, yeah, you hated the idea when I first mentioned it. HAHA! (editorial note: I hated the idea of an icky cheater! Joe is not an icky cheater in the version you showed me and wrote, so there.)

What writing rituals do you have?

Well, I mostly write Monday – Thursday while my kids are in school, while I drink copious amounts of Diet Coke with Splenda and listen to music. Sometimes to shake it up, or if I can’t get away from the distraction of the internet, I got to a coffee shop and drink copious amounts of coffee and listen to my iPod while I write on my Alphasmart. My writing ritual is: WRITE.

What draws you to a certain idea?

How invested I become in the characters. How believable I can make them. How much I want to find out what happens to them.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

Pantser. I usually know the beginning and the end but not so much the middle…I keep notes but often end up with a different idea that comes to me in an AHA moment while I’m writing. It sort of flows that way. One thing leads to another (to quote the Fixx, yeah yeah yeah!)

What’s your favorite spot on a man’s body?

I really dig forearms. And the small of his back.

Give us three books you’ve read more than once and what about them made you want to pick them up again?

Imajica by Clive Barker – a great, fantastical love story that I can read over and over and still find something new to love.

The Stand by Stephen King – ooooh, whee, I do loves me some post apocalyptic stuff!

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein: I love the whole message

Two doors, behind one is a naked Ewan all ready to go, the other has Keanu with a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of Jameson – which door do you pick?

Curse you. How can I possibly be expected to choose such a thing? I mean, really. That’s hardly fair. Let me think on that…well…I guess I’d have to choose Keanu because though I do love some naked Ewan, Keanu is and has always been my number one, numero uno (a love that’s lasted twenty years!) and flowers and Jameson would only be icing on the cake.

Lastly, give us a sneaky peek into Perfect or whatever it’s going to be called, pretty please:

Haha, well, when I figure out what they’re going to call it, I’ll let everyone know. Here’s a bit about it:

Anne Kinney has a perfect marriage. Her husband James is handsome, charming, sexy. So’s his long-lost best friend Alex Kennedy, who shows up after years away. It shouldn’t be a problem, right? Any friend of James’ and all that. But what Anne finds is that Alex and James share a friendship deeper than it appears, something she’s not a part of. At least, not until the two men set out to seduce her into a relationship that seems at first glance to be for her pleasure. As the summer moves on, Anne and Alex forge a relationship beyond being the bridge between him and James. As she learns more about Alex and her husband and the friendship they began so long ago, Anne also learns more about herself and what she expects and wants from life and love. And how sometimes, being honest is more important than being perfect.

Megan Hart has written approximately a buttload of books and novellas in several genres. She likes to dye her hair purple and wear striped socks and she’s a very good writer. If you haven’t picked one of her books up yet you really should. And by the way, I bought my copy of Broken – just so the FCC knows. She just did a website overhaul – g’wan, check it out.