Spotlight Sunday with Nina Croft!

1. Where do you dream of traveling to and why?

We used to travel a lot. In fact, every bit of spare time and spare money was spent travelling. We’ve been around much of Africa, India, South East Asia. Now we’ve settled down on an almond farm on the mountains of Southern Spain and we don’t get to travel much anymore - a combination of too little money and too many animals (three dogs, three cats, two goats, a horse and a handful of chickens!). But there are still places I’d love to visit—I want to go horse-riding up the Inca trails in South America, and canoeing down the Amazon, and I’d love to go to Egypt and visit the pyramids and…. Oh dear—I think I’m getting restless.

2. Tell us about your current release.

My current release is Mid-Winter Magic. It’s part of an anthology of stories put together by my fantastic critique group, Passionate Critters. There are four stories in all, which range from contemporary to paranormal, but all romance, and all set around the fictional American town of Five Oaks. Mine involves a really hot vampire and the witch he’s been hunting for the last fifty years.

3. Does your significant other read your stuff? No.
   

I used to write more short stories, which weren’t necessarily romance, and he’d read and comment on them for me. Now, I mainly concentrate on longer romance. It’s not his sort of thing, especially the vampires and werewolves, so I keep it to myself. Besides, it’s probably best he doesn’t really know how my mind works.

4. Do you use a pen name? If so, how did you come up with it?

Yes, I use a pen name, mainly because I didn’t think my own name sounded particularly authorly. Of course, I hadn’t actually chosen one when I made my first sale, so it was done in a bit of a rush. I looked up name sites on the internet, and I was totally overwhelmed. I couldn’t decide, so in the end I narrowed the choices down by sticking with my own initials. And I wanted something short and catchy so came up with Nina Croft.

5. What books have most influenced your life?

I think probably The Lord of the Rings. It’s just so big, in every sense.

6. How do you develop your plots and your characters? Do you use any set formula?

I’m a relative beginner, so I’m still working out what works best for me. I don’t use a set formula. I hate routines, and I tend to vary the way I do things each time But I am a big fan of how to write books, and if I get stuck on a plot, I’ll often go off and reread one of my favorites, and try some techniques from that.

7. What question do you wish was on the list? Your answer?

Name ten things to do with almonds.

Living on an almond farm, I’m surrounded by nuts, so I think about this a lot. Sadly, the question never seems to come up in interviews.

Anyway, here goes—roast them, salt them, blanch them, slither or grind them. Make turron, marzipan, almond oil, sprinkle them on curries and cakes and crumbles. I think that might be eleven!