Featured Interview With M.C. Roman
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born in the US, but grew up in Mexico City where I attended an American school. Both English and Spanish have been a part of me since the beginning, but there have been waves where one language has superseded the other throughout the years. I enjoy both languages equally, but there are also many different things/saying that can be expressed better in one language over the other. I think I enjoy writing in English a bit more as I think I express myself ultimately better in this language, but reading in Spanish just seems much more romantic – especially poetry! I have lived in New York mostly since college and I recently moved to Brooklyn.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I realized I was fascinated with books when I was 6 years old. My family had just moved to Mexico and I spent most of first grade hidden in the school library, trying to get my hands on as many children’s books as possible. I’ve always enjoyed creative writing and this became more apparent to me during high school. In 10th grade, I won an award for “Best English Student” of my class and then went on to take AP English Courses. In college, life got in the way and I ended up studying Psychology and thus, writing was put on hold. Once I graduated, I found myself applying to different publishing houses for work, but eventually ended up in Market Research. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t until I was in between jobs after graduating from business school that I finally found some time and set myself up to start writing my first novel, Teaching Mia. The words simply started pouring out as the story had been stuck in my head for a few years and I haven’t looked back ever since!
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Growing up in Mexico, my favorite authors are mostly from Latin America. Carlos Fuentes is a huge inspiration to me (Mia’s last name from Teaching Mia came from him) and I always looked up to the fact that he is one of the first few truly bilingual authors in Spanish and English and I absolutely loved reading his short stories growing up. Other authors include: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Octavio Paz, Mario Vargas Llosa. In English, my favorite book is Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and also love Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo. My favorite genres to read nowadays are new adult, contemporary romance, and bit of paranormal.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
I was inspired to write Stealing Emma after I completed the first book in the series, Teaching Mia. I was very drawn to Max’s character in the first book and felt that there was a whole other story hidden within him. I started to develop his character a bit further and before I knew it another romantic hero in the Durant family was born. I was also still very inspired by the setting of the books, which is based on my experience during grad school while living in Spain. My time there was so rich and intense, I felt that there were more aspects to explore and showcase through a second book.
Max Durant is the male lead in Stealing Emma and is Leo Durant’s older brother from Teaching Mia. His character originated from the first book, so I developed his character further in this one. He is the funnier one in the family and doesn’t take things very seriously…until he meets Emma Blake and she completely rocks his world. Emma is a combination of a few people I’ve met, but she is a very smart and confident woman who gets mixed in between her boyfriend Roy and Max. Her relationship with both of them gets tested and she becomes torn in the process being pulled in different directions.
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