Sunday’s Author Spotlight: Camilla Monk

Island Chaptal—nerdy IT engineer by day, romance novel
junkie by night—just walked into her messy New York apartment to find Mr. Right
waiting for her. No, wait… Mr. Clean..

A gentleman professional killer with a bad case of OCD and zero tolerance for
unsorted laundry, March isn’t there to kill her…yet. He wants the diamond her
late mother stole for a sinister criminal organization. Island agrees to help
him find it, facing the kind of adversaries who dismember first and ask
questions later. Good thing she’s got March to show her the ropes. And the
guns. And the knives.

The buttoned-up Island is soon having a blast racing from Paris to Tokyo
following the clues in her mother’s will, and for the first time, she’s ready
to get close to someone. But falling for a hit man may be the very definition
of loving dangerously.…

This book is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indigo, Half/Ebay and Alibris. 

Tell us a little more about who Camille Monk is?

So … I’m French, turned 32 a few months ago, live in
Paris. I grew up in a Franco-American family, where many cultures collided,
which certainly nourished my imagination. I’ve traveled a bit in my life, lived
in Japan for a while, and now I work in a digital agency, doing all sorts of
things related to web projects: conception, design, development, advertising,
that kind of thing. I’m a proud nerd, and have an amazing husband who’s a
hardcore engineer, like Island. He gives me tons of great ideas, helps me
discover things I never knew even existed (Like Vegan Black Metal Chef!) and
certainly inspires my writing a lot.

What made you start writing? And who are your
inspirations?

I’m a dreamer, always have been. I love drawing,
imagining stories. I ended up doing serious adult things because that’s how
life is, but I never really lost that need to lock myself in my little bubble,
a world where everything is possible and thank God, nothing makes sense. I
guess it won’t come as a surprise if I say that one of my favorite stories ever
is Alice in wonderland.

I’ve dabbled in writing over the years, never writing
more than 15k, 20k before life got in the way and I’d leave my projects to
sleep. Then in August 2013, I got the idea for Spotless, and I decided that I
had to finish at least one book to let my ideas flow out. I felt I needed to do
it for myself, that it was something I needed to accomplish or else I’d regret
it. So I wrote every day after work, on weekends, and ta~da!

 Where
do you get your inspiration from? Do you use your own experiences?

Everything inspires me: travels, books, movies, video
games, people in the streets, news, magazines, paintings, scents, my husband’s
mad nerdy tales. I’m a bit of a sponge and love to just learn new things and
absorb what goes on around me. And, of course, my own experiences color my
writing. This is especially true in Spotless; because it’s written in first
person, and I wanted it to be a candid, honest account of what Island
experiences. 

Some Authors say they heard there characters inside their
head for years before they started writing. How did your characters in
‘Spotless’ come to life?

Mmmhh, hard to tell. Island’s character probably took
shape around 2011, in one of my unfinished bits. March’s character, I’m not
sure: I think he kind of popped up during the summer of 2013. I always get
flashes of dialogues and scenes first, in which a character emerges, than I
know I want to further explore. It’s the same for another secret project I
have: it started with a few silly scenes, and now it’s a book that’s halfway
finished.

Can you describe your writing process? Do you have any
sort of ritual you follow?

No particular ritual. I’m a beginner, so I don’t know
what’s right or not. I like to have scented candles in the room when I write,
does that count as a writing process? 😉 I also listen to music. Often, a song
or a piece will inspire me for a scene. For example, I remember I loved
listening to The Antwoord’s “Cookie Thumper” when I was writing
Spotless, because it fits the book’s whacky atmosphere so perfectly.

When I have a scene in mind and I want it out quickly, I
write it in notepad, because if I’m working in my Word manuscript, I tend to
edit over and over and work super slowly. So I’ll drop a thousand words
bothering with punctuation, spelling, or even speech tags, I’ll copy-paste it
in Word, and start refining it.

I also use Google and online tools a lot. When I’m
writing, there’s always at least a dozen windows open, with a thesaurus, the
Merriam Webster, tones of Google searches … 

 What do
you love most about being an author?

I got paid actual money to write about ostriches, a
Twitter bazooka and killer platypuses (watch out for those in Beating Ruby
…).

What is your favorite book(s)?

One book that I absolutely worship is a fairly unknown
German children’s book called: Schlechte Zeiten für Gespenster (Bad
Times for Ghosts). It might seem random, but it’s been with me for more
than twenty years, and its voice/approach to its subject certainly influenced
me heavily (like focusing on everyday life aspects of an extra-ordinary
situation–in that book, the fact that they’re a family of ghosts, in Spotless’
the criminal world). I also loved the illustrations and
“technical notices” in this book. I think it influenced
Beating Ruby as well–the next book in the Spotless series. All I have to say,
is: find it if you can, it’s a gem!

Also, to give credit where it’s due, I think March’s
character, his disorder and his mannerisms, were unconsciously inspired by my
favorite text from French humorist Pierre Desproges, “Le Maniaque”.
That guy is  a monument, and he deserves every bit of his fame!

What are your future plans in writing?

I just finished writing Beating Ruby, the next
installment in the Spotless series, and developmental editing is starting. It
should be released in the 1st quarter of 2016 .

I have two secrets projects. One is a rather ambitious
sc-fi/thriller/historical that I’ll finish, one day! Hint: it’s got to do with
one of the subjects Island discusses with March during their date.

The other is a crazy romantic comedy, exploring the
darkest and funniest of BDSM … and bad sex.

Polish those
bookshelves, Spotless is a must read!

– Chicks That Read

Spotless is the
first in a series by newcomer Camilla Monk and is a fabulous debut; the writing
is topnotch. The story was suspenseful, intriguing, humorous, and most
importantly interesting.

– Whiskey In TheJar Likes To Read

Humor, suspense,
emotions, and a dash of heat, Spotless has it all.

– Read Love Blog

If you are a fan
of some sweet romance, and some creepy torture, this book has all you need! It
is a great balance between the 007 fans, and the lover of a good romantic
comedy. Each character has their quirks, and you learn to love them all in
spite of it.  Take a chance, like I did, and pick it up for a fun read
this summer!

– Clumsy KatieReads Books

Camilla Monk is a French native who grew up in a
Franco-American family. After finishing her studies, she taught English and
French in Tokyo before returning to France to work in advertising. Today, she’s
a managing partner in a small ad agency, where her job is to handle all things
web-related and make silly drawings on the whiteboard when no one is looking.

Her writing credits include the English resumes and cover
letters of a great many French friends, and some essays as well. She’s also the
critically acclaimed author of a few passive-aggressive notes pasted in her
building’s elevator.

To learn more about Camilla’s writing projects, you can
visit [the blog] she doesn’t update enough.

For more information about Camilla monk and the Spotless series
please visit her website, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

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