Special Guest: Michelle Somers

I'm thrilled to be hosting a special guest today - the lovely Michelle Somers. Michelle is one of those smiling faces I always look forward to seeing, and she's truly one of the nicest people you'll meet. And yet, her books are a tad... suspenseful. I decided to ask some hard-hitting questions to get to the bottom of who she really is and what's going on in her stories..

1.    Welcome to the LoveCats, Michelle! First up, the important stuff – cat or dog person?

LOL! I’m one of those strange people that loves both for very different reasons – cats for their cuddlability and character, and dogs for their company and companionship.

Currently, we have a furry bundle of fun called Emerald. Emmie for short. And up until a couple of years ago, we had a gorgeous retriever called Charley. 

2. Oh, they are *gorgeous*! Now, tell us: what was the first category book you read? 

Wow, that’s going back a while! I can’t remember the absolute first book, but I have a few that were early introductions to the genre for me. Two that spring to mind, that still form part of my collection, are The Passionate Winter by Carole Mortimer and Wild and Wonderful by Janet Dailey.

3.    What’s the last category book you read?

Melanie Milburne’s His Mistress for a Week.

4.    That one's on my TBR pile! Next, I'm curious - who are three of your all-time favourite (romance novel) heroes?

Just three? That’s almost too impossible to choose. Here’s three of my favourite heroes from books I’ve read over the past couple of years.

Chase Kelly in Christie Craig’s Divorced, Desperate and Delicious.

Greg in Penny Reid’s Ninja at First Sight.

Lake Benson in Janet Elizabeth Henderson’s Lingerie Wars.

5.    What's something we wouldn't know about you?

Many years ago I did a course in cake decorating with my mum. In fact, mum and I designed and made my wedding cake. And, how do you cut a cake that’s taken hours of love and hard work to create? With style. 

6.    That's priceless! Speaking of celebrations, at last year’s Romance Writers of Australia conference, Lethal in Love was awarded the Ruby (Romantic Book of the Year - long), which was fabulous! Did you do anything special to celebrate?

Does a whole trail of mental cartwheels and pirouettes across the floor to the stage count as celebration?

That was an amazing night. There were so many highlights over the course of that conference weekend, but I have to say awards’ night was among the top of them.

I attended with a group of friends from my writing group, the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild (MRWG). Before, during and after the awards ceremony was one evening-long party spent with people who have witnessed my journey from newbie writer to published author. And it was ultra-special to share that evening, and the award-winning experience, with them.

And in terms of celebration? Well, after the ceremony, the group of us, RuBY included, danced, drank cocktails, and partied until all-hours of the morning.

7.    Your latest book Murder Most Unusual has a fascinating premise. Can you tell us about it?

I’d love to!

This is a story about two of the most unlikely people; Stacey, a romantic suspense novelist whose job it is to create the perfect murder – in the pages of her books; and Chase, a homicide detective who’s sworn to keep his city streets safe from killers such as those she creates. Her life is fiction, his is real and gritty and each day might just be his last.

Stacey believes the best way to write a murder is to step inside the mind of a killer and enact it. So she enlists the help of a mannequin called Renaldo, a bevy of synthetic weapons and her imagination. Unfortunately her quirky activities inspire a killer to follow her lead – but instead of fibreglass, his victims are made of real flesh, skin and bones.

As the bodies pile up, the two are thrown together in a gruesome game of murder and lies, and a race to catch the killer before they fall prey to his sick plan.

8.    A romance writer and a detective? That is super-cool. What was your inspiration for Murder Most Unusual?

Great question! To answer, I’ll have to give you some insight into how I write. I’m a ‘plantser’ – a weird and wonderful mix of plotter and pantser. But that’s not all – there are parts of my writing process that could be described as ‘scener’ as well. This is a person who writes in scenes.

Every book, every story I’ve ever written, has come to me first as a single scene. An event. An action. Something intriguing that made me want to explore further.

So, back to your original question – what was my inspiration for Murder Most Unusual?

A single, solitary image: a woman wrestling, very unsuccessfully, with a large, unwieldy object in the middle of a cow paddock. For some reason, I know this is the first dry night after two weeks of solid rain. And I know it’s sometime after midnight. The air is cold and damp, and the ground is very, very muddy. And no matter how hard she tries, that great big lump of a ‘thing’ just won’t budge.

The image was so very clear to me, yet still it left questions that begged to be answered. Who was she? Why was she there? What was she wrestling with? What events led to that moment in the field, and what events would follow?

It didn’t take long for me to discover that the image I’d seen was Stacey enacting a murder under the surreptitious watch of a sadistic killer. And from this opening scene my story unfolded.

A story where she writes. He watches. He waits. He kills…

9.    What are you reading?

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule – a chilling insight into serial killer Ted Bundy through the eyes of someone who once called him a friend.

And following that, I’ll be delving into something a little lighter – The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.

10.    What are you watching?

So many things! Lately I’ve been waiting for a lot of my favourite shows to start up again after the summer break. While that happens, I’ve been getting my fix of cop shows such as Criminal Minds and Luther. Hubby tends to shy away from the more cop-based shows, so when we watch together, the picks are a little different, including series like Grimm, The Blacklist, Lethal Weapon, and just tonight we started a new series on Netflix called Stranger Things. Not sure how I’ll go – the supernatural has a tendency to scare the crap out of me!

11.    What are you listening to?

The sound of my kids running rampant on the second-to-last day of the holidays. LOL!

But I imagine you’re talking music. I listen to a whole range of music genres, depending on my mood. But something I listened to just recently – on a road trip with the family – was the soundtrack to Jeff Waynes’ War of the Worlds. Too many years ago to mention, I loved listening to this musical rendition of Orson Welles’ classic tale, and it was such a joy to share my enjoyment with my three boys.

12.    What’s making you smile?

The release of Murder Most Unusual.

13.    Well, of course it is! It sounds awesome. So, what’s next on the horizon for you?

Two fabulous projects.

The first is the beginning of a series of ‘how to’ books for writers called The Simply Writing Series. With this series, I intend to break down the different elements a writer needs for both creating and promoting a great story. The first in this series is due for release in March this year. The title? Simply Synopsis. 

With special focus on romance, Simply Synopsis will demonstrate how to simply construct an engaging and fresh synopsis that contains all vital information while hooking the reader, and maintaining tension and emotion. 

I can’t wait to share it with you, and the methods in this book form the basis of the online workshop (OWL) I’ll be presenting through Romance Writers of Australia in September this year. 

And the second project? An exciting new romantic suspense set in Chicago. A kind of James Bond meets Stephanie Plum. It’s full of suspense and tension, some weird, wacky and wonderful characters. And more than a few Sound intriguing? I hope so.

Absolutely, that sounds intriguing! Thanks for visiting us, Michelle.



Michelle is kindly giving away a copy of Murder Most Unusual to one commenter. Given that this book has a romance author and a homicide detective, Michelle is curious about what characters you'd most like to see pitted against each other in a rom-sus. Perhaps a couple that you've not seen before. I'm looking forward to reading your ideas!


Michelle Somers is a bookworm from way back. An ex-Kiwi who now calls Australia home, she’s a professional killer and matchmaker, a storyteller and a romantic. Words are her power and her passion. Her heroes and heroines always get their happy ever after, but she’ll put them through one hell of a journey to get there. Michelle lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her real life hero and three little heroes in the making. She loves hearing from her readers, so if you’ve enjoyed this insight into her mind and her writing, visit her website www.michelle-somers.com and sign up to her newsletter for more of the same. 

Murder Most Unusual buy links:

Amazon Aus, Amazon US, Amazon UK, iBooks, Kobo, Nook.