I’ve been tagged by fellow author Q. Kelly for the 22nd week of The Next Big Thing Blog Hop.

The idea is to hop from blog to blog to discover exciting books we might not have heard about or that are still works in progress. Each author will answer the same ten questions, then list authors who will answer the questions on their blogs next Wednesday.

So let’s get started…

What is the working title of your book?

My book’s title is Something in the Wine. Since the novel has already been published, it’s not a working title. By the way, the title is an allusion to the stupid rumor that there must be something in the water turning people gay.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I don’t know where the idea came from. Like so many novels, it all started with a “what if” question: What if two women who are very different from each other are set up on a blind date? What if they both went into the blind date with false assumptions because someone played a practical joke on them?

What genre does your book fall under?

Something in the Wine is a contemporary lesbian romance.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

She’s a few years older than Annie, but I could still see Stephanie March playing Annie—including the horn-rimmed glasses she wore in Law & Order: SVU. Drew is more difficult, since she’s built a bit “sturdier” than most of Hollywood actresses.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When her brother Jake sets up straight accountant Annie Prideaux on a blind date with lesbian winemaker Drew, they decide to turn the tables on him by pretending to fall in love.

What is the longer synopsis of your book?

All her life, Annie Prideaux has suffered through her brother’s constant practical jokes only he thinks are funny. But Jake’s last joke is one too many, she decides when he sets her up on a blind date with his friend Drew Corbin—neglecting to tell his straight sister one tiny detail: her date is not a man, but a lesbian.

Annie and Drew decide it’s time to turn the tables on Jake by pretending to fall in love with each other.

At first glance, they have nothing in common. Disillusioned with love, Annie focuses on books, her cat, and her work as an accountant while Drew, more confident and outgoing, owns a dog and spends most of her time working in her beloved vineyard.

Only their common goal to take revenge on Jake unites them. But what starts as a table-turning game soon turns Annie’s and Drew’s lives upside down as the lines between pretending and reality begin to blur.

Something in the Wine is a story about love, friendship, and coming to terms with what it means to be yourself.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I completed the first draft in four months; then it took me eight months to rewrite, revise, and edit the manuscript before sending it off to the publisher.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

As in many of my other novels, what fascinates me most is to take two characters who bring different personality traits, family histories, and lifestyles to the table and then have them form a friendship and finally fall in love. In the process of forming a friendship and then a relationship, they add something to the other’s life and help each other reach their full potential and see themselves in a different light.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Something in the Wine is a story about a thirty-year-old woman who thinks she knows where her life is going. She’s set in her ways and doesn’t like change. But when she falls in love with a woman—and a woman who’s her exact opposite—she is faced with a decision that will change the direction of her life and how she sees herself.

I think most of us have been in situations like that when you’re at one of life’s crossroads and whatever you decide will have a huge impact on your life.