by Levine, Nina
2. You’ve written a lot of fierce, sexy, and unforgettable couples. If you had to choose, which couple is your favorite and why?
This question is so hard to answer!! I have a few favourites, but if I had to choose one couple, it would be Nitro & Tatum. I loved that they were both so hardened by life and didn't open up easily. They both had to work to get the other to allow them in, and they both had to come to terms with themselves and make some big changes to grow. I know all my couples do this, but it felt like Nitro & Tatum fought this the most. And that's what I love about writing - watching that struggle to grow and make changes. It's life, and we're all flawed and make mistakes and either learn from them or stay stuck. I love exploring that, and I'm finding that my writing is evolving more and more into digging deeper into human flaws and creating imperfect characters who sometimes are a struggle to like.
2021 Update: I wrote King after this and he and Lily are definitely one of my fave couples now. As are Winter & Birdie (I adore these two and their emotional journey!) and I also adore Scarlett & Wilder. These four couples are probably my favourites, but I can’t choose just one!
3. Your Storm MC and Sydney Storm MC series are thrilling, hot, and full of surprises and yet each novel also stands apart in its own way. Which book was the easiest to write? Which was the hardest?
Havoc was the easiest to write. He and Carla just fell onto the page. I know this may be hard to believe ;) but up until I wrote the first half of Havoc (which was just after I wrote Revive), I'd kind of censored my bikers. When they said or did something that I thought may have stretched the dirtiness a little too far, I pulled them back. I deleted a lot of dirty stuff and toned it down. But with Havoc, I just let him and Carla be as dirty as they wanted. And that was fun! Carla was especially fun to write because of the fact I didn't censor her. My hardest book to write has hands down been King's book (and it's still not finished because of this!). It's no secret that I've struggled with my writing since my mother passed away, but I'm doing much better with that now. However, I'm still finding King's Wrath hard to write because of all the intricate plots I've got going on. Weaving in his life story plus all the club issues that have been going on for the entire series has been much harder than I ever anticipated. I thought I may struggle with King himself (getting him exactly right) but that hasn't been a problem at all. He's been in my head since 2014 and he is the character of mine who I know the best. I pretty much know him inside out and I don't ever struggle with knowing how he would react to a certain situation, so he just falls onto the page. It's just everything else going on that is making this a difficult book to write. I've also had to write his woman a few times now to get her right. I played with writing the book entirely in his POV also, but decided for the story to work best I wanted her POV in there too. So yeah, this book has been a journey! I'm aiming to finish writing his first book soon! And fingers crossed his second book flows much easier.
4. You seem to enjoy writing complicated, brooding alphas with filthy minds and even filthier mouths. Were you always comfortable getting down and dirty with your book boyfriends or was it something you had to grow into?
LOL at the filthy. Yes, I love writing that! I remember writing the first sex scene between J & Madison and blushing while I wrote it. Afterwards, I was like "huh, that was actually fun!". By the time Nash's book came, I was completely good with writing the filthy side of my men.
5. When you first hit publish on Storm, did you ever imagine you’d have two series worth of deliciously dirty bikers out in the world? What did you originally have in mind with J, Madison, and the rest of the Storm MC crew?
I had no idea that this is where I would be now! I didn't plan that first series in the beginning. I simply wrote Storm and put it out there and went with the flow. That book did extremely well and readers were excited for a second book, so I wrote Scott's book. I wasn't sure what possessed me to say I'd write his next because in Storm he was a complete ass lol! I didn't even really like him in that first book. But I ended up loving writing his story and fell in love with his character. However, the night before I was to publish his book, my friend called me up and told me that she hated him. She'd read his book and told me he was a complete dick and the kind of guy that never grows up. I appreciated her honest feedback but was then completely confused about how to proceed. I mean, it was too late then to change him when I had to publish the book the next day. And besides that, I actually personally loved his character. So I went with my gut and I hit publish the next day. I felt so sick over the whole thing and hadn't heard back from any of the bloggers reading the book, so I closed my computer and took my daughter out for dinner and told her that my publishing career was most likely over. LOL! So it turned out I was right to trust myself on that one because that book hit the USA Today Bestseller list and Scott Cole is one of the series favourites.
After the success of Fierce, I decided I should get serious about planning out the rest of the series. Back then, I used to fly by the seat of my pants. These days, I'm much more organised with plans for series and mapping them out in advance.
6. Who was your favorite character to write and what was it like being inside their head? Did they make you laugh out loud? Blush profusely? Curse the day they popped into your head?
I have two favourites - King from the Storm MC series and Charlize from Risk. I love being inside King's head because he's so different to me in pretty much every way. He's decisive, confident in his decisions, gives no fucks what anyone thinks, and he doesn't get bogged down in details. He's a make-it-happen man. And I have to be honest, I love writing his violent side. Not sure what that says about me?! Writing him in King's Wrath, though, has shown me his vulnerable side and honestly, I swoon over that side of him. Being in his head for this book has made so many of his actions in past books so much more understandable. I am fascinated by my writing process and how I can have no understanding of why a character says or does something until much later in the book or even in the series. And then it's like an aha moment where it all becomes clear. A lot of that has happened while writing King! And Charlize - she was so much fun to write because of her hilarious inner thoughts and funny moments. That story was roughly planned, but I had no idea of how the characters would show up on the page because I didn't do any planning for their personality types or anything like that. I simply sat down and decided I needed to think of a funny and mortifying situation a woman could find herself in and then write that to open the book. And Charlize just took off from there. I love her because I feel like she has so many traits that most women can relate to.
2021 Update: if you’re new to me since 2018, you won’t know who Charlize is. I wrote half her story for an anthology and am still to finish it (gah!). If you loved Scarlett and laughed at her inner thoughts, you’ll love Charlize when I finish her book and publish it!
7. In addition to your MC series, you’ve written a rocker and friends to lovers romance. What other tropes do you hope to tackle in your writing career?
I have plans for so many! There will be the accidental pregnancy book featuring Avery and Tyler from Steal My Breath. I've got the billionaire trope with Ashton Scott and the office romance/billionaire trope with Risk (I've still got the second book in this duet to write and am really looking forward to that!). I have a book I started writing way before Storm that I want to finish - it features a married couple on the rocks. It was inspired by Pink's album The Truth About Love. I've got the opposites attract novella I wrote about a laid back tattoo artist who falls for an uptight career girl, titled Her Kind of Crazy. I'll be expanding that book and releasing it this year. Other than those, I'd love to write a 'woke up married in Vegas' book, a secret baby book, maybe a jilted bride book, and a marriage of convenience book. I'd also really love to write a small town romance series, and it would definitely need to have a story about a woman who returns to the small town she grew up in and finds love with her first love again *sigh*. Oh, and I'd love to dedicate a whole ser
ies of standalones to a second chance romance series. I adore second chance romance!
2021 Update: So, yeah, I still haven’t finished Risk and I still haven’t expanded Her Kind of Crazy and published that. I seriously have three half finished books so close to ready for publishing, but trying to find the time to get that done is hard. I need way more hours in every day!
8. How do you shape your characters? Are they reflections of the people you have encountered or do you write them the way they speak to you?
I wouldn't say they are planned as reflections of the people I encounter, but sometimes I find myself writing a character who I later realise was probably influenced by someone I've met. Having said that, there are a few characters I've written who have gone through similar experiences as mine, so they've been partly shaped by some of the people I've known. Generally when I'm planning out a novel and the main characters, I start with their wound and go from there. Everything else about them has to fit into character with that.
9. What do you do to help writer’s block should you encounter it?
Oh man, I've definitely suffered over the last year with this. I had to acknowledge that my self care was lacking and that I had worked myself into burnout. Grief on top of that only made it worse, and then physical injury forced me to take time off and figure it all out. I had to go back to basics with my self care and improve my sleep, eating and movement. Regular massages and physiotherapy helped too. And then just getting out and living life rather than working all the time was also key for me. Girls weekends away are one of my favourite things to do. Taking time away from social media is another key thing, although I do struggle with this when a lot of my work is on social media. And trying to set aside time first thing in the morning for writing is beneficial for me because I tend to write much better then. And lastly, when the words aren't coming on the main book I'm writing, I've found that working on side projects really helps my creativity flow. So I've been slowly working away on some fun side projects the last couple of months and am excited for where they will lead!
10. If you were to pitch your books to new readers in one sentence, what would it be?
If you don't love romances with dirty-talking alphas, you
won't love my books ;)
Hurricane Hearts Bonus Chapters
Dear Reader
These chapters take place after Hurricane Hearts, before Battle Hearts. I loved loved loved being back with Winter & Birdie! I hope you do too.
Nina xx
1
Birdie
Winter is going to kill me.
Dead.
Deader than dead.
God, how do I get myself into these predicaments?
I blame my mother. She’s the one who convinced me it would be a good idea to help Winter out by taking on some of the renovations at home for him while he’s busy with club stuff. “He’s barely home at the moment,” she said, “He’ll appreciate not having to come home and do even more work.” I agreed with her, completely, but now that I’m assessing the mess I’ve made in our home, I’m not as sure.
Carey will know what to do. He always does.
I call him and he answers on the first ring. “Whatever you’ve done now, I don’t want to know and I can’t fix it for you.”
“Have I told you lately that you’re the worst brother in the world?”
“Often. And FYI, it’s my goal in life. Surely one day soon you’ll stop calling me in one of your emergencies if I’m firmly cemented in your mind as the shitty brother.”
“I hate to break it to you, but Lucas doesn’t have the skills you do, so it won’t matter how shitty a brother you are, you’re always gonna be the one I call.”
“Christ,” he mutters. “Seriously Birdie, how much shit can you get into while Winter’s away?”
“I’ll have you know I’ve managed well on my own while—”
“Bullshit. He’s been gone two weeks this time and you’ve called me four times for help. At this point, I shudder to think what you’ve broken, because I’ve already fixed your toilet, shower, garage door, and that hole you put in the lounge room wall.”
“I didn’t break the toilet or the shower! They—”
“What is it? What have you done today? I’ve gotta head out in half an hour and take care of some stuff, but depending on what it is, I might be able to swing by later and take a look.”
“Shit, no. I need you to come now. Winter will be home this afternoon. I need it fixed by then.”
Carey starts to say something to that, but a deep voice sounds from behind me. “I’m home now. What needs fixing so urgently?” Winter.
I spin around and lay eyes on my husband who’s watching me with arched brows, waiting expectantly for my answer. “Gotta go,” I say to Carey, “Winter just got home.”
I end the call and Winter closes the distance between us so he can slide his arm around my waist and kiss me. It’s not a quick kiss, but it’s also not his usual “I’ve been away far too fucking long and I missed you” kiss. My man is exhausted. That’s what I feel the most in his kiss.
When his lips are finished with mine, he pulls his head back and says, “Well? What do you need fixed?”
I bite my lip and step out of his hold. “I don’t want to tell you.”
His brows furrow. “Why not?”
“Because you won’t be happy.”
“What have you done?”
Winter knows me well, so he knows that when I tell him he won’t be happy, he probably won’t be. “I think it probably isn’t as bad as it looks and won’t take much to fix.” He also knows that when I say stuff like this, it means the complete opposite. It is as bad as it looks and it will take a lot to fix.
I like to live in my own distorted reality.
Winter is hard-core about facing reality head-on.
We have some issues we’re working through.
He jerks his chin at me. “Show me.”
“You’re exhausted; why don’t you sleep for a bit and then we can figure this out.” And maybe in that time I can find someone to make magic happen.
“I am exhausted, and I am going to get some sleep, but that won’t happen now until I know what we’re fixing.”
Shit. “Okay, but just remember how much you love me. And how much you like my lips around your dick.” I’m pulling the big guns out for this. I’m going to need those guns with what I’ve done.
“Fuck,” he mutters, raking his fingers through his hair. “This is gonna hurt, isn’t it?”
My face pulls into a pained expression. “Just a little.”
I then turn and lead the way into the kitchen, my stomach clenching like I’ve eaten the worst curry in the world. When we reach our destination, Winter follows me in. I don’t look around to gauge his reaction; I simply hold my breath and wait.
It feels like minutes pass before he says, “Baby, your lips are gonna be around my dick a lot for this. And that’s just for starters.” He moves past me to inspect the room. “I’m not sure how you thought Carey would be able to fix this in a day.”
Clearly I believe my brother has superpowers.
“So, umm, on a scale of one to ten, where are you sitting right now?” I ask, following him.
He doesn’t answer me instantly; instead, he takes a good, long look around the room at everything I’ve done before bringing his eyes to me.
“The tiles should look good once they’re finished.”
I want to vomit.
Please God, let this just be a bad dream.
Let me wake up and discover I didn’t fuck this up so badly.
“So umm, the tiles…. There’s no more. And the supplier can’t get any more either.” I screwed up when I figured out how many we’d need. But I’m not verbalising that because he’s a smart man and can figure that out himself, and well, I feel like the biggest idiot for screwing that up, so I don’t want to mention it.
He gives me that look of his that says “you’re fucking kidding me�
��. As he opens his mouth to say something, my mother’s voice floats down the hallway to us. “Birdie, I may have a solution to your tile problem.” She stops abruptly when she spots Winter. “Oh, you’re home earlier than we expected, Winter.” Then, glancing at me, she mutters, “Shit.”
“Yeah, you could say that,” I agree.
She glances between Winter and me, uncertainty written all over her face. “Ah, so I think I’ve found those same tiles from another supplier. I thought we could take a drive now and see. But if you want to stay home with Winter, I can go myself.”
I’ve missed Winter and have been desperate for him to come home, but right now, going with Mum sounds like the best thing I’ve heard all day. Winter has other ideas, though.
“I’ll go and check them out,” he says.
“No,” I protest, “I messed this up; I’ll fix it.”
He moves to me and places his hand on my hip. “Angel, I’m not trying to be a dick, but I don’t want you anywhere near fixing this.” His lips brush mine, and he says, “Let me take a shower and clean up, and then I’ll sort the tiles out.”
I watch him leave before turning to Mum. “On a scale of one to ten, how pissed do you think he really is?”