SEELIE KAY: Postcards from The Ledge: This week in The Loft: Chicago's own Madison Michael!

Joining me today in The Loft is author Madison Michael. Born and raised in Chicago, Maddy writes steamy romance about Chicago's elite--billionaire heroines and heroes who ultimately discover that money can't buy love. The author of the Beguiling Bachelor series, and several stand-alone romance novels, Maddy loves cats, cat jokes and cat videos, anything with too much sugar, and everything writing. She can be found in Chicago, writing, eating sugar, pizza or hotdogs, surrounded by cats.

Author Madison Michael

S: Good morning, Maddy. I'm always happy to have someone from Chicago visit. I spent 10 years commuting by train to Chicago. Loved the city, but I don't miss the train ride.

If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose to write books?

M: I think I choose over again each time I finish a book and start another. I could stop and walk away, but there is always a new story brewing in my mind, and my need to tell it compels me to keep writing.

S: I know exactly what you mean. The ideas just keep on flowing. I can't turn it off.

Have you ever shelved or thrown out a manuscript?

M: I have shelved manuscripts a couple times, and once I deleted one by mistake. That was so painful it still haunts me. Usually, I shelve a book that is not going well, or one I want to revisit with fresh eyes before editing. I would say that shelving is part of my writing process.

S: Sometimes, a story just doesn't go anywhere, and rather than force it, it's best to set it aside.

What was your worst date ever?

M: I was 16 and it was a fixup with an older guy. He was really cute and I liked him right away. But he took me to an R-rated movie and they carded me. You guessed it, I was turned away at the door. Meanwhile, it was January in Chicago and snow piled up like crazy where we had parked the car. We were stuck in a snowdrift, unable to go to the movies and freezing to boot! Worst date ever, but I got another chance and we dated for several years.

S: Do you believe in love at first sight?

M: Love, maybe not, but attraction for sure. I knew the night I met my husband that I wanted to marry him, but it was after several hours of conversation, not the first glance. On the other hand, the first glance made me want that conversation so...

S: Do you read reviews?

M: I do read reviews, but I remember, good or bad, that they are only one person's impression of my work. I learn a great deal from thoughtful reviews including what a reader likes or hates about a character, if I confuse them or draw them in, if there is not enough action or I take too long getting to "the good parts."

S: I think reviews are a good learning tool, but it's important to remember that not everyone will like what you write. I've had reviews complaining that there was too much sex in my stories and reviews saying there wasn't enough--all for the same book.

What inspired "Crazy to Believe?"

M: The entire Crazy series was inspired by a long weekend I spent with my wonderful group of girlfriends at the beach in North Carolina. Unbelievably, we have been friends for over 30 years and making this beach trip the entire time. I was so sad to leave them at the end of days of laughs and making memories, that I decided to take traits from each of them to create the Crazy Eights. The characters are fiction, but bits and pieces of the characters or stories come from interactions with them over the years.

S: Is there anything special you would like people to know about "Crazy to Believe?"

M: I wrote this book as the first in the series originally, and called it "Dare to Hope." But after a complete rewrite and the creation of several of the other All's Crazy in Love books, I changed the titles for all the books and the order for their release. "Crazy to Believe" is now the second book in the series. Crazy to Wed, the prequel is available for free from my website, madisonmichael.net. I created the prequel to give readers an extra chance to meet these extraordinary women.

Here's the blurb--

She’s Betting on Love and the Stakes are High

The “Crazy Eights” make an audacious dare. Each of the eight friends must marry within twelve months or complete a personally mortifying task.

Starting over after a divorce, Sofia is focused on her career, not some foolhardy dare. Until she meets Jeremy, a sexy engineer, at a conference. They bond over shared interests and a chemistry that sizzles.

The stakes are high. When the wager is nothing short of true love, are Jeremy and Sofia crazy to believe?