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Maria Geraci
 Maria Geraci was born in Havana, Cuba, and raised on Florida's Space Coast. Her love of books started with the classic, Little Women (a book she read so often growing up, she could probably quote). She lives with her husband and their three children in north Florida where she works part time as a labor and delivery nurse by night and writes romance full time during the day (sleep is not an option). On the first Wednesday of each month you'll find her rolling the dice, drinking frozen margaritas and gossiping with the rest of the Bunco Broads of Tallahassee.
 Bunco Babes Tell All is the launch book in your sexy and laugh-out-loud funny new Bunco Babes Series about the Bunco Babes of Whispering Bay, Florida and the celebration of female friendships. How did you come up with the concept for this series?
The idea for the book came to me while I was at dinner with a group of female friends at a writing conference in Reno. It’s my firm belief that as women, female friendships are among the most important relationships in our lives. Our friends nurture us, support us, make us laugh, and keep us sane in this crazy, fast-paced world of ours. I’ve played Bunco for years and look forward to my monthly game more than I can say. Bunco is a perfect fit for a women’s fiction novel.
We hear Bunco is the rage across the country. What do you think has caused such enthusiasm for the game?
First of all, Bunco is just plain fun! It’s no secret that women live highly stressful lives. We’re wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, and for the most part, the glue that keeps our families together. We work both outside and inside the home. Bunco is adult play time. For a few hours every month, you can laugh, let loose, and de-stress with your girlfriends. It’s not really the game that’s important; it’s the friend time that counts.
At first “handyman” Steve Pappas appears to be little more than eye candy. But there’s more than meets the eye. Tell us about your Bunco hunk.
Bunco hunk. I like how that sounds! Steve isn’t your typical hero. He’s been married and divorced three times and has no intention of getting into a relationship that lasts longer than one night. Plus, there’s that shady career thing he’s got going. It’s no wonder Kitty’s friends think he’s a loser. But as you know, appearances can be deceiving. You just have to peel back a few extra layers to find the real Steve. Bunco Babes Tell All is the launch book in your sexy and laugh-out-loud Pappas. I think Kitty certainly found it worthwhile in the end.
The setting of Bunco Babes Tell All takes place in Whispering Bay, Florida, a fictional town by the beach. Is this based on a real community? Tell us about the town and the people who inhabit it.
Whispering Bay is a smaller, loosely based version of the town I grew up in. There’s a large senior citizen population mixed in with younger families, no real industry, and not a lot of excitement, which makes it hard for my main character, Kitty, who’s still single at age 35, to meet Mr. Right. When a land developer comes to town with the intention of building condos along the beach, it really stirs things up. Especially for the local senior citizens watch group, the Gray Flamingos (Whispering Bay’s version of the Gray Panthers). Like any small town, there’s a humorous, eclectic mix of characters who were fabulously fun to write.
What were some challenges you faced as a new author, while writing Bunco Babes Tell All?
Probably the biggest challenge was deciding what I was actually writing! I see-sawed between thinking it was women’s fiction and contemporary romance. In the end, it’s probably a pretty good mix of the two.
Will we see any of the characters again in book two of the series and who will steal the spotlight this time? What’s the title of the book and when will it be out?
Of course, all my Bunco Babes will be back! So will the Gray Flamingos and most of the secondary characters from Bunco Babes Tell All. This time, however, the heroine is an outsider. Georgia is the sister of one of my Babes. She’s having some man trouble and comes to Whispering Bay for a little R & R. What she gets instead is sucked into the town’s loony social politics, and as a result, a lot of fun and crazy things happen. Along the way she also falls head over heels in love (naturally!) The book is titled Bunco Babes Gone Wild and comes out November 3, 2009.
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