Sunday, October 11, 2015

What She Knows

1. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I always writers are born, not made, and at the very ripe age of 7, I knew I was going to be a writer. I had just received a picture based on my current movie obsession, Dick Tracy. It was the first picture book I read all on my own. That was the beginning of the end for me.

2. How long have you been writing?

I’ve been professional writing for thirteen years, but as writing is in my nature, it’s more like forever.

3. How did you pick the genre you write in?

I read voraciously as a child, and only when I began to understand how much books costs did I realize the predicament I put my parents in. I grew up in the sticks without a handy public library, so my dad’s solution was to buy boxes of books at auctions for $1. The boxes were always filled with romance novels, historical and contemporary. I fell in love with the books that I had available to me, and that was what determined what genres I’d write in.

4. Do you plot or do you write by the seat of your pants?

I’m a huge plotter! The first present my husband ever gave me was a whiteboard for plotting. Talk about romance!

5. What was the best writing advice someone gave you?

Keep writing. While you have one manuscript out on submission, get started on the next one. One may be rejected, but then you can always say, well, I have two more.

6. What authors do you admire?

I admire Diana Gabaldon for her tenacity at sticking with such a series and keeping it straight! I accidentally wrote a 5 book series, and I had definitely lost track of some things by the end of it.

7. What’s your favorite thing about your book?

There’s a lot of me in this book, and I don’t often get a chance to write about things I’ve encountered personally. I hope some of the aspects of the heroine’s character will help other women in similar situations.

8. What would you like to learn to do that you haven’t?

Play the drums! My grandfather was a drummer in a swing band in the ‘40s, and I was given his drumsticks. It’s only a matter of time…

9. What is your favorite writing reference book and why?

Save the Cat. I tend to get sucked into analyzing movies, and they are a great learning tool for understanding aspects of writing. Cannot recommend Blake Snyder’s beat sheet enough.

10. Where do you write?

I write on my couch covered in Basset hounds. I’m not kidding. They like to think they’re helping.



Blurb:

His latest problem is her newest assignment.

Shannon Wynter has it all figured it. Abandoned by her mother and left to care for her agoraphobic father, Shannon focuses on building her career as a journalist to the detriment of all else including her love life.

Ian Darke has his own problems. Battling past failures, Ian sets his eyes on launching a new factory for his father’s defense firm. But it’s the very father he failed that will do anything to sabotage Ian’s progress.

And when Shannon follows an anonymous tip that leads her to Ian’s factory door, the last thing she expects to discover is what she already knows.

Purchase links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1IAMgPa
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1SWp4R9
iBooks: http://apple.co/1KM3YWs
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1M6StJw
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1DnqC4F
All Romance eBooks: http://bit.ly/1IHyZsj


About the Author:

In the second grade, Jessie began a story about a duck and a lost ring. Two harrowing pages of wide ruled notebook paper later, the ring was found. And Jessie has been writing ever since.

Armed with the firm belief that women in the Regency era could be truly awesome heroines, Jessie began telling their stories in her Spy Series, a thrilling ride in historical espionage that showcases human faults and triumphs and most importantly, love.

Jessie makes her home in the great state of New Hampshire where she lives with her husband and two very opinionated Basset Hounds. For more, visit her website at jessieclever.com.

Social Media Links:
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1foelMH
Twitter: http://bit.ly/1IM6UPJ
Google+: http://bit.ly/1rpRvsU
Pinterest: http://bit.ly/KZQ4TQ
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1fge8x9

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Love that Villain

By Melodie Campbell

A very strange thing happened while writing my second book in the Rowena series… I appear to have fallen for my villain.

Yes, Thane is the hero, and Rowena is smitten with him, as she should be. But her literary creator has become more and more enamoured with bad boy Cedric – the villain of the piece. Cedric is determined to have Rowena to himself, and he will stop at nothing to get her, including selling his soul to Lucifer. Cedric messes with the black arts.

Cedric can mess with me anytime.

How the heck did this happen? I set out to write a fun and sexy adventure, with good guys and bad guys and spunky heroines. Love that Rowena. She’s everything I would like to be. Thane is a terrific match for her; strong, smart, loyal, handsome, and the King to boot. Arch enemy of Cedric of course.

And what about Cedric? He’s not as good looking as Thane. He probably isn’t as smart. His morals are questionable – maybe nonexistent. But he is cunning. He is dynamic. He is never, ever boring.

Cedric is the typical bad boy.

What it is about men who don’t fit the typical hero mode, but ‘bother’ us, somehow? That’s how Rowena puts it. “I didn’t like his looks – they bothered me.” Cedric has long red-gold hair. His eyes are green, and they have an eerie glow when he uses magic. He’s tall, broad and thoroughly masculine, with bands of muscles on his arms. And he draws her like a moth to fire…

Exciting, that’s the word. The bad boys in our past made us feel like we were alive. Living on the edge has its attractions…



So Thane may be the ideal man for Rowena, and for many woman. But Cedric will always be there, in the back of her mind, tempting…promising something that will take her beyond the ordinary, something delicious, enticing…

Damn, that’s attractive. I can’t kill him off.

ROWENA THROUGH THE WALL
“Is that a broadsword on your belt, or are you just glad to see me?”

When Rowena falls through her classroom wall into a medieval world, she doesn’t count on being kidnapped – not once, but twice, dammit – and the stakes get higher as the men get hotter. Unwanted husbands keep piling up; not only that, she has eighteen-year-old Kendra to look out for, and a war to prevent. Good thing she can go back through the wall when she needs to…or can she?

“Hot and Hilarious!” Midwest Book Review
“Outlander meets Sex and the City” Vine Review


Bio:

The Toronto Sun called her Canada’s “Queen of Comedy.” Library Journal compared her to Janet Evanovich. Melodie Campbell has over 40 short story publications, 9 novels and 10 awards. Rowena Through the Wall, included in this collection, was an Amazon Top 100 Bestseller, putting her ahead of both Nora Roberts and Diana Gabaldon for a magical time.

www.melodiecampbell.com