What genre(s) do you write in and why?
In the past, I’ve written erotic, sci-fi, time travel, western, contemporary, paranormal, and suspense. But these days I’m focused on romantic suspense and paranormal romantic suspense. Most of my stories have a military or law enforcement feel to them and blend in a good mix of romance, action, and intrigue.
Tell us about your current series.
As I mentioned, I write a lot of romantic suspense, much of it with military and action themes. But out of deference to my husband—a 20-year Army veteran—I’ve always refrained from writing anything in the Navy SEAL world. I typically lean on him for the guy’s perspective and military expertise in my suspense/action stories, and he was never thrilled with writing about something so far outside his wheelhouse, but then Cat Johnson (she of the Hot SEALs fame) asked me to write a story in her HOT SEALs Kindle World Series and that changed everything!
Cat has helped me out with so much, from boxed sets to promo suggestions, to the best way to increase my indie sales, I simply couldn’t say no when she asked me for a story. Besides I’ve wanted to write something involving SEALs for a while and this seemed like fate calling.
So I plied my husband with compliments and pizza until he agreed to help me, then dived into the world of the Navy SEALs. In between my other book commitments, I knocked out MY SEAL BODYGUARD and had an incredible time writing it. Once I got hubby involved in the research and action sequences, he started enjoying it too (though I’m sure he’ll never admit it).
When I got done writing with that first SEAL story, I knew I couldn’t stop. I was hooked! So I thought about it for a while and came up with the SEALs OF CORONADO, a series featuring the guys on SEAL Team 5 in San Diego and the women who fall for them. I figured everyone was showing all kinds of love to the SEAL guys on the East Coast, so I decided the ones on the West Coast should get the same attention. The first book in the series—SEAL FOR HER PROTECTION—hit the shelves on April 12th and I’m stoked!
How has your experience with self-publishing been?
Generally good. For me, self-publishing is an ongoing learning process. You get to figure out what themes sell, what book lengths work best, what kind of promotion might help you sell, and what vendors do better than others. I’ll admit that sometimes I’ve written books that haven’t sold a lot because of the subject matter, but that’s part of the learning process.
How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book?
Very! I meet so many amazing people at conferences and they all love to talk about the books I write. One of the joys of writing a long series (both my New York series X-OPS and SWAT, and the indie series I write, SEALs of CORONADO and DALLAS FIRE AND RESCUE, are all multi-book series) is that you have a chance to incorporate people you meet into the books. I wrote X-OPS Book 4 (HER FIRECE WARRIOR) with one very perfect real-life cover model in my head—even the hero’s name is the same as his. I have a fan who fell for a certain hero in SWAT, so I used her name for his heroine. I had one fan who wanted to be someone’s mother and another who wanted to be a bad guy in the X-OPS series. Another fan even pointed out something I hadn’t even thought of in a series, so I rewrote an entire future arc to include that storyline.
Was your road to publication fraught with peril or a walk in the park?
I started out writing by hand, in a notebook. When they were ready, I typed them up and sent them to agents, but I rarely heard anything back.
Then when the internet came on the scene and I stumbled over a member’s only site that paid people chapter by chapter for erotic romance stories. I said to myself, “I could do that.” I ended up writing something like twenty books for that publisher. I grew and developed along with the digital press explosion, writing for three or four different publishers, getting better and better at my craft as I did.
Wanting to get to New York, I started doing the pitch thing at conferences and book signings. Those were tough and even though I had some really good books, I couldn’t get any traction with agents or publishers. By this point, I’d been writing for seven or eight years and was starting to think that maybe New York just wasn’t going to happen. But my husband, who’s my biggest cheerleader, kept me going and urged me to keep pursuing my dream.
Following the advice of a few fellow authors, I finally wrote a story that was completely different than anything I’d done before, a paranormal romance suspense with shifters paired with military/cops and a focus on action and danger. It was a great book. I simply had to find an agent who believed that as much as I did.
I went through 174 agents before I found a person who believed in that story as much as I did. That agent got me a New York deal for that book—HER PERFECT MATE—and the follow-on books (X-OPS). I just finished writing Book 6 in that series and am working on Book 6 of another series (SWAT) with the same publisher (Sourcebooks).
It took a long time to get where I am, but it was worth it.
Tell us about your hero. Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses.
The hero is Petty Officer Chasen Ward. He became a Navy SEAL after 9/11 when someone close to him died because he wanted to do something to make sure that nothing like that ever happened again. Because he’s so dedicated to his team, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for them. He would die for any of those guys. While that makes him a perfect SEAL, it also wreaks havoc on his love life because it terrifies every woman he’s ever gotten involved with. He’s dedicated to his Team and has faced danger countless times as a SEAL, but the thing that scares him the most is falling for a woman who leaves because she can’t handle what he does for a living.
Tell us about your heroine. Give us one of her strengths and one of her weaknesses.
Hayley Garner is an investigative journalist with a nose for news and a desire to uncover the truth. That means going where the story is, even if it’s in the crappiest hellholes in the world. Like Chasen, she’s used to putting herself in danger on a regular basis for her job. Her strength is her fearlessness. She doesn’t let anything get in the way of going after a story, but it’s her weakness as well because it sometimes it puts her in situations that are dangerous not only to her, but the people around her.
What are you currently working on?
Right now I’m working on STRONG SILENT SEAL, the second book in my SEALs of Coronado Series, which releases June 27th, as well as Book 6 in the SWAT Series.
Please tell my readers a little bit about your book.
SEAL FOR HER PROTECTION
When investigative journalist Hayley is kidnapped by terrorists, she’s sure they’re going to kill her. But in sweeps handsome Navy SEAL Chasen to rescue her. After getting her to safety, he disappears into the night before she can even thank him.
Weeks later, while covering a story on the local navy base, Hayley runs into Chasen again. Even though she didn’t see his face that night he rescued her, she can’t forget his beautiful blue eyes.
The attraction is immediate and intense…and Hayley finds herself falling into a fiery romance with the hunky hero out of her dreams. Guys like this aren’t supposed to really exist, but Chasen does…and dang is he hot.
But ever since she got back home, Hayley has had the feeling someone’s been watching her. Is it post-traumatic stress or does she have a reason to be afraid? Good thing she has a Navy SEAL there to watch over her!
What is your writing routine like?
I write like a psycho pretty much 7 days a week/365 days a year. I allow myself a little off time on Christmas and other big holidays, but I really try to write every day. I seriously have to because I’m on contract to publish four New York books a year and four to five indie books. It’s a stressful schedule that requires my fulltime commitment. I get up early (five in the morning), get hubby off to work, then start writing. With short breaks for eating and exercise, I usually work nonstop until going to bed every night.
Having achieved your goal to be a published author, what is the most rewarding thing?
Having a fan come up to you and say they loved your story so much they couldn’t go to bed until they finished reading it. Oh, and seeing your book in the bookstore? Yeah…that’s kind of nice too.
Will you share some encouraging words for authors still struggling for that first contract?
Write because you love writing and have stories inside you that have to come out. Read reviews, but only to see if there’s anything valuable you can use to make your writing better. Forget the rest. Be willing to write stories that are unique and different and personal to you. They may not sell like hotcakes, but those stories will allow you to stretch and grow and find your voice. Find a few fellow writers to lean on and learn from, and be willing to put yourself out there to learn your craft because it really is a process.
What’s next for you?
Right now, I’m working on STRONG SILENT SEAL, the second book in my SEALs of Coronado Series, which releases June 27th, as well as Book 6 in the SWAT Series. In addition to that, I’m launching my DALLAS FIRE & RESCUE Kindle World in October. If you’re not familiar with Kindle Worlds, it’s a platform where authors can legally write books in another author’s series. ABLAZE, Book 2 in my DALLAS FIRE & RESCUE Series releases in conjunction with the launch. As for other upcoming releases, readers can look for TO LOVE A WOLF (SWAT 4) June 7th, HER ROGUE ALPHA(X-OPS 5) September 6th, and WOLF UNLEASHED (SWAT 5) December 6th. All of them are available for pre-order.
He saved her from danger once before. Can he save her again, this time from danger he doesn’t even see coming?
When investigative journalist Hayley Garner is kidnapped by terrorists, she’s sure they’re going to kill her. But in sweeps handsome Navy SEAL Chasen Ward to rescue her. After getting her to safety, he disappears into the night before she can even thank him.
Weeks later, while covering a story on the local navy base, Hayley runs into Chasen again. Even though she didn’t see his face that night he rescued her, she can’t forget his beautiful blue eyes. The attraction is immediate and intense, and Hayley finds herself falling into a fiery romance with the hunky hero out of her dreams. Guys like this aren’t supposed to really exist, but Chasen does, and damn is he hot.
But ever since she got back home, Hayley has had the feeling someone’s been watching her. Is it post-traumatic stress or does she have a reason to be afraid? Good thing she has a Navy SEAL to protect her.
Excerpt
http://www.paigetylertheauthor.com/BooksSEALforHerProtection.html
Amazon
http://amzn.to/1JlQFfS
B&N
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seal-for-her-protection-paige-tyler/1123276615?ean=2940152764697
Kobo
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/seal-for-her-protection
iBOOKS
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1076434026
All Romance eBooks
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sealforherprotection-1969740-153.html
BIO
Paige Tyler is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of sexy, romantic suspense and paranormal romance. She and her very own military hero (also known as her husband) live on the beautiful Florida coast with their adorable fur baby (also known as their dog). Paige graduated with a degree in education, but decided to pursue her passion and write books about hunky alpha males and the kick-butt heroines who fall in love with them.
She is represented by Bob Mecoy.
Social media links:
Website: http://paigetylertheauthor.com/
Blog: http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/
Facebook Profile Page: http://www.facebook.com/paige.tyler.9
Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/PaigeTylerAuthor
X-OPS Series Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/XOPSSeriesbyPaigeTylerAuthor
SWAT Series Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/SWATSeriesbyPaigeTylerAuthor
Paige Tyler’s Groupies Central on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/Paigetylersgroupies/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/PaigeTyler
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/paigetylerauth/
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tsu: http://www.tsu.co/paigetylerauthor
Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/PaigeTylerAuthor
Instagram: paige_tyler_author
Google+: http://plus.google.com/u/0/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2300692.Paige_Tyler
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/BBrEP
Email: paigetyler@paigetylertheauthor.com
Want more hunky Navy SEALs? Then don’t forget to pre-order STRONG SILENT SEAL, Book 2 in the SEALs of CORONADO Series!
Wedding planner Felicia Bradford is in trouble. Mercenaries are holding her sister hostage and threatening to kill her unless Felicia helps them steal top secret information from the Navy’s Special Operations Headquarters. Having no other way to access the base, she pulls a gun on the first man in a Navy uniform she finds, demanding he get her through the gate.
Navy SEAL Logan Dunn just got back from a mission in Syria and is looking for a little down time to relax. That plan goes out the window when a beautiful woman shoves a gun in his back and begs him to do something he can tell she doesn’t want to be part of. Logan does what any Navy SEAL would do in the same situation—he saves the girl and takes out the bad guys.
But their actions that day kick off a crazy chain of events, including a fast-burning whirlwind romance, an out-of-control sister, an insane covert plot involving a defecting Russian pilot, a mercenary bent on revenge, and a sunrise wedding for a bride who never wakes up before noon.
Getting through her sister’s kidnapping will look like a piece of cake compared to what comes next.
Amazon
http://amzn.to/1MQaaPi
B&N
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strong-silent-seal-paige-tyler/1123600972?ean=2940152794571
KOBO
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/strong-silent-seal
iBOOKS
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/strong-silent-seal/id1097671833?mt=11
All Romance eBooks
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-strongsilentseal-2003577-153.html