Please help me welcome Dawn Marie Hamilton to my blog today. Dawn Marie is giving away a ecopy of JUST ONCE IN A VERRA BLUE MOON to one lucky commentor. See the post for details.

Tell us about yourself.

I don’t have a smartphone. I do have a Kindle. I’m a Leo though I like September’s weather better than August’s. Peridot is my signature color and favorite gemstone. I’m originally from New Jersey, so I don’t pump gas. I’ve never watched the shows, Jersey Shore or The Sopranos. I like rich, red wine and dark, Belgian chocolate. Flowers are sure to make me smile. And I love writing romance.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

The Scottish Highlands, of course. Well, maybe for only part of the year. Gets verra cold in the Highlands in the winter. Then again…if I was wrapped in the arms of a loving man in a kilt…

Have you had other careers before becoming a writer?

I endured a corporate career for more years than I wish to remember. Over the years, it took many forms from marketing to finance to training. As a technical trainer, I traveled throughout the US and to many countries, thus spending a lot of time in airport terminals waiting and waiting and waiting. I passed the time making up romantic stories about other passengers. How did that guy get together with that gal? Fuel for a romance-writing career.

Do you have other talents? Or is there a talent you don’t have that you wish you did?

If I could, I would have the abilities to become invisible and to fly. Sometimes both at the same time. Since such gifts were never granted to me, I give them to some of my characters.

How did you get started writing?

I was traveling a lot and spending evenings ravenously reading romance novels. On a trip to Brussels, a billboard advertising whisky with a hunk-worthy, bare-chested Highlander drew my attention and held it. I thought, hmmm, writing about sexy Highlanders would be more fun than training bug infested software. Several years passed, but finally I gave writing a go. JUST BEYOND THE GARDEN GATE is the resulting first novel.

What genre(s) do you write in and why?

Scottish historical time travel with fantasy and/or paranormal elements. I’ve always been charmed by all things Scottish, especially stories of mythical creatures like faeries and brownies. The paranormal bent more than likely comes from watching the soap opera Dark Shadows as a preteen. My fascination with time travel probably comes from there too. I recently re-watched many episodes and still enjoyed the shows.

Do you have a view in your writing space? What does your space look like?

We recently purchased a new townhome so I have several new writing spaces. For the summer, I’ve been working at a desk on the lower level with sliding doors to the fenced garden. Very nice, although I get distracted by birds at the feeders occasionally. Especially the hummingbirds. The hummers remind me of tiny faeries flitting from one place to another. I’m about to start painting my new office on the top floor. I surprised my husband and myself by selecting a soft, pink paint instead of green. View is to the street, so I’m less likely to get distracted. I purchased a flowery, reading chair for my office, which I absolutely love. And I’m searching for a new desk.

What is your writing routine like?

Mostly a pantser, I start with a rough outline and start writing. As the story evolves, I use a storyboard to follow plot threads and POV shifts. When chapters are completed, they go to my critique group for a first pass. Rewrites go back to the group for a second and sometimes a polishing third pass. Then the manuscript goes through two rounds of edits with an editor. After that, Beta readers.

Tell us about your current series.

Men in kilts, time travel, and faeries. With Highland Gardens, readers journey from the lush gardens of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to the Scottish Highlands of the early sixteenth century for tales of yummy, Scottish heroes and the ladies who love them and are bedeviled by scheming faeries and one incredibly mischievous brownie well tormented by villains.

What is your next project and when will it be released?

JUST ONCE IN A VERRA BLUE MOON is the second novel in the Highland Gardens series and is scheduled for release tomorrow, August 22nd at Amazon for Kindle and a few days later at Barnes and Nobles for Nook.

Where can readers find you?

Blog: http://dawnmariehamilton.blogspot.com/
Website: http://www.dawnmariehamilton.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorDawnMarieHamilton
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DawnM_Hamilton
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/DawnMarieHamilton
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/dawnmariehamilton

Where can readers find your books? Print/Ebook?

Ebooks are available now for JUST BEYOND THE GARDEN GATE at:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CVXMS04
Barnes and Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/just-beyond-the-garden-gate-dawn-marie-hamilton/1115477122?ean=2940016591100&itm=1&usri=2940016591100
Print books will be available October 2013.

GIVEAWAY QUESTION: What is your favorite month of the year and why? Leave a comment with your answer and e-mail addy for a chance to receive an e-copy of JUST ONCE IN A VERRA BLUE MOON. Feeling shy? Email me at Dawn at DawnMarieHamilton dot com. I’ll pull an email address out of my garden hat on August 23rd.

My favorite month is September because the weather is lovely in Southern Maryland at that time of year.

Blurb for JUST BEYOND THE GARDEN GATE:

The Scottish Highlands—a place where faeries and brownies and other fae creatures dance through time. On occasion, so do mere mortals.

Determined to regain her royal status, a banished faerie princess accepts a challenge from the High-Queen of the Fae to unite an unlikely couple while the clan brownie attempts to thwart her.

Passion ignites when a faerie-shove propels burned-out business consultant Laurie Bernard through the garden gate, back through time, and into the embrace of Patrick MacLachlan. The arrogant clan chief doesn’t know what to make of the lass in his arms, especially when he recognizes the brooch she wears as the one his stepmother wore when she and his father disappeared.

With the fae interfering at every opportunity, the couple must learn to trust one another while they battle an enemy clan, expose a traitor within their midst and discover the true fate of the missing parents. Can they learn the most important truth—love transcends time?

Journey from the lush gardens of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to the Scottish Highlands of 1509 with JUST BEYOND THE GARDEN GATE.

Blurb for JUST ONCE IN A VERRA BLUE MOON:

What happens when a twenty-first century business executive is expected to fulfill a prophecy given at the birth of a sixteenth-century seer? Of course, he must raise his sword in her defense.

Believing women only want him for his wealth, Finn MacIntyre doesn’t trust any woman to love him. When, during Scottish Highland games, faerie magic sends him back in time to avenge the brutal abduction of his time-traveling cousin, he learns he’s the subject of a fae prophecy.

Elspeth MacLachlan, the beloved clan seer, is betrothed to a man she dislikes and dreams of the man prophesized at her birth, only to find him in the most unexpected place—facedown in the mud.

With the help of fae allies, they must overcome the treachery set to destroy them to claim a love that transcends time.

Bio:

Dawn Marie Hamilton dares you to dream. She is a 2013 RWA® Golden Heart® Finalist who pens Scottish-inspired fantasy and paranormal romance. Some of her tales are rife with mischief-making faeries, brownies, and other fae creatures. More tormented souls—shape shifters, vampires, and maybe a zombie or two—stalk across the pages of other stories. She is a member of The Golden Network, Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal, Celtic Hearts, and From the Heart chapters of RWA. When not writing, she’s cooking, gardening, or paddling the local creeks of Southern Maryland with her husband.