Thanks for having me today! You suggested answering a few questions for your readers, so here they are in no particular order…  J

Tell us about your current series.

As a mom, I would never be able to love one of my daughters more than the others. But when it comes to books I’ve written, I have to admit that my Kilted Heroes series has been so much fun to create.

I happen to be an Outlander addict. If you’ve read the books or seen the TV show, you know what that means. So I came up with the idea of three friends (equally obsessed with Outlander) who travel to Scotland in search of adventure and romance. The Kilted Heroes series is a trilogy. I hope by the time readers finish all three books they will love Scotland as much as I do!

What is your least favorite part of writing?

That one’s easy. I really don’t like reading the final galleys…checking for boo-boos. By then I’ve looked at the same words and paragraphs so many times, I’m over it! It would be nice to farm that part out to an assistant, but since I’m a control freak, I’m stuck with it.

What did you want to be when you were a child?

 I honestly don’t remember as far back as childhood aspirations, but I do know that when I was fourteen I wanted to be an interpreter at the U.N. I loved foreign languages, and I thought that job would make me very exotic. Sigh…

Do you have critique partners?

 Oddly perhaps, the answer is no. I have a very tight writing schedule, which leaves little time for passing chapters around and meeting to discuss them. I have six books coming out in 2016, only one of which is a re-release. Even my agent doesn’t read my work, unless it is a brand new project we are trying to sell.

What is your favorite dessert/food?

 I’m going to cheat and answer both. Favorite dessert? Homemade chocolate chip cookies. Favorite food? Steak, salad, and baked potato…if the meal is very good. No sense wasting calories on sub-par cooking.  J

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

 I’m not a sit-at-the-desk kind of writer. I roam. I wander. I take my laptop all over the house. Even though I do have an official office, it’s not where I do my creative work. One of my favorite places is a chair in our bedroom where I can look out at our wooded backyard. Though I can’t see the actual Smoky Mountains, I can see the foothills. Very beautiful and peaceful.

 What do you have planned for the future?

 Some days the future seems hazy. A crystal ball would be nice! I like to plan out the year, but with many obligations, both personal and professional, there are always surprises in the mix. I feel very fortunate to be doing what I love fulltime. At the moment, I have four more books contracted with Harlequin and another four in the works with Kensington.

Having achieved your goal to be a published author, what is the most rewarding thing?

 Without a doubt, the people I have met. Readers, other writers, editors, industry professionals…so many women (and a few men) who care very much about stories with happy endings that enrich lives and bring joy to the reader. Writing is by its nature a solitary profession. But at conferences and via e-mail and social media, I’m able to connect with friends and colleagues. It’s a great blessing to be part of such a wonderful community!

Thanks for having me today. Happy Spring and Happy Reading!

Janice Maynard

HOT FOR THE SCOT

In Janice Maynard’s sweet and sexy new series, three childhood friends with a shared passion for the Outlander novels and TV show decide to travel to Scotland looking for adventure—and their very own Highland heroes…

 It’s a dream come true for schoolteacher Hayley Smith. No homework to grade, no students to corral, no social media, Internet or cell phone…just a month amid the heather and rolling hills around Inverness. A brawny alpha male in a kilt is probably too much to ask for. But Hayley is in heaven ambling around Loch Ness, gazing and then…falling into the icy water, before being rescued by a strong, chivalrous local hero…

Retired soccer star Angus Munro, aka Angus the Angler, is a little insulted and a whole lot intrigued when Hayley doesn’t recognize him. How long has it been since anyone saw beyond his wealth and fame? And how long before the macho athlete and his modern-day American damsel in distress act on an attraction that could make even the misty Scottish moors sizzle with heat? Long enough, maybe, for both to figure out if this is an affair to remember…or the start of something everlasting…

AMAZON http://www.amazon.com/Scot-Kilted-Heroes-Janice-Maynard-ebook/dp/B013NI5G90/

BARNES & NOBLE http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hot-for-the-scot-janice-maynard/1122491656?ean=9781601836250
KOBO https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/hot-for-the-scot

GOOGLEPLAY https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Janice_Maynard_Hot_For_The_Scot?id=ZbpVCgAAQBAJ

KENSINGTON BOOKS http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/book.aspx/32156

Author bio:

USA Today bestselling author Janice Maynard knew she loved books and writing by the time she was eight years old. But it took multiple rejections and many years of trying before she sold her first three novels. After teaching kindergarten and second grade for a number of years, Janice took a leap of faith and quit her day job. Since then she has written and sold over thirty-five books and novellas.

During a recent trip to Scotland, Janice enjoyed getting to know the “motherland”. Her grandfather’s parents emigrated from the home of bagpipes, heather, and kilts. Janice lives in east Tennessee with her husband, Charles. They love hiking, traveling, and spending time with family.

Hearing from readers is one of the best perks of the job!

http://www.janicemaynard.com

Rafflecopter Giveaway –  HOT FOR THE SCOT ebook

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

 I write both medieval and contemporary romance.

Medieval draws me because of the magical and fantasy elements of knights and castles. I’ve always loved wandering around ruins and making up stories about the people who lived there.

Contemporary has a different appeal for me. It enables me to tell the stories that I see around me in every day life. It gives me an outlet to delve into issues around women that I want to explore.

In Nobody’s Princess, I explore the idea of how women perceive themselves to have value. I think as women we spend far too much time allowing people to value us by the way we look.

What is your favorite part of writing?

Actually, I really enjoy editing my first draft and shaping it into a second and third draft. I’m a plotter, so my first draft is more of a color by numbers exercise as I fill in the gaps between one plot point and the other. Once I have the story down on paper comes the fun part of making the characters come to life, and building the world around their story.

What is your least favorite part of writing?

I have two. I don’t love getting that first draft on paper. It seems a little mechanical to me. Working out the plot before I fill in the words is wonderful, and then making the story and characters come to life is equally fulfilling. The way I work means that I need to get that first draft on the page before I can do anything with it, so it’s often a bit of a word slog.

The next bit I don’t like is going through the galley, which is the last time I see the book before publication. Again, it’s a mechanical exercise and at that point all I’m doing is checking for typos and mistakes. Reading through a galley brings all my writer insecurities up to choke me. Maybe it’s the knowledge that I can’t change much anymore that suddenly makes me hyper aware of all the things that I should have changed before we got to this point.

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

I’m tackling two new projects at the moment. As I write in two genres, I have one of each on the go.

On the medieval side, I am finishing off books 3, 4 and 5 of my Sir Arthur’s Legacy series, telling the stories of Sir Arthur’s remaining children William, Roger and Henry. Book 3, Conquering William is scheduled for release at the end of August this year.

On the contemporary front, I’ve started a new series called “The Ghost Falls Series” (I’m still working on this series title). It’s a small town romance series set on the Utah/Colorado border and the first, “Positively Pippa” in due for release summer 2017. If you’re a fan of “What not to Wear” and “Love, Lust or Run” you might be interested to know I used Stacy London as the inspiration for my heroine, Pippa.

How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book?

Very likely, so be warned. I can’t say that I’ve ever taken an entire person and put them in a book, more like bits and pieces that caught my imagination, or phrases they’ve used that I just loved.

Was your road to publication fraught with peril or a walk in the park?

A little of both. Other romance writers have been the biggest support system in my journey. Unfortunately, I might have saved myself a good portion of struggle if I’d listened to all the wonderful advice given to me before I made the mistakes I made.

No, my first manuscript was nowhere near ready for publication when I submitted it. Yes, I did make all the newbie writers mistakes in it, and no, I didn’t do my research on who I was submitting to before I went for it.

It took me a while to realize that people really did know what they were talking about, and I would have saved myself a lot of heartache if I’d just listened.

What genres are you drawn to as a reader?

I’ll read just about any genre. What draws me into a book are strong characters, and if you make me love your character, I’ll enter any world you want me to and stay there for the duration of your character’s journey.

Has your muse always known what genre you would write and be published in?

No. In fact, I started out wanting to be a modern day Georgette Heyer, and wanted to write Regency romance. Once I’d written my first manuscript in Regency, I realized that it wasn’t for me. I was much more suited to the rough and tumble of the medieval period. My husband made the suggestion that I try contemporary, and he’s unashamedly claimed credit ever since.

What did you want to be when you were a child? 

 I wanted to be an actress when I grew up. I started down that path as a young adult, only to end up doing a variety of different jobs to make ends meet. Strangely enough, writing was the one constant throughout all my career reincarnations. It seemed to be a tool I used whether workshopping theatre pieces, writing press releases when I drifted into PR, designing questionnaires for my brief stint in market research, or even drafting copy for the advertising industry.

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always had this idea in the back of my mind that I would write, but it wasn’t until my fortieth birthday that I decided to pursue it seriously. My twenties and thirties are littered with projects I started and then stopped, but something about turning forty made me realize that if not now, then when.

Do you or have you belonged to a writing organization?

I’m a member of the Romance Writer’s of America, and they’ve been the most incredible support system. Everything from shoulders to cry on, through craft workshops, advise on submission and publication, and all the way to individual authors like Terri Osburn and Madeline Hunter who have gone out of their way to help me.

RWA is more of a community than anything else, and the generosity of its members to writers at all stages in their journey make it a must for anyone wanting to write romance.

Will you share some encouraging words for authors still struggling for that first contract? 

I want to share the same words of encouragement I heard at my very first Romance Writers of America conference – just keep writing. Write, write and write some more and you’ll get there in the end.

Nobody’s Princess Book Blurb:

Sarah Hegger is back with another delightful Willow Park Romance, but this time the road to love might be a little bumpy…

Tiffany Desjardins has a plan. Well, she had a plan, until her past and all its complications came back to haunt her. Her not-quite-ex-husband, Luke, is missing, and suddenly everyone needs to find him–including Tiffany, if she wants to marry the true man of her dreams. Then there’s Thomas Hunter, Luke’s brawny friend, who won’t take “no road trip” for an answer–and who won’t stop showing up in her daydreams…

Thomas couldn’t care less about Luke’s personal life, but he needs to find him if he’s going to make his fledgling minerals and metals company a reality. And if that means following Tiffany, who’s taken off in Luke’s rare Lamborghini Miura, he’s more than willing–especially if there might be a chance to negotiate some of Tiffany’s lovely curves. As Tiffany and Thomas speed along without a map, the only destination that seems certain is being together…

“Sarah Hegger’s voice is rich and witty and in a word, addictive.”–Terri Osburn, author of the bestselling Anchor Island series

 Buy Links:

 Amazon: http://amzn.to/21ShazC

 Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1M5pErn

 Kobo: http://bit.ly/1lxWVGX

iBooks: http://apple.co/1lSiOjM

Author Bio:

Born British and raised in South Africa, Sarah Hegger suffers from an incurable case of wanderlust. Her match? A hot Canadian engineer, whose marriage proposal she accepted six short weeks after they first met. Together they’ve made homes in seven different cities across three different continents (and back again once or twice). If only it made her multilingual, but the best she can manage is idiosyncratic English, fluent Afrikaans, conversant Russian, pigeon Portuguese, even worse Zulu and enough French to get herself into trouble.

Mimicking her globe trotting adventures, Sarah’s career path began as a gainfully employed actress, drifted into public relations, settled a moment in advertising, and eventually took root in the fertile soil of her first love, writing. She also moonlights as a wife and mother.

She currently lives in Littleton, Colorado, with her teenage daughters, two Golden Retrievers and aforementioned husband. Part footloose buccaneer, part quixotic observer of life, Sarah’s restless heart is most content when reading or writing books.

She loves to hear from readers and you can find her at any of the places below.

Website: http://sarahhegger.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahheggerauthor/?ref=hl

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Sarah-Hegger/e/B00KC50U9Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1449772560&sr=8-1

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarahHegger

Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sarahhegger

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahheggerauthor/

NOBODY’S PRINCESS RELEASE TOUR MEGA-GIVEAWAY Rafflecopter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Prizes:

 5 x paperback copies of Nobody’s Princess

5 x ebook copies of Nobody’s Princess

1 x $50 Amazon Gift Cards

2 x $20 Amazon Gift Cards

3 x $10 Amazon Gift cards

Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

Ideas for stories usually arrive in my sleep/wake state at four a.m. Years back, I learned from my Harlequin editors that romance readers want the hero and heroine to meet right away, so my brain took care of that. In the opening of Rye’s Reprieve, mid-scene…

Reflexively Rye glanced her way. The redhead. She beaded down on him with a big-bore rifle. Naked, gleaming, and armed. She drew back the bolt with a snap. “I said—”

“I’m not, I’m not.” He reached for his stud’s trailing reins, took a step toward the stirrup.

Metal clicked when she shot the bolt. “Don’t you move,” she demanded.

He froze.

Missouri Harper and her three sisters had just come off four months of travel crossing the prairie and they were sprucing themselves up in, as it turns out, Rye Rawlin’s favorite fishing hole and reflecting pool on Morgan’s River, about five miles from the gold mining camp where Rye works. He’d been out hunting. The sisters hadn’t planned on a good-looking man in a western hat and boots showing up at their private bathing spot, toting a rifle.

Planning to meet their widowed aunt in town, they couldn’t wait to find safe harbor at Auntie’s luxurious home and ranch. But the luxury home the sisters were bound for? The place wasn’t exactly a mansion. I’ll leave you to discover what happens.

Back to how this novel came about…

I rose when the muse struck (with spurs). I wrote for several hours, until the scene was complete, including setting, the central idea of the story, and the key characters—the four Harper sisters, their prize horseflesh, Rye, and his stud Black Bart, named after a poet-outlaw from San Francisco.

The next event in my publishing adventure was life-changing. I sent the scene to my friend Debra Holland. She took it on the plane en route to a conference in Florida, where she met with the people from Amazon’s Kindle World. During that meeting, blame it on my muse, Debra’s Montana Sky Kindle World came into being. And now you can buy my first historical novel. I share this honor with 13 other Montana Sky Kindle World authors.

What advice do you have for other authors wanting to self-publish?

At book-signings, I used to sign my novels, “Go for your dreams.” I still ascribe to that advice.

Be willing to let others help you get there. I’ve found that writers in Orange County, California, where I live, are generous with their time to critique, advise, guide, share books sales figures, and more. The OCC/RWA group, one of the largest in the nation, is full of authors with 25-50-100 books to their credit. Seek a group close to you and reach out for the help and encouragement you need.

After you write your book, your success affirmation might be: Gather a team of brilliant people who are following the vision you create, and be definite about your purpose. Secondly, don’t focus on the fight, focus on the dream.

Do you have critique partners?

I run two professional critique groups, but I have no critique partners for my own writing.

However, New York Times best-selling author Debra Holland and I are long-time friends, I am her developmental editor, and she learned to write novels in my critique groups years ago. So while I was writing Rye’s Reprieve (The Harper Sisters, Book 1) at my dining table in Orange County, Debra was right there at the end of the table, working on her computer, writing her books. I say books because, during those months that I wrote Rye’s Reprieve, she completed two projects, the upcoming Mystic Montana Sky (on pre-order for June 28, 2016) and the novella Mail-Order Brides of the West: Bertha, which released in February 2016.

As she completed sections of her projects, I developmentally edited them along with working on my book, and she also edited some of the chapters of my book. In addition, I had my novel professionally copy- or line-edited for typos, misspellings, etc.

This was the first time in my writing career that I enjoyed the pleasure of good company while I wrote; and the first time I hired a copy editor prior to publication. In years past, my contemporary novels were edited by my former publisher, Harlequin, and the process was much more lonely.

By the way, the days of in-house editors working on your book are slipping away….

Give us an elevator pitch for your book.

Log line for Rye’s Reprieve:

In 1886 Montana Territory, a surgeon’s secret keeps him from the rancher he loves—a woman who must remain a spinster to protect her land and family.

My elevator pitch for Rye’s Reprieve:

In 1886 Montana Territory, gifted surgeon Rye Rawlins is trapped by a tragic secret so painful that he denies his profession and buries himself in a gold mine. Veterinarian and horse rancher Missouri Harper endures dangerous storms, privation, and wild predators to protect her three beautiful sisters and an ailing aunt. As they fall in love, Rye’s secret and Missouri’s promise to remain a spinster to protect the land for her family force them to look within to discover the cost of love.

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

I have a view, and it’s pastoral. In my yard: orange, peach, apricot, and pomegranate trees, grass, and a white picket fence. Down over the slope: a creek with ducks and a family of white egrets that frog-gig at dawn, a running path to the ocean, a meadow of grass, ornate slides and other playground equipment, and sycamore trees. I sit at my dining table to write, and when I need to rest my eyes and my mind, I gaze to my right through the patio slider and see this view, with kitties in the foreground. I was once a photographer. A view is everything.

Tell us about your hero.  Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses.

In the mining hamlet of Morgan’s Crossing, nobody knows Rye Rawlins is a gifted surgeon. They think he’s a gold miner with a penchant for mending broken fingers and dispensing herbal remedies. He’s hard-working, warm-hearted to people and animals, fond of his favorite fishing hole, and cannot turn away a person in need.

But he tells lies, too. Those lies protect him from a painful, tragic past. He is unaware, though, that his boss, powerful mine-owner Michael Morgan, knows more than Rye thinks he does and can use that knowledge to his own advantage.

Tell us about your heroine.  Give us one of her strengths and one of her weaknesses.

Because Missouri Harper is so focused on protecting her sisters and their legacy of the horse ranch they have come to Montana Territory to establish, it never occurs to Missouri that she can accept a proposal AND prove-up the land.

And yet, she’s right to hesitate where the handsome gold miner is concerned, because she doesn’t know he’s a gifted surgeon from a leading San Francisco family, a surgeon who has good reason to run from his past. She’s loyal and driven. Sometimes those qualities blindfold her to life’s possibilities.

What genres are you drawn to as a reader?

My reader-meter is related to my demanding eclectic writing-muse. They are brothers. I read suspense, romance, historical, contemporary, literary, gardening and fishing nonfiction, and any old thing that looks good. See my answers about my muse….

Has your muse always known what genre you would write and be published in?

My muse is an eclectic little brat. It wants me to write contemporary fiction (the best-selling Mail-Order Mate and others); nonfiction (a handbook on Point of View that is written but not yet released, many trade magazine feature stories, press releases, and technical reports); literary fiction (“Cora Lee” made it to #5 in Amazon’s Top 100 Short Fiction in January 2015); fantasy sci/fi (“Atlas Shrugged Again” takes place in a fantasy-generating lab at a space station), and now historical romance (Rye’s Reprieve, set in Montana Territory in the late nineteenth century).

My muse lives in chaos and is extremely demanding, and I am its slave. Because if you’re a writer, you can’t just not write. The muse will bug you till you do, often with spurs.

What are you currently working on?

Next on my plate is Book 2 in the Harper Sisters Series, planned for launch in August 2016. Help! I need a title. If you’re commenting, please leave me a few ideas!

The heroine is a slight woman with suffragette leanings, a writer with midnight hair and blue eyes. Jessamine “Jess” Harper was raised by an independent-thinking Presbyterian mother.

Her hero is a very large, strong, bearded fellow with the unusual name of Bethesda “Beth” Janes, a Jewish man of Polish roots who works in the gold mine in Morgan’s Crossing. He is Rye’s best friend. The hidden side of Beth Janes is that he’s an artist-metalsmith, working with wrought iron and gold, and he loves music.

Jess and Beth meet in Rye’s Reprieve at a dance to welcome Bertha to the mining camp.

As soon as we come up with a title, I’ll post more about this book on my website, www.LouellaNelson.com

Other avenues for conversation:
Twitter: @LouellaNelson
Facebook: Louella Nelson Author/Louella Nelson

Do you or have you belonged to a writing organization?  Which one?  Have the helped you with your writing?  How?

My key organization is the Romance Writers of America. My local chapter in Orange County, California, is filled with supportive, loving fellow writers such as Debra Holland as well as Linda Carroll-Bradd and Patricia Thayer, authors in Debra’s Kindle World.

Many of my writing students end up becoming members of OCC/RWA, so the monthly meetings are an opportunity to be among friends, talking shop and learning tricks of the trade. I served as chapter president and I also served as conference chair for one of our illustrious national conventions. The organization provides a foundation for everything I do in publishing, including enjoying the honor of being part of Cynthia Woolf’s blog.

Rye’s Reprieve Amazon Link: http://amzn.com/B01BLWL8X8

Blurb:

Rye’s Reprieve
(The Harper Sisters Book 1)

by Louella Nelson

In 1886, gifted surgeon Rye Rawlins is trapped by a tragic secret so painful that he denies his profession and buries himself in a gold mine in Montana Territory. But saving people is second nature, whether it’s doctoring a man mauled by a mountain lion or battling a wolf to save a child.

Veterinarian and horse rancher Missouri Harper suffers through the worst winter in Montana history to provide for three beautiful sisters and an ailing aunt. Dangerous storms, privation, and wild predators make survival precarious.

Rye comes to Missouri’s aid, putting his life in danger and Missouri in his debt. As they fall in love, his secret and her promise to remain a spinster to protect the land for her family force them to look within to discover the cost of love.

Louella Nelson’s Bio

Louella Nelson is an award-winning University of California instructor, best-selling author, and developmental editor for Amazon and numerous best-selling and aspiring authors.

A writers’ mentor, teacher, and editor, Louella Nelson writes romantic fiction, literary fiction, and nonfiction such as BestSeller Secrets for Novel and Memoir Writers (a series of handbooks in development), blogs, and other instructional materials.

Her novel-writing credits include Rye’s Reprieve (Feb 2016) and the best-selling novel Mail-Order Mate, among others; the Amazon best-seller “Cora Lee: A Short Story” and other shorts; and poetry as well as scholarly works for the journals Onyx and Calliope.

She is a former president of the Orange County RWA and coordinator for the national RWA conference. In addition to speaking regionally and nationally, she hosts seminars, class series, editorial consulting sessions, and critique groups for fiction and creative nonfiction/memoir writers.

On the personal side, Lou enjoys nature in all its wildness, danger, and beauty, especially cats and horses wild and tame; fishing; bears, oceans, rivers, lakes, woods, the desert if it’s not too sizzling–and all the creatures therein except scorpions and spiders, which she leaves to the expertise and appreciation of the entomologists

How did you get started writing?

I’ve been writing for fun and to entertain myself since I was 10 years old and realized one day that I didn’t have to wait for my teacher to assign a creative writing project in order to write something. It was the most amazing discovery! And I’ve pretty much continued to consistently write since then.

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

I’ve always been drawn to historical romance, so I started out writing that. I always intended to write Victorian-era romance, but I haven’t actually been able to yet. I am most known for my historical westerns, which I fell into completely by accident. Basically, my first editor had a very small window of time that she could edit a book for me, and the book I had started out writing wasn’t finished, so I quickly sent her a historical western I had written for fun. Well, that book and that series took off, and the rest is history! I have also been trying to build a presence in contemporary romance within the last year too. It’s harder for me to write, but just as fun.

What inspired your latest book?

The Wild Bride began as a fun challenge. Debra Holland invited me to write a story for her Kindle World. The parameters were that it had to take place in her town, but we could involve characters from our own series. I enjoyed figuring out who of my characters from my Hot on the Trail and The Brides of Paradise Ranch series would be old enough to be living and working in Morgan’s Crossing in 1888. As soon as I figured out Freddy Chance, who was a child in the last three Hot on the Trail books, and that the baby Lucy Faraday discovers she’s pregnant with at the end of Trail of Passion would be the perfect ages for Debra’s world, the story sort of wrote itself.

Tell us about your hero.  Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses.

Freddy is the kind of guy that you want to be friends with, no matter what. He’s also an incredibly talented mechanic. In fact, his character was inspired by the husband of a fan I met last year. He is a car mechanic and bet me that no one would ever write a romance novel hero that was a mechanic. I accepted the challenge! Freddy’s big weakness is that his foot was crushed in an accident, and he’s working out how to live with an injury.

Tell us about your heroine.  Give us one of her strengths and one of her weaknesses.

Minnie is full of energy and life. She’s incredibly bright and adventurous. But she’s also headstrong and has a tendency to get herself into more trouble than she can handle due to stubbornness.

What advice do you have for other authors wanting to self-publish?

Work hard! The industry has become a lot more competitive than it was just 5 years ago, but you can still make a career for yourself. But in order to do that, you have to be incredibly disciplined. I read in an article recently that if you look around and you’re not the hardest working author you know, you’re not going to be successful. I think there’s a lot of truth in that!

What do you have planned for the future?

I just started a new mail-order bride based series, The Brides of Paradise Ranch, set in the town of Haskell, Wyoming in the late 1870s. The town is populated by a lot of my characters from my Hot on the Trail series and their children. I’m enjoying writing in that world quite a lot. I’m also hoping to get that Victorian romance series that I’ve always wanted to write (or at least one of many series) before too long. And I’m working away at my contemporary Second Chances, celebrity romance series set in costal Maine too.

How far do you plan ahead?

Sooooo very far! *LOL* Seriously, I have enough books mapped out and outlined that I could keep myself busy for the next ten years without coming up with any new ideas. I have a much more comprehensive writing and publishing schedule with actual dates planned at least six months ahead. Things happen to disrupt the schedule, but not by a lot.

THE WILD BRIDE Amazon buy link:  http://amzn.com/B01BL0HKS2

BIO

Merry Farmer is a bestselling, award-winning novelist who lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats, Butterfly and Torpedo. She has been writing since she was ten years old and realized one day that she didn’t have to wait for the teacher to assign a creative writing project to write something. It was the best day of her life. She then went on to earn not one but two degrees in History so that she would always have something to write about. Her books have topped the Amazon and iBooks charts, and been named as finalists in the prestigious RONE and Rom Com Reader’s Crown awards.

Social Networking links:

Newsletter sign-up URL: http://eepurl.com/RQ-KX

Website: http://merryfarmer.net

Twitter: @merryfarmer20

Facebook: www.facebook.com/merryfarmerauthor

Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.com/Merry-Farmer/e/B006RATLFC/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1366067537&sr=8-2-ent

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5247224.Merry_Farmer

Other Works by Merry blog page: http://wp.me/P5ttjb-14F

How did you get started writing?
I come from a long line of writers. In grade school, I decided there was an awful lot missing between the kiss on the beach and the wedding in The Little Mermaid. So I wrote the missing parts. Sadly, it’s long since lost in a move. Not that I’d show it to anyone now! I’d be too embarrassed.
When my mom found out about it, she decided to make creative writing part of our homeschool curriculum. I later did a class through our support group, then wrote fan fiction in high school and just after. I started creating characters of my own in high school, and buckled down to learn novel writing in 2007.

Tell us about your current series.
My current series is a paranormal sci-fi romance series called A’yen’s Legacy. It was born out of a dream, on the night of what I should’ve been celebrating as my fourth anniversary. The title character, A’yen, exists in the current timeline of the series as well as in the past.
It’s the story of an enslaved alien species fight to regain their freedom. The current A’yen is doing his best to undo the legacy of his namesake, who surrendered and put them in slavery.
It’s a hero-driven series, with tortured heroes as the leads. If his scenes are your favorites in romances, I’ve got just what you’re looking for!

What inspired your latest book?
My latest release, Freedom’s Embrace, is A’yen’s Legacy #4. I met the hero while writing #3, and knew he had a story to tell. So I dug into his background, and what I learned changed the series. Taran is one of my aliens, a slave, and he serves the prince of Marcase—the humans who enslaved Taran’s people thousands of years ago. The prince, and his older brother the emperor, want to see Taran’s people freed. But their fellow Marcasians aren’t making it easy.

What is your next project and when will it be released?
My next release is in May, A’yen’s Legacy #5, Hidden In Ashes. It was inspired while I read Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon, and asked myself a what if question. What if someone was as trained as Acheron, but it gave him power instead of making him a slave? Lorin was born, and I love him dearly. He’s my crit partner’s favorite hero that I’ve written to date.

Where do you get the ideas for your stories?
They’re born out of the characters, who always come first. My imagination never shuts off, and I constantly have things playing in my head. It’s like a movie theater with a never-ending reel. I just sit back and watch. When I come across something interesting, I’ll focus on that and let it develop.

Tell us about your hero. Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses.
A’yen is a warrior. Not in the military sense, but in the sense of what drives him. He’s been loved to the point of sacrifice—and he’ll settle for nothing less when he falls in love again. His greatest strength is also his greatest weakness, and that strength is his devotion to those he cares for. It gets him into serious trouble in My Name Is A’yen, and he almost dies.

What genres are you drawn to as a reader?
I’m a dyed in the wool romance reader. I read a lot of historical romance from the time I was 10, until I turned 30, with some romantic suspense thrown in. Then I discovered paranormal romance, and it’s been pretty much all I’ve read for the last three years. Everything I want is in every book, and deciding what to read sometimes takes an hour or more with my TBR shelf on Goodreads.

What are you currently working on?
Hidden In Ashes is with my editor right now. I’m also in the final section of my first straight paranormal romance, a shifter one with an Egyptian mythology. It’s called To Hold A Siren’s Heart and will be out in October.
What’s next for you?

I’m gearing up for the release of Hidden In Ashes, and planning my trip to RWA Nationals in San Diego.
What is your favorite dessert/food?
I’m a chocoholic. What writer isn’t? 😀 I’m sitting here doing this interview while drinking hot chocolate. I also love seafood, and I’m so glad I live on the Gulf of Mexico where seafood is cheap and plentiful. Especially shrimp, and crawfish has just come into season. It’s not seafood, but it is a Louisiana favorite and so good fresh boiled and still steaming when it gets dumped on the table in front of you.

Excerpt from My Name Is A’yen:

Apples. Her hair definitely smelled like apples. And the shiniest black he’d ever seen. Dark as a starless night. She clutched at his arms to keep from falling, her fingers wrapping around his markings. But it didn’t hurt. In fact her touch barely registered on them.
Another sign his body liked her. A little too much for this point in their relationship. He wasn’t ready to let go of Master. Too bad his cellular chemistry wasn’t listening.
The feel of her pressed against him sent heat coursing through his veins. If he didn’t get some distance between them—fast—he’d do the other thing post-marking males of his race were known for and give in to the need building in his cells to have her hands manipulate the electrical energy in his body—the other reason why going without cascades was so hard.
He stepped back, still steadying her with his hands on her waist. “Whoa there, Doc.” Damn. His voice carried way too much of the heat building inside him. Green eyes stared at him. Her tongue slid across her lips and she pinched her bottom one. She really ought to let him do that.
He jerked his hands away and stumbled backward until he hit a wall. Which closed in on him, sucking all the air from the room. Only her chest moved, heaving in air at a rate to match his. Everything about her begged his hands to explore her curves, taste her fully, and take her to new heights of pleasure.
The door. Where was the door? Had to get out before he suffocated. Oh. Leaning on it. Left hand on the handle, he fumbled with it until he got it open, then backed through it, forced himself to turn around, and ran for the safety of the nearest tree.
Distance. He needed distance between them. To shut off the traitorous longings within. And the signals his body sent against his will.
Shoes crunched behind him and he whirled to find her standing in front of him, hugging herself. “I can’t help it.” The words drifted to him on a whisper. “You’re pulling me like a magnet.”
“I know.” He braced himself against the tree. “I never expected it to happen again.”
“What do we do?” She didn’t come any closer. “And why is it happening now?”
Didn’t matter though. He could still see her as clear as three minutes ago when she’d been in his arms. Still feel her, too. His stupid, weird sixth sense kicked in. He’d locked it up in holding, sick of how it taunted him with what the others there thought about him, what the keeper thought. A’yen knew the exact amount of money the man had made off him because he’d walked down the hall counting it in his head one day. Now it told him his owner found him attractive and wanted to take his shirt off.

My Name Is A’yen is currently FREE! If you like the excerpt, you can grab it at the vendor of your choice.
Kindle: http://ow.ly/XzbsU
Nook: http://ow.ly/UWJl0
Kobo: http://ow.ly/UWJmk
iBooks: http://ow.ly/UWJop
Google Play: http://ow.ly/UWJnj

If you like what you read in the first one, books 2-4 are available at the vendor of your choice, with #5 coming in May.

BIO
Rachel Leigh Smith writes romance for the hero lover. She lives in central Louisiana with her family and a half-crazed calico. When not writing, which isn’t often, she’s hanging with her family, doing counted cross-stitch, or yakking about life, the universe, and everything with her besties. There may also be Netflix binging…

She’s a member of Romance Writers of America. She blogs sporadically at www.rachelleighsmith.com, hangs out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RachelLeighSmithAuthor, and can sometimes be found at http://twitter.com/rachelleighgeek.

How did you get started writing?

I started as a newspaper reporter. I got my start at my college newspaper, writing record reviews and covering the arts. I interned at the Los Angeles Times and got my first real job out of college. For 30 years I covered everything from crime and catastrophes to agriculture and food. Then one day I got the notion that I should write fiction. After I sold my first three books I quit my newspaper gig and have been writing romance ever since.

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

I write contemporary romance. What appeals to me about the genre is that the stories always have happy endings. After thirty years of being a journalist I didn’t get to write too many happy endings.

Tell us about your current series.

It’s the Nugget Romance series about a small town in California’s Sierra Nevada where the lost and lonely find happiness and love. The residents are quirky, independent and watch out for each other.  Borrowing Trouble will mark the sixth book in the series. But all the books can be read as stand alones.

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

The next Nugget book, Heating Up, will be out in July. And in November I have a Christmas Novella that will be part of an anthology with a number of other authors, including Fern Michaels. That story will launch a new series about a small town called Glory Junction, which I’m really excited about.

How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book?

Not likely, though a couple of my former newspaper editors show up in Second Chances, the third book in the series. And I kill a dear friend in Borrowing Trouble (No offense, Kevin).

What is most difficult for you to write?  Characters, conflict or emotions?  Why?

By far sex scenes. I’m always worried that they sound silly and not true to life. And always at the back of my mind is the thought that my mother is going to read this.

Give us an elevator pitch for your book.

He’s a chef, she’s a cop. Neither came to town looking for love but it found them. Trouble is, so has their pasts.

What is your favorite dessert/food?

Anything bad for me. Mac and Cheese (homemade with gorgonzola), Nachos (the kind you get at the ballpark) and donuts. I love donuts.
Here’s an excerpt from Borrowing Trouble:

“Sloane, honey, look at me.” She lifted her head and locked eyes with him. Man, they were blue. “I left some trouble behind in LA. It hasn’t followed me yet . . . but now’s not a good time for me to get involved.” It wasn’t safe for either of them. And then there was the fact that he didn’t do involvement. Ever.

“What kind of trouble?” she asked, her chin held high.

“Bad trouble.” He wanted to leave it at that, but she was looking at him skeptically. Like she thought he was either wanted by the mob or feeding her a lie after he’d gotten her in the sack. “I have a stalker. She’s delusional and dangerous and I don’t want to put you on the other side of that. You understand?”

He watched her morph back into cop mode. “What happened?”

“It’s a long story. I like you, Sloane. You’re beautiful, smart, and tough. And you’ve got enough on your plate. You don’t need my pot of problems to add to it.”

“Have you gone to the police?”

“Santa Monica PD is working the case. But my stalker is as canny as she is crazy. So far they have nothing to arrest her for. Their best advice to me was to get out of LA while the getting was good. That’s why I’m here.”

“You ran from her?”

He didn’t like the way she’d phrased that, but yeah, that’s exactly what he’d done. “She broke into my apartment, she trashed my restaurant, she violated the restraining order I took out on her . . . and that’s not the half of it. But she didn’t leave a trace of evidence. Just my word against hers. Sloane, hurting a woman goes against everything I know and believe in, but if I didn’t get the hell out of there I was gonna hurt her.”

“Was she your girlfriend?”

He gave a bitter laugh. “Nope. But she thought so. Still does. I met her in the bar of my restaurant, went home with her that night, and the next thing I know she’s threatening to kill herself if I won’t see her again. It’s too surreal to explain. Even I have trouble understanding it, and believe me, I’ve read all the literature there is about this kind of warped obsession, trying to comprehend how this happened. But if she ever finds me, I don’t want her finding you.”

“Did you tell Nugget PD about this?”

He held her gaze. “I just did.”

“So this is official?”

“Sloane, I’m not talking to you as a cop. I’m telling you because this woman is unhinged . . . seriously scary. Last night shouldn’t have happened. But this chemistry between us . . . Ah, hell . . . it was selfish of me.” He scrubbed his hand through his hair. “If anything happened to you, I couldn’t live with that.” It appeared that thinking with his dick instead of using common sense had become a pattern.

Borrowing Trouble:

In the beautiful mountain town of Nugget, California, staying out of the limelight is easy, but staying out of love is a bit more challenging…

Back in Los Angeles, Sloane McBride was a great police detective, but after she uncovered corruption on her own squad, the job became nearly impossible. In the bucolic hills of Nugget, she can start to imagine a life after all that, where she keeps her head down, does her work, and doesn’t bother anyone. But her delicious next door neighbor isn’t going to make it easy to keep to herself…

Brady Benson’s wildest dreams came true in LA—but they were paired with a living nightmare. As executive chef of a searing-hot restaurant, he was lauded, adored… and then found himself caught in the sights of a lovelorn stalker. Now, laying low in Nugget, he finds his own heart ensnared by the beautiful new cop with her own reasons to start over.

Neither Sloane nor Brady came to town looking for love, but it seems to have found them. Trouble is, so have their pasts. And they’ll have to stop hiding from both if they hope to come out the other side together…

Praise For Stacy Finz

“Finz is a unique new voice. Nugget, California is a charming small town filled with inventive characters and sweet romance.”–Jill Shalvis, New York Times bestselling author of the Lucky Harbor Series

“Tender and touching, Stacy Finz writes romance with heart.”–Marina Adair, #1 National bestselling author of Summer in Napa

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
GooglePlay

Stacy Finz’s Bio

Stacy Finz is an award-winning former newspaper reporter. After more than twenty years covering notorious serial killers, naked-tractor-driving farmers, fanatical foodies, aging rock stars and weird Western towns, she figured she finally had enough material to launch a career writing fiction. She is the author of the Nugget Romance series (Kensington/Lyrical Press) about a small mountain town that has a strange way of giving people unexpected reasons to start over and find the most irresistible chances to fall in love.

http://www.stacyfinz.com/

Rafflecopter Giveaway – Ebook copy of Borrowing Trouble

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hi, Cindy! It’s great to be here today. Thanks for having me on your blog.

1. How did you get started writing?

I started writing when my kids were babies. I had this story in mind that wouldn’t leave me alone. One day the crazy idea came to me to try to write it down. Just the idea made me nervous. What was I thinking? But the thought stuck in there. I needed something to occupy my mind other than diapers and spit up. So I—very nervously—approached my husband with idea that I was going to write a book. To my surprise, he thought it was a great idea. He actually thought it was something I could do well. I’m glad he had the confidence in me that I lacked, because it turned out I loved writing. I’ve been doing it ever since.

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

I’m almost to the end of the first draft for my next project. Together with my writing partners, the Timeless Scribes—Ruth A. Casie, Lita Harris, and Nicole S. Patrick—I’m working on a novella that will be released in May. WELCOME TO HAVENPORT will be the beginning of a series set in the small town of Havenport, Rhode Island. My story is called UNDER HER SPELL—about a missing book of magick, the witch trying to protect it, and the man who loves her. All four novellas will take place at the same time and you’ll see familiar characters appear throughout the book.

3. How has your experience with self-publishing been?

Self-publishing has been a great experience. I love having the freedom to pick my own covers, hire my own editor, write what I want, and be as picky as I want with formatting. Little things can drive me crazy, so having control over some of the little things is fun for me. That being said, I self-publish with partners, so the responsibility is not entirely on my shoulders. We share the burden. And we’ve been very lucky in that our strengths and weaknesses are varied. Where I’m weak, one of my partners is strong. So we capitalize on all our strengths and manage to have a good time with the whole process.

4. What advice do you have for other authors wanting to self-publish?

Do your research first. I’ve found writers to be a very helpful group who are willing to share their knowledge with beginners. You can save yourself from making very simple mistakes simply by listening to those that have gone before. Join a self-publishing email loop. There are plenty out there. Read the posts and ask questions.

5. Do you have critique partners?

Yes, I have three amazing partners. I have to admit, we don’t do as much critiquing as we would like. We’re all so busy writing and a good critique takes an awful lot of time. Instead, we do a lot of brainstorming and, lets call it—issue resolution. If we’re feeling stuck on any issue in our writing we get together and help find a solution. For the series we produce together under our publishing company—Timeless Scribes Publishing—we do a thorough read through and critique as well as look for areas to layer in details from all the stories into our own. It’s a fun process. Then we send the entire book out for two rounds of editing with two different editors to make sure the entire collection of stories is the best it can be.

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

I do not have a view. My writing space is one of those desks where you can shut everything up and hide it when you’re not working. It’s in a corner of my living room, but it’s all mine, so I love it.

7. Do you prefer to read in the same genres you write in or do you avoid reading that genre? Why?

I don’t avoid my own genre when writing but I don’t stick exclusively to it either. I like to read in multiple genres. The only time I pick a book specifically based on what I’m writing is if I’m going to write a time travel involving Regency England. Before I start writing, I like to pick up a good regency to remind myself of the feel of the time.

8. What did you want to be when you were a child? Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

I wanted to be a veterinarian when I was young. I think I pictured I’d be petting puppies and kittens all day. Once I learned you need an affinity for science, that idea spluttered out. But writing? No. I never pictured myself as a writer. I thought for a while I might like to be an editor—read all day, imagine!—but I went into advertising for a while. Yuck. It wasn’t until later when I was a stay at home mom that the idea of writing took hold.

9. What is your favorite dessert/food?

My favorite food is sushi. My husband and I have a favorite hole-in-the-wall sushi place we love to go for special occasions. It’s expensive, though, or we’d go a lot more often.

10. Describe the genre of this particular title, and is the only genre you write in?

FOR YOU is a time travel romance set during the Regency period in England. I always write paranormal of some type. My published books so far have been time travel, but I also like to write magick and fantasy.

BLURB

It’s Valentine’s Day, and candy heart sayings mock Drew Engledown’s lonely state. He wants more in his life than work, but hasn’t met anyone he can imagine spending his life with. When he puts his own life at risk to save a friend, he’s sent back in time to Regency London and mistaken for a murdered earl. Has he been given a chance at love with the earl’s beautiful widow, or will he suffer the same fate as the previous lord?

When her husband’s heir lays claim to all she once owned, Lady Engledown is left nearly destitute. So she doesn’t know whether to be relieved or angry when the earl returns but claims he’s not her husband. Could he be telling the truth, or is he toying with her? She doesn’t know what to think of this man who is so different from the husband she never loved. Can they find happiness together, or will this man she comes to love leave her worse off than before?

Buy Links:

All Romance eBooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-foryou-1937601-160.html
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B018L2A8LY
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/for-you-emma-kaye/1123057356?ean=2940157730871
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/for-you/id1067612965?mt=11
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/for-you-12
TWRP: http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=6577

BIO

Emma Kaye is married to her high school sweetheart and has two beautiful kids that she spends an insane amount of time driving around New Jersey. Before ballet and Scouts entered her life, she decided to try writing one of those romances she loved to read and discovered a new passion. She’s been writing ever since. Add in a hyper dog and an extremely patient cat and she’s living her own happily ever after while making her characters work hard to reach theirs.