Good morning and welcome to week three of “What was I thinking?” In weeks one and two I shared my thoughts on scenes from Man Law and A Just Deception. This week, it’s Michael and Roxann’s turn with Risking Trust.

In this book, Michael Taylor walked out on Roxann Thorgesson twelve years ago without an explanation. Now he’s come back into her life and needs her help. His estranged wife has been murdered, he is the prime suspect and Roxann owns a newspaper large enough to help him clear his name.

During content edits for this book, my editor asked me to increase the romantic tension and awareness between Michael and Roxann. She wanted me to dig into what these two people had once meant to each other and how that would help them rekindle their relationship. They’d shared a ferocious love that was now only a memory, and I needed to convey the depth of that love. I wanted to show the stages of their relationship from twelve years ago without killing the pacing of the story. It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced during the revision process. Reunion stories are tough! :) I found the best way to accomplish the task was to add a couple of flashbacks from both Michael and Roxann’s point of view.

The following scene was not in the original manuscript, but I wanted readers to experience Michael’s state of mind (twelve years earlier) the first time he met Roxann. In this scene, Michael is in his office discussing Roxann with his partner (and closest friend) and he thinks back on the first time he saw the woman who would become the love of his life.

Here’s the scene (in Michael’s point of view):

Still, the legs got him every time. The first time he’d spotted them, he’d been twenty-seven years old, sitting on a folding chair in the miniscule backyard of a friend of a friend at a fourth of July party he hadn’t wanted to go to. Four weeks fresh out of the army, he’d been dealing with undiagnosed PTSD that left him exhausted and supremely strung-out. Between the lack of sleep and the nightmares, when he did manage rest, he hadn’t had a lot firing in the mental agility category.

But he’d gone to that party because he felt like crap and needed to get laid. A piss poor motivating factor, but the physical release would clear his mind.

On that summer night, the sky was clear, the air cooler than normal and filled with a mix of music and chattering voices from the crowd packed into the tiny backyard. He sat alone nursing his beer when the long-legged blonde entered the yard. She wore khaki shorts and a sweater tank top that clung to her lean form. Her long hair, streaked with sun-drenched highlights, fell loose around her face and she tossed one side over her shoulder, exposing a softly sculpted cheek that he immediately wanted to run his fingers over.

Perfection.

Michael breathed in. She’s the one. What that meant, he wasn’t sure and didn’t necessarily care. He knew he had to have her.

A group of people huddled in front of him, blocking his view, and he shifted a little. The blonde stepped to the picnic table not ten feet from him and parked her trim ass next to five women.

Thirty minutes later he still sat there, watching and waiting, damn near mesmerized by her. She hadn’t so much as glanced his way, but she hadn’t glanced anyone else’s way either. He couldn’t call her aloof. Not with the way she laughed and yapped with her friends, but she had a quality to her he couldn’t define. Elegant maybe. He didn’t know, but it worked. Hard.

A few people stopped to say hello to him, but his attention stayed on the blonde. If she moved from that group, he’d be on her. No doubt.

The break came when the two women closest to her got up and left. She wasn’t alone, but the three remaining women were deep into their own conversation. Take the shot.

He made his way to her, squeezing through the crowd that had once again gathered in his path. He stepped up to the table and set his beer down. She glanced at the beer, then brought her gaze, a blue-green that nearly stopped his heart, to his face.

“Hi,” she said.

“How do you feel about love at first sight?”

The corner of her mouth quirked. “I’m not sure.”

“Well,” he said, “I’m suddenly a believer.”

She rolled those amazing eyes and laughed at him. For a few seconds, Michael let himself forget about being a miserable bastard and soaked up the sound of her soft laughter.

She gestured to the seat across from her. “It’s too soon to tell, but you can have a seat and maybe I’ll let you know in awhile.”

Score.

He dropped onto the bench and she propped her chin in her hand. “As opening lines go, I have to say, that one got my attention.”

He grinned. “It was a maiden voyage. And just so you know who it is that’s fallen in love with you, I’m Michael Taylor.”

“Hi, Michael Taylor, I’m Roxann.”

And damn those blue eyes glittered. So incredibly gorgeous. To Michael’s disappointment, Brian, the guy hosting the party, appeared. “Hey, Rox.”

Roxann-the-beautiful shifted to face him. “Hi, Brian. How are you?”

“Thanks for coming. Haven’t seen you since you got back from the Olympics.”

“You went to the Olympics?” Michael asked.

Brian snorted. “She was in the Olympics. Won a gold in the four-hundred relay. You grabbed a silver too, right?”

She smiled and the glow could have lit the darkened yard. “Yep. In the two-hundred.”

Beautiful, athletic and a competitor. God help him. Fried already and he hadn’t laid a hand on her.

Someone called Brian away—thank you—and he high-tailed it.

“The Olympics. That’s amazing. Do you still compete?”

She twisted her lips. “For fun. Now I have a big girl job.”

“What do you do?”

“I work at the Banner-Herald”

To Michael, who was working a laborer job while he figured out how to use the skills acquired as an Army Ranger, the newspaper gig sounded pretty cool. “Are you a reporter?”

“No.”

“What do you do?”

“Whatever my father tells me to.”

“Your dad is your boss?”

She laughed. “My dad is everyone’s boss. He owns the paper.”

Michael’s euphoric high plummeted. Gone. That fast. This girl was so far above him he might as well quit now. If that didn’t suck the mother lode he wasn’t sure what did. He laughed his derision, slapped his hands on the table and stood. “Enough said. I’m leaving. I’m glad we met though.”

He started to turn away, but she grabbed his arm. “This from the man who just proclaimed his love?”

Could he possibly have a shot with this girl? “Honey, I’m a kid from the neighborhood. You’re so far out of my league I’ve got no business being on your planet.”

“Why do you get to decide I’m out of your league? I’ll make my own decision. Why not stay and see what happens?”

It made enough sense that he sat again and spent the next two hours hearing about the Olympics, her doubling up on classes to graduate on time and taking the job at the newspaper. When the party began to fizzle, he and Roxann moved to a 24-hour coffee shop two blocks away where they talked until six in the morning.

He finally walked her to her apartment and, as much as he wanted to, didn’t try to worm his way in. After all night together, he’d hoped he’d get his shot another time. A fast lay wouldn’t suit. That he could get anywhere. He’d wait it out. The beautiful Roxann Thorgesson was not a girl to disrespect. On any level.

***

 RU Crew, thanks for stopping by!

Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and women’s fiction.  She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her workaholic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaten Terrorist (Terrier). She is a co-founder of Romance University blog. For more information on Adrienne’s Private Protectors series please visit http://www.adriennegiordano.com/. Adrienne can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AdrienneGiordanoAuthor and Twitter at http://twitter.com/AdriennGiordano.

Buy Links:

Carina Press

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Welcome to week two of “What was I thinking?” Last week I posted an excerpt from Man Law and shared what inspired me to write that scene. This time I’ve chosen a scene from my romantic suspense A Just Deception. Isabelle, the story’s heroine, is undoubtedly my most damaged character (so far!). She’s a survivor of childhood abuse and is a lawyer who thrives on her independence. Due to her emotional issues, sex to her is simply a function. She has forced herself to resist emotional attachments that might disappoint her or break her heart. At least until Peter “Monk” Jessup, a man with his own emotional burdens shows up.

 With Peter, Isabelle finds someone who is patient and respectful of her issues and the reasons she has built her emotional barricades. He’s also determined to destroy those barricades.

When I wrote this book, I knew I was pushing some boundaries, but I’m lucky to have an editor who doesn’t mind when I want to break a few “rules”. She, in fact, encourages me to take risks. In the revision letter for the book I just submitted she suggested that if I was going to give someone baggage, I might as well make the best use of it. So, what I’ve learned through the editing process is that if I’m going to go there (wherever “there” may be), I’d better really go there. 

As I reached the mid-point of A Just Deception, I realized I needed something to happen that would emotionally rock Izzy. Up to that point, she’d been cautious about sharing her feelings with Peter but had been growing more confused by the connection she felt with him.

With this scene, given it was the midpoint of the book (and things would have to shift) I thought it might be a good time for Izzy to take a risk and share a secret with Peter. Unfortunately, she doesn’t give Peter enough information and (typical man! J) he misses the point. This agitates her even more and she tries to escape to the bathroom for some privacy.

Here is where the scene wound up:

She couldn’t stand the way Peter was now watching her. Men. They always stared at her for one reason or another.

Time alone with no one analyzing her. That’s the way her world worked best and maybe, for once, Peter would leave her be. She hurried to the bathroom, and shut and locked the door. If the bathroom had a window she’d probably climb out.

What had she just done? He probably thought her a whore and Peter had standards in that area. He wouldn’t want to even touch her after that little admission.

Maybe that’s what she wanted.

She breathed deep craving the sensation of air filling her lungs.

Taking off her clothes, she tossed them on the cracked tile floor. The bathroom, with its brown vanity and drab green sink, was an extension of the rest of the motel and she hated every bit of it. Or maybe it was simply being there she hated.

After turning the shower on full blast, she stuck her hand into the stream and waited for the hot water.

The door flew open and crashed against the wall with a bang that rocked her. She clutched the shower curtain for balance and turned as Peter stepped into the bathroom.

“What the hell, Peter? You scared me!”

He slammed what looked like a metal pick on the sink and got within an inch of her. His blue eyes locked on hers and the steel there could have broken cement. Hard, hard eyes.

“I’m naked here,” she shrieked.

But the sickening vulnerability had nothing to do with being naked.

“You don’t say something like that and walk away,” he yelled. “If you’re pissed, you need to tell me why. I’m not a mind reader.”

Isabelle shoved the curtain back and twisted the shower knob. The faucet wasn’t providing the only steam in the tiny bathroom. She turned, gave Peter a shove and reached for the towel hanging on the rack.

“And I deserve some privacy.” She wrapped herself in the stingy towel.

Peter, to his credit, kept his eyes focused on her face. He must really be mad. Most men would have at least snuck a peek by now. Or maybe he was trying not to piss her off any further. That theory made much more sense.

She angled around him, stormed out of the bathroom and shut the adjoining room door. All they needed was Billy wandering in with her wrapped in a swatch of cotton barely bigger than a hand towel.

Peter followed her. “What’s this about?”

Damn him.

They needed a distraction here. She spun to face him and the towel came loose. She should reach to tighten it, but maybe…if she just let it sink to the ground…his mind would move elsewhere.

Sex she could handle.

Even if she didn’t want their first time together to be manufactured because she was too terrified to admit she was losing herself. Was she that pathetic? Obviously so.

“Don’t even,” he said, somehow knowing exactly where her mind had gone. “You’re not going to get out of talking to me.” He huffed out a breath, and bit down hard enough that the muscle in his jaw flexed. “I know you’re intentionally doing this. I can see it in your eyes. Creepy Izzy is barking at you and I’m trying to stay cool, but dealing with you on an emotional level can be a nightmare.”

Oh, my God. Give up already. How could he still be standing here after all she’d subjected him to? Crazy. That’s what he was.

She scoffed. “That’s not it.”

He stuck his hands on his hips and puckered. The silence hung between them, daring her to say something, but she’d wait it out. Part of good lawyering meant knowing when to keep quiet.

Peter slowly shook his head. “You’re trying to frustrate me so I’ll give up on you. Classic move, Izzy, but you’re busted.”

Her breath caught, backed up into her throat and she gasped. No air. No air. Breathe. But she couldn’t. Not with her nerves chewed raw. He wouldn’t go away. Wouldn’t leave her to this agony of being stuck between two worlds.

“Shut up,” she said.

“Talk to me.”

“Shut. Up.”

The pressure behind her eyes intensified and she jammed the heels of her palms into them. The pounding wouldn’t stop, so she dropped her hands and looked him square in the eye.

Back him off.

“I hate you,” she said.

He didn’t flinch.

“No you don’t. You’re scared. Big difference.”

*** 

RU Crew, join me next week when I revisit another scene. Thanks for stopping by!

Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and women’s fiction.  She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her workaholic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaten Terrorist (Terrier). She is a co-founder of Romance University blog. For more information on Adrienne’s Private Protectors series please visit http://www.adriennegiordano.com/. Adrienne can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AdrienneGiordanoAuthor and Twitter at http://twitter.com/AdriennGiordano.

Buy Links:

Carina Press

 Amazon

 Barnes and Noble

How many times have we asked ourselves THAT question?

Last week, a reader asked me how I came up with an idea for a particular scene in one of my books. After that, I thought it would be fun to do a series of RU posts explaining how some of my scenes came about and how they’ve changed under the watchful eye of my editor.

Welcome to the first post of “What was I thinking?”

This first scene from my romantic suspense, Man Law, was not originally in the book. During the first round of edits on the manuscript my editor asked me if I could show more of the history between the hero and the heroine. Gina (heroine) is a young widow with three children (including a smart-mouthed teenager) and Vic (hero) is her brother’s closest friend. Gina and Vic have been friends over ten years and after a moment of—um—spontaneous combustion, their relationship changes. Drastically. My editor suggested I do a flashback to show the exact moment when that change occurs.

For the flashback, I came up with an idea where the hose on Gina’s washer ruptures and the water valve gets stuck. I pictured her, at thirty-five, a widow battling grief’s hold while raising her children and forgetting about her own needs. For two years, she’d been working full-time, taking care of the kids, the house, the car and then the water valve won’t budge. Enter Vic Andrews, all six-foot-five of him. That, I decided, would be the flashback scene.

Leading into the flashback would be Gina and Vic having a conversation about their tendency to spontaneously combust around each other.

Now that you know what I was thinking, here’s the flashback scene:

Enough of this already. Because, really, she didn’t have time. She was getting nowhere with him when all she wanted was to get somewhere. And then he went and did it. He tilted his head and parted his lips just so slightly and a burst of heat exploded inside her. Suddenly, the hallway seemed tight. Closing in as his stare filled the space. At any second, it would occur to him that he should attempt to mask his feelings. The idiot hadn’t yet realized his ability to hide from her dissolved two years ago in her basement. That had been the first time she’d noticed the look and it still tortured her. Damn him for bringing it all back.

Her fingers twitched at the memory. Kneeling on top of the dryer battling the water that had shot from the pipe and doused her. And Vic staring at her in a way that made her miss having a man to curl up with.

“Holy shit,” he had said.

The words cut through the sound of gushing water and penetrated her focused struggle with the valve. “The handle is stuck.”

His gaze traveled along the ceiling, darting along the pipelines. Slow. Considering.

“Idiot,” she screamed, “the valve is here.”

He stepped around the large puddle forming on the cement floor and stormed to the back corner of the basement. “No kidding, but I’m not getting wet when I can cut the main supply.”

“The main supply?” What?

And suddenly, the river slowed to a trickle. She stared at the pipe, gave it a whack with the wrench. Bastard pipe.

For two years she’d been living as a single mom, dealing with appliances that failed, shoveling snow, getting the car serviced. Never mind raising three kids whose moods shifted like swings in the wind. She had been doing it all, hadn’t she?

Without a man.

Until the flipping water valve got stuck. With Michael not around, she’d been forced to call Vic when all she wanted was to take a bat and smash that stupid valve to a million little bits. Just destroy that piece of crap. She pounded her fists on the washer because she didn’t need this evil, blasted, hateful valve making her feel like she needed a man.

Vic stood a few feet from her, hands on his hips. Did his lips quirk? She swore they did. No, sir.

She flicked the wrench at him. “Don’t you laugh. I’ll come down there and beat you to death. You will be bloody if you laugh at me.”

He remained silent. One of his better choices, because she was just mad enough to let him have it. She tossed the wrench down, pushed her saturated hair from her face. “I’m sorry I called you an idiot. That was mean.” She held her hands wide. “Look at me! I’m soaked.”

“Oh, I’m looking.”

The rumble in his tone drew her attention and she found him, head tilted, lips slightly parted, eyes focused on her…chest.

The one encased in a soaking-wet tank top.

A white one.

With a sheer lace bra underneath. Lovely. Her very own wet T-shirt contest. She gasped and spun away because…well…Vic. Never before had he done this, and heat poured into her cheeks.

Two years she’d been without a man’s hands on her. Two long years without passion. Without sex that left her loose limbed and quivering. And he had the nerve to look at her like he wanted nothing more than to put his hands on her.

Wait a second. Why not? She deserved attention. Didn’t she?

Besides, he had great hands. Big hands that let a girl know he’d take care of her.

And then she lost her mind.

***

RU Crew, join me next week when I revisit a scene from A Just Deception. Thanks for stopping by!

Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and women’s fiction.  She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her workaholic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaten Terrorist (Terrier). She is a co-founder of Romance University blog. For more information on Adrienne’s Private Protectors series please visit http://www.adriennegiordano.com/. Adrienne can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AdrienneGiordanoAuthor and Twitter at http://twitter.com/AdriennGiordano.

Buy Links:

Carina Press

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Some of the best writing advice I ever got came from the news editor at the paper where I landed my first job.

Don’t write from your chair.

Huh? Most writers I know are very fond of their chairs. We like to sit in them for hours at a time crafting beautiful prose, or conducting fascinating research, or checking out shoe sales on Zappos.com.

But unfortunately, spending all your time in your chair will not give you some of the key things you need to write a compelling story.

Details.

Details are those magical ingredients that you sprinkle into your prose to make it come to life. How do you get these magical story ingredients? The answer is simple: research.

A lot of writers feel at ease with any research that involves books or the Internet. What’s not to like about sitting in the comfort of your office and learning everything you need to know about eighteenth-century undergarments? Books, Web sites, and other reading materials can be helpful sources of information. For example, many of my stories are set in Texas, so I keep a “Guide to Texas Trees and Wildflowers” on my desk so that I have plant names at my fingertips when I’m describing a setting or trying to come up with a street name.

But if you really want to get the good stuff for your story, you need to go beyond thumbing through reference books and surfing the Net. You need the face-to-face interview.

As a reporter, I discovered over and over that while is possible to write an article by getting a few quotes over the phone, that article is infinitely better if the writer goes out and actually meets the people affected by a news event.

Is your main character a cop? A veterinarian? A sous chef? No matter what you’re writing about, that story could be improved by a little research–the more hands-on, the better. Some of the most fun I’ve had as a writer was touring the FBI Academy at Quantico and shooting a Glock on their firing range. You may not have access to the FBI, but if you’re writing about gun-toting tough guys, you can go to a gun shop and handle some firearms. Or set up a ride-along with your local police department and get a glimpse of what they do.

My upcoming novel Snapped opens with a sniper scene on a college campus. The book’s hero is a former military sniper who now serves on the SWAT team called to confront the shooter. Having never stormed a building and taken down a gunman, I decided to do a little research on this topic. The police sniper I interviewed helped me understand the inner workings of a SWAT team and gave me details that allowed me to cram the maximum amount of tension into my opening pages.

Maybe you’re not writing about cops and bad guys, but more ordinary folk. One of my books features a heroine who is a hairstylist at an upscale salon. When I began the story, I knew next to nothing about this job. So I got my hands on one of the best resources for any writer The Complete Idiot’s Guide to (fill in the blank). Whatever profession or hobby your character has, there is probably an Idiots or Dummies book out there that covers it in detail.

After getting a grasp of the basic tasks and jargon related to haircutting, I found a high-end salon in my community and set up an interview with a hairstylist. Over coffee (my treat) during her lunch break, she told me about the ins and outs of her job and gave me a tour of her workplace. There, I picked up the sights and smells of her day-to-day life. I learned about what makes her love her work, and also her pet peeves. (Always ask about pet peeves, by the way. People love to talk about them and it gives you some great details to use when fleshing out a character.)

But what if you are writing about, say, a medical examiner and you don’t know any? Or a countess in regency England? Again, be resourceful. If you’re writing historical fiction, find a historian who specializes in the time period. Many experts, including forensic scientists, write books or journal articles about their field. Read them. Then track down the author’s email address through their university or their Web site and ask for an interview. When you mention that you enjoyed his or her book, the person will probably be happy to talk to you. If you sense reluctance, offer to email a few questions (so the person can take more time answering and not feel put on the spot).

Don’t be afraid to interview anyone around you who has an interesting job, because you never know what could spark a story idea. Practically everyone is an expert in something, and you might be surprised by how willing they are to share their knowledge. Many people find it flattering to be interviewed by someone who has a genuine interest in what they do.

As writers, we are competing for an ever-shrinking sliver of people’s leisure time. You need to hook your reader in quickly. You need to immediately let the reader see the world through your character’s eyes. They key to doing this? Good details. They key to good details? Good research.

And the key to good research? It’s all about getting out of your chair.

***

How much time do YOU spend on research? Have you ever interviewed anyone to strengthen your story?

Join us tomorrow for Laurie Schnebly Campbell for her post on your hero – How Fabulous is TOO Fabulous?

***

Bio:

As our fabulous RU readers know, this has been a big year for me. In September of 2010, I received “the call” from Carina Press that they wanted to acquire my romantic suspense Man Law. Shortly thereafter, they acquired the other two books in the series and have contracted a fourth.

It’s been an exciting year, but I’ve needed to learn a few painful lessons in time management.  In the last five months, I have been through nine rounds of edits on three books. Each book had a content edit, a line edit and a copy edit. At one point in May, I was in two different rounds of edits on two books.

That’s when I pondered the definition of insanity.

Add to this the marketing tasks (website upgrade, building author pages on all the social networking sites, etc.) that go into a book launch and it has been a rompin’ stompin’ beehive of activity.

I’m thrilled to say my Carina Press experience has been wonderful, but I’ll admit there were stressful moments of looming deadlines, blog posts to be written, responsibilities to my family and, of course, my RU pals.  With three books releasing, sleep became a luxury I couldn’t afford. And if you know me, that’s not a good thing. 

At the height of my insanity, when my body and brain brazenly laughed at my attempts to push through the exhaustion (yes, it was reminiscent of the first weeks of being a new mom), I did the only thing I could.

I gave in.

Yep. After all the grinding, making lists, trying to focus, ignoring my body’s plea for rest, I realized I was missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime.

I suddenly realized I would never again be a debut author and I was letting the experience slip by without allowing myself to soak it in.

From that moment, I began to take time every day, no matter how crazy the day became, to appreciate the gift I’d been given. I also discovered there were (and are) emotionally charged moments that would sneak up on me.   

One “sneaky” moment came at the RWA conference when I was in my hotel room gathering my marketing materials for the

Adrienne's Promo Items in the Goody Room

Goody Room. Tracey and Kelsey (my RU partners in crime and longtime critique partners) each picked up something and the three of us began the journey to the Goody Room. There we were, each of us holding some piece of promo material for Man Law and the moment became something more than my two pals helping me.  Kels and Tracey had been with me through all the rejections and dashed hopes and the fact that the book was about to be published filled me. Somehow it seemed fitting that, together, the three of us would arrange my marketing materials for my debut book.

Another big moment of the RWA conference was attending the legendary Harlequin author party. Now, if you know anything about the RWA conference, you’ve probably heard people talking about this party. For four years, Kelsey and I shared a running joke about crashing it.  This year, I was invited. That alone was a rush.

On one wall of the ballroom there was a jumbo screen that flashed hand-picked covers for all attendees to see.

Man Law Cover On Screen at Harlequin Party

So, yes, seeing my cover on that screen choked me up. I even cried a little as the emotions of the week consumed me. Years of hard work and I’d finally gotten to see my name on a cover.

This is a crazy business we writers choose to torture ourselves with. We need to find those nuggets of good fortune. No matter how big or small, we need to take those moments and store them away for the down times because, as we all know, those down times will come.

And when they do, I’ll be able to say I took the time during my debut author year to soak up the good stuff.

***

RU Crew have you had your a-ha moment during your debut year? If you are unpublished, what questions do you want ask Adrienne about the other things she discovered on her journey?

***

 Adrienne’s Bio:

Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and women’s fiction.  She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her work-a-holic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaten Terrorist (Terrier). She is a co-founder of Romance University blog. Adrienne’s debut romantic suspense, Man Law, is available from Carina Press. Her second book, A Just Deception, will be available from Carina Press on September 5, 2011. For more information please visit www.AdrienneGiordano.com.  Adrienne can be found on Twitter and Facebook

Man Law available at:

Carina Press

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

How manuscripts did you write before you sold? Five. The first one doesn’t count though. That was my practice book. =)

How long was it from the time you began writing seriously and the time you sold? Oooh, tough question. I’m going to focus on the writing seriously part because the practice book alone took me a few years. I was probably writing (in spurts) for six or seven years before I thought I had something good enough to shop. I was submitting for five years before I got the call.

Tell us about The Call. Was there singing? Dancing? Drinking champagne out of a stiletto? There was shock. For sure. Maybe a little disbelief. LOL. I actually wasn’t home when Angela James called. She left me a message (which I still have saved) and when I picked up the message, I listened to it three times. I had to put the phone on speaker because my hands were shaking. In the message, she said she would send me an email so I ran to my office to see if the email was there. I refused to let myself get excited until I saw the email. The email confirmed it for me. It was also a special day because it would have been my father’s 80th birthday. So, I think my Dad sent me a gift from heaven. For more on that see this RU post. As a side note, the second book I reference in The Call post was also acquired by Carina. The book needed fairly major revisions, but I was determined to get it published because writing it helped me get through the brutality of grief.
What are your favorite Man Laws? I have a few:
Never mess with your best friend’s sister.
Never wonder if you should have thrown the asshole off the roof.
Never mess with another guy’s grill.

Was there a challenge in writing a man’s POV? Or does it come natural? I loved, loved, loved writing this book. It was the first time I really let myself go in terms of finding the character’s voice and it was so much fun. The interesting thing for me is that the male POV usually comes much easier than the female. I have no idea what to think of that, (considering I’m a woman!), but I’m not going to analyze it. =)

Who are you dedicating your first book to, and why? My dad. He, in every way, represented strength and dignity and he never, ever gave up. When he believed in something, he fought hard for it.

After years of submitting my work, I was getting discouraged, but I knew if I wanted to be published, I couldn’t give up. If my dad taught me anything, it was to keep fighting.

Why do you think this particular manuscript sold? The hero. Hands down. Don’t get me wrong, I had fun with the plot, but the hero in this book isn’t your typical hero. He’s the sort of guy you meet and think “Yikes. What an idiot.” But then you get to know him a little bit and realize he has a huge heart and is extremely loyal, so you’re willing to forgive his unintentional slip-ups.

What surprised you about the sell? I’d been submitting the book for a few years and had been getting great feedback on it, but no one was willing to take a chance. I submitted it to Carina after a friend sold to them, but decided if they rejected it, I would rewrite the story. I love the hero in this book and wanted his story to be told. I had actually started outlining the revised plot when I received the call from Carina. So, I guess the answer is I was surprised the book sold when it did.

What challenges have you faced since “the call” you didn’t realize you would encounter? Time. Time has been my enemy for the last four months. People always say to have other books ready when the call comes because your editor will ask to see them. Well, believe it. In my case, I had two other books in the series and an idea for a fourth. Carina bought the second and third books, but wanted revisions on the first in the series. I immediately dove into those revisions. By the time I was done with the rewrite of book one, I received the first round revisions on book two. In the last five months I’ve done revisions on three books. At one point in May I was revising two books at the same time.

Let me just mention that in between all of this, I’ve had to get my website revamped (thank you, Carrie!), get my Twitter and Facebook pages up and running, create author accounts at all the various social networking sites and create a newsletter. Be warned gang, the marketing end of being published can be a full-time job in itself. Figure out ahead of time, what kind of time you’re willing to sacrifice from your writing. I promise, you will never, ever be done with marketing. There will always be something to do. You just need to decide what the most important tasks are because you will need time to write.

Is there anything you wished you’d done before you sold? Not really. And I say that honestly. I’m a big believer in learning experiences. Whether the experience has been good or bad, I always want to walk away knowing more than I did before. The road to publication continues to be a tremendous learning experience and I don’t think I’d change any of it.

What’s your best advice for writers who are still waiting to sell? I’m sure you’ve all heard this one. I know I did, but it’s true. Keep writing. When you finish a book, start the next one. While you’re submitting books, write the next one. Don’t sit around waiting for answers on submissions. Keep writing. Here are three reasons why:

My first book just launched.
I have a September 2011 release.
I have a November 2011 release.

Last year at this time, I was contemplating taking a break from writing because the grind of trying to get published was wearing me down, and then— bam!—I sold three books. That’s how it works. If you have books ready, you’re editor will want to see them.

Do you have anything else you’d like to share with the Romance University readers? Just that I think you all are a smart, savvy bunch and I’m so proud to tell people I’m a co-founder of this blog. We have the most amazing readers. Time and time again, we hear from Visiting Professors that we have great conversations at RU. That wouldn’t happen without our readers, so thank you all for making this blog what it is.

And last, will you tell us all about your debut book?
As if I’d say no. LOL. Man Law is about security consultant Vic Andrews. Vic lives by his Man Laws:
Never mess with your best friend’s sister
Never get caught
Never get attached
When one of Vic’s assignments goes wrong and the target selects Gina Delgado and her kids for revenge, there’s nothing Vic won’t do to protect the family he realizes, too late, he wants. He’ll accomplish his mission but he breaks most of his Man Laws in the process and almost loses his only chance at true love.

If you’d like to read an excerpt of Man Law click here. I’m also giving away a copy of Man Law to a commenter. And because this is RU (and I’m crazy about you readers), I’m also giving away a pair of bullet earrings. Oh, heck, why not? Let’s do a third giveaway of a bullet key chain.

So, get those comments rolling if you want to win one of the three gifts.  Psst…RU, Crew, I’ve teamed up with our own Tracey Devlyn and two other mystery authors for a NOOK giveaway at Romance and Suspense.com.  So, if you’re in the market for a NOOK, just click here for the details!

Man Law available at:

Carina Press
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

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RU Readers! Do you have a particularly manly man in your life? What are some of HIS Man Laws?

Join us on Monday as Misty Evans walks us through helpful pointers on writing a series.

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Adrienne’s Bio: Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and women’s fiction. She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her work-a-holic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaton Terrorist (Terrier). She is a co-founder of Romance University blog. Adrienne’s debut romantic suspense, Man Law, will be released by Carina Press on July 4, 2011. Her second book, A Just Deception, will be available from Carina Press on September 5, 2011. For more information please visit www.AdrienneGiordano.com. Adrienne can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

At this point in time, stories about small town communities are selling very well. Many attribute this to the current economy. Readers are looking for a soft place to land amidst the chaos of job loss, runaway national debt and cataclysmic natural disasters. These community based stories are a throwback to a different time, when families lived close by and neighbors looked after each other. When we grew our own food and made our own clothes. When we shared food and crafts in giddy proportions.

It’s a good theory, but I think something else might be at work here as well. At the same time community oriented stories are on the rise, romantic suspense, a once red-hot genre has slumped into the doldrums. Romantic suspense and action/adventure stories are by and large external stories with the focus on the puzzle, the mystery, escaping villains, solving crimes, surviving danger or having adventures.

Now, this isn’t to say there’s not an internal story in romantic suspense and action/adventure. All romances have internal stories, but for the most part, romantic suspense and action/adventure are more focused on the external plot. The external plot is what makes the subgenre so exciting. Something is always happening.

But now we’ve seen a shift away from action-packed stories to more emotional, more internal tales. Is it because our hectic lives are making readers hanker for a more reflective read? Are they looking for uplifting stories in times of turmoil? Is a slower pace the big draw of small-town, community based reads? Or is it because it’s easier to connect with stories that mirror our own lives?

I have to confess. I love writing romantic comedy adventures. What brings readers to those types of stories is a high-tension, taut-action plot. But even though it is my favorite genre, I made a decision to turn away from external plotlines and focus more on writing internal stories. And that decision made all the difference in my career.

Some of it is luck. I recognize that. And timing. Plus, writing an internal story cannot become an excuse to neglect plotting and pacing. You still need to deliver tension and conflict, no matter what kind of book you’re writing. Descriptions of food, homes and friends having a good time isn’t going to carry a book.

So how does the writer of quieter stories create a page-turner to compete with the high-octane suspense, thrillers, mysteries and action/adventure?

The answer lies at the very core of these quieter stories. There’s a one-word answer as to why they work.

Emotion.

Internal stories have time to fully delve beneath the surface.

When you’re writing a suspense, the plot is pulling you along at break-neck speed. And yes, the characters in these books experience emotion. But, it’s all in relationship to the external plot. The authors of romantic suspense and action/adventure simply can’t spare valuable page time to nurturing and blooming deeper emotion.

Quiet stories are all about emotions. It is their strength. Their profound gift to the readers.

It’s important not to confuse emotion with melodrama and sentimentality. With real emotion, the emotional reactions of the characters must be motivated, reasonable and honest.

But far more important than the characters’ emotions are the emotional responses your story generates in the reader. Visceral emotions are the feelings your reader experiences as they immerse themselves in the story. In order to achieve that, the author must create vulnerable characters that readers can root for.

Put your characters in real life circumstances. Make them have hard choices with no easy way out. Do this and you’ll hold readers’ interest as surely as serial killer and stories of survival. Let’s say it again for emphasis.

The key to writing strong internal stories is emotion.

Deliver emotion and readers will follow you anywhere.

***

Lori, thanks so much for a great post! Are any of you writing a quiet, emotion-packed story? Two lucky commenters will win a copy of Lori’s new book, THE WELCOME HOME GARDEN CLUB: A Twilight, Texas Novel.

Join us on Wednesday, when Julia Coblentz, Senior Marketing Manager at PubIt!, explains how to get your book on the Nook – and market it, too!

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Bio: LORI WILDE is the New York Times bestselling author of more than forty-five books. A former RITA finalist, Lori has received the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion, the Booksellers Best, the National Readers’ Choice, and numerous other honors. She lives in Weatherford, Texas, with her husband and a wide assortment of pets.
For more information visit www.loriwilde.com.

Jen: The locales in your books are from places you’ve visited. Do you visit these places with a story in mind or does the story come later?

AC: Unfortunately, the story comes much later. There will inevitably be something or somewhere in the locale I’m writing about that I did not see. For example, in The Treasures of Venice, I wanted to set some key scenes on San Michele en Isola, the Cemetery Isle. Venetians have buried their dead on this little island in the Lagoon for centuries. Of course, the one time I was actually in Venice, I didn’t set foot on the place. Never in my wildest dreams thought I’d have a reason to, since this was several years before I started writing seriously.

Lucky for me, I have a good writer-buddy (yes, YOU, Tina Ferraro) who has family near Venice and she just happened to be visiting them the summer I was writing the book. Not only did Tina force her three teenagers to accompany her to the Cemetery Isle so she could take pictures for me, but she also bought me a map that highlighted all the famous people (like Ezra Pound) who are buried there. She also read and critiqued the chapters set on the Cemetery Isle to make sure I got it right. What a pal!

Jen: I’m amazed by the authentic flavor of the locale in your books. Your latest, The Wild Irish Sea, which encompasses Irish folklore and history with paranormal elements and suspense, is a wonderful example of your ability to capture the essence of the setting. How much time did it take to research the book?

AC:  I hate to admit that most of what I researched for The Wild Irish Sea was the folklore about selkies. I’d already done quite a bit of research on Irish history, art, topography, you name it, for The Wild Sight, and even though they are not set in the same counties, Ireland really is a pretty small island. The spectacular scenery in the north is present whether you are in County Antrim, Derry, or Donegal.

I did spend the better part of a day at the Giant’s Causeway, and I tried to render it as accurately as possible in The Wild Sight. But most of the descriptions in The Wild Irish Sea were based on personal memories that were often spurred by pictures, and of course, my own imagination.

Jen: Which comes first, your characters or the story line?

AC: Definitely the characters. They usually arrive in my mind with their looks and full names intact. Once they start revealing their backstories, then I start to formulate the story line too.

Jen: I’ve noticed all of your heroes all have dark hair. Is that a conscious decision?

AC: They are all of Celtic heritage, and true Celts have dark hair and blue eyes. I’m just sticking with genetics.

Jen: What are you working on now?

AC: What I hope will become a series of books centered around a cruise line. The first one, predictably, has an Irish hero.

Jen: With three books under your belt, did you use the same approach for each of them?

AC: I’m sorry to say that each book was an entirely new writing experience. Sorry because I keep thinking it would be much easier if each book happened the same way. Unfortunately, they didn’t.

My first published book, The Wild Sight, was actually the third one that I wrote, and I did a lot more planning on it than I’d ever done before. I can’t say I really plotted it out, because the story kept going off in different directions than I’d planned, but I always had the basic framework in mind.

My second published book, The Treasures of Venice, was actually the first book I wrote with the express intent to publish. I’d messed around with writing for years and even finished a couple of other books, but when I started writing Treasures, I’d made up my mind that this was IT! I wrote the book that I wanted to read, and I totally pantsed the whole thing. I didn’t even know how it was going to end until I was in the middle of chapter six and I dreamed the ending!

The Wild Irish Sea was a different experience yet again. My editor told me she wanted another Irish book. I’d become fascinated with the subject of twins, and mental telepathy. Then I remembered a beautiful film from the 1990s called The Secret of Roan Inish and I tossed all those ingredients around in my mind and the ultimate result was The Wild Irish Sea. I was very nervous because it was the first book I’d written under contract, and only one of my critique partners was able to stick with me through the writing from beginning to end which was about ten months. Even though my CP told me it was my best work yet, I was still plagued with doubts until I submitted it to my editor and she email, “Congratulations on a beautiful book.”    

Jen: I’m sure everyone wants to know…what’s the most important advice you can give to an aspiring writer?

 AC: Besides Finish The First Draft ( FTFD)? Find yourself a good critique partner or group. Honestly, a good CP is invaluable! Finding one can sometimes be a challenge but once you do, you’ll wonder how you wrote without one. We all know the “real” writing happens during revisions and a good CP will give you the feedback and encouragement to help you to turn out your absolute best work.

Jen: Write to market or write from your heart?

AC: Honestly, do a bit of both. I’d never recommend following a trend because they can come and go so quickly. By the time you recognize something is “hot,” write and submit your book, even if it is accepted, it will easily be another year before it hits the shelf. By then, something else will be “hot.” Or even if you were lucky and got in at the beginning of a trend, unless the book is something you enjoyed writing, I believe your lack of enthusiasm will show.

But on the other hand, if the book of your heart is set during the American Civil War, you should be aware that you will have an uphill battle trying to sell it right now. So an awareness of the market is not a bad thing.

Jen: Would you ever consider writing outside of the romance genre?

AC: Possibly. I hadn’t really considered it. Romance is what I like to read – I must have my Happily Ever After!

Jen: I’ve noticed that all three of your books are available on Kindle. What’s your take on the future of e-books? Do you believe e-books will eventually replace books in print?

AC: Yes, I believe e-books probably will replace print books, but I hope not in my lifetime. There’s just something about the feel and smell and weight of a print book. An electronic reader will never be able to replace that for me.

 Okay, enough of the serious stuff! I’ve got three travel-related quickies for you.

Jen: Your favorite travel accessory.

AC: Those handy little adaptor plugs so that my hair dryer and curling iron work in any country.

Jen: Your next travel destination.

AC: Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t have one yet. We were scheduled to go on another cruise in January, but the ship was the Splendor – yes, the one that had the engine fire back in November and had no power for like three days. The repairs took longer than the cruise line anticipated and they had to cancel all the December and January cruises.

My DH is talking about another cruise to Alaska at the end of May. He tends to book things at the last minute to get the best deal. That’s how we ended up going to New Zealand last June. Air New Zealand had a two day sale around the middle of May, and we left on June 2^nd!

Jen: Your top three favorite places.

AC: I love every place I’ve visited. Each one has something unique and wonderful to offer, and most all of the people I meet are great! So my favorite places are the ones I haven’t visited yet, like the Greek Isles (I’ve only been to Athens), Croatia, Japan (I’ve only been to the Tokyo airport) and the Panama Canal… OOPS! That’s four, sorry.

Travel and writing are two of Loucinda’s great passions. Do you have any questions for Loucinda about writing, researching exotic locales or travel?

In honor of having Loucinda as our guest on RU today, we thought we’d have a little fun. 

How many cruises has Loucinda taken? The first person who guesses the correct number of cruises wins a $10.00 Amazon gift card. Post your lucky numbers and we’ll announce the winner later in the week.

Wait! There’s more! Loucinda’s generously giving away an autographed copy of her latest book, The Wild Irish Sea, to one lucky commenter today.

Loucinda McGary is the author of three contemporary romantic suspense novels, The Wild Sight, The Treasures of Venice and The Wild Irish Sea.  Loucinda blogs regularly with Romance Bandits (www.romancebandits.blogspot.com) and on her personal blog Aunty Cindy Explains It All (www.auntycindy.blogspot.com).  Please check out her website: www.LoucindaMcgary.com

Carrie Spencer: Janet, I love you. Love your books, love your writing style. Your characters come alive; your sense of humor comes through in every scene and piece of action. With so many of your books on the market, how do you keep track of the characters? And where do you come up with those great names?

Janet Evanovich: I keep a list of all the names (plus brothers, sisters and other relatives) in a notebook. With 20 books involving the Plum characters, keeping track is a bit daunting. I get names from all kinds of places. Old high school yearbooks, the phone book, etc. Sometimes I just combine two last names.

Carrie: Do you have a favorite character to write? Is one more fun than the others? Or will this cause fighting amongst the ranks if you answer?

Janet: The books are written in first person in the voice of Stephanie Plum, my female bounty hunter protagonist, so I’d have to say that she’s the most fun. After that, it would be Lula, Stephanie’s sidekick and best friend.

Carrie: I laugh out loud when I read your books. Once, I’ll even admit to a milk-out-the-nose incident. Do you get the giggles when writing these scenes as well?

Janet: I never laugh out loud when I’m writing, but every now and then I think I’m pretty clever.

Carrie: You were unpublished for ten years. Sorry, you probably don’t need reminding of that. =) But how did you handle the rejection? What would you suggest to other authors who are thinking of giving up?

Janet: If you love to write, you should never give up. I wrote three unpublished novels before I finally got published. I got down each time I received a rejection notice, but I just stashed them in a big box and continued to write. There was the tipping point at which I took the box out to the curb and torched it. Four months after that I sold my first book.

Carrie: I’ve read in other interviews that you get up early, write for hours then go for a walk or workout. But what kind of writer are you? Sweatpants and Oreos or jeans and hot tea?

Janet: Sweatpants and Oreos all the way. Isn’t that the whole point of working at home? No more pantyhose. But I do write for hours and hours each day. I never put in less than 8 hours of writing every day.

Carrie: Janet, you can tell me, I promise I won’t tell a soul. =) Morelli or Ranger?

Janet: Let’s just say you could make a strong case for either.

***

Janet can’t be with us today, so we’re taking a little poll. What do you say faithful readers? Morelli or Ranger?

Join us tomorrow for Jeannie Ruesch of Will Design for Chocolate!

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Janet spent a great deal of her childhood in LaLa Land. As an adult, she’s the voice behind the Stephanie Plum series. Her latest book, Wicked Appetite, was released in September. You can read more about Janet and her books at http://www.evanovich.com

Christy, thank you for taking time out of your incredibly busy schedule to be with us today!

Hi Kelsey, it’s great to be with you today. Thanks for asking me back.

Kelsey: Christy, would you explain back-to-back book releases for our readers who might not be familiar with the concept?

Christy: The books are released in a short time span, usually one a month. My first trilogy was released April, May and June 2009. The second one will be released February, March and April 2010. 

Kelsey: How was the decision made to release your first trilogy back-to-back?

Christy: When I pitched to my agent, I had one book completed and had started on the second. Since the backdrop of the books is an organization, Last Chance Rescue, she saw the potential for a series. When she submitted to editors, she pitched it as a trilogy. Ballantine has been enormously successful with introducing debut authors with back-to-back trilogies. I was fortunate that they made the offer for three books and wanted to release them back-to-back.

Kelsey: How much time were you given to complete the first series? Subsequent series? And did you have any input in the time frame? 

Christy: For the first trilogy, I had a lot of time. I sold in July 2007, but the first book, RESCUE ME, wasn’t released until April 2009. When I sold, I was almost finished with RETURN TO ME, so I turned it in early. That gave me almost a year to write RUN TO ME.

The second trilogy was a much shorter time frame. I contracted for the books in December 2008 and the due dates were June, August and October 2009.

I won’t say it was easy, because it wasn’t. But Ballantine wanted me to have six books come out within a twelve-month timeframe. I was thrilled with their support and never considered saying no.

Kelsey: Can you give us a feel for your start to finish timeline with each book and how that overlaps with other books? For example, marketing the first book and writing the third while editing the second.

Christy: Ninety percent of my time is spent on writing and only about ten percent on marketing. Other than my website, which I blog on twice a week, the only other thing I’m active with is Facebook. I have a special page, Dark Romantic Suspense by Christy Reece, I use for special announcements such as contests and new releases.

For the first trilogy, I did no advertising or promotion. With this new trilogy, I am doing some advertising and a blog tour, but most of my focus must still be the writing. Since I don’t always know when copy edits and page proofs will arrive, taking advantage of open time is especially important.

Start-to-finish timelines depend upon the book. Each story has its own personality and depending on how the story comes to me, that’s the amount of time it takes to write it. Of course, I have to pay attention to the deadline of each one, but I love to finish a book a few weeks before deadline so I can let it sit. Going back a few weeks after finishing and reading it again can give such a differently fresh perspective. However, it’s been a while since I’ve had that luxury. There is a definite overlap of writing one book and having to stop because copy edits or page proofs arrive on another book. But that’s the nature of the job. You shift gears and do what you have to do.

Kelsey: You mentioned in your first interview with us that you completed Rescue Me in two weeks by using Candace Haven’s fast draft method. Do you use that method for drafting all your books?

Christy: Oh, I wish I could. I’ve learned that each book has its own process. RESCUE ME was in my head for months, so when Candy’s class came along, I was ready to write it and it came quickly. RETURN TO ME took about five months to write and RUN TO ME took more than nine months.

In my new trilogy, NO CHANCE took only about seven weeks and that included two revisions my editor suggested, but SECOND CHANCE took a year. I wrote LAST CHANCE in about ten weeks, which included one revision. So, for me, it really depends upon the story itself. How well do I know it and the characters? Is the story headed in the direction of my vision for it? It’s all about the individual’s story process and not so much about my writing process.

Kelsey: How do you keep track of your characters and storylines while working on more than one book?

Christy: Five of the six books I’ve written so far in the series were secondary characters in the books before them. So I know the characters well enough that I don’t get them confused. Noah McCall, the head of Last Chance Rescue, is the only reoccurring character. I’ve enjoyed watching him go from a hard, seemingly heartless man to the happily married husband and father he is now. But there’s still a steely streak he maintains to get the job done.

Though Last Chance Rescue is the backdrop, the characters and circumstances are varied and unique to the plot, making them distinctive enough that there’s no way to get them confused.

Kelsey: Do you have a specific system for managing your time each day? For example, writing new material at a certain time, working on promo activities at another time?

Christy: I wish I was a more organized writer, but my brain has a mind of its own. (smile) My routine is to check email, Facebook and blog comments before I start writing. Write for as long as the story flows, which could be ten minutes to two hours, take a break and then get back to it. Since Facebook is such a big promotional tool for me and I truly enjoy talking to people through it, I spend a lot of time on it, especially at night. Often, by nightfall, my mind is blurred so I can’t write. That’s when I do what little promotional things I do.

Kelsey: What do you like most about writing and releasing books in a back-to-back format?

Christy: I love the immediacy of pleasing readers. I understand getting invested or involved in a series and wanting the next book in my hands as soon as possible. It’s wonderful to be able to give them that.

With back-to-back books, the characters stay fresh in my mind, so I think that makes writing them a bit easier. And since new characters for the trilogy are introduced in the first or second book of each trilogy, I know them quite well.

Kelsey: How has your book release schedule impacted your personal life?

Christy: I’m fortunate to be able to write full time and my husband works long hours outside the house, so my focus can be on writing. When I started writing in 2001, other than working as a bookseller at Borders, it was my focus. In 2005, we relocated because of my husband’s career. I chose to not pursue another job for a while and concentrated fully on writing. When I sold, writing was already a full time job, I just wasn’t being paid for it.

Kelsey: Is it realistic to release three books a year on an ongoing basis?

Christy: I think it’s become much more common than one book a year. And some authors can write more than three. So far, three – four has been my limit. As long as I’m asked to write three a year and I can do it, then that’s what I plan to do. 

Kelsey: What advice do you have for other writers about back-to-back releases?

Christy: If you have the opportunity to have back-to-back releases, I think it can be a great boost to your career and garner attention you might not receive as a single release author.

However, it’s not for everyone and certainly not the only way to build a solid career. There is the added pressure of producing books faster than an author might want to write. You have to do what’s best for your lifestyle and what you want from your career.

Thanks so much for inviting me back again, Kelsey. I’ll be checking back frequently, in case anyone has questions. Feel free to ask me anything. And just a reminder that NO CHANCE, the first book in my new trilogy, comes out Tuesday, February 23.

RU crew, take this opportunity to pick Christy’s brain about back-to-back releases and her series. Don’t forget she’ll be giving away two copies of NO CHANCE and two copies of RESCUE ME to lucky commenters today!

Be sure to join me on Wednesday for a peek at men’s definitions of romance and how they’d like to be romanced by a woman!

Christy’s Bio:

Growing up in a tiny community in Alabama boasting only one stop sign and a gas station gave Christy ample opportunity to create daring adventures in her head. When she wasn’t thinking of her story characters, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys kept her entertained and out of trouble. Later came the chills of Stephen King and the thrills of John Grisham, but the romance genre always held a strong place in her heart.

After leaving her career with a major insurance company, the characters in her head came alive again and Christy decided to write her own stories. And now, she and her characters couldn’t be happier.

A member of Romance Writers’ of America, the Southern Magic RWA chapter, the KOD chapter, and International Thriller Writers, Christy lives in Alabama with her husband, two incredibly cute canines and one very shy turtle.