1.)
What is your favourite thing about yourself?
Yikes. I tend to be very
self-critical. My dad was a football coach so I’m always pushing myself to
produce more, improve this or that about who I am. It’s maddening at times but
I suppose the impulse to improve one’s skills is also a good quality (in
moderation!). I’m as clutzy and geeky as they come and I grew up in this family
of stellar athletes, which sounds a little strange. Both my brothers were three-sport
captains who went on to play college football, which took a lot of drive and
discipline and dedication. I guess I try to apply some of what I learned in
that environment to my own interests. I’ve also rebelled against it in many
ways but that’s the answer to another question.
2.)
What do you wish you’d known before you started
writing?
How much work it can
be. Or that it will take a while before I can make a living at writing—if I
ever do. Of course, I know many authors who’ve made some very serious money
writing but that hasn’t happened yet for me. But I’m glad I didn’t fully
understand the amount of work or the financial challenges involved. Otherwise I
might not have started. Well, let me revise that. I don’t think I’ll ever give
up writing so that’s not really the issue. I suppose I may have hesitated to
start publishing and I’m glad I didn’t do that.
3.)
Share a romantic moment in your life.
A former boyfriend once gave
me a flying lesson for my birthday. That was pretty cool. And I’ve had my share
of romantic candlelit dinners. But for me a romantic moment can be simple, even
un-romantic. I love just sitting on the couch with my significant other sharing
a bowl of popcorn while binging on Netflix.
4.)
Is there one subject you’d never write about as
an author? What is it?
Violence toward women
that’s portrayed in a positive way. I’m just not capable of doing that. I know
some authors have tackled that subject and succeeded, but I don’t think I’m the
sort of person who could manage it. I also don’t think I could enjoy writing
it, no matter how troubled the hero’s childhood was or how many reasons
justified the violence. I also can’t get into the whole stepbrother thing,
which seems to be trending lately.
5.)
Do you have any suggestions to help someone
become a better writer? If so, what are they?
I really wish I had
something original to say here but it’s sort of like advice about losing
weight. You can try this fad diet or that exercise routine but in the end it’s
a pretty basic thing: you’ve got to take the long, hard, slow road. Maybe some
people have had more to say on this (God, I hope so) but I feel like you’ve
just got to keep writing, keep reading and keep sending out or indie publishing
your work. The one thing I wish I’d done more is network with other writers and
get into a critique group. I think the feedback I got from others about my
writing did help me make more of a “jump” in certain areas. So if you’re
starting out, maybe try to find a few other writers to share your work with.
6.)
If you could be the original author for any
book, what would it be? Why?
Wuthering Heights. It’s a brutal, frightening book in so many
ways (I’m thinking back here to what I said for question 4 and feeling a little
contradictory). I go through times when I actually hate it but it’s brilliant
and I think part of me still hasn’t given up on my Emily Bronte genius fantasy.
Supposedly she roamed the English moors in a purple dress embroidered with a
lightning emblem. She’d disappear for hours with a shotgun, a bag lunch, and
her dog Keeper then she’d come home and write stories for the fantasy kingdom
chronicles she created with her brother and sisters. She kept a pet Hawk named
Nero too and wrote both poems and fiction. So I guess it’s not so much that I
want to have written Wuthering Heights
but that I want to travel through time and jump into the romanticized skin of
Emily Bronte.
I’d also love to be one of
those authors whose books span an entire world and intersect in many places.
Sherrilyn Kenyon or Anne Rice or J.R.R.Tolkien or George R.R. Martin. To do
that is impressive and I’d love to have the perseverance to create something
along those lines someday.
7.)
What did you do growing up that got you into
trouble?
I was awful at paying
attention. I got good grades but my mind would always drift off and I’d get
marked down in the behaviour sections of my report card. I also never brought
any school work home and in second grade I remember the class gathered around
my desk as I counted out the number of papers stuffed into my desk. And my
writing was barely legible. It’s still pretty unreadable.
8.)
If I came to your house for dinner what would
you prepare for me? Why?
Honestly? I’d probably end
up ordering Chinese take-out. Or I’d stop for a gourmet pizza and a bottle of
soccer-mom red wine. I don’t know why life seems to speed up exponentially as I
get older but that’s what’s happened. I’m always strapped for time. But, I
suppose, if you were a hot guy I might try to get a little more domestic….I’ve
made Julia Child’s beef bourningon recipe before and I also have her recipe for
real chocolate cake that’s amazing.
Collateral Damage
by Gwenan
Haines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Romantic
suspense
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
For three years Laura Drake has watched Senator
Pete Worthington promote a series of gorgeous women while she sits in a
forgotten corner answering constituent letters on an outdated computer. When
Worthington asks her to find an elusive file one Friday night he sets off a
series of events that brands her as a killer and puts her life in jeopardy. The
path she sets out on forces her to confront not only the nature of evil but the
ghosts from her past that have never been set to rest.FBI Agent Dalton Ross
transferred from Chicago to Washington to escape his own ghosts. When his
investigation leads him to Laura he's torn between his desire to keep her safe
and the need to protect his own heart. As the mystery that surrounds them
deepens, Laura and Dalton race to save themselves and the nation from someone
willing to sacrifice anything to protect a secret.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
He slid onto the barstool next to
hers. From the way the man who had been sitting there had gotten up she
wondered if he’d slipped him some cash. Though, to be fair, she hadn’t actually
seen him do it…
His eyes locked onto hers. “You
don’t sound too sure about that.” What was it about him that made her pulse
quicken? Was it “sexual chemistry,” a phrase Zoe always used when explaining
her latest one-night stand? Or fear, an emotion even more basic—and more
dangerous. “I am meeting someone,” she said quickly. “Or I was.”
“Now you’re not?”
Before she could answer the
bartender appeared and set down two pints of beer in front of them. Her
companion paid, sliding the lighter pint toward her. “I’m Dalton Ross, by the
way. And you would be—”
“Laura.”
“Well, Laura,” he said after a
slight pause, “I hope you don’t mind Pilsner. Didn’t figure you for a Guinness
girl.” He raised a glass of dark liquid to her and took a swig. “To new
friends.”
Laura raised her own glass and
took a tentative sip. “And to old ones, too.” Was it her imagination or did his
eyes visibly darken? Before she could decide, he was again the charming redhead
hitting on her in a crowded bar.
AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
I live in an old Cape house with my daughter, too many books, and a
red-and-white Siberian husky born on Halloween. After working in Washington,
D.C. for several years and traveling to Russia, Europe and Pakistan, I moved
back to New England. I’m the author of the romantic suspense novel Vertigo,
which is available as an E-book from Amazon Encore and in paperback from Wild
Rose Press. Collateral Risk, the follow-up novel to Collateral Damage (which
features Dalton’s boss Nick Doyle and scientist Mia Lindgren), is forthcoming
from Wild Rose Press. When I’m not working on fiction, I write poetry, teach
literature and am still trying to learn how to cook.
Facebook
Author Page
Goodreads
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and
RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Gwenan Haines will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a
randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25 Amazon/BN GC
to a randomly drawn host.
RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Thanks for having me. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me. :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fantastic book, I'm looking forward to checking it out :). Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds very interesting!
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