Welcome fellow Wild Rose Press author, Bess McBride....

 Welcome, Bess! It's been a while since I've hosted a Wild Rose Press author so I'm so happy to have you here. The Wild Rose Press was the publisher who accepted my very first book as well as my last one--I'll always want to work with them. ALWAYS.

Let's get started with the interview!

1)  Who is your favourite author and why?

Thanks for having me on your blog, Rachel!

I don’t know that I have one favorite author, but I have read more Georgette Heyer, Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart and even Barbara Cartland than I can remember.  Clearly, I am a bit of an Anglophile! 

 2)  When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Good question. It’s making me think.  Probably around 2006 when I decided to pursue writing for profit.  I sold a few magazine pieces, one to an airline magazine, and felt then that I could myself a writer.  But my first attempt at writing a novel was when I was 14, so I always had budding aspirations.

3)  Describe your writing space?

  

I’ve just moved into a new home, and it’s not well furnished (you know, bigger house but no extra money to furnish it yet?).  The house is built about 100 yards back from a river which flows down from a glacier on a volcanic mountain.  Sounds good, yes?  My bedroom and sitting room have large picture windows facing the river.  I sit in a chenille paisley-patterned recliner and write with my computer on my lap while I watch the river, trees, birds, and the occasional lone eagle.

5)  What are you reading now?

Nothing other than magazines at the moment.  I try not to read other author’s works while I’m actively writing (and I am in the middle of a novel right now), just to make sure I don’t inadvertently change my writing style midstream.

 6)  How many books have you written?  Which is your favourite?

I’ve seen published nine books, and have another under contract.  I have one book that was not accepted years ago and must be rewritten, I think.  My favorite?  My favorite was my first time travel, “A Train Through Time.”  My second favorite is my second time travel called “Across the Winds of Time.”

7)  What comes first, plot or characters?

Characters, but in my case, the major character is almost always the location.  I pick a location that I love or where I’ve lived and develop a story to celebrate that place.  Then the characters fall into place, and they dictate what sort of book it will be—whether time travel, contemporary, ghost, or suspense.

8)  Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

A crisis of faith, I think, which could be called writer’s block.  I worry that my work isn’t good enough, or how to adjust my work based on certain poor reviews.  And that keeps me from writing at times.  However, good reviews and letters from readers inspire me to keep trying!

9)  What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I walk on the river with my dog and go to the movies once a week.  My favorite thing is travelling though.  I love traveling, and have lived in several countries other than the United States.  The United Kingdom and are some of my favorite places to visit.

10) Tell us about your latest book?

“Jenny Cussler’s Last Stand” is in release now at Amazon Kindle exclusively until wide release to online bookstores and print on February 1, 2013.  Inspired by real-life events, it is the story of a the romance between a European-American urban woman and a traditional reservation Native American man, the difficulties inherent in their cross cultural relationship, and how they find that true love really does conquer all.  It is set on the Yakama reservation which lies on the slopes of volcanic Mount Adams in the Cascade Range of Washington State.  I attended a cultural awareness camp there for veterans, and fell in love with writing a romance complete with sweat lodges, ceremonial drumming and dancing, pow wows, and the beauty of the wilderness.

11)  What’s next for you?

My next book, “Forever Beside You in Time” has been contracted by The Wild Rose Press.  It is a time travel story about a young woman, Aurie, who travels to the United Kingdom for a tour and travels back in time to 1902 England.  She falls in love with her rescuer, a newly-betrothed Edwardian gentleman who finds he cannot turn his back on her.  The story is set in 1902 London, Bath, Stonehenge, and Llandudno, Wales, as the Aurie runs away from her rescuer and onto a ladies-only tour of England and Wales.

Thanks so much for having me, Rachel!  I enjoyed the interview!

Bess McBride

Great interview, Bess! I'm interested to know... do you live in the UK? You're next project is set spookily close to where I live, lol! I am slap bang in the middle of Bath and Stonehenge. SO interesting!

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