Welcome fellow Wild Rose Press author, Susan Macatee...

 I am so happy to welcome my online friend and fellow historical author, Susan Macatee to my blog today! Susan and I have exchanged emails and chat for a long old time and I'm so excited she has a new novella available to download right now. Gorgeous, gorgeous cover, Susan! Who is the artist? The Wild Rose Press have some of the best :)

Let's get on with the questions...

Thanks for hosting me on your blog today, Rachel!

)           When and why did you decide you wanted to be a published author?

Wow, that’s going way back! When I was in high school, I seriously considered going into journalism. It wasn’t until I’d started college that I thought about writing a book. I used to have that dream of being a famous author sitting in my beach house writing all day, doing book signings for my adoring public and book tours set up by my publisher. But I loved books from an early age. Authors were my heroes.

      What is the best and worse thing you have learned from an editor/agent?

Never had an agent, but I’ve worked with a few editors. The best thing I’ve learned was to get rid of all those repetitive words I love and make my writing tight. The worst was from an acquiring editor who passed on my first book, telling me readers don’t like American Civil War romances, which is what most of my romances are. I obviously didn’t listen and sold my Civil War time travel romance elsewhere.

Favourite author/s?

Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Phyllis A. Whitney, (that’s going way back), Dawn Thompson and Linnea Sinclair (still love a great space opera now and then). lol But I continue to find great writers and new stories as I go along. All you need to hook me is an intriguing blurb and great, fast-paced writing. 

 What is your typical day?

I take my dog to the park, run errands, workout, clean my house, then take a lunch break. After that, I settle at my desk, checking email and taking care of any promo I have to get to that day. Then I settle down to whatever writing project I’m currently working on.

5      Share your blurb or short excerpt from your latest release with us

Amanda Montgomery longs to be a modern woman, living the life her step-mother has always told her is possible. But 19th century society expects well-off young ladies to focus on finding a suitable husband and start a family. Amanda works as a reporter for a local magazine and dreams of going to the big city to work at a newspaper before settling down.

Jack Lawton wants to save an old house that's set to be demolished, but when he sneaks inside to take a final look, he's hit on the head with a beam and wakes up in the arms of a beautiful woman.  The only problem is, he's not in the 21st century anymore, but has somehow stepped into another time. Can he find his way back? Does he want to?

         Who would you cast to play your hero & heroine in a movie?

I could picture Chris Pine as Jack, but I really don’t know who I’d cast to play Amanda.

        Did you plan this book? Or write it as it came?

The novella was completely plotted out before I started writing the first draft.

I wrote my first book by the seat-of-my-pants and it turned out to be such a mess, I decided I had to learn to plot to save time and aggravation.

        What surprised you the most when you became a published?

The fact that writers didn’t sit in rooms with beautiful views and write all day. Book promotion was something I had to learn from scratch. I did have a rudimentary website before I was published, but everything else about promotion I learned as I went along.

        Do you have a dedicated writing space? What does it look like?

My desk sits in a corner of my dining room, looking out over our back yard. It’s where I do most of my writing related work.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on a new novella based on one of my historical romances. I’m calling it ‘The Physician’s Irish Lady’. The hero was a minor character in my Civil War romance, Confederate Rose. The novella is in first draft stage, but I hope to have it revised, edited and submitted by early spring.

Readers can find me at http://susanmacatee.com

http://susanmacatee.wordpress.com

and on twitter @susanmacatee

    I'm giving away a PDF copy of Thoroughly Modern Amanda and a $10.00 gift certificate for The Wild Rose Press to one of the comments on the post. I will draw one the winner and let you know on Saturday! 

Comments??