Writer Wednesday: Meet Veronica Scott!

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Veronica Scott square photoIt is my privilege to welcome sci-fi and fantasy romance author Veronica Scott to Writer Wednesday. Veronica has not only penned numerous sci-fi and paranormal romances, but she’s also a regular columnist for USA Today’s Happy Ever After section. Wow!

Thank you so much for being with us today, Veronica! May I mention I’m incredibly jealous that Elvis Presley‘s best friend once serenaded you? Because The King, baby! Mercy.

Okay, now that I’ve settled down, I invite you to read on to learn a little more about Veronica, her writing, and her latest release, Hostage to the Stars.

Veronica says, Thanks for having me as your guest today! (You’re so welcome – ML)

TypewriterWhat inspires you to write?

I want to tell the story! Usually the characters come to my mind and an overall situation, maybe a few key scenes, and I can’t wait to write it all out expand the plot and see what happens along the way to the Happily Ever After.

ghostmoonWhich type of romance do you love most, and why?

It depends on my mood but I mostly read science fiction romance because there are infinite possible futures. I also love fantasy romance for the magic and mysticism, but sometimes I’m in the mood for a good rock star love story, or a Regency romance with a dashing, waltzing Duke.

Hostage

Name one interesting thing you learned in researching/writing your last book:

I’ve long been fascinated with the true life stories of people who are kidnapped in hostile places, held for long periods of time and either ransomed or rescued. (Or killed, but we won’t go there.)

You want to believe that the Special Forces will be sent in with guns blazing and gallantly pluck you out of that danger, which does happen sometimes but not always. And not rapidly in most situations. I was amazed to learn that many foreign hostage situations drag on for years before a rescue attempt happens, if at all.

As an author, I was highly intrigued at the idea of writing such a situation, but without the multi-year time span. I like my adventures to move along a LOT faster.

And now, a bit about Hostage to the Stars:

HTTS.ScottHe rescued her from space pirates … but can he keep them both safe from the far greater evil stalking a deserted planet?

Space travel without Kidnap & Ransom insurance? Not a good idea. University instructor and researcher Sara Bridges can’t afford it, so when pirates board her cruise liner, she’s taken captive along with the mistress of a wealthy man, and brought to a deserted planet. When a military extraction team sent to rescue the mistress refuses to take Sara too, she’s left to the mercies of a retired Special Forces soldier, along as consultant.

Reluctantly reactivated and coerced into signing up for the rescue operation to the planet Farduccir where he once was deployed, Sgt. Johnny Danver just wants to get the job done. But when the team leader leaves one captured woman behind, he breaks away to rescue her himself.

As Johnny and Sara traverse the barren landscape, heading for an abandoned base where they hope to call Sectors Command for help, they find villages destroyed by battle and stripped of all inhabitants. A lone survivor tells a horrific tale of the Sectors’ alien enemy, the Mawreg, returning after being pushed out …

Searching for evidence to give the military, Johnny is captured. He regains consciousness in a Mawreg cage–with Sara next to him. Death is preferable to what the aliens will do to them… And even if they do escape their captors, can they alert the military in time to prevent another invasion of the Sectors?

Buy Hostage to the Stars here:

Amazon | Kobo | Apple iBooks | Barnes & Noble

writingA Bit About Veronica: 

Best Selling Science Fiction & Paranormal Romance author and “SciFi Encounters” columnist for the USA Today Happily Ever After blog, Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories.

Three time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job, not her romances! She recently was honored to read the part of Star Trek Crew Member in the audiobook production of Harlan Ellison’s “City On the Edge of Forever.”

Want to connect further with Veronica? Find her here: 

Blog: https://veronicascott.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vscotttheauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Veronica-Scott/177217415659637?ref=hl

Thanks so much for being part of Writer Wednesday, Veronica! It was a delight to have you. 

Writer Wednesday: Meet Rachael Miles

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Author Rachael MilesWelcome, all, to Writer Wednesday!

This week I’m excited to bring you Regency historical romance author, Rachael Miles. Regency is my favorite subgenre of romance, and I’m squeeing because I’ve found a new author for my “must read” list – I hope you add her books to yours, as well.

Settle in (hopefully before the air conditioner, if it’s as hot where you are as it is here in Virginia – goodness gracious!) and enjoy as you get to know Rachael a bit better, and then find out about her latest release, Chasing the Heiress!

Heart shaped book pagesWhich type of romance do you love most, and why?

I’m a pretty omnivorous reader, and I love all sorts of romance. But of course, historicals hold a special place on my shelf. I especially enjoy ones that evoke a real sense of the period, whether by describing the furnishings or the dresses or the ways that people interacted differently than we do now. And if those historicals can include a bit of suspense all the better!

Name one interesting thing you learned in researching/writing your last book.

I knew that women followed the camps during the Napoleonic wars, but I hadn’t realized that 4-5 officers from every regiment could take their families with them. In Chasing the Heiress, the heroine Lucy learned how to nurse from working in the field hospitals, so I also had to learn what treatments would have been used in sewing up gunshot wounds or in treating them after. It was fascinating – and a bit terrifying – to read what were considered to be helpful treatments.

jtdName two things people don’t know about you.

1. I tend to name the wild life in my backyard. The groundhog is Eleanor. The two chipmunks who live in the retaining wall are Pyramus and Thisbe.

2. I find historic gardens fascinating, and I love touring them. Most recently I visited the small—but very interesting—Shaker garden at the Shaker village in Chatham, NY. Perhaps this is part of what made Sophia Wilmot in Jilting the Duke such a special character for me.

What fellow romance author do you recommend reading, and why?

Who I recommend usually depends on what sorts of stories the person I’m talking to likes. If they want something tender, I point out Jodi Thomas, If they want something sparkling, I say Cathy Maxwell.  If they want something spicy, I recommend Christine D’Abo. If they want a story with multicultural characters, I suggest Jenny Holiday’s contemporaries. If they want YA, I’d suggest Kara Bietz’s debut YA novel coming out in November, Until I Break. I’m reading an advance copy, and it’s gripping!

TypewriterWhat one piece of advice do you wish you’d had when first starting out?

Write every day. Whether just a sentence or a paragraph, don’t wait for inspiration or large blocks of time. Just write: you can revise later. I learned this when I first began writing professionally as an academic, and it’s a lesson that served me well when I started writing novels.

What’s your favorite romance novel of all time, and why?

When I was a child, I discovered The Perilous Gard, a Newberry Honor book by Elizabeth Marie Pope. The story follows a girl in the Renaissance who is exiled through no fault of her own by Elizabeth I to a distant estate. She stumbles over a mystery that she must solve or lose the young man she has come to love. It was my first real experience with historical fiction and with self-determinative young women protagonists. I read it over and over.

cthA Bit on Chasing The Heiress: 

Heiress on the Run

Lady Arabella Lucia Fairborne has no need of a husband. She has a fine inheritance for the taking, a perfectly capable mind, and a resolve as tough as nails. But what she doesn’t have is the freedom to defy her cousin’s will—and his will is to see her married immediately to the husband of his choosing. So is it any wonder that she dresses herself as a scullery maid and bolts into the night? 

Colin Somerville’s current mission for the home office is going, well, poorly. Of course, who would have expected otherwise for a rakish spy tasked with transporting a baby to the care of the royal palace? But when, injured and out of ideas, Colin stumbles upon a beautiful maid who knows her way around children, it seems salvation has arrived. Until he realizes that though Arabella may be able to help him survive his expedition, he may not escape this ordeal with his heart intact…

Buy Chasing the Heiress here: 

Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Amazon 

writingA Bit On Rachael:

Rachael Miles writes romance novels set in the British Regency. Jilting the Duke and Chasing the Heiress—the first two novels in her debut series The Muses’ Salon, published by Kensington Zebra Shout—received 4-star reviews from RT Book Reviews and positive notices in Publisher’s Weekly.

Identified as a ‘strong new voice’ by Mary Jo Putney for Omnivoracious.com, Miles is a former professor of book history and nineteenth-century literature. Miles lives in the woods with her indulgent husband, three rescued dogs, an ancient cat, and a herd of deer who love her vegetable garden.

Want to connect further with Rachael? Find her here:

Website | Twitter | Facebook |  Goodreads |  Pinterest

Thank you so much for joining us, Rachael! You’re positively delightful. 

Writer Wednesday: Meet Rebecca Heflin

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RebHefWahoo! It’s Writer Wednesday! That most marvelous day of the week in which a fellow author shares tiny teasers into her/his life, and the day on which your TBR pile grows even larger.

Today I bring you Rebecca Heflin, contemporary romance author. I met Rebecca via the fantastic, week-long Romance Writers Gone Wild party she organized on Facebook in May. She’s amazing, y’all – not to mention her books! (Plus, she liked the cookies I baked and sent to her, so clearly she has good taste.)

Settle in with your favorite drink (and maybe a cookie or two) and learn more about Rebecca and her latest work.

Dyslexia word formed with wooden blocks. Reading difficulties concept. Cross processed image with shallow depth of fieldName one interesting thing you learned in researching/writing your last book:

Among other things, I learned that there are special fonts to assist dyslexics with reading. The font makes certain letters more easily recognizable to individuals with the reading disability. The hero in my last book, Dreams of Her Own, is dyslexic, but runs his own business, and must use a computer on a regular basis.

 

Ballet DanceName two things people don’t know about you.

  • I used to be a ballet dancer
  • According to my DNA, this White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) author is in reality an Ashkenazi Jew.

 

What fellow romance author do you recommend reading, and why?

Brenda Novak. I’m reading her Whiskey Creek series. She hits you with the characters’ conflicts from the first page, and keeps tightening the screws. I’ve learned a lot about how to “make the reader worry.” She certainly does a great job of doing just that.

 

austenWhat’s your favorite romance novel of all time, and why?

That’s an easy one: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Even today, 203 years after it was first published, it still resonates with readers. It’s the perfect novel, with, to my mind, the perfect [sexy, brooding] hero, Fitzwilliam Darcy.

 

dreamsofherownA Bit On Dreams of Her Own

If the Guinness Book of World Records had a category for the world’s most boring life, Millie Stephens knows she would hold the record. After the plain, strait-laced personal assistant is saved by a total stranger from becoming New York City’s latest traffic fatality, she has a disheartening epiphany: her life’s highlight reel was nonexistent. Determined to step out of the shadows and take a walk on the wild side, she starts Millie-style—by making a list.

That total stranger, bad boy Ian Brand, could help Millie with one very important item on her list: sex. But Ian is more than the sum of his parts—and he’s got some really great parts. Beneath that sexy, tattooed exterior is a man with a painful past who’s desperate to both hide and overcome his disability in the pursuit of his dreams.

Will Millie and Ian look beneath the surface and see there’s more to each other than meets the eye?

Buy link: http://amzn.to/29Fy6pP

writingA Bit on Rebecca:

Rebecca Heflin is an award-winning author who has dreamed of writing romantic fiction since she was fifteen and her older sister snuck a copy of Kathleen Woodiwiss’ Shanna to her and told her to read it. Rebecca writes women’s fiction and contemporary romance. When not passionately pursuing her dream, Rebecca is busy with her day-job as a practicing attorney.

Want to connect further with Rebecca? Find her here:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | GoodReads

Thanks so much for being here today, Rebecca! You’re always so delightful! 

RELEASE DAY for A Scandalous Matter + A Look Back and Ahead

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Insta1What A Difference A Year Makes. 

When I mentioned to someone recently that my third book was about to debut, she looked at me with an astonished expression and said, “Isn’t that three books in a YEAR? That’s AMAZING!”

Close. Just over a year, since A Man of Character debuted at the end of May in 2015, and A Scandalous Matter arrived today (wahoo!). But still, her words made me pause. It IS amazing to realize how far I’ve come in fourteen months.

amanofcharactersmallOf course, I’ve been at this for far longer. I started writing A Man of Character in the fall of 2011. I likely would have published it sooner had I not let fear get in the way and shelved the whole project for a year. Even so, I worked on that book for four years. I worked on A Matter of Time for two, beginning it as a National Novel Writing Month adventure in the fall of 2013, and releasing it in November of 2015.

A Scandalous Matter fell together far more quickly – a bit out of necessity. It occurred to me while finishing A Matter of Time that the next logical book to give to my readers was not the book I’d written for NaNoWriMo 2014 (The Demon Duke), but rather Amara’s story. I realized this in October. I got busy writing in November. So all in all, I crafted A Scandalous Matter in eight months.

HandsonFace2

This is not nearly as fast as many of today’s authors, who are managing to produce new material every 90, 60, or even 30 days, just as the Amazon algorithm likes. That’s not me. In fact, I can’t believe I managed to get A Scandalous Matter done as quickly as I did – and my family will tell you it pretty much stole me away from them for quite some time!

amatteroftimesmallI love writing (editing, not so much, but that’s another story). I truly do. I finally feel as if I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. I look forward to bringing many more stories to the world. But until the kids are older and more self-sufficient (read: out on their own), I need to remind myself it’s quality, not quantity, I’m going for, and that while I could easily give this career 80-100 hours a week, I haven’t got that to spare. My wife and mom hats need equal space on my head.

If this sounds less than positive, I certainly don’t mean it to be. I’m incredulous at my own risk-taking (never one of my fortes), at my willingness to put these books out there – and at the wonderful reception they’ve received! I’m constantly chatting with the characters in my head, and have at least ten to fifteen tales waiting to be written. I just hope my readers will stay with me if it takes me a bit longer to get more books out. Because I love you, and you merit only the very best I can produce!

Having said that, looking forward, here’s what’s in (or will be in) the works:

  • A novella about the origin of Cat’s mysterious magical manuscript.
  • The Demon Duke, the first in my Put Up Your Dukes (non-magical) Regency series, about a duke with a dark secret, and a shy, reluctant debutante who could be his savior … or his undoing.
  • The Once and Future Duke, the second in the PUYD series, about James Bradley, Duke of Arthington, Deveric’s sidekick from A Matter of Time.
  • The Legendary Duke, the third in the PUYD series, based loosely on the legend of Gawain and the Green Knight.
  • The Irish Duke, the fourth in the PUYD series, featuring Deveric’s other sidekick, Morgan Collinswood, Marquess of Emerlin.
  • The Boy Next Door, a non-magical contemporary about Taylor Duncan, sister to A Scandalous Matter‘s Matthew Goodson, and what’s right in her face. Or who.
  • A Complicated Matter, book 4 in my Magic of Love series. After you read A Scandalous Matter, I’ll let you guess whose story this is.
  • A Matter of Chance, the story of Chance Mattersley, younger brother of A Matter of Time‘s Deveric Mattersley.
  • A Matter of Honor, Deveric’s younger sister Emmeline’s story.

Whew. Looking at that list, I’d better get busy!

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Thank You Word CloudThank you from the bottom of my heart to each and every one of you, my friends, family, fans, readers (I still can’t believe I have the last two!). Your words of encouragement, your reviews, your invaluable support all have lifted me higher this year than I ever thought possible. I look forward to many more years together!