Writer Wednesday: Meet Sarita Leone!

Welcome to Writer Wednesday, that lovely few moments of the week in which you can take a break from everything else and learn a bit about an author and his/her latest release!

This week I’m happy to present Sarita Leone, author of mainstream fiction, mystery and romance novels, short stories, and cookbooks. A “Jill-of-all-trades,” she calls herself on her website, and I couldn’t agree more. Today she’s here to give us a little insight into her writing life and her latest paranormal release, Regenerate.

Welcome, Sarita!


Which type of romance do you love most and why?

I like any romance that shows growth between characters. They need to develop into a romantic relationship. I like to watch the way characters evolve.

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

My recent release, Regenerate, is a paranormal romance with loads of action in it. Central to the story is a top-secret intelligence agency. I learned a lot about military terms and procedures. It was a challenge, but fun!


Gone With The Wind coverWhat’s your favorite romance novel of all time, and why?

I love Gone With The Wind. I have read it so many times I can recite passages!

I love it because Scarlett is such a strong heroine. She never gives up. She never gives in. She’s not always likable, but she sticks to her goals and underneath it all, she’s just a woman who wants to be loved.

 


A Bit About Regenerate

The Octopus isn’t an urban myth—and its agents are anything but ordinary. The intelligence bureau is so well-hidden most doubt its existence. A handful know its location. And fewer walk the halls in the subterranean compound.

Benjamin Sinclair didn’t ask to be a scientific miracle but every mission has its risks and one perfectly placed bullet ended his life—for a brief moment in time.

Nicole Anima battles demons every day. Life as a paranormal resources operative gives her tortured mind a rest—and keeps her from contemplating her own death.

When Anima and Sinclair partner on a globe-trotting race to eliminate the threat about to cripple humanity, all hell breaks loose. Leaping from planes, crashing into continents, dealing with voodoo priestesses, and running through jungles with zombies hot on their trail doesn’t leave much time for romance, but this duo somehow manages to sizzle.

Two agents. Telepathic mind paired with regenerated commando. One world—and a mission to save it.

Find Regenerate on Amazon!


A Bit About Sarita:

Sarita Leone lives in a remote area of upstate New York with her wonderful husband Vito. Their days are filled with laughter and their nights are spent dancing beneath the stars. When she’s not writing, Sarita enjoys hiking, boating, reading and drawing.

For as long as she can remember Sarita Leone wanted to be an author. In fact, when she signed her first book contract she shared the news with her closest childhood friend. Her friend wasn’t at all surprised, saying, “You always said you wanted to be a writer when we grew up. So does this mean we’ve finally grown up?”

That first book contract was for a novel called Snowdance, which was released with Whiskey Creek Press in August 2007. Since then, Sarita has sold several books and short stories.

With such a romantic husband for inspiration and a peaceful hideaway nestled in the hills it is easy to see how writing in the Leone household is a joy rather than a job.


Thanks so much for joining us, Sarita! It was a pleasure to host you. 🙂

Writer Wednesday: Meet Tamara Shoemaker!

Tamara ShoemakerWelcome back to Writer Wednesday! It’s so good to see you all again. You’ve no idea how I treasure our Wednesday meetings, especially when I can bring you someone like Tamara Shoemaker!

Tamara and I are good friends in real life, which is awesome because she’s pretty darn cool – and it shows how writing brings people together, since we met in our local critique group. Wahoo!

Tamara’s got not one, but TWO YA fantasy series she’s penning. Today she’s here to tell us a bit about her and about The Guardian of the Vale, the third book in her Guardian of the Vale series – the series I’ve called The Last Airbender meets Harry Potter. Take it away, Tamara!


Love and journalTypically, in a romance (or in your case, a romantic fantasy), halfway through the story, you’ll have a pretty good idea of who is “supposed” to end up together. You buck this tradition for your Guardian of the Vale trilogy. Why?

Good question. If it helps, I’ll say it’s not my fault. 😉

When I wrote the outline for Mark of Four (the first book in the trilogy), the romantic leads were who I intended to put together by the end of book three. However, as the story progressed, so did the characters.

By the time I wrote Guardian of the Vale, I had created a monster–that is to say: this character that I had created was so very strong, he wouldn’t let me pigeonhole him into the nice, neat portion of the story I had intended for him, and he insisted on becoming the romantic lead.

As much as it messed up my outlines and plans, I kind of liked it. It’s so much easier to write a character who takes the initiative than one who melts like so much flaccid ink onto a page with nary a struggle to be seen. Such a character may moldable, but there’s no depth there.

 

janeyereWhat type of romance do you love most and why?

I feel very … torn about this question.

Undoubtedly, the type I love the most is the happily-ever-after type where character A meets character B, and, after finally conquering the “problem” that keeps A from B and B from A, they finally declare undying love for one another, and voila, kiss, wedding, the pitter-patter of tiny feet, followed by “The End.”

On the other hand, while I love those, the stories I remember the most–the ones that never leave my head and usually burrow deep into my heart are the ones that are bittersweet, where something of great importance is lost in the struggle for great gain:

  • Gone with the Wind (don’t get me started on how much I dislike the main female lead; why, oh why, do I remember this one so well?)
  • Jane Eyre (sure, they lived happily-ever-after, but only after he was blinded and maimed, and they spent a year and more apart while they learned equal shares of pain) 
  • Redeeming Love (a husband who loves his wife even through adultery and prostitution and any number of times she tries to leave him, and yet. And yet. Oh, that book makes me bawl my eyes out.)

I don’t know if there’s a way to say I love one kind of romance more than the other kind. They both affect me differently, though no less powerfully, I suppose, for those differences.

Continue reading Writer Wednesday: Meet Tamara Shoemaker!

Flash Friday Fiction: Home Fires Burning

Oak Alley Plantation. CC2.0 photo by Corey Balazowich.
Oak Alley Plantation. CC2.0 photo by Corey Balazowich.

Home Fires Burning
146 words

Home is where the heart is. That’s what they say, at least.

Never has a sight been so welcome as the house before me. I am home. I have survived years of war, of suffering, of agony. I have survived the end of innocence.

As I walk down the familiar path, the time-worn bricks covering what used to be gravel, and before that, dirt, I think of my father. My grandfather. His father. And generations back, all of us fighting. Some of us coming home.

My knees buckle and I sink to the ground, kissing it, thanking it for one more day on earth, one more day with you.

Then I see you, between the columns, your face turning towards me, your body in the arms of another man.

And I know it’s true, what they say. You can’t go home again.

I raise my gun.


From our fearless Flash Friday! Fiction leader, Rebekah Postupak:

Winding down our novel prompts (just four more after today!), it’s Gone With the Wind, of course: Margaret Mitchell’s sweeping American Civil War drama starring a proud and rather snotty plantation owner’s daughter who does everything in her power to survive the war and hold on to her family home.

Story elements (base your 150 [+/-10] word story on any TWO of these elements; be sure to tell us which two you chose. Reminder: please remember the Flash! Friday guidelines with regard to content; and remember please do not use copyrighted characters).

* Conflict: man v man, man v society (not gender specific)
Character (choose at least one): a plantation owner’s daughter, a racketeer, a beautiful woman who never does anything wrong, a noble soldier, a hot-tempered child, a slave whose cruel situation is never acknowledged, a pair of mischief-making twins
Theme (choose one): desperation, determination, slavery, society/class, women’s rights
Setting (choose one): the American South during the Civil War, a war-torn city


What do you think? I chose the noble soldier, and the themes of desperation/determination. I’m actually surprised at my own ending, considering how anti-gun I am, but there it was. Now the question is, at whom do you think he was aiming that gun?

Wanna read the other selections? Here you go!