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#ThrowItForward Thursday: Author Interview with Paranormal Romance Author Tabitha Barret

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Margaret — 3 Comments ↓

It’s Thursday, and we’re Throwing It Forward (not back!) again, to honor and give thanks to those fellow authors, book bloggers, reviewers, fans, etc., who take their time and energy to promote authors.

Unbeknownst to me, paranormal romance author Tabitha Barret not only read A Man of Character, she reviewed it on her website, much to my delight! Then she asked if she could do an author interview with me. Squee!

After such unexpected promotion, I totally wanted to return the favor, and was thrilled when Ms. Barret agreed to answer a bunch of nosey questions about her writing and her books. So settle in for this awesome Author Interview, and leave a comment or go say hi to Tabitha when you’re done, won’t you?

What inspires you to write?

I have enjoyed writing ever since the 6th grade, when we would receive random writing prompts and have to come up with stories on the fly. I find that I am able to lose myself in the subject and let my imagination take over. Once I create a character that I like, I tend to revisit him or her whenever my mind wanders. That’s how the Third Throne series came to be. The main characters came to me as I fell asleep one night and they stuck with me. That was about twenty years ago. Over the years, their world and lives became more elaborate, so I finally decided to write them down.

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

I enjoy reading all types of romances, as long as there is passion between the characters, except science fiction. I have trouble reading it, though I can watch science fiction movies. I love tear-jerkers. I love dominant men who just need to find the right woman to tame them. I love happy endings. When I write, I prefer urban fantasy / paranormal romance.

Have you always wanted to write urban fantasy / paranormal? What draws you to this genre?

When I tried writing what would become the Third Throne series, it started as a full-on fantasy book with strange creatures and gargoyle-looking things. It was a disaster, so I left the draft in the attic. After reading what I call my gateway book into the paranormal genre, Twilight, I wanted more out of my romances than Young Adult could offer. That’s when I discovered Sherrilyn Kenyon and the Dark Hunters series. I was hooked on Paranormal Romance after that. Once I had a feel for the genre, it dawned on me that the Third Throne would fit into this style of writing. I tried the genre on for size and never looked back.

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

Creative Commons - - Flickr - Alex Panoiu — Creative Commons – – Flickr – Alex Panoiu

I did a lot of research on Romania, since the second book mainly takes place there. I fell in love with one of the castles and used it as my model for Castle Mortea. I went to so far as to use their 3D virtual tour to get a feel for the layout. I was so obsessed with it that my husband offered to take me there. I was so afraid that my expectations couldn’t come close to the real castle that I declined. I learned about the history of the castle, though I didn’t use much of the actual history in the book. It was interesting to read about the ghost stories and the visitor experiences. One day, when I work up the courage, I hope to visit the castle.

Name two things people don’t know about you.

1) I’m very shy by nature, until I get to know someone, but I try to be more outgoing when I have my author hat on. I tried to sound more confident than I really am.

2) My characters live more interesting lives than I do. I’m a homebody who enjoys watching movies and hanging out with my family. I don’t travel much, even when offered a trip to Romania, though I have been to Italy.

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

As a book reviewer, I have read a number of interesting self-published or indie published books that have captured my attention. I loved reading Erin S Riley and Jessica Jefferson, both of whom write historical fiction / romance that draws the reader into the stories and time periods. Viola Estrella and Gina Ardito also have great paranormal romances that pull at the heartstrings.

My favorite traditionally published paranormal romance authors are Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Laurell K. Hamilton, and JR Ward because of their dark men with mystical powers.

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

Don’t be disappointed if things don’t happen overnight. Self-publishing will only bring the results that you work for. It requires patience and the ability to try new things. Everyone gives the same advice: write more books and promote them. Promoting is not an easy concept to figure out. There is no cookie cutter recipe for success. Not every reader will be interested in reading your book and not every book reviewer will review it. It’s all about trial and error. You have to figure out what will work for your book.

Where do you see your writing career in 5 years?

In five years, I hope to be getting closer to the end of The Third Throne series. I have twelve books planned out and I write them simultaneously when time allows. My character, Anjali, needs ten different Fallen Angels to accomplish her task of ending the world, so I have plenty to keep me busy between then and now.

What’s your favorite thing about being a romance writer?

I love telling stories about all sorts of things, but being able to add emotions such as love, lust, or desire is challenging. Fear and anger are easy to invoke in a reader, but to make the reader feel the love that two characters feel isn’t easy. I’ve read romances that come off as flat. They talk about loving each other, but you don’t feel it. It’s not as easy as it sounds. It can come off as cheesy or fake if you can’t get the right mix of emotions. I like the challenge and hope that people can connect to my characters.

The Third Throne: Angel of Darkness (Book 1) and The Third Throne: Angel of Death (Book 2) are both available now!

The Third Throne: Angel of Darkness:

Michelle Black lives an average life, but she is not an average woman. Plagued by nightmares of Hell and the unusual ability to see the sins of men, she stands apart from those around her. Deceived by a voice controlling her mind, she finds herself trapped in the place of her nightmares, Hell.

The Angel of Darkness tells her that she must now serve him, and she is forced to face the Realms of Torture. Strange things begin to happen when she senses that she is meant to be more than just a servant. Will she learn the truth about who she is and what she is destined to become before it’s too late?

The Third Throne: Angel of Darkness is the first book in the steamy Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance series that introduces us to Michelle Black and her dark destiny. She must fight to survive in Hell as she searches for the terrifying truth about the darkness that resides deep inside of her.

The Third Throne: Angel of Death Book 2:

Anjali has embraced her destiny to end the world, but now she must find her ten Harbingers, known as the Predznak. She is determined to find Alazar, the Angel of Death, the former leader of the Predznak, before her other angels. She fears that he has lost hope and is close to becoming a Rogue Angel.

Alazar has spent too many centuries waiting for his Master Anjali to come and claim him. Deception and lies have kept them apart, but now it’s too late. He has vowed to the other Predznak that he will kill their Master so that they can be free.

During her search for Alazar, Anjali meets the Spirit Experts, paranormal investigators who are on a collision course with the Angel of Death. Anjali finds herself strangely attracted to one of the Spirit Experts and decides to become a part of their group in an effort to keep them safe from her dangerous angel. Can Anjali stop Alazar from killing the Spirit Experts and destroying the surrounding town? Can she keep Lucifer in the dark about her affections for the mortal man? Will unseen enemies destroy all that Anjali holds dear?

The Third Throne: Angel of Death is the second book in the steamy Adult Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance series.

Find them on Amazon!

Author bio:

Tabitha Barret is a paranormal romance author who lives in New Jersey with her husband, two children, and three crazy dogs. She met her husband in Creative Writing classes in college, though it took a little convincing for him to ask her out. In her free time, of which she doesn’t have much, she reviews books by other authors, and writes a blog about tips and suggestions for future authors trying to publish their works. She is currently working on her “Third Throne” Series.

Connect with Tabitha here:

Blogger: http://tabithabarret.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TabithaBarret
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TabithBarret
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/thethirdthrone
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Third-Throne-Angel-Darkness-ebook/dp/B00TMMEKZI
Website: http://www.thethirdthrone.com
YouTube Angel of Death Trailer: http://youtu.be/KlIAw8HWHAA

Promo-Pic-O-Rama: Fun With A Man of Character!

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Margaret — 2 Comments ↓

I’ve had so much fun making promo pics for A Man of Character, I decided to throw them all up here for the heck of it. Yeah, my Photoshop skills still need honing. So many skills still need honing.

Which is your favorite? If you’ve read A Man of Character, any person or quote you’d like to see?

Margaret Locke: Failing My Way Into Happiness

Posted on August 2, 2015 by Margaret — 1 Comment ↓

This post originally appeared on Sydney Scrogham’s blog. I thank her for graciously letting me reblog it on my own site.

It was January 10th, 2000. I was in Hamburg, Germany, in month five of a yearlong DAAD grant for dissertation research.

I was also desperately lonely.

WWII Memorial Statue in Hamburg I walked by every day. I had to photograph it, because it represented how I felt much of the time I was there.

I missed my husband. We were newlyweds, married not even six months before. He’d visited in December. We’d spent the Christmas holiday together in the states. And then, suddenly, I was back in my subleased apartment on Beethovenstraße, facing seven more months of work – and separation.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t.

I’d lost interest in my doctoral work a while before. I’d applied for a Fulbright/DAAD grant anyway, mostly because it seemed the thing to do, the next step toward acquiring that PhD. I never thought I’d get the grant – they’re highly competitive. But, somehow, I did, and I found myself planning for a year away, a year I didn’t want to take.

How could I say no? This was a prestigious award, after all, an acknowledgment of talent and promise I never fully believed I possessed. I’d said for years I was going to be a professor of medieval history, and one couldn’t do that without a doctorate. I had to go. Right?

It never occurred to me it was OK to give up something in which I’d invested so much time – and money. Definitely money.

That was failure. That was defeat. That was unacceptable.

What would people think of me? What would people say? I couldn’t disappoint my new husband like that. He’d married me thinking he was marrying a fellow academic. Would he still love me? Would my mom, my family?

My identity had long been invested in my intelligence. People had told me my whole life I was smart. I excelled in academics. How could I stop in the middle of what I’d been pursuing for years, a career path that “proved” to me and to everyone else I was exactly what they thought I was?

Brett and me in Hamburg, December 1999 – we did have fun the three weeks we were together!

Don’t get me wrong – I loved medieval history. I still do. But on January 10th, 2000, three years to the day after my husband and I started dating, my heart won out over my head.

I called my husband and then my mom, and told then I was coming home. I sobbed into the phone all my worries and fears about them thinking I was a failure, a quitter. My mom said this was a decision I, and I alone, could make. My husband said he supported me either way.

I called the airport to book a last-minute flight – and I took it, leaving all of my belongings behind.

I had no idea what I was doing. I thought maybe I’d be home for a few weeks, soak up some time with hubby, get my head on straight, and go back.

Nope. Oh, I did go back, six weeks later, on a whirlwind weekend trip to clean the apartment, gather my stuff, and to explain and apologize to the professor who’d been advising me.

Then I headed home again. I officially quit my doctoral program. I gave up a coveted grant and three years of graduate studies. And I was never happier.

Sometimes, when I tell people this story, they ask, “Don’t you want to go back?” They shake their heads (figuratively, if not literally), saying, “But you were so close! Why didn’t you just finish?”

Because. My heart wasn’t in it. My dreams weren’t in it.

Quitting grad school was the best decision I ever made – because I made it for me, based on what I wanted, on what I needed to feel happy.

Row houses in Lüneberg – for a nice German feel, and also to say, it was gorgeous. Not every day was a bad day. ;) — Row houses in Lüneberg – for a nice German feel, and also to say, it was gorgeous. Not every day was a bad day. 😉

Should everybody make such a rash life change? Not necessarily. I was blessed to have a supportive husband and be in a position where switching up life goals wasn’t unbearably financially risky. I was, and am, lucky. I know that.

Quitting grad school was the most freeing decision I ever made – because I did it, and the world didn’t fall apart. I didn’t fall apart. I was a quitter, and yet people still loved me, respected me, wanted what was best for me.

That was eye-opening – that quitting wasn’t necessarily failing. And that even if it were, people were there to catch me when I fell.

We’re still happily married. I’m still blessed, because my husband, my sweet, darling, ever-supportive husband, is 100% behind my decision to write, even though it means I’m likely to be costing us money, rather than making us money – at least for a while.

I’m so fortunate, y’all, and I know it. Not only do I have the support of family and friends around me, but I also have the knowledge, the certainty, that if I fail, it’s not the end of the world.

And when it came to pursuing this forgotten dream of writing romance, that certainty is what gave me the courage to try.

What would you do if you discovered the men you were dating were fictional characters you’d created long ago?

Thirty-five-year-old Catherine Schreiber has shelved love for good. Keeping her ailing bookstore afloat takes all her time, and she’s perfectly fine with that. So when several men ask her out in short order, she’s not sure what to do…especially since something about them seems eerily familiar.

A startling revelation – that these men are fictional characters she’d created and forgotten years ago – forces Cat to reevaluate her world and the people in it. Because these characters are alive. Here. Now. And most definitely in the flesh.

Her best friend, Eliza, a romance novel junkie craving her own Happily Ever After, is thrilled by the possibilities. The power to create Mr. Perfect – who could pass that up? But can a relationship be real if it’s fiction? Caught between fantasy and reality, Cat must decide which – or whom – she wants more.

Blending humor with unusual twists, including a magical manuscript, a computer scientist in shining armor, and even a Regency ball, A Man of Character tells a story not only of love, but also of the lengths we’ll go for friendship, self-discovery, and second chances.

Amazon: http://bit.ly/AManOfCharacter
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25535077-a-man-of-character

A lover of romance novels since the age of ten (shh, don’t tell mom!), Margaret Locke declared as a teen that she’d write romances when she grew up. Once an adult, however, she figured she ought to be doing grown-up things (such as earning that master’s degree in medieval history), not penning steamy love stories. Yeah, whatever. Turning forty cured her of that silly notion. Margaret is now happily ensconced back in the clutches of her first love, this time as an author as well as a reader.

Margaret lives in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in Virginia with her fantastic husband, two fabulous kids, and two fat cats. You can usually find her in front of some sort of screen (electronic or window; she’s come to terms with the fact that she’s not an outdoors person).

Margaret loves to interact with fellow readers and authors! You may find her here:

Website/Blog: http://margaretlocke.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/AuthorMargaretLocke
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/Margaret_Locke
Twitter: @Margaret_Locke

Becca The Bibliophile Reviews A Man of Character!

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Margaret — 2 Comments ↓

… and this is the opening to her review: “What a fun concept for a book and I absolutely loved every minute of it.”

Woo hoo! Want to read more of Becca’s review, and enter to win your own autographed paperback of A Man of Character? Head on over to Becca The Bibliophile‘s website!

A Beach of an Interview…

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Margaret — 2 Comments ↓

I’m hanging with the family this week in Ocean City, New Jersey. We’re having a wonderful time, but of course it means my online life is, well, sunk. I’m OK with that.

Soon we head out to Chicago for a family reunion, so I won’t be back to my frenetic social media-ing until July 7th – but in the words of Simple Minds, “don’t you forget about me.” Or do. Bwah ha ha.

In the meantime, check out this wonderful interview writer Phyllis Duncan did with me – wonderful because she asked such great questions, not because I claim my responses are brilliant. Plus, I got her to like romance a teensy bit. Victory!

I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below!

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