Welcome Fran Shaff

Today's guest is award winning author Fran Shaff. Fran has a new book coming out in March from Wings ePress, and she's here today to talk about it and her writing career. Welcome, Fran. Thanks for coming. I do have a couple of questions to ask you.

1.Tell us how you got involved in writing. Did you always dream of being an author?


While I have always had an interest in writing, I more or less dabbled in it without a clear focus for years. I looked upon it as more hobby than anything else. It's importance was way down on my list behind all responsibilities.

Then my cousin, a clergyman, told me if God gives us a talent, we should use it. Those words changed my entire outlook. I began to make writing my focus. I studied, wrote and researched constantly. Within a couple of years of that change of attitude, I had my first book contract from Avalon Books of New York. I dedicated that book to my inspiring cousin.


2.How do you think being a published author has changed you?


While being a published author hasn't changed me as a person, I do get a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment every time I hear from readers who have enjoyed my books. Thank you, Readers!


3.What do you think makes a book a page turner?


Great characters make or break a book. If a reader REALLY cares about the characters, she won't be able to put the book down. How many readers would have plugged along through books as long as Gone With the Wind if they didn't just have to know what would happen next with Scarlet O'Hara?


4.To date, which one of your books was hardest to write? Why?

"A Partner's Promise" was the book that gave me the most difficulty. It went through many transformations before I finally finished. "A Partner's Promise" is a young peoples' novel about an eleven-year-old homeless boy who is forced to take the orphan train from New York to Iowa in order to avoid going to jail for stealing a loaf of bread.

"A Partner's Promise" received an EPPIE nomination for young peoples' literature which I really appreciate. Even more rewarding have been the wonderful comments I've received from young people, teachers and parents. "A Partner's Promise" was definitely worth the years of work it took me to write it.


5.To date, which is your favorite book? That you've written, I mean.


When it comes to favorites, I am torn between "For Love of Maggie" and "The Trading Game."

"For Love of Maggie," which won the Write Touch Readers Award, More than Magic Award and a CataRomance Reviewers' Choice Award is the book closest to my heart. "Maggie" is a little girl with Down Syndrome who reminds me very much of my sister who also has Down Syndrome. The heroine, who is her mother, and the hero present different societal attitudes of children with handicaps. These attitudes are reconciled in heart-felt ways during the story. "For Love of Maggie," a contemporary sweet romance, will be in reprint beginning in July, 2010.


"The Trading Game" is another young peoples' novels. The characters in this story make it a favorite of mine. Set in the late 1890s it's a story about two eleven-year-old girls from opposite ends of the economic spectrum discovering the importance of love and family. I am in awe of the courage the poverty-stricken Lacey has in facing the horrible things life has given her. And I can't help but want to throttle spoiled, rich Salina, her polar opposite. Any story which evokes strong emotions like this one does, is going to be a favorite to me.

6.What future goals have you set for yourself?



I hope to keep on writing, and I hope readers who continue to enjoy my work.


7.Where can we find you on the web?

My main website is located at: http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff

I hope your readers will join me at Twitter where, beginning in March, I will be having "Tidbit Tuesdays" and "Website Wednesdays" on a weekly basis. Fellow writers will be interested in a big event I'll be having on Twitter on April 10 at 10 a.m. Central time---100 Writer Tip Tweets in 100 minutes on the 100th day of the year. www.twitter.com/franshaff


I'm also on MySpace, Facebook, JacketFlap and LinkedIn.


Readers can reach me by e-mail at writerfran@gmail.com


My books are in libraries and at Amazon.com, Smashwords.com, Fictionwise.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other places on the Internet.


8.Would you share an excerpt from one of your books with us? Don't forget to tell us where we can buy it.


MONTANA MAGIC is a March, 2010 contemporary sweet romance e-book from Wings ePress. It is a fun read with the sweetest happy ending... I don't have a link to Fictionwise or other Internet sites yet so I'll just give the publishers link for purchase information.

Buy link: www.wingsepress.com

Mini-Blurb:


Deanna Worthington spends her respite in Montana working on her Master’s thesis until C.R. Whitmore convinces her that all work and no play makes her life a bit too dull.



Below is an excerpt. To find more excerpts, go to:



http://sites.google.com/site/franshaffsmontanamagic





CR shows Deanna around the ranch....



A few miles from the ranch yard stood a cliff among the rocky ground. When they reached it, C.R. suggested they dismount and look at the view.

Deanna was pleased to be getting off the horse. They’d ridden for miles, and she wasn’t used to it. She was beginning to hurt all over.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “You’re walking like you’re a little stiff.”

“Don’t be silly,” she said, keeping her gaze on the view before her, “I’m perfectly fine.”

He walked with her to the edge of a cliff. “What do you think?”

Her breath caught in her throat as she beheld the scenic rolling hills before her. “I think you should have brought me here first. I’ve never seen anything so truly beautiful in my life. Have you?” she said enthusiastically as she turned to look up at him.

His Adam’s apple quivered, and he cupped her cheek with his hand. “I think the view from this part of the ranch is absolutely breath taking, but it’s like a trash heap compared to your beauty, Deanna.”

His unexpected touch and the tone of his words nearly stopped her heart. It took her a long moment to regain her ability to speak.

“Cade, don’t,” she said, pushing his hand away from her cheek.

“You are beautiful. I don’t see a thing wrong with telling you so.”

She turned away from him. “It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it. And it’s the look in your eyes when you say such things.” She looked up at him. “Just don’t, okay?”

He stared down at her intently. “The look in my eyes? The tone in my voice? I don’t know what you think you see in my eyes or what you think you hear in my voice, Deanna, but I don’t mean anything more than what I say.” He touched her chin with his finger. “You are beautiful.”

She batted his hand away. “You said it again with that same intonation and that same look in your eyes.”

“What tone? What look?”

“That look you give me when you say I am beautiful. It makes me think you might be falling in love or into infatuation or something like that.” She shook her head vigorously. “I don’t want a relationship with you.”

He lifted his shoulders and his hands at the same time. “Who said anything about a relationship?” He put his hands by his sides. “I thought we were friends. I hoped we could have some fun together.”

“We haven’t been acting like we are merely friends, C.R. If we were only friends we wouldn’t have been kissing like we were at Catherine’s the last time we were alone together, and you wouldn’t have taken me into your arms the way you did back at Becky’s today. Friends don’t indulge in the passion we were a part of in both of those instances.”

The look of confusion he’d shown her a moment before was quickly replaced by a rakish smile. “Sometimes they do,” he said casually.

“You’re a frustrating man.”

“Come on, Deanna,” he said, putting his hand on her forearm. “You don’t hate me. And I don’t think you want to spend all of your time cooped up at Catherine’s ranch taking care of children and working on your thesis anymore than I want to spend all of my time working on the ranch. We’re both young. Let’s have some fun. There isn’t a whole lot to do here socially, but Carington does have dances, movies and a restaurant or two. They’ve even got a golf course and a brand new bowling alley. Wouldn’t you like to go out and kick up your heels once in a while?”

She gave him a perplexed look. “Is that really what you want, C.R., just a little fun?”

“Yes,” he said.

She bit her lip and thought a moment before she responded. “After you kissed me back at Catherine’s you told me you hoped we would grow to care more and more for each other. That didn’t sound to me like you were looking only for a casual relationship. It sounded rather serious.”

“So that’s why you’ve been putting me off every time I’ve called you since then?” The look that flooded his eyes seemed a reflection of guilt. “If that’s what I said, then I was wrong to make such a statement. I know you’re here for only a few weeks or months at the most, Deanna. I don’t expect anything from you outside of friendship and fun.”

“Really?”

He gazed at her intently. “Deanna, I understand you’ve been hurt in the past.” He cupped her cheek. “I’m not Greg. I won’t make you fall in love with me and hurt you the way he did. I’d die before I’d ever hurt you.”

As his words sank into her heart she decided, perhaps, she could trust him. Maybe the two of them could have a casual relationship of dating and fun.

And if they indulged in kisses and caresses from time to time, what was the harm in that? After all, they were normal, healthy, young adults, weren’t they? It was their right to enjoy each other in every way they wanted.

“I believe you, C.R.,” Deanna said.

In the next moment she surprised him as much as she surprised herself.

She rose on tiptoes, put her hands around his neck and drew him close so she could kiss him.

She loved kissing him, so why shouldn’t she kiss him?

He took her into his arms, and she knew at once she was right where she wanted to be.

For now.



------------------------------------

Read more excerpts at: http://sites.google.com/site/franshaffsmontanamagic

Fran, thanks for coming. Your book sounds wonderful. In fact, all of them do. Come back any time.

Laura Hogg Stopped By

Hello, there. It's week two of my Wings month, and today's special guest is author Laura Hogg. I got to know Laura a year or so ago when I reviewed The Twelfth Kiss for her. I enjoyed the book so I'm glad she could be here. If you're interested in either submitting a manuscript to Wings or checking out their books you can do so at http://www.wings-press.com.

Remember that if you leave a comment for any one of the authors your name will be entered in a drawing for a copy of my Wings release The Welcome Inn.

Okay, let's get to that interview. Laura, thanks for stopping by.

Laura: It was my pleasure.

1.For the benefit of anyone not familiar with your work, can you tell us how you became a writer? Is it something you always wanted to do? When I was a little girl, I played piano and wrote poetry. Growing up, I wrote stories and songs, being in a rock band. In college, I wrote stories. Then one day, in my thirties, I got the courage to submit my first story to a publisher.

Music and writing, for me, were always intertwined. It was my goal as a youth to someday get a book published. It was a scary thing, submitting.

2.I know what you mean about scary. I still get scared when I submit something. Tell us about your writing. What genres do you write in, etc.
I mostly write historicals, romance, and paranormals, and some modern-day. I love history and research stuff all over the map of time. My next story to come out will be a Western, Emma the Outlaw. Let’s see, with Wings ePress, I have a story called The 12th Kiss. It’s an adventurous story set in 1820 London.

With other publishers, I have a variety of work out. One of my novels, Romeo vs. Juliet, is a time-travel. The hero is an Elizabethan man, and the heroine is a modern-day women. When my hero does something bad, his wife chases him through many eras in history, and they have quite a time of it. My novel, For the Love of a Queen, is a post-apocalyptic novel set in the near future.

My novella, Double Vision, is a paranormal where the hero and heroine fall in love on the astral plane.

My short stories are various, from Medieval to the 1920s, and my work ranges from sweet to very steamy.

3.Do your family and friends know you’re a writer? If so, what was their reaction? They know. My mom was very supportive. I lost her recently and dedicated my one and only Inspirational Romance to her.

My dad, a sister, husband, and daughter are also supportive. My daughter is also a writer, but her style is very different than mine.

4.If you could travel back in time which era would you pick? (I bet I know the answer to this one. I’ve read the book.) Hard choice. Aw, thanks, Elaine. That is very sweet. Thanks for reading my book. The Regency was a fascinating time, that’s for sure, but as a female, gosh, this choice is difficult…I’d have to say maybe the 1920s because women gained a lot more freedom. I'm currently researching this exciting era. I’d tell my friends to save money and not invest in the stock market, if I could go back there. ;) But if I could just drop in for a day or two and observe, I’d really like to hear Jesus speak in person.

5.How long did it take you to write The Twelfth Kiss? Here’s the strange thing. It usually takes me a lot longer to write a book, but…well, let me backtrack for a sec, at that time in my life, I was yet unpublished. I was going through something very stressful and prayed for help. I, as a Catholic, also asked the Angel Raphael to add his prayers to mine. One day shortly after, I woke up and felt inspired, and this story came out in a mad rush. I was so inspired, in fact, that I named a main character Raphael.

Then I put the story up with a large critique group for many months. (The revisions took longer than the writing of the first draft). The Regency era was new to me at the time, and I was still researching that time in history and fixing things in the novel as I learned new details. Most people in the group were great and offered me wonderful advice on how to tighten up the novel. It was a lot of work, but fun! However, there was one Regency expert who tore the book up to shreds and was harsh in her criticism. It discouraged me so bad that I almost gave up writing. After days of sadness, I lifted my chin, so to speak, and forged ahead.

I polished the novel with the advice of many people to help and submitted it, my first, to a publisher. It got rejected. Months later, that publisher went out of business. The second publisher, Wings ePress, accepted it! Wings, what a coincidence.

I got the email at night—my first book contract! And called up my mom. She was so happy for me.

6.That's an inspirational story, Laura. Thank you so much for sharing. What’s your writing day like? Well, currently, I'm the breadwinner, because my husband was laid off. I work at a little school during the day helping out kids and adults with reading disabilities. It’s a great job with the best bosses. Then I come home at night and plop down at the computer and write/research for hours at a time.

7.Are you working on anything right now? If so, can you share a little with us. I'm working on many things right now. I have several under contract at this time and have yet to get assigned editors for those. Those stories differ greatly: one is a Victorian novella, others vary from modern-day stories about a female rock musician (hmm, wonder where I got that idea from, lol) to paranormal (A lady has to go to hell and steal the keys from the gatekeeper to hell, gets down there and discovers it’s her ex-lover) to many other types of stories, including a screenplay.

8.If you could meet any author in the world, who would it be? Someone who would be open to reading my work! (Why does the little guy get ignored so often? When I buy books, I often go for an unknown author first). I have a multitude of library cards and use them. Good thing I take the bus home from work and can get in more reading time.

9.Give us your links so we can find you on the web. Be sure to tell us where we can find your books.
This is the addy for my paranormal blog:
http://traveltheages.blogspot.com/
If anyone who writes paranormal would like a guest spot there, please let me know. Authors should help each other out when possible. We’re all in this together, right? I believe there’s room up at the top for all of us.

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/l_hogg

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/editpicture.php#/profile.php?id=626483435&ref=profile

My husband is currently putting together another web site for me, so I don’t have one right now.

The 12th Kiss (set in 1820): http://www.facebook.com/editpicture.php#/profile.php?id=626483435&ref=profile

Double Vision (paranormal):
http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/paranormal/romance/double-vision/prod_74.html

Romeo vs. Juliet (time-travel), For the Love of a Queen (post-apocalyptic), Copacetic and Baby Vamp (Vintage 1920s—nothing to do with vampires, lol):
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/laura-hogg-m-166.html?zenid=0822b8b1803fd9539238850b75325206

Isanne’s Revelation (Medieval time-travel, Inspirational Romance)
http://www.whiterosepublishing.com/cartage.html?main_page=index&cPath=154

Emma the Outlaw (Western):
http://eirelander.webs.com/emmatheoutlaw.htm

And others under contract but not out yet.

10.Would you share an excerpt from The Twelfth Kiss?
At one-thirty a.m. a lord dressed in breeches laced over a pair of fine shoes, a quality shirt, a lush white cravat with a diamond pin sparkling within its folds and a velvet trimmed coat pushed open the door, dripping wet; long, drenched strands of blond hair sticking to his neck, and falling to his shoulders; and he gripped a pistol at his side. He was accompanied by an angry-looking stout man even bigger in muscle size than he was, nicely dressed as well, but obviously not a lord, more like an American. The lord strode across the room with his friend and sat at the bar, great perturbation marring his features. He ordered a drink and slammed it down. He gestured rapidly for another. The innkeeper poured him one.

“What troubles you this night, my lord?”

“My wife has been kidnapped. My brother-in-law and I are searching around here. I have others looking elsewhere. Have you seen anything unusual this way tonight?”

Chuckling caused him to turn around.

“Is something funny?”


Laura, thank you so much for the interview. I'll look forward to reading more of your work.

The Best Selling Toy Of The Season

I love my cover! Isn’t it so seasonal and cheerful? It’s appropriate too because the story begins at Christmas time, a time of magic, new beginnings, and…possibilities.

Let’s talk for a minute about my heroine. Her name is Nikki Lane, and she could easily be someone you know. She works at Super Mart, the local discount store. She lives in a single wide mobile home in a trailer park that doesn’t have a very good reputation.

She hasn’t been very lucky in love. As a teenager, she fell hard for her first love, Tim, but he abandoned her after she got pregnant the second time. Nikki doesn’t trust men-with the exception of her cousin Dan. If not for his help she’d have to move back in with her parents, and her Dad drinks.

You probably also know someone like my hero Tommy Price. He’s everything Nikki isn’t-wealthy, socially acceptable, and prominent in community affairs. That didn’t keep him from losing the woman he wanted to marry, though. Tommy’s looking for love, but he’s tired of cookie cutter women who’re more interested in his money and his family name than they are him.

So, how’d these two get together? Let me share an excerpt from The Best Selling Toy Of The Season.

In this excerpt Tommy Price, the best lawyer in Fairfield, has just been reminded by his secretary that he has to buy a gag gift to take to a party.

“Tommy, you told me to remind you that you have to buy a gag gift to take to the party tonight.”

Tommy sighed. “I don’t know what to get. What do you recommend?”

“Beats me. You know I don’t have a sense of humor.”

Tommy gave up. If Mattie didn’t want to help him, nothing would move her, and he knew he had made her angry when he refused to go out with her cousin, Tia. He wouldn’t say so to Mattie, but Tia was too stuck on herself for him to enjoy her company. “I’ll see you Monday, Mattie. Have a good weekend.”

“You too, Tommy. If you change your mind about my cousin, give me a call.”

Mattie went back to her desk, and Tommy donned his coat, and left for the day. It had started to snow harder now, and the weather report called for several inches accumulation. Maybe I could find a gag gift at Super Mart, he thought, and on impulse he wheeled his car into the discount store’s parking lot.

It took a few minutes to find a place to park, for Christmas arrived in a few days, and the last minute shoppers had clearly panicked when they took note of the date. Tommy hurried into Super Mart and immediately spied Bill English.

At one time he had hoped to be Bill’s son-in-law. He had fallen deeply in love with Bill’s daughter, Susan, but Susan hadn’t felt the same way about him. She had broken up with him and married another man shortly afterward.

Bill worked at Super Mart so he handed Tommy a sale paper. “Merry Christmas, Tommy.”

“Hi, Bill. Merry Christmas. How are Susan and Kurt?”

“Doing great. You need to think about getting married yourself, Tommy.”

Tommy decided to beat a hasty retreat. Why did everybody want him to get married? “I’d better run, Bill. I’ve got a party to go to.”

He waved to Bill and dashed away, grateful for a quick escape. He wandered down the center aisle of the store, but he didn’t see anything that he thought seemed funny. He spotted a woman wearing the orange coat that identified her as Super Mart staff; maybe she could help him. He tapped her on the shoulder. “Excuse me, ma’am. Could you help me?”

The clerk turned around and Tommy’s breath caught in his throat. He had stumbled across a princess. She had dark, smooth hair, creamy, porcelain skin, indigo blue eyes, full, red lips, and a shape that even the orange coat couldn’t hide. For a moment, he couldn’t remember what he wanted.

“Cat got your tongue?” the young woman cheerfully inquired. “You look familiar. Do I know you?”

“I… don’t know, I mean, I don’t think so,” Tommy floundered, mentally kicking himself for allowing a beautiful woman to reduce him to the level of a gauche freshman.

“Well, what do you want? I’m too busy to just stand here and talk. You aren’t trying to pick me up are you? You’re tall, dark and handsome as they say, but I’ve sworn off men. Every time I get involved with one it turns out bad. Your hair is as black as can be. You don’t dye it, do you?”

“Uh, no, I don’t dye it.”

“You won’t tell me what you want, so I’ll have to guess. You look like you might be an athlete, so I expect you want sporting goods. Follow this red line on the floor, and it’ll take you where you want to go.”

“No,” Tommy replied hastily. “That isn’t it. I want a gag gift.”

“Let me think.”

Tommy waited in silence for a moment or two. “I know just the thing,” she assured him. Follow me.”

She led Tommy to the lingerie department which didn’t please him at all. It embarrassed him to look at underwear with a beautiful woman.

She went down aisle five and selected a box from the shelf. “Here you go. This is a perfect gag gift unless you’re going to a church party. It might be a little over the top for church. Not that I think it’s bad myself, but ministers might. What do you think?”

“I don’t know what it is so it’s hard to have an opinion,” Tommy pointed out.

The girl handed him the box. “It’s a passion meter. You hold the round glass part in your hand, and your body heat causes the red liquid to rise in this little tube. You know; like mercury in a thermometer, but see on the side here? It tells you what kind of lover you are based on how far your body heat makes the liquid rise. Take it out of the box and try it.”

“I don’t need to do that.”

“Oh, you might as well. Don’t you want to know?”

Well…

The woman removed the device from the box and handed it to him. “Wrap your hand around the glass bulb.”

Tommy did as she instructed. Suddenly the liquid boiled and shot straight to the top of the glass tube.

“Look at you,” the woman laughed. “You measured red hot super stud.”

Tommy’s face turned a color very similar to the red liquid, and a fit of laughter so intense that she had to hold the shelf for support seized his lovely companion. “You’re awfully shy, aren’t you? I guess you weren’t trying to pick me up after all. Is there anything more that I can show you?”

“No, but thank you for helping me.” Why did she have to laugh at him? No man wanted a beautiful woman to make fun of him.

“Merry Christmas,” she said and bustled away.


Okay, they’re acquainted. Sort of. Now what? Check back next Friday for the next excerpt.

The Best Selling Toy Of The Season will be available at http://www.midnightshowcase.com beginning December 1.