Tag Archives: Amazon

Welcome to my “stop” on The Next Big Thing blog hop. And thanks to Linda Carroll-Bradd for tagging me to participate.  In turn, I’ve asked Kathryn Knight, Chris Redding, Mageela Troche and Bess McBride to participate, and they’ll be posting next week, beginning Dec 10.

“The Next Big Thing” is a question and answer discussion blog in which we discuss…yes! the next big thing we’re working on, or a recent release.  In my case, Highland Healer.

My Debut Book is a Bestseller!

• Where did the idea come from for the book?  I saw the first scene like a movie clip – a big man being brought into a tent on a rough stretcher, a woman watching and waiting to assess his condition.  The rest of the book followed from that.  Initially, I wasn’t sure what it was going to be – historical, fantasy, science fiction or something else.  But as I wrote that first scene, it quickly became clear to me that the story took place in the highlands of Scotland in the past.  Then it was a matter of finding the perfect time in Scottish history, which took a lot of research.
• What genre does your book fall under? Highland Healer is a Scottish Historical Romance with a Paranormal twist.  It won the 2011 Washington Romance Writers’ Marlene contest in the Paranormal category.
• Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?  Honestly, I have no idea.  In my imagination, the characters have their own faces and personalities, and I’ve never tried to find a “real world” analog for them.   I’d love for you to suggest some!  It would be fun to find out how my readers see them.
• What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?   After Toran Lathan escapes with healer Aileana Shaw from the army where she was a captive and the invader lays siege to the Lathan keep to get her back, Aileana uses all her abilities to protect herself and those she loves while Toran fights to keep her.
• Where can we get your book? Click on the cover above to link to Amazon Kindle. Highland Healer is  on sale there until its official release date on Jan 4.  After that, it will be available at full price from The Wild Rose Press, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, other e-formats and in print.
• How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? My first draft took a decade. I was a pantzer at the time, and still working my day job, so the energy to be creative and write was in short supply.  When I started the second book of this series, I first outlined each chapter and its scenes.  That book took less than a year to write – a huge improvement for me.
• Who or what inspired you to write this book?  I’ve always written – stories, articles for the school newspaper, something for the school literary journal.  A few novels that I started as a child are tucked away in a drawer – they’re written in pencil!  This book grew over a long period of time out of that initial scene, and like most debut books, a lot of twists and turns in story structure, plot, characters and setting happened before it all come together.
• What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? Highland Healer is not your usual historical romance.  I always loved reading science fiction and fantasy, especially if the stories included psi talents.  So now, traces of psi talents have a way of  showing up in most of the stories I write, whether the story setting is past, present or future.  Add to that my fascination with how relationships develop, and I think you’ll find my books are captivating, sexy and satisfying to read.

EXCERPT:

Thank you all so much for visiting with me today. Don’t forget to check in with Kathryn Knight, Chris Redding, Mageela Troche and Bess McBride next week on December 10th for their “Next Big Thing.”