Sunday, March 11, 2018

Stanalei Fletcher @StanaleiFletch Proving Ground #Audiobook #Suspense




RW:    Tell us about yourself, your family, where you live.
SL:     I’m old enough have 8 grandchildren ranging in ages 6 months to 18 years old, but young enough to still have to work a day job. I live with my soulmate of over 23 years near the heart of the Rocky Mountains. We enjoy all four seasons and especially enjoy working a garden for fresh vegetables during the spring, summer, and fall.

RW:    How many hours a day do you spend writing?
SL:     I don’t spend nearly enough hours a day writing. I end up counting my hours by the week. I do strive for at least 8 hours a week. This is an area I need to vastly improve upon.

RW:    What is the best thing about being a writer?
SL:     The very best thing about being a writer is getting use all those great baby names. You know; the one you couldn’t use for your own kids? I LOVE that part.

RW:    Who are your favorite authors?
SL:    My favorite authors: Alistair MacLean, Tom Clancy, Kristan Higgins, RaeAnne Thayne, James Rollins, Christopher Moore, and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens.

RW:    What makes a good book?
SL:     For me what makes a book good is a great hook that draws me in, solid plot logic, and last but certainly not least—heart. The story needs characters that I care about.

RW:    Why did you decide to write?
SL:     I didn’t just decide to write one day. I think it’s been in my make-up since a child. But I did decide I’d try to learn the craft better and write for the purpose of publication. That decision came from the realization that I loved the process of creating story. Being a writer was something I wanted to become.

RW:    How much of your personality and life experiences are in your writing?
SL:     Much of who I am informs my characters and the plot lines in my books. Drawing from familiar backgrounds keeps the story foundation strong for me.

RW:   What about your family? Do they know not to bother you when you are writing, or are there constant interruptions?
SL:    It’s just my husband and I in the house and I have designated days that are set aside for my writing time. He is very supportive and respectful of that time. If there are family interruptions, then they are usually of an urgent nature or it because I allow the occasional baseball game to divert my attention.

RW:    What do you do to relax and recharge your batteries?
SL:     I sleep to recharge my batteries. There’s nothing like a good power nap. J

RW:    What is your secret guilty pleasure?
SL:     Chocolate. Except that’s really not a secret.

 PROVING GROUND
Northstar Security Series book 1.
Now available in audio. Narrated by Charles Henderson Norman.

Screw-ups don’t get second chances. That’s what Caitlin Malone believes when she returns to Oregon after failing her first Northstar Security assignment. When she inadvertently stumbles across a plot to steal deadly pathogens from the bio-lab near her hometown, she sees a chance at redemption.

USDA Forest Ranger, John ‘Mac’ MacAlistair, doesn’t want to babysit the motorcycle club holding their annual rally in his national forest. To make matters worse, Caitlin is attending the rally with Mac’s estranged uncle. Having her home again brings up feelings that are better left buried.

It’s early September. Any spark will send the dry timber into a raging fire. The terrorists are counting on that distraction to work in their favor. When Caitlin is trapped by the wildfire, her only hope of rescue is pinned on Mac, the man she’s tried two years to forget. Before they can share their feelings, Mac and Caitlin must first escape the burning forest and stop the terrorists from releasing the deadly pathogens.

Excerpt:

The fear Mac had carried since Sean’s call lifted, was replaced by a sensation of overwhelming relief that took him by surprise. He’d been on search and rescue missions before and was always glad when they found a missing hiker. But finding Caitlin was like finding a lost treasure, one so precious, he never wanted to let her out of his sight again. He smiled, but it faded as he shined the light on her face. “You look like hell.”

Her face was completely covered in dirt and soot. The whites of her eyes looked huge and stark in the beam of the flashlight. A red bandana across her forehead kept most of her hair out of her eyes, but her braid had unraveled and hung in wild disarray down her back. Twigs and grass tangled in the long strands spoke volumes of her race for safety. Mac couldn’t recall when he’d seen a woman look more bedraggled, yet utterly breathtaking.


Stanalei Fletcher

Stanalei Fletcher is the award-winning author of the Northstar Security Series. She has over twenty years of training in the martial arts and holds the rank of Sandan, a third-degree black belt, in Aikido.

After a taste of life on both U.S. coasts, she now resides near the beautiful Wasatch Mountain Range with her husband. Together they enjoy backcountry dirt trails on a RZR, visiting our National Parks, or exploring museums and ghost towns.


Contacts:


Buy Links:
https://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/audio-books/5707-proving-ground.html

Sunday, March 04, 2018

Linda Rae Sande, The Brothers of the Aristocracy: Boxed Set, @lindaraesa, #Regency #Romance #MFRWAuthors




I’d like to welcome Linda Rae Sande, author of The Brothers of the Aristocracy: Boxed Set to my blog today.

RW:    Tell us about yourself, your family, where you live, etc.

LRS:   Thanks for having me, Rochelle! I’m a single nerd who loves action/adventure movies and hockey. I used to work as a technical writer in 3D graphics and animation, so I still follow that industry. During the day, I run a small print shop and at night I write books. Although I used to have tropical fish, I live alone in Cody, Wyoming.

RW:    How many hours a day do you spend writing?

LRS:   Usually around two hours, although I’ve been known to do a six-hour marathon on a weekend day. I still have a day job, but I don’t know that I would write more than I do if I wasn’t employed full-time.

RW:    Why did you decide to write? What genre was it?

LRS:   I’ve been a writer for years, usually because my jobs as a technical writer have required the skill, but I was a reader first. I love books! I love how I can escape this reality just by opening a book and reading. My passion was science fiction when I was growing up and in high school, but a friend used to pass me her historical romances. There were a few of those that made me think I could do a better job. I mentioned it to a distant relative, and she basically dared me to write Regencies. About the same time, I was doing genealogical research and discovered information about ancestors who lived in England. Imagining their stories drove me to write novels set in the Regency era.

RW:    Has your life changed since you became a writer?

LRS:   Oh, yes! Mostly due to the added travel, since I attend several book conventions every year. I love meeting readers as well as interacting with other authors and industry professionals. It’s a great opportunity to get out of the writing cave and learn what’s going on in the publishing world.

RW:    Who are your favorite characters among the books you’ve written?

LRS:   George Bennett-Jones (who debuted in The Kiss of a Viscount and appears in several more) was one of my first beta heroes. He’s the guy I wish I had in my life. He takes great pride in seeing to it his wife is happy.

The other favorite would be Samantha Fitzsimmons, the daughter of a viscountess. She’s artistic and smart and takes things as they come. As a young lady in the Regency era, she makes the best of what would be a frustrating experience for any modern woman.

RW:    Would you like to write a different genre or sub-genre than you do now?

LRS:   Not yet. I still have plenty of characters who need their stories written, so I’ll be sticking with Regencies for awhile.

RW:    If I were a first-time reader of your books, which one would you recommend I start with and why?

LRS:   The Passion of a Marquess is just a great tale of two castaways on a deserted island, so although it’s mostly about them and how they deal with their situation, there are background characters who are also frantic to find them. Those background characters are common to the other books.

I love that my readers appreciate the world in which these books take place. They seem to like revisiting familiar characters.

RW:    What book for you has been the easiest to write? The hardest? The most fun?

LRS:   The Story of a Baron was the easiest. It’s a book-within-a-book, and since my books all feature at least two couples, this one allowed one of the couples to read a book (and fall in love as they did so) that featured the other couple (who were so mismatched, it didn’t look as if they would get their HEA). This one combined my love of reading with some fun characters.

Tuesday Nights was the most difficult. Its timeline is necessarily long, and although I would have preferred to tell it in a series of flashbacks, there were just too many for a reader to have to track. The main character in that one, Michael Cunningham, is an excellent businessman, but he can’t keep track of his own life. Readers complain that he seems dumb as a rock, but we all know men like that—men who are great at their jobs but who don’t remember birthdays or anniversaries or who lose track of time.

The most fun book to write was The Gossip of an Earl. By the time I wrote it, I had a world of diverse characters who could all share their dismay at being featured in a weekly gossip newspaper—and do something about it.

RW:    What do you do to relax and recharge your batteries?

LRS:   Go to the movies! I prefer watching them on the big screen, in a theatre, where I can’t be distracted by anything.

RW:    If you were to create your own fantasy land, how would you describe it?

LRS:   Rolling hills of green grass that never needs to be mowed are dotted with trees that keep their leaves year-round. The weather is always late spring, and the stone and stucco cottages never need maintenance. Every one has a huge library filled with books, and there is at least one large-screen TV. The internet connections are all lightning speed. The weekly order of groceries is delivered to your front door, and someone who loves to cook makes all the meals. The movie theatre is within walking distance. And everyone does for a living what they have a passion to do.

RW:    Those are all the questions I have for you. Thank you for speaking to me.

LRS:   Thanks so much, Rochelle!

The Brothers of the Aristocracy: Boxed Set

Three RONE Award nominees make up this set. The Love of a Rake features two rakes, two horses, and two not-so-marriage-minded women who just need a bit of horse sense. When brothers trade places, one is bound to fall in love in the name of the other in The Caress of a Commander. An explorer searches for a missing duke and finds ancient artifacts, pirates, and Aphrodite in The Epiphany of an Explorer.

Excerpt from The Caress of a Commander

“It appears as if this palm tree has decided to claim the next dance with you. Perhaps you’ll grant me the one after that?”

Lucida’s eyes widened when she looked up to find the Earl of Bellingham looking down on her, mischief apparent in his hazel eyes.

For a moment, Lucida was left speechless. Obviously, the earl had paid witness to the palm moving in her direction just as she suspected it had done! Perhaps he had even seen its frond fondling her shoulder!

And now he had come to rescue her!

Would he challenge the potted plant to a duel, she wondered? For having impugned her honor by caressing her bare shoulder without her permission to do? For nearly grabbing onto her sleeve so she would be forced to fight with the devilish frond until she would have to tear it from its leaf in order to escape? But, no, she realized as she remembered the rest of what he had said about accepting its offer of a dance.

Did he honestly think she would accept the offer of a dance from a potted palm? Why, she would be left doing all the work of leading the dance given the palm was quite secure in its Chinese pot!

And then she realized the earl was teasing her, his lips slowly spreading into a grin that made him appear far more handsome than he did when she had watched him dance the waltz with Lady Jane.

Her own lips soon matched his before she dipped a curtsy. “I actually gave the palm my apologies only a moment ago,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “He was being rather too friendly given we’ve never been properly introduced,” she explained as she angled her head. “And now I fear he didn’t take it well,” she added, moving a few inches farther away from the insistent frond.


Linda Rae Sande

A self-described nerd and lover of science, Linda Rae spent many years as a published technical writer specializing in 3D graphics workstations, software and 3D animation (her movie credits include Shrek and Shrek 2). An interest in genealogy led to years of research on the Regency era and a desire to write fiction based in that time.

A fan of action-adventure movies, she can frequently be found at the local cinema. Although she no longer has any tropical fish, she does follow the San Jose Sharks. She makes her home in Cody, Wyoming. For more information about her books, go to her website: www.lindaraesande.com.

Buy Links:






https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37904533-the-brothers-of-the-aristocracy

Contact Linda Rae At: lindarae@lindaraesande.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lindaraesa