Nancy Lee Badger Interviews Nikki Lynn Barrett

Today I’m interviewing Nikki Lynn Barrett. Her book, The Melody In My Head, is contemporary romance and was released July 26.

Welcome! Please tell my readers a little bit about your book.
The Melody in My Head is book two of my Love and Music In Texas series. The series revolves around an undiscovered country music band in Texas. The Melody In My Head features the lead guitarist of the band, Jameson Grant. The heroine is Melody Roland, a newcomer to the fictional town of Harmony's Echo Texas. There's lots of fun, emotions, and a bit of suspense wrapped up in the book.  The first book in the series is Baby Stetson.

The big question: why have you become a published author?
I love telling stories! I love sharing them with others, and being published allows me to do that. I've always had fictional characters roaming around in my head, and putting their story to paper has been my life long dream....I've been writing stories since elementary school.

What is your writing routine like?
I mainly write in the mornings when my four year old goes to preschool.  I've been getting up at six when my husband goes to work, get some writing in then, pause to get my son ready for school, and then get back to writing until twelve fifteen or so.

I never realized when I started writing that promotion would take up so much of my time. What sort of promo do you do? Do you have help?
I'm still learning my way around promo! Oh, there's always something to learn! I have an author page on FB, I have Twitter, though I don't use it as much as I should. I network with other authors, like for blogging.  The biggest thing I've learned that seemed to help was to participate/donate for others giveaways- like if they hit 1000 likes, I donate a book to their giveaway, and in return, I gain likes on my fan page. Or release day parties. I've gained some new readers from those.

Having achieved your goal to be a published author, what is the most rewarding thing? 
Readers connecting with my stories. The most rewarding thing came recently, when my best friend who I have known since third grade thanked me for bringing the love of reading back into her life. Yes, I cried :)

Will you share some encouraging words for authors still struggling for that first contract?
NEVER GIVE UP!! If this is your dream, go for it! Now, I may be self published, but no matter how you want to be published, keep striving for that goal. Keep learning, work on your craft, and follow that dream.

Please Share three fun facts about you that most people don’t know.

1. I would totally go storm chasing.
2. I wanted to be a singer on the Nashville stages

3. I'm visually impaired. My optic nerves never developed fully, and I can only see out of one eye. In fact, I was totally blind at birth and regained some sight in my left eye.
 

Overcoming a disability? You are something very special. What’s next for you? 

I'm working on a new book, which is a Christmas story, and the follow up to my debut book, The Secret Santa Wishing Well. After that, I'll either work on Love and Music in Texas Book 3, or A Masterpiece of Our Love.
 

BOOK BLURB

This is Book 2 in the Love and Music in Texas series. Baby Stetson kicks off the series.

Welcome back to Harmony's Echo, Texas.....

Melody Roland is on the run from the one person she trusted completely. One who hid a dark past she could never have imagined. When a pregnant woman on the bus she's fleeing on goes into labor, Melody rushes to her aide. Now she finds herself stranded in a tiny remote town just off the highway, with no way to her original destination.

She's alone, on edge, and unsure who to trust. Her instincts scream to get far away and fast. But how and where?
Jameson Grant struggles through the roughest year of his life. Suffering from the loss of his father, one grief stricken night, he made a mistake. One which cost him the only woman he's ever loved. Each lonely day he's faced with the constant reminders of how quick things can change. Throwing himself into the one thing he has left, his music, helps dull the pain he fights to keep hidden. His last salvation begins to crumble as things spiral out of control and he has no choice but to face the 'music' of his past.

The last thing he needs or wants in his life is a woman with more trouble on her heels than the best of country music lyrics. But Melody sings a sirens call within him that can't be ignored.

Jameson and Melody bond in ways stronger than either could have imagined, but one dangerous person from her past may threaten it all...
If she doesn't flee before he can convince her to stay, and that some love songs last an eternity. 

Read an Excerpt  

  
HERE
 

More About the Author

Nikki Lynn Barrett lives in Arizona with her husband and son. She's an avid reader, a dreamer, and loves everything about books. She runs a book blog, an online used bookstore, and writes various genres of romance. Nikki can also be found outside with her camera when a storm is near, snapping photo after photo. Her dreams of becoming a writer started when she was young, when she started writing books in one subject notebooks by the fifth grade. The Secret Santa Wishing Well is her debut book. Nikki would love to hear from readers. Email her at nikkilynnbarrett@yahoo.com

 

 

How can my readers buy your book?

Amazon    BarnesAndNoble 

 You can find more information about Nikki and 

The Melody in My Head  at:

WEBSITE    BLOG    TWITTER   

Facebook    Goodreads

Amazon Author Page

 

 

 

 

Nancy Lee Badger Interviews Cynthia Owens

Cynthia Owens joins me to speak about herself and her latest release. Her book, Deceptive Hearts, is a historical romance and was released July 1st.

Please tell my readers a little bit about your book.  

Deceptive Hearts is a poignant tale of class differences in old New York. Shane MacDermott is an ex-boxer, an officer with the Metropolitan Police Force, and a veteran of Thomas Francis Meagher’s Irish Brigade.  Lydia Daniels is a mysterious beauty who lives in a secluded mansion in Gramercy Park. Shane and Lydia meet in a squalid tenement in New York’s Five Points, and he’s immediately suspicious of her. Why is she there? Why is she approaching lovely young women and offering them employment at her home? Something is definitely not right, and Shane’s determined to find out what it is. As determined as Lydia is to protect her secret. Until a threat from outside forces her to seek Shane’s help.

Sounds interesting! Describe the genre of this particular title, and is the only genre you write in?  
Deceptive Hearts is a historical romance set in Victorian-era New York City, in both genteel Gramercy Park and squalid Five Points. It’s a new setting for me, as my first two novels are set in Ireland and the third in Baltimore and Philadelphia, but the timeframe is basically the same. Since most of my heroes (and some of my heroines) are Irish, and there was tremendous turmoil in Ireland at this time, it’s ripe for stories. I love history – in particular Irish history – and I suspect I’ll be writing historicals for a long time.

When did you first consider yourself a writer, and when did you start writing toward publication?  
I’ve always considered myself a writer. I’ve written stories from the time I was a little girl. When I was in the first grade, my teacher asked the class to write a sentence about Dick, Jane, and their dog, Spot. Well, I wrote one, all right…and then proceeded to write another, and another, until I eventually had about two paragraphs. I was so proud of what I’d done! Unfortunately, my teacher wasn’t as impressed. Instead of praising my efforts, she scolded me for writing too much! To this day, I wonder if my determination to succeed as a writer had something to do with this creativity-stifling teacher.

Wouldn't that make her blush! Back to basics...Is research a part of your writing? If so, where do you find the answers?
Research is a very big part of my writing. Particularly in a historical story, it’s important to get the facts right. As to where I go to get those facts…well, anywhere I can! I have an extensive research library that seems to be taking over my tiny office (or “creative corner,” as I like to call it) that spans subjects from Irish mythology to antique firearms to the fashions of the past.

The Internet is also a valuable resource, if used in the right way, and for me, that means sticking to the subject I’m researching and not getting side-tracked by all the other interesting topics I come across – not an easy task at times.

It also helps to visit my setting, which I discovered in July of 2009, when I finally realized my life-long dream of visiting Ireland. It was ten days of sheer magic, and I didn’t want to leave!
And recently, I connected on Facebook with someone who has become a very dear friend. An Irish historian, I call him my Research Hero, and I know I can go to him for just about any answers I need about Irish history.

Research is the key to historical romance. Will you share some encouraging words for authors still struggling for that first contract? 
Never give up! Yes, I know it’s been said before, but it’s still true. If you don’t keep writing, submitting, and yes, collecting rejection letters, you may never receive that acceptance. Also, stay true to your own voice. Don’t try to imitate another writer’s style, no matter how much you may admire them. Write the story you want to write, the way you want to write it. Write from your heart.

Words to write by! Share three fun facts about you that most people don’t know.
1) I'm a collector. I have several collections, but my favorites are music boxes and postcards from the places I’ve been – or the places my friends have been.
2) I once took a fencing class. I wasn’t very good at it – okay, I’m a total klutz when it comes to sports – but I wanted to get a feel for fencing, just in case I ever wrote a hero who needed to know swordplay. To this day, none of my heroes has ever handled a sword.
3) I once fancied myself a female Andrew Lloyd Weber. I even wrote a musical (using music from the Big Band era) set in WWII Paris. Of course, it wasn’t very good, but it was fun, and it was also a learning experience.

What’s next for you?
Keeper of the Light, Book II of The Wild Geese Series, will be published by Highland Press! No release date yet, but I’ll keep everyone posted.

Cathal Donnelly is one of Shane MacDermott’s best friends. This handsome, mercurial storyteller has...shall we say...well, let's call them Fenian leanings, to use an Irish expression. There's something big coming up in the Fenian community, and you can bet Cathal is eager to be a part of it.

But...something goes wrong, and he finds himself on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, with no memory of who he is, where he came from, or why he was in a boat that capsized in a wild Atlantic sea storm. The only thing he knows is that he's desperately attracted to his beautiful rescuer...even though she's as English as the British soldiers who drove Cathal and his family from Ireland's green shores during the famine.

BOOK BLURB
…Like the Wild Geese of Old Ireland, five boys grew to manhood despite hunger, war, and the mean streets of New York…
He survived war, and returned to devastation

A hero of the Irish Brigade, Shane MacDermott returned home to New York to find his family decimated and his world shattered.

She risks her life to save the people she loves
Lydia Daniels will risk anything to protect the women she shelters beneath the roof of her elegant Gramercy Park mansion—even if she has to trust the one man who can destroy her.

Shane and Lydia both harbor secrets that could destroy them – and put their lives in jeopardy. Can their love overcome their carefully guarded deceptive hearts?

Read an Excerpt HERE

A little bit about the author

I believe I was destined to be interested in history. One of my distant ancestors, Thomas Aubert, reportedly sailed up the St. Lawrence River to discover Canada some 26 years before Jacques Cartier’s 1534 voyage. Another relative was a 17^th Century “King’s Girl,” one of a group of young unmarried girls sent to New France (now the province of  Quebec) as brides for the habitants (settlers) there.

My passion for reading made me long to write books like the ones I enjoyed, and I tried penning sequels to my favorite Nancy Drew mysteries. Later, fancying myself a female version of Andrew Lloyd Weber, I drafted a musical set in Paris during WWII.

A former journalist and lifelong Celtophile, I enjoyed a previous career as a reporter/editor for a small chain of community newspapers before returning to my first love, romantic fiction. My stories usually include an Irish setting, hero or heroine, and sometimes all three. I'm the author of The Claddagh Series, historical romances set in Ireland and beyond. The first three books in The Claddagh Series, In Sunshine or in Shadow, Coming Home, and Playing For Keeps, are all available from Highland Press. Deceptive Hearts, the first book in The Wild Geese Series, has just been released, and Book II, Keeper of the Light,will soon be released from Highland Press.

I am a member of the Romance Writers of America, Hearts Through History Romance Writers, and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers. A lifelong resident of Montreal, Canada, I still live there with my own Celtic hero and our two teenaged children.

How can my readers buy your book?

Amazon   Barnes and Noble   Smashwords

The Book Depository   Books-A-Million

Find more information about Cynthia Owens:

Website   Facebook

Twitter   Amazon Author Page
 

AND THE WINNER IS...

...My hubby randomly chose a winner for the fabulous tote filled with autographed books. That winner is:

Not everyone's Mama

This winner has been contacted, and the prize will be mailed soon.

The Hot Summer Heroes Blog Hop was fun. The name of the winner of the Blog Hop's $100 Amazon Gift Card is
Dawna N. from  romancingthereader.com's blog

Congratulations!

Nancy Lee

WIN PRIZES during the Hot Summer Heroes Blog Hop

Win Fabulous Prizes* 

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My latest release is in ebook and print!

MY RELUCTANT HIGHLANDER is filled with heroes. All of them, even the married men, are HOT!

Here is an excerpt to give you an idea of what you can find in any of the books in my Highland Games Through Time series...

Here is a hot and spicy excerpt from My Reluctant Highlander

       “What?” Jake growled.

“The look on yer face…’tis disconcerting to someone familiar with your true nature. Yer eyes are feastin’ upon me, as if I were yer next meal.”

Suddenly in his arms, Skye shuddered with unease. Before her power rose to protect her, his palms slid down her arms, then cupped her hands in his.

“I don’t want you to use your magic on me again, so keep still.”

He had not raised his voice, but the message was clear; perfectly clear, until he lowered his mouth to hers. Skye’s first reaction was to protest yet he had pinned her with no way free.

Her animal’s warm hide steadied her back, and the pungent scent of dead leaves, moss covered tree trunks, and Jake, filled her nose.

With their hands clasped together, tingles rose up her arms, along her neck, and ended where their lips met. For a man who worked hard with hot iron, his lips were soft and moist. When the tip of his tongue forced its way into her mouth, she yielded to the pleasure. A soft murmuring surprised her.

‘Tis me?

Now available in ebook and print:

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iTunes      AllRomance       Smashwords 

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Connect with Nancy Lee Badger:

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This Romance Writers of America Conference Tote filled with Books and 'SWAG'! Tell me what you think of my excerpt, then hop over to the other blogs listed below to enter to win THEIR great prizes!

 

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by Nancy Lee Badger

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Nancy Lee Badger Interviews Molly Ann Wishlade

Debut author Molly Ann Wishlade stopped by all the way from her home near Cardiff, Wales! She answers a few personal questions. Desire in Deadwood is a historical western and is currently available for Total-E-Bound VIPs to buy and read but will be on general release on 30th August.

Now that I have taken my eyes off your book's cover, tell my readers a little bit about your book.  Desire in Deadwood is the story of Nate Hamilton and Evelyn Campbell who meet up in Deadwood after more than a decade of separation.

When did you start writing toward publication?  I always dreamt of being a published writer but I thought that it was one of those things that happens for others, not people like me. So, following University, I became a teacher then had two beautiful children. I was so busy being a mother and working that I didn’t have much time to think about being creative.
However, as my children got older, I felt that yearning to write building again. Only this time, it was stronger. I took a career break and tried writing a medical romance. I read lots of romances, plotted a story then wrote the first three chapters and a synopsis.
I submitted my manuscript to a major romance publisher then waited. I should have been finishing it then starting the next one but I didn’t. I procrastinated. A lot! When the rejection finally came, I wasn’t surprised. It just wasn’t the right time for me, I guess. Instead of having another go, I got myself another full time job at a different school and packed away my dream of writing, thinking I didn’t really have it in me.

However, a few years ago, when I met my husband and told him all about my dreams, something clicked. He really believed that I could do this and he encouraged me to go for it. His confidence boosted my own and inspired me to try again. He’s such a strong and determined man that with his support and faith in me, I felt more confidence in my ability than ever before.

I wrote, plotted, and submitted. There were rejections but they weren’t heartbreakingly negative. I even had several ‘revise and resubmits’ which gave me hope and encouraged me to persevere. My lowest point came just before Christmas last year when a Regency I’d submitted was rejected. I felt like throwing in the towel once again. Guess what? I didn’t. A dear friend of mine did a thorough critique of it and told me what the issues were but also what she loved about it. It was a steep but invaluable learning curve and it increased my determination. For Christmas last year my husband bought me a cover for my Kindle. It’s designed to look like a Victorian book cover and it has my name inscribed on the spine. On the inside front cover is a message which reads: This is your first book cover of many. You will be published! With support and encouragement like that, how could I fail to keep going?
Post-Christmas, a few lines just popped into my head and kept playing over and over:
“Take your clothes off.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Evelyn forced her mouth shut.
“So? What are you waiting for?”
Her eyes met those of the man on the moth eaten chaise longue in front of her. He was serious.

Within days, these evolved into a full plot and Desire in Deadwood was born! I submitted it to Total-E-Bound exclusively. And that, as they say, was that! 
Wow! So glad you kept at it, and had someone at your back! What is your writing routine like? As I teach fulltime, I try to write for at least an hour or two in the evenings - if I’m not too exhausted and as long as I don’t have piles of marking to do! I also grab time on the weekends. It’s difficult. I also want to spend time with my family. As my husband also teaches, we want to make the most of our time off. I am very lucky as he’s extremely understanding and he knows that when the writing bug bites and I’ve got something in my head, that I just have to get my laptop out and go for it! 
Having achieved your goal to be a published author, what is the most rewarding thing? Finishing my final edits and realizing that I was actually going to be published was amazing as was receiving my cover package from the wonderful Total-E-Bound team. I just get such a thrill seeing the book on the web and knowing that I wrote it. I don’t think that euphoria will ever go away.
Enjoy it, as you will your next book! Will you share some encouraging words for authors still struggling for that first contract? Never surrender your dreams. If you really want this – and you have to really want it or you won’t make it happen – then keep trying. You need to read lots, write lots and find some good critique partners, as well as a lovely editor who believes in your work. Don’t waste time procrastinating.
Please Share three fun facts about you that most people don’t know.
1)When I was eight, I had a pet mouse called Geronimo. When he died I was devastated so I buried him in a pretty little box with a clear plastic front cover. (It had previously held a letter writing set.)  Enclosed with him in the box was a note which read: Here lieth Geronimo, loveth by all. My Dad teased me about it for years!
2)I am obsessed with all things Tudor and will read just about anything I can get my hands on and even though I’ve read Anne Boleyn’s story time after time, it still fascinates me. I intend to write her story myself in the very near future…with a slightly new take on things. (Watch this space!) My husband recently took me to Hever Castle for my birthday and I cried all the way around the castle and gardens.
3)I have four bearded dragons. We wanted pets but because we work full time, we couldn’t have a dog. So we looked into it and decided that reptiles would be an alternative. They are bright, inquisitive and friendly creatures which enjoy interacting with the family.

All I have is a cat, but he is great company for my husband and I. What’s next for you?
I have just submitted my novel Harlot at the Homestead to Total-E-Bound and so I’m currently going through submission anxiety!  I guess I’d better get on with the next one to make the time pass more quickly.

BOOK BLURB
After more than a decade of separation, can Nate Hamilton really put aside his hurt and learn to forgive the woman who destroyed his life then help her to find her heart’s desire in Deadwood?
Deadwood, 1878, Nate Hamilton and his former sweetheart Evelyn Campbell meet up after more than a decade of separation.
When the widowed Evelyn discovers that her tuition post has fallen through, she is left destitute and concerned about how she will provide for her son, until Nate offers her a way to earn some money – and a way to exact his perfect revenge for her betrayal – he will pay her to be his own private whore.
The combination of past hurts, secrets and rekindled passion causes fireworks in and out of the bedroom!

EXCERPT
       Evelyn stood at her window in the Grand Central Hotel, looking out onto the street below. Dusk had fallen on the camp and the residents had lit their kerosene lamps which hung from their hooks like dead men in the breathless evening. By twilight, the camp seemed calm and even pretty with its gentle lighting and the dark shapes of the mountains as its backdrop. Maybe it was because she’d felt rootless for so long, or maybe it was because Nate was here, but Evelyn felt that she could settle in Deadwood; make it her home. Growing up she’d believed that her home would always be with Nate and she wished that she could believe that again, even if just for a moment. To have that security, that infallible awareness that she was with the man that destiny had chosen for her would still the pain in her heart and mind.
       She shrugged the thoughts away. No use crying over spilt milk. Nothing to gain from it. What was done was done and she had to pin her bloomers to her corset and get on with it, as her granny used to say.
       The main street teemed with people as miners returned to their lodgings to wash before supper; prospectors trudged heavily along the dry, potholed track to fall into a restless slumber filled with images of the gold pocket they’d find the next day and a few painted whores sidled up to passers-by to try to entice them into their establishments for whisky, gambling and a hot lay.
       She moved behind the curtain when Nate appeared, his long strides bringing him quickly in front of the hotel. He stopped as a man waved at him then joined him in the street. She thought she recognised the other man as the sheriff but she couldn’t be sure.
       “Mama?”
       Evelyn turned to her son.
       “Yes Aaron.”
       “Can I go downstairs?”
       She shook her head. “You know we talked about this.” Even though he was ten years old and tall for his age, she still fretted constantly for his safety.
       “But I’ll be careful. I just want to take a look around, see if …”
        His cheeks coloured.
       “You want to see if you can charm a cake off the cook, don’t you?”
       He looked down.
       “Well go on but don’t disappear. I’ll be down for dinner soon as I’ve changed.”
       Shaking her head, she watched as he grabbed his hat and ran to the door then turned and gave her a cheeky smile.
       She laughed and waved her hand. “Go on…before I change my mind!”
       As the door closed behind him, she turned back to the window, pressing her finger tips against the cool pane of glass. Nate was still deep in conversation with the other man.
       She was finding it hard to believe that she had come here to Deadwood and bumped into him after all this time. She had spent years thinking about him, dreaming about him and wanting him. But now that she’d been with him again, it wasn’t at all how she had imagined; he seemed like a stranger.
       His face was still handsome, his eyes still dark brown, but they were hard now and his forehead was lined as if he’d spent too long frowning in the sun.
       And he was angry with her. Still. She couldn’t blame him but she wished that she could go back in time and change things; stop herself walking into marriage to another man.
       But that was impossible.
       Her stomach rolled over as she thought of his final words to her that afternoon.
       “I’ll see you at the same time tomorrow.”
       She needed the money to support her and Aaron. She had no other means of keeping a roof over their heads. Her pride and conscience had seen to that.
       That was why she’d have to go. So why did the thought of seeing him again make her tingle all over?
MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I have always been an avid reader and writer of stories. My lifetime of reading has taken me from the magical worlds of The Faraway Tree and The Borrowers, to the Greek myths and legends, to the Sweet Valley High Twins and Judy Blume’s Forever, to Asimov’s science fiction and Jane Eyre’s torment and to Stephen King’s masterpieces. More recently I have wandered through the vivid historicals of Philippa Gregory; the bubbly, gritty delights of Adele Parks and the fast paced thrillers of James Patterson. I love getting lost in a novel and often regret finishing one as the characters are usually missed.

I also indulge my insatiable hunger for romance and passion in the delicious worlds created by romantic novelists and having published one and with another in submission, I’m about to begin the next one!

I adore spending time with my family, taking long walks (although I’m still waiting for the rescue greyhound to accompany me), cooking my own secret recipe curries, drinking Earl Grey (in copious amounts) and discovering delicious wines. Oh, and I love to ski and can’t wait to go again!
I’d love to hear from readers so please feel free to comment on my blog or to email me at mollyannwishlade@hotmail.co.uk You can find more information about Molly Ann Wishlade at:

BLOG         Twitter  

Facebook      Goodreads

How can my readers buy your book?  

Readers can go to the publisher’s home page HERE

 

and the Desire in Deadwood Buy Page HERE