Meet Anne Ashby

Today, it's my pleasure to introduce you to author Anne Ashby who will "interview" Shal Gregory, the hero of her book Wilderness Liaison.

Welcome, Anne. I'm so glad you stopped by. Please tell us about yourself. 

I grew up in the tiny township of Colac Bay, in New Zealand's most southern province, Southland. Books and my widowed mother's storytelling filled a huge part of our family life when I was young, mainly because it felt like we were the last family in New Zealand to get a television set. I guess I'm a chip of the ole block.

For years I was a closet romance reader. All through a very satisfying career with the Royal New Zealand Navy I dreamed of writing but never imagined those dreams might one day materialise.

Temporarily living in USA in 2000 I found the courage to attend a romance writing course - after all, no-one would know me there - instructed by multi-published Silhouette writer Loree Lough and my life changed forever. Not only did I throw open the 'romance' closet doors, but I wrote my first 100K story. I'd become a romance writer.

I'm so lucky my husband supports my writing ambitions. Both he and our four children are always ready to give me new ideas or supply the odd word or phrase that might be escaping me. Their help and encouragement is invaluable. Now, if only I could figure out how to convince them housework is great for the soul.

I have four books published with The Wild Rose Press with a fifth due out early 2013. New Zealand is normally the setting for my stories, if not my characters are New Zealanders.

  Meet Shal Gregory from Wilderness Liaison

Wilderness Liaison is a sensual contemporary romance published in print and digital format by The Wild Rose Press.

Back Blurb

The concrete jungle defines financier Shal Gregory. He thrives on the liveliness and sheer vitality of the fast paced business world. So how does he find himself alone in the thick of the New Zealand bush with a feisty guide who undoubtedly despises everything he stands for?

Jodie Mathieson’s devotion to the wilderness fulfills her. She isn’t prepared for an intimate liaison with a man who clearly does not share her love of the great outdoors. But the sparks between them ignite and soon scare Jodie into flight.

Bewildered but determined, Shal tracks Jodie down and resolutely embarks on a course to convince her that having some differing life goals isn’t enough to keep them apart.

But can Jodie ignore past experiences? Dare she believe him?

Excerpt

"Last night was a mistake," Jodie began, refusing to make eye contact as her waved arm encompassed the room behind them.

"A mistake?" Shal's voice had dropped. "It didn't feel like a mistake to me."

"Well it was, and it won't be happening again."

Although she tried, she couldn't shake off Shal's fingers as they grasped her chin and forced her to look at him.

"What?" he frowned, "I don't understand."

Jodie tried to look away from his confusion, but his hold on her chin tightened.

"Talk to me, damn it. What's wrong?"

You are, she wanted to scream at him. You're all wrong for me, nothing like the man I'd want in my life. But she swallowed the truth along with her panic and prayed her voice sounded calm. "Like I said, last night was a mistake. It shouldn't have happened."

He was silent for so long, Jodie wondered if he was ever going to reply. His dark eyes swept the vista in front of the cabin before returning to drill into hers.

"Your head might be telling you that," he murmured, "but you're body's saying something quite the opposite." Mesmerised she watched his eyes drop to her neck. "I can see your pulse beating, Jodie - it's racing--"

"Only cos I'm angry."

Shal's hands cupped her face and his fingers slid up through her hair. "You're not angry, Jodie," he whispered, his lips tantalisingly close. "You're aroused."

Unconsciously her dry lips opened, her tongue flicking across them. She felt an exhilarating sense of power when a groan escaped him as his mouth captured hers, demanding, and getting a response.

Shal clutched her shaking body. "Last night was fantastic. Don't spoil it by denying that."

Feeling herself falling deeper and deeper into a hole, Jodie somehow gained the strength to yank herself away from his touch.

 

 And now Anne treats us to an exclusive interview with Shal Gregory:

Good morning Shal, thanks for joining me today. As you know we are compiling an article about using New Zealand’s wilderness as a way to build team spirit, particularly with city based businesses. Thanks for agreeing to participate. But first would you tell us a little about yourself. What do you do for a living?

(throwing himself into a chair with an audible sigh of impatience) I’m the CEO of Gregory Financial Services

And you’d rather be anywhere else but here with me now?

Frankly, yes.

Then why consent to this interview?

My father felt it was worthwhile step and persuaded me to participate.

I understand it was your father’s idea for you to attend the Mathieson exercise? Do you always do what your father tells you to do?

(back stiffens and eyes narrow) My father has just recently retired as CEO due to ill health. He retains an interest in our company and suggested team building could enhance our productivity. I happened to agree with him.

Well thank you for that. I appreciate your valuable time

(gives a stiff nod)

What was your response when your father suggested you should be included with the staff training?

I was against participating personally. My inclusion was to merely show the staff we were looking at this venture seriously.

You felt you needed no ‘team-building’ training? You don’t believe you’ve learnt anything from the experience?

(shifts in his seat and for a moment refuses to make eye contact) It may have been of some benefit to me personally.

You objected strongly when a woman was placed in charge of the tramp? Why? What happened to cause this attitude?

An incident in my youth.

Would you care to share a little detail? My readers might consider you a chauvinist if you don’t elaborate.

(with reluctance) My best friend drowned in a sailing exercise. He could have been saved if the adult in charge hadn’t lost her head.

Oh, that’s dreadful. At least now I understand why you objected so strongly when Jodie was brought in. Do you still harbour concerns about women in charge? How do you think Jodie coped in this instance?

Jodie is an exception. She was more than capable of dealing with each emergency as it arose.

I understand your feelings for Jodie gradually changed.

(a slight shift in position in his chair) Who wouldn’t be impressed with the way she responded to all of us, and to what the environment threw at us.

What made you volunteer to accompany Jodie to find the injured deer stalker? I understand there was tension between you at the time.

Jodie clearly could not go alone. It was obvious I was the one who should accompany her.

You weren’t concerned about the heated argument you’d just had?

A man’s life was at stake.

Yes, well, of course. You took almost two days to find that deer stalker. Did your relationship with Jodie develop during that time?

(leans forward and eyeballs interviewer with narrowed eyes) Look, we were moving through dense bush as quickly as we could. We barely stopped. Yes, my attitude toward her changed during those two days. Jodie Mathieson’s strength and determination blew me away. I have never met anyone like her. She has my highest regard.

By the time of the rescue and your arrival at that cabin, things had changed between you I believe?

(glaring) Jodie had hurt her back, she could hardly move. Of course things changed. She needed help and care.

You must have enjoyed the role of provider and protector after being in a subservient role up until then.

I never considered it subservient. Jodie was the expert in a field I knew little about. (left eyebrow rises) A good man manager knows how to utilise his staff to their full potential.

Did the unusual layout of the cabin affect you? I’m very interested in what happened at the cabin, what you did to fill…

Our time in the cabin has nothing to do with the team building exercise.

But I’m sure our readers would love to know how…

I am not talking about the cabin. (begins to rise) In fact I think this interview is over.

No, no no Shal. Please sit down. I understand. The cabin and what happened there is off limits.

(glare could freeze water at the equator)

So you consider the course was worthwhile for you personally?

(shrugs)

After all, through it you did meet Jodie. Are you staying in touch? Have you seen her, spoken to her since your return to Auckland?

(fists clench white around the chair arms) I don’t know where she is. I can’t find her.

But surely you got her contact details?

She left to visit her friend in hospital earlier than I expected.

So you don’t actually know where Jodie is? Are you intending to look for her, find her? It sounds to me she might not want to see you?

I’ll find her. She can tell me to my face she doesn’t want to see me. (mutters under his breath) instead of running off in the dead of night.

Are you sure…

(interrupts) What do you mean seen Jodie since my return to Auckland? (jumps to his feet) Have you interviewed Jodie for this article too? Where is she? (grabs interviewer’s arm). Do you know where she is? Tell me? (fingers tighten)

Shal, please. Mr Gregory, let go of me! I think that’s quite enough information today. Thank you for your time.

Where is she? (stalks after retreating interviewer) If you think I’m going to let you go without telling me where she is…

Find the answers to these and many more questions in WILDERNESS LIAISON available at all major online book sellers.

The Wild Rose Press:        http://goo.gl/rl2D2

Amazon:                           http://goo.gl/Dg08q

GoodReads:                     http://goo.gl/u2uIj

Find Anne Ashby Here

Website:                                  www.anneashby.com

Facebook:                               www.facebook.com/AuthorAnneAshby

Twitter:                                    www.twitter.com/AuthorAnneAshby

Anne, thanks so much for stopping by and letting us listen in on that interesting interview. Shal sounds like quite a guy.

Disappointment

We all experience disappointment from time to time. A rejection letter from an editor, not getting the promotion we wanted, being turned down for a date, our favorite team losing the World Series.

How we deal with disappointment reveals our character. A rejection letter can do one of two things. It can galvanize us into sending our manuscript out again—“I’ll show that editor/agent”—or it can stop us in our tracks. How could someone say my baby is ugly? We can wallow in self-pity and dejection, determined not to get hurt again. That cute guy makes up a lame excuse not to go to the prom with us. (Hey, it’s a new world. Girls don’t sit around waiting. We can ask guys out.) So, what do we do? Sit home and mope or go with a friend and have a great time? When that job we wanted goes to someone else, we can double our efforts to make sure The Powers That Be recognize our worth or bad mouth the person (not nearly as talented as we are, of course) who got the position—or quietly look for a job with another company.

Then, there’s the Detroit Tigers. The euphoria I felt when they became the American League champions—sweeping the Yankees—started slipping when they lost the first game in San Francisco. Okay, I said, they’ll come back in the second game. My optimism waned with each loss, but I didn’t give up hope. They’ll do it in Detroit. Only they didn’t it. You know how guys yell at the television during football games? Well, that’s me during baseball. The groans, the moans—you’d think I was giving birth. I could blame the refs (only their bad calls sometimes helped my team). Blame it on the nasty weather. What happened to the high 70s while the Tigers were in Frisco? Besides, the wind carried one Tiger ball right into the stands for a homer. The play-by-play announcers certainly blasted the players enough. Blaming the manager or players doesn’t make me feel better. It makes me feel like a grump—which is why I didn’t write this post last night. I’m trying real hard to keep thinking “better luck next year”—it's not easy.

For the players, I can’t imagine how disappointed they must be. Notice, I didn’t say devastated. Devastated is when you lose your job or fire destroys your home. Devastated is what the people on the East Coast will be when Hurricane Sandy takes away everything they own, leaving unimaginable destruction in its wake.

There’s a lot of truth in the adage that which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Some days, don’t you want to say, hey, I’m strong enough? So, we writers will keep subjecting ourselves to rejection by sending out those manuscripts. Someone will eventually recognize our brilliance. <g> We will apply for positions in the hopes that we’ll land the right one. We won’t let one guy (who wasn’t good enough for us anyway) stop us from asking another to the prom. We’ll have high hopes for next year for our favorite team. Or, maybe, we’ll use our disappointment as fodder for blog posts.

How do you deal with disappointment?

 

Meet Tracy Brogan

I’m so happy to introduce you to a fellow Mid-Michigan RWA chapter member and debut author, Tracy Brogan. Tracy is a two-time RWA Golden Heart® finalist. This prestigious contest is for unpublished writers and finaling often leads to publishing contracts, as Tracy well knows.

Welcome, Tracy. Please tell us about yourself.

Thanks for inviting me to visit your blog, Diane! It’s a pleasure to be here. I am a two-time RWA Golden Heart® finalist who writes fun and breezy stories about ordinary people finding extraordinary love, and also stirring historical romance full of political intrigue, damsels causing distress, and the occasional man in a kilt.  As a Michigan native, I’m one of those people who points to the palm of my hand to show where I live.  I have one bemused husband, two very dramatic daughters, and two dogs, one of which is brilliant, the other of which is not-so-very brilliant.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I didn’t choose writing. Writing chose me, and I’ve done it all my life. I dabbled with historical manuscripts on and off for years but when my youngest daughter started school I realized it was time to get serious. I wrote my first book that year and it was the first one I’d actually completed. It debuted on October 23^rd, but it went through a lot of changes and I encountered a lot of growing pains as a writer while working to get it published. And it’s contemporary. I never imagined I’d write a contemporary. I’m not sure where it came from.

How long does it take you to write a book?

There is much banging of the head against the desk when I am writing, and an inordinate amount of “pre-thinking.” I am a plotter of the highest order and cannot start writing until I know my characters thoroughly. When I finally start getting things on “paper” I can write pretty fast but the weeks (months!) leading up to that are agony. Those people who can sit down and draft a novel in a couple of weeks – without knowing the ending first – those people make me want to throw myself down an open elevator shaft. I am jealous of their ability.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Think about writing.

LOL I know what you mean. What does your family think of your writing?

My family is incredibly supportive. Last weekend I went to hotel alone, just me and my laptop, to get some writing done and my husband took care of the kids. He’s more excited about my books getting published than I am! Well, maybe not more, but equally excited. And my kids will get off the school bus and say, “What was your word count today, Mom?” because they know if I met my goal, everyone will have a more pleasant evening!

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I’ve completed two, CRAZY LITTLE THING, which just got released, and HIGHLAND SURRENDER, which comes out December 4th. I’m currently finishing up HOLD ON MY HEART, another romantic comedy, which is scheduled for release in June, 2013.  It’s so hard to say which is a favorite! SURRENDER lived in my head for more years than I care to admit. CRAZY is the book that got me an agent and a publisher. And HEART is the one I’m immersed in now, so I love them all equally even though they each mean something different to me.

What do you think makes a good story?

I want to be engaged with the characters emotions. I don’t care if there are bombs blowing up, a mystery to be solved, a werewolf to tame, I want to know how the characters FEEL. A simple exchange between two characters sitting at a coffee shop can be just as riveting to me as a chase scene as long as I can “see” what they’re feeling. Donald Maas has this great explanation (and I’m paraphrasing) but he says when your character is being chased by a panther, it’s not the chase that has your attention. It’s the tension.  And a good writer can create tension with just about anything as long as the character has a reason to feel it.

What is the best part of writing for you?

I adore brainstorming a new story. That’s the most fun part. But the most satisfying part so far has been typing The End and sending my story off to my editor. This has been a huge year of ‘first times’ for me so each part is exciting. I got my first ARC’s (Advanced Reading Copy) and my first reviews and had my first release day. It’s all good right now. I feel VERY lucky.

What are some jobs you've done that would end up in a book?

My husband is an emergency medicine physician and so is the hero in my book. This being the case, I cannot convince my husband that the hero is not based on him. I can assure you, though, the job is where the similarity ends. <g> 

What two authors would we find you reading when taking a break from your own writing?

Oh, I can’t pick just two because it depends on what kind of mood I’m in. So I’m going to cheat and list a bunch. Kristin Higgins and Jennie Crusie are my probably my two favorite contemporary writers. Reading a Higgins book feels like visiting old friends. You just know you’re going to laugh and have a good time.

For historical writers, my new favorite is Cecelia Grant. Her voice is so bold and confident and original. I’d like to live inside one of her books. I also think Joanna Bourne has an incredible talent for creating a deep point-of-view from the character. I’m always immersed in her world when I read her books. And Kieran Kramer is another recent find for me. Her books are so fun and clever with just the right combination of light and depth. I’ll stop there but I have several more authors I adore.

Tell us about your latest book.

I have a dual-personality. My debut novel, CRAZY LITTLE THING, is pure, beachy-read fun. Here's the blurb:

If Sadie Turner is good at anything, it’s putting stuff in order. So when she finds her “perfect” life in disarray, she hopes a summer vacation at her aunt’s lake house will help her piece it back together. She wants to relax, reboot, and heal the wounds left by her cheating ex-husband. And that requires time away from men. All men. 


Or so she thinks. 

With two slobbering dogs and two cousins living there—one a flamboyant decorator intent on making over Sadie—it’s hard to get a moment’s peace at eccentric Aunt Dody’s house, especially with everyone so determined to set her up with Desmond, the sexy new neighbor. 

Desmond is Sadie’s worst nightmare. Tall, tanned, muscular…and to top it off, he’s great with her kids. But he must have a flaw—he’s a man—so Sadie vows to keep her distance.

CRAZY LITTLE THING is available digitally and in print at Amazon:
http://amzn.com/1612186009

My historical, HIGHLAND SURRENDER, has more depth and the plot is significantly more complex. I love writing in both genres because while writing contemporary, I can exorcise my sense of humor (yes, I do mean exorcise as opposed to exercise J) but my natural writing voice leans more toward historical. Plus I adore history. 

BLURB:

To seal a fragile truce, Fiona Sinclair’s brothers trade her in marriage to their sworn enemy. Though devastated by their betrayal, she has little choice in the matter, for if she refuses, her innocent young sister must take her place. The spirited Fiona is willing to sacrifice her freedom to protect her kin, but she vows never to surrender her heart. 

As the eldest son of a clan chief, Myles Campbell is accustomed to having his own way. But when the king of Scotland commands he wed a defiant Highland lass instead of a French mademoiselle, Myles must obey his royal duty. Meeting his bride for the first time on their wedding day, he is pleased to discover the lass is a beauty, but she quickly proves she’d just as soon kill him as kiss him.

When two such warrior spirits collide, sparks fly, igniting a fiery passion that strains against the bonds of family honor, clan loyalty— and the ultimate surrender—love.

HIGHLAND SURRENDER will be available digitally and in print on December 4th: http://amzn.com/1612186963

My latest book, HOLD ON MY HEART, blends history into a contemporary setting. It’s the story of a career-driven woman who loses her job and her fair-weather boyfriend and has to move back in with her parents. She agrees to help her father realize his dream of opening a vintage ice cream parlor in an old, abandoned one-room schoolhouse. Enter a sexy historical building restoration specialist who is estranged from his pre-teen daughter and you have the set up for a history lesson in good, old-fashioned romance! HOLD ON MY HEART will be released in June, 2013.

Where can readers find you?

http://www.facebook.com/AuthorTracyBrogan

http://www.tracybrogan.com/

Amazon author page

Tracy has graciously offered to give away a copy of either CRAZY LITTLE THING or HIGHLAND SURRENDER to one lucky commenter. Be sure to leave your email address.

Thanks so much for being here, Tracy. Much success on both your books.

Busy Week

Great week, last week. The Detroit Tigers are in the World Series. Yay!

This is going to be a fun week. Instead of my usual Monday Morning Musing, I'm going to give you the links where I'll be.

Along with other authors this week, I'll be at Nancy Gideon's Haunted Open House.

Come on over for fun, games, trivia, gifts. Authors stopping by with great excerpts of their latest and greatest. <g> And some of us will be in costume. Tell me what you think of my Alex Trebek imitation from Mid-Michigan RWA's Retreat From Harsh Reality's "Author Jeopardy."

Plus, giveaways.

Did you see GIFTS? I'll be giving away a Smashwords coupon for a FREE digital download (for any e-reader) of Switched, Too to a lucky commenter.   All you have to do is leave a comment and your email address.

On Thursday, come on back here to Meet Tracy Brogan who will chat about her debut novel and what's up for this talented author.

And, also on Thursday, if you aren't too tired of bopping all over the 'Net, stop over at Laurie's Paranormal Thoughts & Reviews, where I'll give away a Smashwords coupon for a FREE download of either Switched or Switched, Too to a lucky commenter who comments on the artists on my Ipod (actually, a generic MP3 player--I'm cheap).

I'll leave messages each day on my Facebook page http://facebook.com/dianeburtonauthor 

Busy, busy. Fun. Fun. Fun.