Welcome back, Susan. What
genre do you write and why?
I write the genre I love to read—epic romantic adventure! Give
me a great story about a hero and heroine trying to survive trouble (and the occasional
bad guy!)
If you were to choose
one superpower, what would it be?
FLYING. For sure.
Do you ever get stuck
when you’re writing a book? What do you do to get unstuck?
Yes, of course. It’s usually because I don’t know what the
immediate problem of my character is or what the stakes are in the scene. In
order to get unstuck, I call my writing partner, Rachel Hauck, and we talk
through what the character wants now, and why, what happens if they don’t get
it, and what obstacles can we throw in the way! That usually sparks my
imagination.
What is your least
favorite part of writing?
PROOFING. I am the worlds worst proofer. And, by that time,
I’ve read the book so many times, I’m tired of it!
I know what you mean.
I’m good at proofing, but by the time I reached the fourth, and last, book in
my first series, I was sick of the setting. If we came to your house for
dinner, what would you prepare for us?
Fajitas. Or maybe my homemade pizza.
Yum. They both sound good. What is your typical day like?
I’m up around 6:30 and if it’s summer, I take a walk. If not
then I do some stretching, then I make coffee and have my quiet time. Then I
look at my schedule for the day using my writing planner (shameless plug! http://www.mybrilliantwritingplanner.com).
I budget my time in time blocks, so my first time block is from 9am-noon, and
usually I do business work – marketing, newsletters, emails, finances, etc. My
next block is 1-3, and usually that is my first writing block. My last time
block is 3:30-5:30 and often write at that time, also. (I try for about 2500 words per writing
block). We eat dinner at 6ish, then the
rest of the evening I hang out with hubs. I usually go to bed around 9pm and
read for an hour. Not a super exciting
day, but I like it.
Maybe I need to order
one of those planners. What is most difficult for you to write? Characters,
conflict, or emotions? Why?
I think emotions are always the most difficult. It’s hard to
dig deep and find exactly the right emotion for your character, so usually that
takes a couple passes. I will often lay down the foundation and structure for
the scene, then go back and add in storyworld, mood and finally nail the
emotion of the character.
How likely are the
people you meet going to end up in your next book?
Somewhat. Strangers, tho—I don’t put friends in my books. I
often will put people I meet on airplanes, or while travelling. I enjoy hearing
their stories, and since I don’t know them, I can use pieces of them if I were
to have a story idea.
Tell us about your
hero. Give us one of his strengths and one of his weaknesses.
My hero is my husband. He is kind, patient, a listener,
deeply cares for others, an amazingly hard worker, knows how to have fun and
laugh and loves the Lord. I’m so blessed to be married to him.
Please give us the text on the first page of your first
chapter.
“Tate, this is a bad idea.” Knox said it in his big-brother
voice, but Tate hadn’t a hope of hearing him over the cheers as he walked into
the straw-padded arena under the hanging lights of the beer tent toward the
mechanical bull.
His renegade brother nailed the rough-edged charm of a cowboy,
complete with his faded jeans, a black Stetson over his dark brown hair, a
scrape of off-duty dark whiskers, dusty boots, and a swagger that suggested
he’d been born on a bull.
Tate always did know how to put on the game to charm the
ladies.
The organizers of the after-hours entertainment of NBR-X, the professional bull-riding tour, knew their
crowd—beer-gesturing, cowboy-hatted rowdies who spent the evening watching
young men pit their lives against angry, thousand-pound animals hoping to crush
their rider into the dirt or against the rodeo boards.
The scent of blood spilled today turned wannabe cowboys into
daredevils.
The crowd knotted around the circle, shouting smack and
laying bets for or against Tate’s success. The ruddy rodeo aroma—horsehide,
dust, hay, and plenty of craft beer—only added to the trouble brewing in Knox’s
gut.
Probably Tate would survive. Knox had seen Tate ride—had
taught him how to stay on the back of a real bull, and frankly, a smart man
would ante up a Ben Franklin to the bookmaker collecting cash in an oversized
boot.
But Knox worked too hard for his cash, and to his knowledge,
Tate hadn’t been on a bull in years.
“C’mon, Tate, let’s go,” Knox said, a last-ditch effort to
put a halt to the crazy. But when Tate got something in his head, he
practically turned into one of those bulls in the nearby barn. Red-eyed,
focused, and lethal.
The crowd exploded with fervor when Tate handed his red Solo
cup to a blonde wearing a hot-pink Bull Riders Know How to Hang On T-shirt. When
she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him to herself for a quick good luck
kiss, Knox just wanted to shake his head.
He should probably hightail it out of the Tent-o’-Trouble
and back to his room at the Hyatt where he could take a shower and whisk off
the grime that seemed to hover in the air.
Tell us about your
next book and when is it being published?
The next book out is TATE, book 2 in the Montana Marshall
series, out in July! I can’t wait for people to meet this amazing hero, a
bodyguard who must save the woman he loves.
I will want to
feature it on my blog too.
Where can my readers find you online.
Thank you, Susie, for
sharing this new book with me and my blog readers. I’m eager for my copy to
arrive.
Readers, here are links to the book.
Knox - Christianbook.comKNOX: The Montana Marshalls - an inspirational romantic suspense family series
- Amazon.com
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