Welcome to The Next Big Thing
The authors I’ve tagged are:
M.A. Granovsky @MGranovsky
Michael Gunter @Michael_Gunter
Jeff Joseph @author_Jeff
Eryn LaPlant @erynalicia
James Moushon @jimhbs
Christina Tetreault @cgricci
Elizabeth Wilder
@eewilder
SuzannaWilliams
@suzannawriter
I hope you’ll visit their websites, read their books, and
follow them on Twitter. Their answers will be posted on their blogs on February 15, along with
the names of the authors they’ve tagged. Look for #BlogNextBigThing.
~*~
What is the working title of your next book?
 |
| MacKlenna Farm |
The Last MacKlenna
Where did the idea come from for the book?
The heroine in THE RUBY BROOCH is Kit MacKLenna. Her
godfather is Elliott Fraser. Elliott played his supporting role so well that he
got the next book, which was supposed to go to Braham McCabe, best friend to
the hero (Cullen Montgomery) in THE RUBY BROOCH.
 |
| MacKlenna Farm |
Elliott got his way for a couple of reasons. Braham’s
story is a Civil War story, which takes place during the same time frame as the
recently released movie LINCOLN. If I had known of the movie’s release, I might
have ignored Elliott’s demand. But at the time, all I heard was that Civil War
stories weren’t selling. The second reason is that I fell in love with Elliott
and had to write his story. Although this book isn’t part of the Celtic Brooch
Trilogy, it is a sequel to THE RUBY BROOCH.
The story is a romantic suspense about Dr. Elliott
Fraser, a fifty-year-old vet with as many emotional scars as physical ones.
When the story opens, he’s just been released from the hospital following a
fifth surgery on his leg. He’s on his way to Edinburgh for the holidays. He
gets news that there’s a problem with his $25,000,000 Thoroughbred who is returning
home to Kentucky after standing stud in New South Wales.
Meredith Montgomery is president of a 160-year-old winery
in Napa. The winery is intending to celebrate its anniversary with the release
a new label. Meredith discovers a lump and fears she might have another breast
cancer. While waiting for the pathology report, she is encouraged not to cancel
her genealogy trip to the National Archives in Edinburgh.
Elliott and Meredith met at a B&B owned by Elliott’s
long-time friends. They are enchanted with each other and spend the Christmas
holiday lost in a romantic adventure.
When Elliott’s horse is killed, he rushes back to his
farm. He invites Meredith to stop in Kentucky on her way back to California to
spend New Year’s Eve, but Elliott’s fears and stress push her away. She returns
home to face her own problems: cancer and the winery’s celebration.
The bond, however, that developed while they were in
Edinburgh pulls them back together, but that bond is stretched and twisted by
events that force them to deal with their misconceptions about what is most
important in their lives.
What genre does your book fall under?
Romantic Suspense
What actors would you choose to play the part
of your characters in a movie rendition?
Elliott Fraser – Mark Harmon
Meredith Montgomery – Diane Lane
David – Gerald Butler
Kevin – Michael Weatherly
Louise – Meryl Streep
Evelyn – Helen Hunt
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your
book?
I’ll give you two loglines. One
tells Meredith’s story and the other tells Elliott’s:
The president of a Napa Valley
winery has a detailed to-do list to follow to insure the successful launch of
her new vine but breast cancer and a handsome Scotsman complicate her life.
The CEO of a multi-million dollar Thoroughbred farm is
recovering from leg surgery when someone kills his prized stallion, which
jeopardizes his leg, his job, and ultimately his one shot at happiness with the
owner of a California winery battling breast cancer.
Will your book be self-published or
represented by an agency?
This story was very successful on the romance writers contest circuit,
garnering requests from agents and editors, but I’ve decided to self-publish.
How long did it take you to write the first
draft of the manuscript?
It probably took 4-6 months of writing time to get the
first draft on paper. But those months were spread out over a year while I
concentrated on the release and marketing of The Ruby Brooch.
What other books would you compare this story
to within your genre?
I’m a huge fan of both Elizabeth
Lowell and Sandra Brown. Their books are a delightful mix of romance and
suspense. I think THE LAST MACKLENNA is in the same vein.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The inspiration came from writing
Elliott into the story line of THE RUBY BROOCH.
What else about the book might pique the reader's
interest?
Meredith has breast cancer. When I started the story my
sister-in-law had been battling the disease for ten years. After finishing the
first draft, my other two sisters-in-law had mastectomies. At that point, the
story became even more personal and for a while, I couldn’t write. My
sister-in-law, Sally Manning, lost her courageous battle on October 29, 2012. This
book is dedicated to her valiant fight.
For pictures of Elliott's plane, his house in the Highlands, and Meredith's house in Napa, visit my Pinterest Board.
For pictures of Elliott's plane, his house in the Highlands, and Meredith's house in Napa, visit my Pinterest Board.
~*~
If
you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they
are again:
- Planning Events, Watching TV And Chatting About Products – How Do We Use Twitter? [STUDY] http://ow.ly/hg9wC
- 5 Parallelism Problems in In-Line Lists http://ow.ly/hgHz4 via Daily Writing Tips
- Self-Publishing and Traditional Publishing: Enjoy the Best of Both Worlds with @cjlyonswriter http://ow.ly/hgHVT via @janefriedman
- 3 Vs of Fiction: Voice http://ow.ly/hhaJo via @FictionNotes
- So You Want to Read Your Reviews… http://ow.ly/hhaRm via @elizabethscraig
- Considering Self-Publishing? Don't Bother, Unless You Follow Guy Kawasaki's Advice http://ow.ly/hhfhY
- Writing a Premise Statement http://t.co/jH42nb8d RT @janice_hardy
- Mandatory Reading http://ow.ly/hhj9d Reading sharpens writing
- Why I’m Choosing Indie Publishing http://ow.ly/hhjpa via @LizCLong
- Is That Even a Word? http://ow.ly/hie11 via Daily Writing Tips
- Is Your Book Going Free? Save Time & Submit It To The Top Free Sites On This Page http://ow.ly/higfe
- 30 Ways to Build the “Know, Like, and Trust” Factor that Grows an Audience http://ow.ly/higpX via @copyblogger
- What Happens if Bookstores Go Away? http://ow.ly/higAO via @bookgal
- 18 Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts http://ow.ly/hipAf Plus authors of the day @dagraystone (@myemily_thebook @eewilder
- Yes, Narrators Can Still Die: Part I http://ow.ly/hiuPO via @write_practice
- Using Short Stories to Drive Sales: http://t.co/alttzqbs @TalliRoland RT @elizabethscraig
- Commodity Publishing, Self-Publishing, and The Future of Fiction via @JaneFriedman http://ow.ly/hiwzG
- A + B = You (The Secret Equation Every Author Needs to Know) http://t.co/NRFWQXKw One way to describe your writing RT @evelyn_puerto:
- 10 Ways to Foster a Love of Reading http://ow.ly/hixlv via @JodyHedlund Excellent post!
I’m
always looking for great content to share. If you have a writing and/or
marketing blog, or have a favorite that you visit often, please leave a link in
the comment section. Thanks for stopping by.
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