Today we have contemporary romance author Regina West chatting her debut novel, The Long Way Home. The story is set in her hometown in North Carolina (with a name change, of course.) I love homecoming stories. This one involves a horse farm and a sexy handyman with a dark past. My kind of story! Enjoy!
~Mia
~*~
Interview questions for Regina West…
Quick round:
Coffee,
tea or…what’s your vice?
Coffee, for sure. And none of that powdered creamer
crap, either. Only half-and-half will do.
Favorite
Movie:
The
Matrix. I loved its exploration of the human mind and the
concept that our world could be nothing more than an illusion. Plus, Trinity
was just badass, and I always love a strong female character.
Favorite
Color: Purple
Favorite
book/author:
My favorite book is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. But my favorite author
is Kresley Cole. I LOVE her Immortals After Dark series.
How
do you feel about bacon?
I like bacon on stuff like sandwiches and burgers.
With my eggs, however, I prefer sausage (no euphemism intended).
The REAL questions…
Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m originally from North Carolina but live in
Denver now. I was a military wife for ten years and have lived lots of places,
including Hawaii, which is just as awesome as you imagine it is. My two boys,
ages 10 and 15, like the crazy snow we get here in Colorado, whereas I prefer to
hide inside from September until May. The fact that it’s incredibly beautiful
here makes it all worth it, though.
I have a day job in an IT department at a non-profit
organization. I also do some freelance editing for self-pubbed authors and part-time
editing for my publisher, a job I got after they saw how clean my manuscript
was. And somewhere in the middle of all that, I write. And sleep. J
What’s
under your bed?
Believe it or not, nothing but dust bunnies. I’m
fortunate to have enough storage space that I can keep it pretty clean under
there.
What
comes first, plot or characters?
It varies, actually. I’ve thought of scenes or
scenarios, and then developed plot from there. I’ve gotten snippets of dialogue
or imagined the way a character looks and formed the rest myself. The Long Way Home came about because of real
events in my personal life. I get a spark of inspiration and run with it.
Pantser,
plotter, or hybrid? Tell us about your writing process.
I’m definitely a plotter. I outline (although I will
stray from it), and I write chronologically from beginning to end. Both habits
developed when I began to edit The Long
Way Home and realized what a pain it was to go back and try to fit all the
puzzle pieces together.
 |
| Yes, I see the owl face! |
Oddest
thing on your desk?
I have this really cool glass paperweight that a dear
friend gave me. If you look at it just right, it looks like an owl’s face. That
sucker is heavy too; you could hurt someone with it.
What’s
your most interesting writing quirk?
I get ideas anywhere and everywhere. I have a
notepad app on my phone full of ideas. Same on my iPad. I’ve written ideas down
on napkins while driving on the freeway (I don’t recommend this), and I have a
dozen journals all over my house. On the internet, I found this really cool
waterproof pad for the shower!
Isn’t that awesome? I’m dying to order one.
I have lost brilliant ideas because I was somewhere,
like the shower, and couldn’t write them down. I hate that. HATE it!
What’s
your favorite thing about the genre you write in?
Romance is just plain fun. I love to read it, and I
love to write it. I love all the happily-ever-afters, the exploration of human
relationships, and I especially love the smexy bits.
What
is the hardest thing about being an author?
Trying to sell my book is excruciatingly difficult.
The publishing industry seems to be in a state of constant flux, so that what
worked once doesn’t work anymore. I have no idea how to reach the broader
market to tell them about my book.
What’s
the easiest thing about being an author?
I love the community of writers. Many of us struggle
with the same stuff, but we’re willing to share what we’ve learned about both
writing and marketing. It’s nice not to have to navigate the waters alone.
What
do you wish someone had asked you for an interview question? Here’s your chance
to get the soap box out!
I wish someone would ask me to defend the romance
genre. Why are non-romance readers so surprised when they read a romance novel
and actually enjoy it? The fundamentals that make every novel enjoyable – fully-realized
characters and fast-paced plot – are present in the best romance novels. Many
combine action and adventure or mystery, too. As with most genres, the
assumption is that the bottom of the barrel is a reflection of the entire
genre, and it’s just not true.
Blurb
for The Long Way Home…
Twilah Dunn has it all—an exciting
life in Los Angeles and a thriving ad agency she owns with her fiancé. Then she
learns that her estranged father has died and her business partner is sleeping
with her best friend. In one day, her perfect life unravels and the city she
calls home is now anything but.
She returns to her hometown in North
Carolina determined to sell her father's horse farm in order to buy back her
business from her cheating fiancé. But when she sees the farm’s dilapidated
state, she can’t bear the thought of selling it that way. Against all reason,
she puts her fast-paced, metropolitan life on hold and hires local cowboy Aidan
Perry to help restore the farm to its former glory. She’s heard the rumors of
his dark past, and she’s wary of mixing business with pleasure—again. But soon
she can’t keep her mind, or her hands, off of him.
Can Twilah
push through her fear and love Aidan? Will his past prove too dangerous? Has
she really left LA behind or will it continue to haunt her? For some, the path
is straight and narrow, but others take the long way home.
Available on Amazon
~*~
Excerpt
for The Long Way Home...
“Can I ask you something?” Twilah said then, her
shoulders relaxed for the first time since Aidan got there, the grease still
smudged across her forehead.
“I suppose so.”
“I saw you a couple of weeks ago over at the Tar
& Feather. Do you remember that?”
He frowned, wary of where this was going. “Yeah, I
remember.” For God’s sake, how could he forget?
She ran her dainty fingers through her long blonde
hair as she sifted through her thoughts. Then she stood to her full height, her
eyes on his, and squared her shoulders. “I am not my father. Make sure you
remember that.”
No kidding. “Somehow I don’t think you’re gonna let
me forget. See you, Ms. Dunn.”
As he backed out of the driveway, he stole a glance
at one of the few women who had ever surprised him. She was in over her head,
that was for sure, and she needed him, a fact she hadn’t denied. She needed
him.
~*~
More
about Regina West...
Regina
West comes from a long line of romance readers. Anytime her mother and
grandmother had a moment of quiet, they immersed themselves in whatever
paperback romance they’d picked up that week. So it is fitting that Gina has
chosen romance as her favorite genre for both reading and writing.
She
grew up in North Carolina, spent a few years moving around the U.S., but has
settled in beautiful Colorado. She spends her days working for a non-profit
organization and her evenings hanging out with her two smartypants boys. In the
middle, she manages to squeeze in writing, editing, classical guitar and
knitting. Currently, she’s working on a six-book paranormal romance series.
One day, she hopes to leave winter behind forever
and retreat to Tahiti to live in a yurt and while away the hours writing and
sipping umbrella drinks.
Connect
with Regina West on the Web!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GinaWestAuthor
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/reginawestromanceauthor
Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007571805682
Thanks for stopping by!
1 comment:
Thank you, Mia! You asked great questions.
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