BLOG HOP - Interview about Lynette Eason and meet some new authors

Are you ready to be introduced to some new authors through a Blog Hop? Never heard of a Blog Hop? It was new to me, too. Here’s how it works: I’m going to answer ten questions, then at the bottom, I’ll be adding links to several authors I’d like you to meet. 

Now, here are my Q&A:

What is the working title of your book?

Right now, I’m working on a couple of books. The first one is the second in the FAMILY REUNIONS series. The title hasn’t been settled on yet. This book is for the Love Inspired Suspense line. The other book I’m working on also doesn’t have a title yet. The working title is No One You Know. This book is for Revell and is due on Jan 2! Not sure when it will release, but am hoping for fall of 2013. This book kicks off a new series that I’m really excited about. I’ve had a great time researching the WITSEC program.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

My editor. She emailed me one day and said, “I have an idea for a book. You want it?” I said, “Sure.” So she emailed me the blurb and I took it from there.

What genre does your book fall under?

My books are Inspirational Romantic Suspense.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Maybe Eric Culver who plays Deeks on NCIS los Angeles. The female might be someone like Grace Park who plays Kona on Hawaii 5-0.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Summer Abernathy wakes one morning to find a gun pointed in her face, her husband missing and a short timeline to make things right before she’s killed.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

My books are published through traditional publishing houses, Harlequin and Revell. I think I might like to self-publish something one day, just to see if the money is any better, but it’s a lot of work to do it right. Not ready to go that route just yet.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I’m usually writing two books at the same time. Writing the Harlequin books don’t take as long – generally two to three months. I give myself 4 months to write them, though. The Revell books usually take the entire 7-9 months to write because of all the research that I have to do.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Library Journal compared one of my books to Suzanne Brockman and Sandra Brown. I laughed, but was flattered. Just to make it clear, my books are very chaste as far as sexual content as I write for the Christian market, however, there is quite a bit of violence that would probably make the books more along the lines of a PG-13 rating.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

Money. LOL. No, seriously, while the advance is motivating, I love what I do. Writing suspense/mystery is like figuring out a puzzle. I love it when all the pieces come together to form the big picture.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

If you love mystery, forensics, a bit of law and order, suspense and a touch of romance, then you’ll enjoy my books.

Next up on December 12th: 

Jessica Keller: www.jesskeller.wordpress.com

Linda Ford: http://lindaford.org/blog/

Sandra Orchard, author of Critical Condition, is here!

Sandra Orchard hails from Niagara Canada, but we first got to know each other in my home state, when we roomed together at the 2010 Writer’s Police Academy. 

We’re the smiling ones on either end of the pic, and in true cop form, we’ve smudged out the rest of the faces to protect their identities.
 

She likes to tell people that she’s been following in my footsteps ever since. She has three books out with Love Inspired Suspense and will debut with Revell Publishing in June 2013. And this month, we share the LIS shelf space.

Critical Condition is the third book in Sandra’s series, Undercover Cops: Fighting for justice puts their lives—and hearts—on the line. Deep Cover, the first book in the series won the 2012 Canadian Christian Writing Award and earned Sandra a spot on Family Fiction magazines top ten books of year in their Reader’s Choice Awards.

EVERYONE’S AT RISK

There's a murderer in the hospital, and nurse Tara Peterson is determined to prove it. With mysterious deaths in the cancer ward, anyone could be next. But no one wants to believe her…except undercover agent Zach Davis. The murderer wants Tara's suspicions silenced, permanently. To protect Tara, Zach lets her in on his secret, and unwittingly into his heart. Tara and her three-year-old daughter are like the family he lost years before. Zach will risk everything to keep them safe, no matter the cost.

What reviewers are saying about Critical Condition:

“4 ½ Stars. "Well-developed characters and fast-paced action will keep readers fully engaged in this wonderful tribute to spouses struggling with a loved one’s illness.” ~ Romantic Times

“5 stars. I can say that I am loving this series and hope it doesn't end with this book.” ~ Goodreads reader

Connect with Sandra Online:

Visit her website ~ www.SandraOrchard.com

Visit her personal blog ~ http://www.SandraOrchard.blogspot.com

Like her Facebook Page ~ www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard

Join her at Goodreads ~ bit.ly/Goodreads_SandraO

Tease from Critical Condition:

“What I’m about to tell you is for your ears alone. Understand?”

A flicker of confusion crossed her face, but she nodded. 

Zach glanced around to make sure no one was listening in. “My name is Zach Davis.”

Her gaze dropped to his hospital badge—Zach Reynolds—and she scooted closer to her daughter.

“I’m a cop, working undercover to investigate the deaths you reported.”

“You are?” she said excitedly. “Why didn’t Detective Gray tell me?”

“The fewer people who know, the less likely my cover will be compromised. You are the only one at the hospital who knows why I’m really here.”

“I won’t tell anyone…I promise. In fact, I can help you.”

“I’d appreciate that.” Tara’s inside knowledge could prove invaluable to closing this case quickly.

“Cop,” Tara’s daughter Suzie parroted. With the purple crayon clutched in her chubby fist, she drew a circle on her paper, jabbed dots in the middle, and scratched two lines from the bottom. “Dak, cop,” she repeated gleefully.  

Zach’s heart sank. This assignment had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.

Interview wiht Ginny Aiken - FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS - FREE BOOK!

Ginny, welcome to Infinite Suspense. So glad you could visit today. Like many of your fans, I love your books. Love the humor, love the fun, love the suspense in them! LOL. But anyway, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?

I am an alien—as my kids gleefully will tell anyone—a legal alien, since I was five and my parents fled Castro’s Cuba. I grew up in Venezuela, where I continued the ballet training I began at the age of three in Havana. As a total bookworm…well, while I wasn’t on pointe, practicing hours on end, I devoured books, and then wrote my first one at fifteen. Burned it when I got ‘smart’ at sixteen! I went to boarding school in Switzerland after high school, and received two university-level degrees while there. Came back to the US, went to college, married my college sweetheart, and had four wonderful sons. When I was pregnant with number three, however, I started writing again. Geoffrey being the…ahem...challenging child he was, I put the stories away while I was Mommy and freelance newspaper reporter, covering local government and the school board. But the writing bug wouldn’t let go, and when son number four turned eighteen months, I sold my first novel. I haven’t recovered from that bug yet, even after surviving four sons, various moves for my husband’s work, and twenty years in the publishing world. We currently live in Northwestern Indiana, and have an empty nest.

Tell us a little about your new release. Is it the first in a series or a stand alone?

For Such a Time as This is the launch title of my new Women of Hope series for FaithWords. This series is a group of ‘books of the heart’, and one of my favorite writing projects so far. Each plot is lifted from Scripture, with each heroine facing the same kind of challenges faced by the women back then, the only difference being the external details and the setting of the tales. For Such a Time as This is the story of Queen Esther, tweaked a bit to fit into the American West in the 1800s.

How did you get the inspiration for this book?

A reviewer of one of my earlier historicals made a perceptive comment years ago. She wrote that my book reflected the reality that Scripture remains relevant through all time since the problems people face are, when stripped down to the basics, the same—people are always the same. I began to ‘what if’ and The Women of Hope Series was born.

What kind of research did you do for this book?

This one was a little more difficult, since I wanted to reflect issues related to a Scriptural character. Not only did I have to do the usual mountain of historical research (which I love! Can’t wait to dive into all those obscure details every time I begin a new historical project) but this time, I also had to read a lot of commentaries on the original Bible story. Trust me, there’s been a TON written about Queen Esther, and so I absorbed all that material, let it marinate, as my agent calls it, and then put together a story that reflects many of the circumstances the Queen faced, and puts forth the themes in her tale.

What do you hope your readers will get out of the story?

I love Scripture, and turn to it all the time, especially when I face tough times in my life. I know the Lord will reveal Himself to me there, and the answers to my questions are already there. I hope my readers see how eternal the truths we see in the Bible really are. How we can trust it for our lives by seeing the examples presented there, the good examples as well as the bad.

Anything else about writing, yourself, or your books you’d like to add? Where can people find you?

I love to interact with my readers, especially on facebook! I’m also available by email at ginnyaiken@gmail.com, and I have a new website which will be launching in a few days. As soon as everything is finalized (should have been a couple of weeks ago, but due to a case of stolen identity and checking account fraud, everything related to our business accounts as well as personal ones have had to be put on hold, awaiting the end of the investigation) I will be making the big announcement on my facebook page. Hope to see y’all there! And you can let me know how you liked For Such a Time as This ;-)

All right everyone, here you have it. I read this book in one sitting! It’s fabulous. You will be transported straight into the past and into the lives of characters you’ll want to keep reading about. I’ll be giving away a copy to one lucky reader. Leave a comment or ask Ginny a question and you’ll be entered to win. Thanks so much for stopping by!