Latest Book: Her Kind of Man is on sale for 25% off at http://www.lachesispublishing.com/proddetail.asp?prod=HerKindofMan Use this code: Her-Kind-of-Man-25-percent-discount
Video trailer for The Sentence at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XWO8TF3g-A&context=C4d2f9aeADvjVQa1PpcFNYueHnND3JobnsxOP6SrVujaf3f42uQEQ=
BIO:
Elaine Cantrell was born and raised in South
Carolina where she obtained a master’s degree in
personnel services from Clemson University. She is a member of Alpha Delta Kappa, an
international honorary society for women educators, Romance Writers of America,
and EPIC authors. Her first novel, A New
Leaf, was the 2003 winner of the Timeless Love Contest. When she’s not writing or teaching, she enjoys
movies, quilting, reading, and collecting vintage Christmas ornaments.
Q: What’s the first thing you did when you received word you’d sold a book?
A: I was dipping some ice cream when the phone rang. I picked it up and almost passed out because the publisher from Oak Tree Press was on the line. I had entered a manuscript in the Timeless Love contest which is sponsored each year by Oak Tree. Ms. Johnson was calling me to tell me I’d won. I almost floated to the living room to tell my husband, totally forgetting that I had left an entire carton of ice cream sitting on the cabinet. By the time I remembered it, I had a dreadful mess to deal with. Know what? I didn’t even care. We celebrated later in the week by going out to dinner, but I don’t remember much about the dinner. I always think about the ice cream.
Q: What part of the book is the easiest for you to write? Why?
A: Beyond a doubt, the beginning is the easiest for me. When I start a new book, I’m totally energized and motivated. I’m so excited that I can’t type fast enough to get the words down. It’s like there’s a whole new and wonderful world in my head just waiting for me to give it life. And it’s exciting to meet new characters too. As an author you live with these guys for a long time as you write their story. They become friends which is always exciting.
Q: What part of the book is the hardest for you? Why?
A: For me, the hardest part of any book is writing descriptive passages. I know that writers can engage their readers with description, but I’ve read some books that had beautiful descriptive passages and were so boring. It’s hard for me to know just exactly how much detail is necessary. I tend to under write details so my editors have to take me in hand later and make me write more.
Q: Who is your favorite character in your book and why?
A: Yikes! That’s like asking a mother to pick a favorite child. The character that stayed with me the longest is Richard Lovinggood from Return Engagement. I guess Richard is my fantasy man. He’s an alpha male who’s putty in the hands of his Elizabeth. Richard is decisive, impulsive, passionate, reckless, and maybe just a teeny bit dangerous. Life with him would never be boring and mundane. He makes an adventure out of even something trivial like a trip to the beach. If you haven’t read about his and Elizabeth’s meeting on the beach, you should. I think you’d see exactly why I love him.
Q: If one of your books became a movie, which celebrity would you like to star as one of your heroines? Tell us about your heroine.
A: The heroine in one of my new releases The Sentence is called Rachel Amos. Rachel’s had something unusual happen to her. Her father is a minister who took Clint Hayes into his home rather than let Hayes go to jail. Rachel knows her father means to help this man, but she can’t help resenting Clint. As she gets to know him better, she finds that he isn’t anything like she thought he was. In fact, she develops quite an attraction for him, a state of affairs that shames her something awful. I think Kristen Stewart would be a good actress to play Rachel. Kristen looks very much like my description of Rachel except Rachel had blue eyes.
Q: Do all your heroes and all heroines look the same in your mind as you “head write”?
A: What an interesting question! No, my characters look different. Ross Williams from Her Kind of Man “looks like a romance novel cover model” according to my heroine. He’s tall with big muscles, dark, dark hair, and penetrating blue eyes. On the other hand, Clint Hayes from The Sentence is only of average height. He has sandy blond hair and bluish-gray eyes. He’s muscular, but not as developed as Ross.
Find Elaine at the following locations.
Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/elainecantrell
BLURB:
Is it possible she’s finally found Her Kind of Man?
Ross Williams has been in love with Kara Cochrane since they were kids so when Kara's fiancé Brandon Miles cheats on her and calls off their wedding—Ross steps in to rescue the damsel in distress.
A heartbroken Kara just wants to get on with her life and hunky Ross provides her with a definite distraction—that is until she starts falling for him. Big time.
But a devastating family secret threatens to destroy everything that Kara holds dear—including her relationship with Ross.
EXCERPT:
“What a great movie!” Kara gushed as she and Katie left the theater. She tossed her empty popcorn box and leftover soda into the trash can by the door. “Mama and Daddy will want to see it too.”
Katie blew her nose and dabbed at her eyes. “I know. It was too sad for words.”
As they left the theater and crossed the parking lot, Katie turned her head at the sound of a car door slamming. “Why, there’s Kelly and Brandon.”
Kara looked in the direction of Katie’s pointing finger. “Great! They can….” Her voice trailed off as Kelly moved into Brandon’s passionate embrace!
“What…?” Kara’s words choked her as Brandon buried his hands in Kelly’s hair and kissed her as if he held the world’s greatest treasure in his arms.
Katie grabbed her arm. “Come on. We’re getting to the bottom of this.”
Kara dragged her feet as Katie towed her across the parking lot. “Katie, maybe….”
“What’s wrong with you?” Katie glared over her shoulder. “Hurry up!”
Kelly and Brandon were still wrapped around each other when Katie and Kara reached them.
“Kelly!” Katie exclaimed. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Kelly jerked away from Brandon so fast she stumbled and had to grab his arm to keep her balance. Even in the parking lot’s dim light, Kara saw her sister’s face had gone scarlet as had Brandon’s.
Kara didn’t say anything. She couldn’t.
Kelly flinched as Brandon took her hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry, Kara. We never meant for you to find out this way.”
“What were you going to do?” Katie demanded with a wave of her hand. “Leave her at the altar?”
“No,” Kelly replied. Her eyes glittered like two burning blue coals. “We planned to tell her tomorrow night. That way she’d have the weekend off to…to…to get used to things.”
Brandon looked Kara directly in the face for the first time. “I’m sorry, Kara. You have to know I never meant to hurt you, but I can’t marry you if I’m in love with your sister.”
Thanks for reading!
Elaine Cantrell
Hope. Dreams. Life… Love
Congrats on your release, Elaine. That first sale - first call (or email) - is the absolute best. :)
ReplyDeleteA love triangle is a good way to start out, Elaine. Grin. Good luck with your first sale.
ReplyDeleteA broken-hearted heroine is a sure winner. Lots of luck with this book.
ReplyDeleteLadies, thank you so much! I have more excerpts from all the books on my website at http://www.elainecantrell.com
ReplyDelete