Interview of Author Judy Baker

Today I'm pleased to present an interview of romance author Judy Baker.

Latest Book: The Santa Series Box Set
Buy Link: Amazon


BIO:
Judy Baker/Anna Sugg lives in the beautiful western state of Utah. Though she’s a southerner at heart, she loves the surrounding mountains and the desert valleys. When not writing the stories that fill her head, she enjoys RVing with her family, stargazing through one of her many telescopes, digging in her wildflower garden, and golfing, or just swinging on the patio while plotting her next story. She’s also an avid fan of coffee and the ocean. You can find out more about Judy/Anna on her web site, blog, twitter and Facebook.

Q: What’s your writing schedule like? Do you strive for a certain amount of words each day?
A: I try, but don’t always make it. I use Mondays for promoting and sometimes it slips over into another day! I like to write in the mornings when my brain and muse seem fresh. When I can’t get my act together and my story flowing, I grab my laptop and head off the nearest Beans and Brew. So far, it works.

Q: How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book?
A: Not much…some…maybe…a tiny bit. My heroines are a little more adventurous than I have ever been.

Q: Of all your characters, who’s your favorite, and why?
A: Ruby Thornton, from the second Silver Sage Creek series, Better she Live. She can be tough, but gentle, and willing to give folks in town a second chance even though she know they don’t respect her as a business woman owning a saloon.

Q: If you could change something about your first book, what would it be?
A: Edit. I’m one of those writers who would like to go back in time and rewrite before publishing. When I submitted my book to the publisher as a greenhorn, I thought they would edit every line I had written. NOT. After that, I joined the UtahRWA, RWA and started learning. A writer never stops learning.

Q: Do you eat comfort food/listen to music when writing?
A: Actually, I forget to eat. There’s times I start writing at 8AM, then my hubby will call and ask if I’ve eaten anything, it’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon!

If a certain piece of music helps inspires me, I listen. Some books I write without music. When I wrote my second book, a Revolutionary War romance, 2009, The Quartering Act, I listened to The Last of the Mohicans sound track, one of my favorite movies. While writing my Christmas series, I listened to Christmas music throughout the entire summer months. I’m one of those people that never gets tired of Christmas music.

Q: Covers. Ever get one you wish you could change?
A: Not yet. I’ve been lucky.

Q: What genre would you like to try writing that you haven’t yet tried?
A: That’s easy, science fiction. I’ve watched all the Star Trex movies, StarGate SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica, and Torchwood. After watching all these and more you’d think I would try writing a science fiction, maybe, one day, who know!

Q: Have you ever used an incident from your real life into one of your books?
A: My life hasn’t been too exciting, but I have a family member that seems to produce drama after drama, which sparked my imagination in one of my Christmas books, Santa’s Secret Gift.

Q: Out of your entire backlist, which book has the best opening line? What's the line?
A: “It’s a game,” she whispered. From Secret Past, the first Yellow Creek series.

Q: How many stories are swirling around in your head? Do you keep a mental list, a computer file, or a spiral notebook filled with the ideas?
A: Right now, three. I’m working on a third Yellow Creek series called Spirit Catcher. My inspiration came from a great, great, great grandmother who was a Cherokee Indian. Another big one floating around my brain is book four of the Silver Sage Creek series, which will be called, Better She Lie, an historical western, and I’m also having flashes of a futuristic story. When that happens, I take notes. It’s weird when I get a title before I even know the storyline.

Fun Stuff:
Q: What is your favorite holiday and why?
A: Christmas. This special time always makes me feel peaceful and content with my life and the family I’ve been blessed with.

Q: What are two things people might be surprised to know about you?
A: I’m an avid stargazer with four telescopes. Before starting my day each morning I read the Bible and talk to God.

Q: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: A nurse. Now, I know I could never be a nurse.

Q: Favorite food.
A: Honestly, I can’t think of a favorite food. My hubby thinks my ‘I don’t like list of foods’ gets longer the older I get.

Q: Favorite happy memory.
A: I have so many, but I’ll pick, Disney World with the entire family.

Q: Favorite drink.
A: That’s a tossup – coffee/tea.

Q: Hot summer days or chilly winter nights?
A: Hot summer days.

Q: What is the top thing on your bucket list?
A: Viking River Cruise.

Q: If you could have a super power, what would it be?
A: I would love to close my eyes, whisper to myself, “Beam me over to…” and be there!

Tell us where to find you: website(s), publisher’s page(s), blog(s), Facebook page(s), etc. List them all!
Websites:
http://judybaker.coffeecup.com/
http://anna_sugg.coffeecup.com/
Blog: http://judyswriting.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bakerbooknews
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judy.baker.9465
Publisher: http://www.sweetcravingspublishing.com/


BLURB:
Christmas holiday boxed set filled with fun, emotional, holiday love stories with happily-ever-after endings. Three novels, Santa’s Pretty Lady, Santa’s Secret Gift, and Mainland Santa are filled with sweet, sexy, suspenseful, and full of drama with a Santa hero. You’ll meet lovable, amusing, courageous, trusting, and even insufferable, dangerous characters that flow from one book to the next as the characters meet life’s unexpected challenges. The Santa Series will keep you in the spirits of the holiday season.

Santa’s Pretty Lady
How could she possibly fall in love with a homeless Santa?

Lena Belle tries to reject the love of a man whose only job for the moment is playing Santa for the department store. Yet, he stirs an emotion within her that she has not felt for many years. How could she fall in love with a homeless Santa? Would he be willing to work for their relationship?

Supporting a man once in a lifetime is enough. She will not be the sole provider and risk another divorce.

Santa’s Secret Gift

A gift from a secret Santa gives her hope and a chance to take her daughter and run.

When Madison Sanford is abandoned on a mountaintop in the middle of Nevada's desolate state, where a body could die and not be found, if ever, she never dreamed that one day a secret Santa would give her hope for happiness.

Peter Jackson's destiny had once again crossed paths with Madison. Loving her scares the hell out of him and the only thing he knows to do is to run again, pushing her back in the arms of the man that could destroy her.

Mainland Santa

All men have only two things on their mind: sex and secrets.

Dr. Brianna Sanford will miss the salty smell of the ocean air, the winter nights with their perfect conditions for stargazing, and the island's constant eighty-two degree temperature. As her job at the prestigious hotel in Hawaii nears an end, Brianna meets Cagney Malloy. Since breaking off an engagement, she had decided all men have only two things on their mind: sex and secrets. Cagney Malloy is no different. He has a secret. She wouldn't care, except her feelings for the man has become more than she expected.


Anything else you'd like to add?
I’m excited about my first Box Set, The Santa Series, and to celebrate, I have giveaways on my blog, so please stop by and leave your comments. Thanks you for stopping by and getting to know me a little better.