Interview with Bestselling Author Sandra Brown

I’m delighted my first interview is with the prolific, bestselling author, Sandra Brown. I hope you enjoy getting to know her better. She’s generously agreed to do a giveaway, so make sure to read all the way to the end to find out how you can participate!  

 

Q:        Have you got an interesting story to share about your journey to publication?

A:        At a writers’ conference I met Mary Lynn Baxter who owned an independent book store in Lufkin, TX.  She offered to read a manuscript. I sent it to her, she read it, and recommended it to Vivian Stephens, the editor who started Dell’s Candlelight Ecstasy line. She bought it and asked if I had another finished, which I did. I sent her that one, and she bought it thirteen days later. Lesson: don’t wait for a book to sell before starting the next!

Q:        Do you plot your novels in detail or are you a pantser?

A:        A combo. I know where I’m going, but not the route I’ll take.

Q:        Do you draw on real life experiences for your plots and characters?

A:        No! I enjoy “play like.”

Q:        Is there a genre you’d like to write in, but you haven’t yet?

A:        I think I would enjoy doing more historicals. I’ve written four, the last one being RAINWATER, and I loved the change of pace. Maybe one of these days.

Q:        What advice have you got for aspiring authors?

A:        Read, read, read. Write, write, write.

Q:        Which form of social media do you prefer for book promotion?

A:        I’m doing a lot on Pinterest because it’s fun to me. It’s more visual than other forms. I call it “working on promotion,” but I get hypnotized and, before I know it, I’ve been on there for hours!

Q:        Have you made any career decisions you regret?

A:        I wish I had started earlier.  I was 30.  But, if I had, I probably wouldn’t have been ready to try and make a career of it.

Q:        What are your top 3 guilty pleasures?

A:        “The Borgias” TV series

            Fritos

            Gin and tonic

Q:        If you could travel anywhere, to a place you haven’t been before, where would it be? Where have you been that left a lasting positive impression?

A:        I’d like to visit Scotland.  Most lasting impression – Afghanistan when I went on a USO tour in 2011 with four colleagues from International Thriller Writers. Certainly not the most scenic! Definitely the most arduous itinerary! But also the most memorable trip.

Q:        Which of your own books is your favorite, and why?

A:        I can’t pick one. Favorites include: ENVY because it’s about writers, and I had fun writing the book within the book. The TEXAS! TRILOGY because they were fun to write and the characters were so endearing. I miss them!  SLOW HEAT IN HEAVEN because I really liked Cash Boudreaux. LETHAL because I liked everything about it – setting, hero, heroine, and the plot. 

Q:        What 3 things are almost always in your refrigerator?

A:        The aforementioned tonic! Limes. (Also essential for a gin and tonic.) Blueberries.

Q:        What’s your most romantic personal memory you can share with us?

A:        When I made the New York Times bestseller list for the first time, my husband, Michael, surprised me with a Lear Jet and several friends. We flew from Dallas to Houston to go to dinner.  Black tie, roses, champagne. Awesome night!

Q:        What are your non-writing hobbies, or what do you do to relax?

A:        I read, of course -- several hours each night before bed. I watch a lot of series TV because there are so many good dramas now, and I don’t have to be worrying about the plot! It’s some other writer’s problem. My husband and I travel extensively. We’re very social, but we like small gatherings or dinners out with good friends. We make family time for our two children, their spouses, and our four grandsons.

Q:        If you were stranded on a desert island and could choose one person and one thing to be stranded with, who and what would they be?

A:        I won’t commit to print the individual and item that immediately came to mind!

Q:        Tell us a secret that nobody knows about you and we’d be surprised to find out.

A:        I can’t blink my left eye independently. 

Q:        What’s your favorite food?

A:        Chili and Fritos. (You didn’t specify health food! But I do keep blueberries in the fridge and eat them throughout the day.)

Q:        What’s your favorite movie?

A:        Out of Africa

Q:        Do you prefer oceans, deserts, or mountains?

A:        Forests. I like growing green things and prefer them blooming. 

Q:        What trends do you see coming to the book industry?

A:        The trend I fear is losing readers. I don’t care what format one reads in, I just want people to read. I want to see parents cultivating in their children the “habit” of reading. 

Q:        Tell us about your new book.

A:        Mean Streak goes on sale September 2014. I’m superstitious so a title is all I have for you at this time.

Q:        What’s on your agenda in 2014?

A:        My besties and I arrived at a motto for this year: If not now, when?  We’re gonna do it all!

It sounds like you have a lot of fun in store for you this year, Sandra. We wish you all the best with Mean Streak, and thanks for visiting us.

GIVEAWAY ALERT!
Sandra is giving away three copies of her re-released book, Best Kept Secrets, to three randomly chosen visitors. So go leave your comment no later than 48 hours from the time of this posting, and include your email address so we can contact you if you are a winner.

Best Kept Secrets 

Alexandra Gaither is an attorney who finally has the power to get the justice she needs. Twenty-five years before, her mother had died a scandalous death. Alex believes one of three powerful men murdered her. Each is charming, each is a suspect, and each tries to shield her from his past. But not one of them can stop her passionate search for the truth. Like her mother before her, Alex sparks controversy and excitement in this remote Texas town. Now, as she investigates her mother’s former lover, his best friend, and the father figure to them both, she will risk everything to uncover their best kept secrets.

Buy Links are found on Sandra’s website: http://sandrabrown.net/books/best-kept-secrets/ Sandra’s backlist is now available in ebooks.

NOTE: Find out more about Sandra Brown on her Romance Books '4' Us author page at: http://www.romancebooks4us.com.

Twitter at @sandrabrown_NYT

Pinterest: sandrabrownnyt

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSandraBrown

Identity as a Writer

Over the years, I've had many identities, but today I want to share myself as a writer. The life of a writer sounds glamorous, but in fact is lonely and difficult. Even those of us who are social do not have time to socialize unless it's through e-mail and medias like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, which is not the same as face to face.

The first story I remember writing was a skit I performed while in the third grade. All my life, I wrote letters to family members, friends and soldiers overseas. At the age of forty-three, while I still worked for a major airline, I started writing for publication. After that there was no turning back. The art of learning to write stories grips you around the neck and will not let you escape its' clutches. Unformed ideas swarm into your mind like bees, and they keep coming until you choose one and focus on it.

I write mystery romance with a women's fiction bent because I like to read stories that deal with real issues. These are the types of stories I like to read, and so I write them. I grew up on Nancy Drew mysteries and others of that age group graduated to Victoria Holt, Sidney Shelden, Sandra Brown and numerous others.

There is so much to learn as a writer of fiction. You have to learn the rules before you can break them is a saying among authors and publishers. One of the things I had difficulty with was point of view. We're supposed to stay in one view during a scene, never matter that someone like Nora Roberts can get away with going into the viewpoint of a cat if she wants to. For new authors that is not an option if you want to get published.

Other things beginning authors need to learn is how to weave the different threads of the story together. For instance, romance and the suspense cannot be kept seperated but must be woven together.

Before you become a published author you need a website to build a name for yourself and to start promoting the image you want. I wanted something dark and mysterious because I wrote romantic suspense. Once you are published, you used this site to help promote your books by putting your bookcovers, blurbs and excerpts at your website and hook them to your publisher.

Promoting is a huge part of publishing. It's time consuming and takes time away from writing your next book. Would I have become an author if I knew what I know now? The answer is a simple 'no.' But, it's too late, I'm hooked.

My books, The Catalyst, Addiction and The Deceived can be found at http://www.eirelander-publishing.com
Also, they can be found at Barnes and Noble, Amazon and Smashwords along with the anthology, Fool Me Twice, written by myself and Sandra Sookoo.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about the life of a writer.

Have a great day.

Sandra K. Marshall
http://www.skaymarshall.com
http://www.sandramarshallblog.blogspot.com