• Contemporary

    Beyond Fate by Susan V Vaughn @suanvaughn1124 #RLFblog #contemporary romance

    Beyond Fate
    Years of separation mean nothing when love is in the air…
    Julia Diaz never wanted to fall for her friend’s older
    brother, especially at a college frat party. But, for some reason, her heart
    was stolen by Russell that night. Eight years after, she never forgot him. Now
    destiny has brought them together. Only this time Russell is no longer a boy.
    He’s a man who knows what he wants and will not be denied.
    Russell Webb used to be optimistic, and fun loving until a
    family tragedy turned his world on its side. Putting all his focus on work, he
    picked himself back up, and managed to turn his grief into something resembling
    a life. When a woman from his past reappears, and gives him a glimpse of true
    happiness, he’ll do anything to secure her heart. Even face the darkness he has
    avoided for so long.
    Genre Contemporary Romance
    Book heat level (based on movie ratings): R
    Publisher Inkspell
    Amazonhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XQ4G49P
    Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/beyond-fate-6
    Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1216719082
    Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beyond-fate-susan-v-vaughn/1126009974?ean=2940157159917

    Susan Vaughn Social Media

    Romance Author Susan Vaughn understood the meaning of sarcasm
    before she could walk. Her childhood in the suburbs of Detroit was spent mainly
    trying to outwit her six creative siblings. When she wasn’t working on the next
    soul-crushing jab, she sharpened her imagination on romantic literature and day
    dreamed about her knight in shining armor.
    It didn’t take long for this hairdresser by trade to turn
    her passion for reading romances into writing her own unique love stories. Susan
    lives her life finding laughter in all situations, and delights in marrying
    sarcasm with romance to create realistic falling-in-love stories in the
    unlikeliest of scenarios.
    Susan lives on the shores of Lake Huron with her real life
    knight in shining armor and enjoys watching their three children learn the art
    of sarcasm and wit.

    Romance Lives Forever
    Discover Books and Authors with Kayelle Allen
    http://romancelivesforever.blogspot.com
  • Contemporary

    Contemporary: Beyond Fate | Interview @JackieWeger #RLFblog

    Beyond Fate 
    Jackie Weger, Welcome to Romance Lives Forever. Let’s talk about
    your book, Beyond Fate.
    Genre: Contemporary Romance
    Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
    Cover artist: Amanda Kelsey
    Length: 232 pages
    Heat rating: Sweet
    Tagline: Heartwarming, emotional, funny
    Blurb: 
    Raised by her grandmother, Cleo has lived her life in
    the shadow of her mother’s sin. When she falls in love with a fellow camper in the
    tumbled-down fish camp in the Okefenokee Swamp
    she struggles to cast off the shadow and comes to terms with her past–and her future.
    Buy links:
    Amazon http://amazon.com/dp/B00AIEPBMU
    Barnes and Noble http://barnesandnoble.com/w/beyond-fate-jackie-weger/1004346765?ean=9781595789884
    What are your main characters’ names, ages, and occupations?
    Fletcher Fremont Maitland, mid-thirties. Attorney.
    Cleo Anderson, thirty, children’s book writer.
    Big Mamma Freeman, camp owner. Ageless, but in her seventies.

    Interview

    Tell us about your story’s world. What is it like in this
    period or place?
    The Okefenokee is a fragile,
    magical place full of alligators, bears, snakes, mosquitos, wild orchids, thousand
    year-old Calusa Indian mounds, mangrove swamps and mystery.
    The area was settled
    in the 1700’s by runaway indentured servants and slaves and just plain independent,
    ornery folks who wanted to live outside society and government. For two-hundred
    and fifty years the swamp fed, clothed and sheltered the inhabitants–until the Forties
    when the Federal government moved them out onto the edges of modern society–but
    the old people held onto their habits, their myths and their language–Old English.
    What inspired you to write this book?
    I once found an elderly woman sitting on a bench outside a bus
    station in Midland, Texas. She knew where she was from, but not where
    she was going. I took her home with me until I could locate her family. She was
    from the Okefenokee and entertained my kids with stories of her early life. Her
    stories hung in my mind, but not her name. Ten years later I was camping on the
    Suwanee River in the Okefenokee and thought: What
    if?
    Which character in your current book do you think readers
    will like the most?
    In Beyond Fate I think
    readers will adore Big Momma Freeman who is based on the elderly woman I found on
    that bench outside a bus station. But, there is also eleven-year-old Katie, and
    between the two they almost stole the book out from under me.
    Why?
    Big Momma Freeman is the epitome of those early settlers. She
    was born deep in the Okefenokee, speaks old English and is an independent woman.
    She wouldn’t know a feminist if one climbed into her apron pocket, yet she asserted
    herself, owned her own business and brooked no nonsense from anyone. Big Momma is
    a writer’s dream. I never had to scratch around for dialogue or action when she
    was in the scene.
    Why do you write?
    Same reason I breathe.
    Who has helped you the most in your career as an author?
    Actually, I never had
    a mentor. I didn’t know one could have a career as a writer. I participated in a
    small writer’s group. Most of us wrote non-fiction for trade or travel magazines.
    Someone snidely challenged me to write a romance novel. So I did.
    When you write, what things do you want close at hand? (Coffee,
    water, chocolate… pictures of gorgeous hunks for inspiration…?)
    Coffee, pots of it. If it’s late at night, chocolate wine is
    nice. I don’t have pictures of hunks hanging on my walls. The men in my books are
    man to the bone with lived in faces, lived-in bodies and they own a good sense of
    self. They have good jobs, stamina, know about women and when they drop their drawers,
    their tinker toys don’t have to take a back seat to any muscle-bound, gym-built
    boy-toy.
    When you’re not writing, what would we find you doing?
    Reading.
    If I’m stumped or need a break, I head down to a little fishing camp, Indianola—which
    is all that’s left of a town after a hurricane washed the rest of the city into
    the bay. Other times I might camp out on the beach in Matagorda. I love Friday night
    Bingo. More than anything, I adore destination travel. My passport is always up
    to date. One of my granddaughters graduated from Temple
    University in Philadelphia
    in May and e-mailed me with her travel plans—which included Paris
    and Stockholm. Last
    line was: You coming? I had just signed a five book contract with Liquid Silver.
    Broke my heart to decline her invitation.
    Are you a plotter, or do you prefer to make it up on the spur
    of the moment?
    I’m not a plotter as in creating story boards or anything like
    that, but I know the gist of a story before I sit down to write. I usually know
    my characters strengths and weaknesses before I start. I know the setting, a few
    bits of dialogue, what annoys a character and what doesn’t.
    Looking back at your first book, what do you wish you had
    done differently?
    I still like that story.
    It’s a bit over-written—which back in the day was acceptable and now falls under
    Retro. I’d clean up some dialogue tags.
    What’s your writing schedule like?
    It depends. If I’m in an emotional scene I may stay at my keyboard
    twelve or fourteen hours. Other times I spend five or six hours at my desk.
    Any advice for new authors?
    I don’t. New authors
    today have far more sense about the publishing industry today and how it works than
    I do.
    What aspect of your life do you write into your books?
    Family–with quirky characters,
    subtle humor. Foremost is my love of nature, water and simple living. When I think
    back on it, I somehow manage to plot a way to get my characters on a pond, a lake,
    a creek, a swamp, a river, an ocean, an island or a beach.
    Even a ditch with tadpoles
    blooming will do. I think I was water sprite in a past life.
    When an idea hits you, what do you do to capture it?
    Nothing at first, but
    if the idea or character keeps showing up, I make a note, write down what I’ve discovered
    or what the character is telling me. I don’t keep diaries, but I have notebooks
    filled with tidbits of info that interested me at the time. And still do.
    If you knew it would be a bestseller, what book would you
    write that you might not write otherwise?
    I have one book that
    I think would be received nicely. I’ve done pounds of research, the characters are
    well-defined, the setting is in place, the plot thickened, but the story intimidated
    me. After a couple of months, I knew I had to better my craft before I told the
    story.
    What’s keeping you from writing that book?
    Other books right this minute. I recently contracted with Liquid
    Silver to bring out five novels on backlist in digital format. I’m learning indie
    publishing and have just brought out another of my backlist. But the backstory is
    I thought all of my research and notes were lost in Katrina. I had stored it with
    a friend while I was living abroad and her house was destroyed. They showed up in
    a plastic tub last November when she and I were sorting through some debris in a
    storage shed which had somehow survived.
    What other jobs have you held besides writing?
    I was a department manager in large hotels. I worked as manager
    and Food and Beverage director for hotels and restaurants.
    Which of your books was the hardest to write and why?
    The most difficult book for me to write is always the one I’m
    currently working on. I’ve slogged through two hundred pages–know I have story–but
    really won’t know the final structure or who in the cast of characters might get
    cut until I finish the first draft. Usually after that, it’s smooth sailing. But
    the characters in this book are eccentric, mouthy and misbehave. Each wants to be
    front and center. They are driving me mad.
    What are you currently reading for fun? I’m re-reading Randy Wayne White’s The Man Who Invented Florida. Naturally,
    the main character lives in a stilt house in Dinkin’s Bay on the East Florida
    Coast. It’s all about water.
    What’s the best gift you ever received?
    I really can’t name the
    best, but I can tell you one that changed the direction of my life. I was packing
    to return to the tiny jungle village I called home in Central
    America when my daughter gave me a Kindle, which introduced me to e-books
    and renewed my writing career. I unpacked.
    Do you believe in luck?
    I do believe in luck–good,
    bad and indifferent. Good luck when I’m winning at Bingo. Bad, when I’m not.
    What’s your favorite movie?
    My all-time favorite movie is the African Queen. I’ve watched
    it dozens of times and it never fails to thrill or chill–especially the scene in
    which Charlie Allnutt is covered in
    leeches. “Arhh! The beasts!”
    Are you the eldest, middle, baby, or only child?
    I’m the oldest and only
    daughter–which played havoc with my life.
    What’s the strangest job you ever had?
    Oh, boy. I once was briefly
    a single mother. I held down two jobs. The evening job was cleaning dressing rooms
    for headliners in a night club. I was getting a dressing room prepped for
    Jayne Mansfield when my boss stepped in and said, “Jayne’s not coming for ten
    days. Her son was mauled by a lion. You’re going to take her place.” Jayne
    was a famous pinup during the War and after–very shapely. She could sing and dance.
    I could clean and change diapers and was so thin I’d have to borrow a mop handle
    to show up next to a toothpick. My boss ordered costumes from New Orleans–padded front and back with lots of
    shimmery threads. The pay was wonderful. So I shook my false bosoms and booty for
    ten nights. The audience thought I was comedy act.

    Fill in the Blanks

    I’m always ready for a game of Scrabble or a trip to the beach.
    When I’m alone, I read, daydream, and read some more.
    You’d never be able to tell, but I’m profoundly deaf.
    If I had a halo it would be hung
    around my neck
    .
    If I could hook rugs I’d
    recycle plastic bags into scatter rugs for my kitchen.
    I can never sing because
    I can’t carry a tune.

    Find Me Here