Bits 'n Bobs Author Blog
11/21/2014 13 Comments Author interview and giveaway- The Widow's Walk- a paranormal romance by Carole Ann Moleti Today I have author Carole Ann Moleti here to talk about her book, The Widow's Walk, and offer a book giveaway! Hi, Carole! It’s great to have you here today. And welcome to Soul Mate Publishing. Thanks, Cathy. I'm so happy to be involved with such a dynamic and diverse group of authors. And friendly ones, too. And I'd like to invite both my new and old readers to leave a comment or ask a question. I'll pick a winner at random and send them a copy of The Widow's Walk. How long have you been writing? I've been writing bad poetry and political rants for as long as I can recall. During my early academic days, I was so bored with scholarly writing I didn't want to write a shopping list. But I never lost my love of reading—especially romance, fantasy, and science fiction. But I still write op-ed, opinion pieces, personal essays—and I 've written two memoirs, one about my professional life and the other about being a mom. What do you enjoy most about writing? In 2005, I had this very odd experience. After watching a film that glorified violence against women, I decided I was going to write a novel to put things right. Got to Chapter 7 before I realized I had no clue what I was doing. So I started taking classes and networking with other authors. I still take writing classes and am continually learning new skills and techniques. I am inspired by everyday life, and no matter how much I swear I'm not going to do it, I find myself writing fiction and non fiction with parallel themes simultaneously. It's a way to cope with the craziness of life. What draws you to the paranormal romance genre? Living in New York City is a paranormal or otherworldly experience. I mean, where else can I go that sometimes makes me feel like Mos Isly Cantina from Star Wars? The subway experience has inspired more than one zombie story. I wrote an entire urban fantasy novel about the neighborhood in which I work. One day, driving to the day job, this guy was walking alongside the Cross Bronx Expressway stark naked and at full attention, if you know what I mean. Other than a few honks, no one but the cops stopped. My grandmother used to give me all the bodice ripper romance novels she'd read. And I was a Catholic schoolgirl so I devoured them. I'm also a scientist, a biologist, so I love the speculative genres. I remember reading The Andromeda Strain and The Arm of the Starfish when I was very young. So, put it all together so you get a lot of medical stuff, mixed in with romance and urban fantasy—and always a political statement in there somewhere. My heroines are feisty. Cross genre on a New York City high. What was your inspiration for The Widow’s Walk? As with most of my writing, ideas come to me at the oddest times. I was at our summer cottage in Upstate New York, pulling dustcovers off furniture and vacuuming up mouse poop and dead flies. All of a sudden, I decided to write a story about a woman finding a trunk of old clothes. Those two scenes were the beginning of the Unfinished Business Series. I wrote what was to become Breakwater Beach that Fourth of July weekend. Missed all the parties. My husband was so pissed off, but when you get that kind of inspiration you run with it. It had to be Victorian. I seriously think I lived a previous life back then—always fascinated with the clothing, the customs. I even have my dining room decorated with Victorian era antique furniture. How did you decide on the setting? Have you been there? I have been spending summers on Cape Cod all my life, and just love it there. Particularly Brewster, where the series is set. I grew up on the Bronx waterfront, which some people find hard to believe even exists, but it is so beautiful, with the East River framed by the Throggs Neck and Whitestone Bridges. My grandfather, uncles and father took me fishing and taught me how to swim and sail. So writing about beaches, and bridges, and boats and the beauty—and absolute fury --that the water can unleash during a storm is so natural. If you look really deeply into the male characters, you'll see a composite of my Dad, grandfather, and uncles who had such an influence on me and provided so much love, stability, and encouragement in what was a very turbulent time to be growing up female, and as The Bronx burned down around us. Tell us how you arrived at Soul Mate Publishing. I met Debby Gilbert at the Connecticut Romance Writers of America Chapter Fiction Fest. She loved the premise of The Widow's Walk and asked me to send it to her. I heard back in about a month that she wanted to publish it. I've been writing this series since that Fourth of July weekend in 2007, so I was thrilled. Is there anything you’d like to add? As I mentioned, the first part of the series was a novella called Breakwater Beach, published in Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts. I have novelized it, and hope it will be joining The Widow's Walk on the bookshelves next year. I have also outlined what will be the third book in the series, with a working title of Storm Watch. A hurricane on a scale between Sandy and Katrina is headed for the Cape—and the eye is going to pass right over Brewster and The Barrett Inn. I've lived thorough many a hurricane and Nor'easter. In fact, I wrote the hospital scene in The Widow's Walk by the light of a battery powered lantern on my Alphasmart Neo after Hurricane Irene knocked our power out for a week back in 2011. I've also been working on an urban fantasy series called Boulevard of Bad Spells and Broken Dreams—about a witch who returns from exile in Puerto Rico to face her past and find the arsonists that murdered her family. Thank you so much for being here today! It has been a lot of fun getting to know you. Best of luck with your new release! Thanks for having me, Cathy. And don't forget about the giveaway, folks! Blurb: Mike and Liz Keeny are newlyweds, new parents, and the proprietors of the Barrett Inn, an 1875 Victorian on Cape Cod, which just happens to be haunted. By their own ghosts. The Inn had become an annex of Purgatory, putting Mike, Liz, and their infant son in danger. Selling the historic seaside bed and breakfast was the only answer, one that Liz and her own tortured specter refused to consider. Were they doomed to follow the same path that led to disaster in their previous lives? Was getting out, getting away, enough? Excerpt: Silk rustled as she ran her hands over the dress. The lavender scent deepened as Elisabeth swirled around inside. Her mind went numb as the ghost took control. She slipped out of her clothes and stood naked in front of the mirror. She put up her hair, preening for her husband, before she stepped into the middle of the deep green skirts and pulled them up over her waist, slipped her arms into the sleeves, and twisted them behind her back to fasten the buttons. She used the buttonhook to do up the shoes, then peered out into the hallway. Liz bundled the sweat suit into her arms, along with the soap and paper goods, and hurried to the attic door. It wasn't until she placed her hand on the banister and started up the steep staircase to the roof that Elisabeth's needling eased. Like an addict in the throes of withdrawal, just the promise of being up there, her spirit communing with the long lost sea captain, offered relief. * * * Buy link: myBook.to/TWW http://caroleannmoleti.blogspot.com/p/the-widows-walk.html http://amazon.com/author/carolemoleti http://Twitter.com/Cmoleti http://caroleannmoleti.com https://www.facebook.com/caroleannmoleti http://caroleannmoleti.blogspot.com plus.google.com/103609323247390103301 goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomCmoleti
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Today’s treat is an interview with Gilda Macrory, the heroine in The Highlander’s Tempestuous Bride. I caught her out picking berries, but she has agreed to chat for a bit. CMR: Thank you for letting me interrupt your berry-picking, Gilda! What a lovely name! Gilda: (smiles) I thank ye. It means ‘gift of God’. CMR: Oh, that is very nice. Can you tell me a bit about your life at Scaurness Castle? Gilda: (shrugs) Och, `tis not so much unlike another lass anywhere else. I have chores and two younger brothers to look after, though they plague me sore. And sometimes I care for my wee baby sister. CMR: But a castle is scarcely a crofter’s hut, right? Gilda: I see yer point, though there are many more people who work and live in a castle. It can be difficult to have a bit of privacy, even in such a large place. CMR: I suppose you need privacy from your brothers? Gilda: (fists a hand on one hip) Aye! They are a pair of wee louns! Always pulling pranks on me since our brother Niall left to foster. I am too old for such nonsense. Punishment doesnae work with them for long. CMR: What happens when they get caught? Gilda: They must first apologize, then they usually must clean my horse’s stall for a fortnight. At least it works off a wee bit of their energy for a few days. CMR: Let’s talk about you as a young child. What do you remember about your da, the laird, when he first came to Scaurness? Gilda: He isnae my true da, though he adopted me when he wed my ma. I was four summers at the time. The first time we met, I had disobeyed my Auntie Tavia and waded into the water at the beach looking for sea shells. The tide was coming in and I found myself stranded on a rock, the waves crashing about me. CMR: Oh, my! What happened? Gilda: Like a braw hero, he strode through the water to me and picked me up. I had also lost my shoes, and he tweaked my toes and called me a mermaid. CMR: Thank goodness he saw you. Were you friends after that? Gilda: I was four. He was kind and dinnae scold me. I think I loved him more than ma did at that point. CMR: Why is that? Gilda: Och, she had been told by the king to marry Ranald, but she had known him as a lad and dinnae like him then. But Auntie Tavia says they soon fell in love. They always act as though they like each other. CMR: Do you think you will marry for love? Gilda: (bites her lip) As the laird’s daughter, I shall marry to benefit the clan. I dinnae believe my da would ask me to marry a man I couldnae respect. Love him? I am not entirely certain what that means. CMR: Is there a lad at the castle you like? Or a laird’s son you have an eye for? Gilda: Nae, the lads at the castle are all boys playing at being men. However . . . (she stares off into the distance) CMR: However? Gilda: Och, I am sure it is nothing. Just a lad I met when picking berries yesterday. But, he flustered me. CMR: How? Gilda: He was afeared for me because he saw me cut a wolf loose from a trap and spoke a bit sharpish. Then he was kind when a storm blew up—I have been afeard of storms since I was a bairn. But he vexes me. CMR: (hides a smile) I am sure you will work it out. Do you know who he is? Gilda: Nae, though I was trespassing on Macraig land, so I suppose he is a Macraig. (Frowns) CMR: Oh, is that a problem? Gilda: Aye. The Macraigs and the Macrorys havenae been allied in many years. Though I dinnae know exactly the why of it. CMR: It is getting late. I will let you get back to your chores. Thank you for taking a moment to talk with me. I hope you are able to follow your heart. Gilda: I thank ye. I am duty-bound, but wish with all my heart to fall in love with the man I marry. (waves as she picks up her basket of berries) * * * CMR: To discover who Gilda marries and if she falls in love, pick up your copy of The Highlander’s Tempestuous Bride! Available for pre-order now at Amazon for the introductory price of $2.99 http://www.amzn.com/B00P89UHME Release date: 11/11/14 Leave a comment for a chance to win one of three ebooks (kindle) of The Highlander’s Tempestuous Bride. Winners announced here 11/12/14. Congratulations, Debbie McCreary and Joy Boothby! You have each won your choice of a Kindle ebook copy of either The Highlander's Accidental Bride or The Highlander's Reluctant Bride! Please email me at cathymacrae@cathymacraeauthor..com or message me on facebook for instructions on how to receive your book. Thanks to everyone who commented! I enjoyed hearing from each of you! 7/5/2014 24 Comments Ebook Giveaway on my blog!We're in the middle of a long, fun weekend, so I thought I'd add a bit of excitement. Leave a comment below telling me your favorite thing about the Fourth of July (or any long weekend). Two lucky commenters will win an ebook (Kindle format) of their choice of one of the featured books! Giveaway ends Monday morning, July 7, 8:00 CST. Winners will be posted later that day. I hope everyone is having a great weekend! |
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