Kate Warren

I'm very pleased to be posting my very first interview of a fellow author, and the honor of the first interview posted goes to the lovely Sarah Ballance.  Let's give her a round of applause.  *go ahead, we'll wait*

Before we get into the questions, let me tell you a little bit about our subject...

Sarah and her husband of what he calls “many long, long years” live on the mid-Atlantic coast with their six young children, all of whom are perfectly adorable when they’re asleep. She never dreamed of becoming an author, but as a homeschooling mom, she often jokes she writes fiction because if she wants anyone to listen to her, she has to make them up. (As it turns out, her characters aren’t much better than the kids). When not buried under piles of laundry, she may be found adrift in the Atlantic (preferably on a boat) or seeking that ever-elusive perfect writing spot where not even the kids can find her.

She loves creating unforgettable stories while putting her characters through an unkind amount of torture—a hobby that has nothing to do with living with six children. (Really.) Though she adores nail-biting mystery and edge-of-your-seat thrillers, Sarah writes in many genres including contemporary and ghostly paranormal romance. Her ever-growing roster of releases may be found at http://sarahballance.com.

And now, let's bring out our guest.  Ladies and gentlemen please welcome Sarah Ballance!

KW: Hello Sarah, it's great to have you with us today.

SB: I’m so happy to be here, Kate! Thank you so very much for allowing me to share your space for the day. ;c)

KW: You're quite welcome.  Now before our audience wanders over to the gift shop, let's get to the questions, shall we?  Question 1.  What is your favorite book from childhood?

SB: I used to spend hours and hours with Nancy Drew Case Files, and I remember so vividly being determined to stop at the end of each chapter (so I could, you know, sleep) only to find it impossible. But even though I read them over and over, I think my favorite book was Ruffian: Burning from the Start. It’s a true story about a filly who stunned the racing world and changed everyone who knew her. Never have I gotten so emotionally involved with a story, and I sobbed so hard I had to put down the book until I could see again. The author’s ability to connect me with her words is just … well, I still think of that book to this day, though I last read it over 20 years ago.

KW: You are marooned on an island with an animal companion.  What kind of animal do you choose, and why?

SB: I guess my husband isn’t animal enough, huh? (Well, he is, but I don’t think that’s what you had in mind, LOL.) I think I’d go with a horse. I’ve loved, been owned by, and have ridden horses most of my life and absolutely nothing is so peaceful and freeing as time spent on horseback. Horses have fussy digestive systems so mine might not be the most practical choice, but let’s go with it anyway. ;c)

KW: When did you realize that you wanted to be a writer?

SB: I SO did not want to be a writer! I was 32 a little over three years ago when a friend suggested I write a book. My first reaction was nope, can’t do it. But that started to bother me. I may not have wanted to be a writer, but I was even more against saying I couldn’t. So I wrote a book with no intention of submitting it. Then my crit partner drove me nuts until I sent it to precisely one publisher. Imagine my surprise when I was offered a contract. Now I have the dubious honor of having my first story ever *out there* (the horror! LOL!) and a fantastic—if unintentional—career as an author.

KW: What was the inspiration for your latest book, Last Call?

SB: The original plot was to be the second book in a series, but I elected to make it a single title. Most of my plotting, then, was in getting rid of the connection between the two stories. In retrospect that shouldn’t have been a big deal, but I had it in my head a certain way for so long, having to switch things up was ridiculously hard, lol.

KW: You and I are going to the movies and it's your turn to choose what we'll see.  What kind of movie would you choose?

SB: Something terrifying—either horror or a psychological thriller.

KW: (note to self--never go to the movies with Sarah)  If you were given the power to solve one, and only one, of life's minor annoyances, which one would you solve?

SB: You’d never think it minor by the way I blow up sometimes, but I’d love to have clean floors. We have six kids and live on a farm (read: dirt, not concrete) and there’s always dirt tracked through the back door. We don’t wear our shoes in the house (past the mud room, that is), but it ends up everywhere anyway and it DRIVES ME NUTS. I would love to go one day without scrubbing a floor. Just one. 

KW: Which are cuter, baby penguins or baby elephants?

SB: Baby penguins. They look more like babies than baby elephants, and I’m a sucker for babies. (You know … before they start walking and tracking dirt through my house).

KW: Do you have a favorite song?

SB: Right now my most-listened tune is “Oh My Highway” by Jason Aldean.

KW: Last Call is being turned into a movie and you get to cast the leads.  Who will play Rhys and Nick? 

SB: I am so freaking out of tune with Hollywood I don’t even know how to answer this question. Rhys has long blonde hair and Nick looks like the guy on the cover, so if anyone wants to answer this one for me … LOL.

KW: We'll post the cover a little further down so that the readers can make casting suggestions.  Tell us about a place you'd love to visit but haven't yet.  Can be work/research related or just for fun.

SB:  I’d love to go to Scotland or Italy. My husband doesn’t want to fly and I respect that, but he is willing to go via boat. OUR boat. Which is big and made for the ocean, but it’s not transatlantic big. (Rogue waves, anyone?) So I’ll stick with nearby islands and the continental US/CAN, thankyouverymuch.  (He has agreed to a cruise overseas, so when we can get away for, oh, three months I’m totally taking him up on that!)


Now for a little excerpt from Sarah's latest:

          Grunts erupted nearby, followed by the sound of sneakers scuffling on concrete. Then two shots fired, and all sounds of struggle gave  way to profane celebration.
          In the same instant, a man fell to the sidewalk in front of Rhys. His eyes, sightless and familiar, bore into her.
          She choked a gasp.
          A man stepped into her line of sight, his weapon at the ready.  Before she could stop herself, she locked eyes with him. Big mistake. The decision threw her into a cloud of emotional shrapnel, the past flying at her in shards. She’d been shot once before.
          It hadn’t ended well.
          The gunman opened his mouth and formed an ugly grin, his breath coming in visible puffs through yellowed teeth. “Looks like a double header tonight, T,” he said, never taking his gaze off Rhys.
          “Whaddya mean?” came the reply. The voice . . . she blinked until the second man shifted into focus.
          She knew him. From where? She couldn’t think.
          She glanced to the dead man, and her vision wavered. Panic shifted her world into a screen of jarred pixels, the flashback jagged and severe.

          “Rhys! Stay with me, Rhys. Do you hear me? Rhys!”
          Blood. So much blood.
          “Nick.” She touched his face, feeling stubble beneath her fingertips. Then the weight of her arm was too much; as gravity won he slipped away. The world twisted into a sickening spiral until all that was left was his voice, the desperation in his tone bringing warmth to the darkness.
          “Rhys!”

          Motion jarred her to the present.
          The gunman gestured. “Our witness here is about to have an unfortunate accident.” He raised the weapon, aiming for the kill.
          It was a short view down the barrel at point blank range. She expected that.
          What she didn’t anticipate was the speed with which he pulled the trigger.
          Or how quickly the pain hit.


What the story is about:

In a perilous game of trust, a shocking betrayal deals a dangerous hand.

An accidental witness to a murder-for-hire, ex-cop Rhys Clark becomes the target of ruthless killer—one determined to silence her at any cost. Playing dead seems to be the most likely way to stay alive, but when her protection comes in the form of mega-sexy former adversary Nick Massey, Rhys can think of a few fates worse than death.

Nick Massey may have walked away from his troubles, but he never got past wanting Rhys. Once paired undercover, they’d been nothing but fireworks until a botched assignment ended her career, sending his into a tailspin. Now a mysterious client threatens Nick’s life if he doesn’t keep Rhys safe, but it isn’t until fate takes a critical turn that he realizes the devastating truth: he’s been her greatest threat all along.

Title:  LAST CALL
Author:  Sarah Ballance
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: For the Muse Publishing, 2013
ISBN 13: 978-0-9889995-0-3
Audio ISBN: N/A

LAST CALL is available from: For the Muse Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords (formats: .mobi, .epub, HTML, PDF, RTF, LRF, PalmDoc, and Plain Text). Click here to add to Goodreads or herefor reviews.

KW:  I don't know about all of you, but I'm thinking maybe Chris Hemsworth would make a good Nick Massey.  For more information about Sarah and her books, visit any or all of the following links:
        
Website: http://www.sarahballance.com/
Blog: http://sarahballance.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sarah.ballance.author.news
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarahBallance
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4103362.Sarah_Ballance

Thank you, Sarah for being such a lovely interview subject. And thank you readers.  See you on Sunday.

Kate

It's the last weekend of February, and thus the last weekend I will deliberately focus on a romantic eight sentences for WeWriWa. 

It would have been lovely to close out the month with the main character and his lady love.  Unfortunately, they are not together at this point in the story.  Instead I give you a dear friend of his. 

Duncan St. Robert is somewhat of a ladies' man, but he has never yet been in love.  His sisters have been warning him for some time that when he does fall, he'll fall hard.  In this scene he's been watching a new lady at court, or rather watching her back.  Then she turns around...


          "His heart stopped beating in his chest, and then resumed at a galloping pace. This maiden had alabaster skin and delicate brows framing eyes that beckoned to him despite the fact that she had not seen him.  He could not tell the color of those enchanting orbs and he felt as if his life’s work must be to discover their hue. 
          Duncan squared his shoulders, took ten steps toward her … and tripped.  
           Red curls appeared in front of his face.  “Are you hurt?”  He looked up into gray- green eyes filled with concern for him and in that instant lost his heart.  
           “I feel no pain.”


I suppose I should mention that the red curls belong to the very lady he was watching.  And Duncan doesn't know it, but she was watching him too. 

That's my eight for the week.  Please be sure to visit all the other talented authors who participate in WeWriWa.

Kate

Ladies and gentlemen, today is a day of celebration for me.  My latest novel, Bridging The Gaps, is now available in paperback on Amazon.  I just checked Barnes & Noble and they don't have it yet, but they should soon.

I feel like I should do something special in honor of this occasion.  It's not my first paperback to hit Amazon, but so far as I can tell every time this happens I will be excited. :o)

Any ideas for a great way to celebrate?  I'll probably have to put it off until next month for budget reasons, so I've got some planning time.

Leave a comment with your suggestions of how I should mark this occasion.  I'm going to go do a happy dance now.  Oh, and here's the link: Bridging The Gaps, now in paperback. :o)

Kate

My dear friends and readers, this week I share a romantic yet melancholy eight sentences.  Sometimes romance is painful.

Christian, duke of Langdon, is in love.  He is also nearly finished negotiating a betrothal contract that his late father sought for him.  The maiden to whom he is as good as promised is under the guardianship of a greedy uncle who will stop at nothing to see her become a duchess (and she's no more inclined to wed Christian than he is to wed her).  The maiden he loves is Princess Therese.  Therese loves him right back but there's nothing they can do.  We join Christian as he is despising both his future uncle-in-law and his late father for getting him into this mess, and wishing he were free to try for the woman he loves.




           His chances would not have been great, but at least he would have had the possibility of success.  Now he could not even speak to her in too familiar a manner, could not touch her except in a dance, could not write to her.  
           No one could keep him from writing of  her though.  He’d filled page after page of parchment putting his feelings into verse.  He wrote songs she would never hear; sonnets she would never read.  He would be idly sketching and look down to see her face on the page, her eyes staring into his.  
           Passing her in the corridors and halls his breath would catch.  His desire for the princess drove him to distraction, but even stronger than that was his longing to hear her confidences, dry her tears, share her laughter and
her dreams, to keep her safe and make her feel cherished as she should be, to see his child in her arms.



That's my eight for the week.  Thank you for visiting, and I hope to see you as I make the rounds to support the other talented authors who are part of WeWriWa.  

Kate


 

In honor of Valentine's Day some people give others a box of chocolates, or a dozen roses.  Me, I'm giving away a dozen free eBooks. 

Why am I doing this, you ask?  Is it because:
A) I'm desperate for attention and acknowledgment. 
B) My heart of gold longs to share with others.
C) It's a clever ruse to increase my blog traffic, which in turn will feed my plans for world domination.
D) All of the above.
or E) Who cares? Free eBooks!

I'd like to remind the reader that there is no wrong answer to this question. 

All you have to do to enter to win one of a dozen eBooks of my bestselling* novel Bridging The Gaps  is read the excerpt below and leave a comment with your email address.  Of course if you want to blog, tweet, facebook, email or otherwise tell all of your friends about it, that would be nice, but it's not necessary. 


The excerpt is a Christmas scene because the Valentine's Day scenes have major spoilers and I thought I should stick with a holiday:



          Three knocks had signaled Ellen’s arrival at Henry’s apartment.  He shut the door and pulled her into a long, slow kiss, then released her and went to pour the wine.  She leaned against the door for a moment and looked around. 
           Henry’s place was larger than she’d expected.  Stephanie’s entire apartment could fit in his living room. Of course Henry could afford all this. He’d decorated mostly with mistletoe; it was everywhere.  There was an artificial pre-lit tree in one corner with a few ornaments and a silver tinsel garland. 
          “Here you are.”  He handed her a glass of wine.  “Would you like to watch a movie?  I have a nice selection of rented DVDs here: It’s a Wonderful Life; White Christmas; Mrs. Claus and the Very Naughty Elves.”
          She laughed and sat down.  “How about some music?”
          “Coming right up.”  He put on an instrumental holiday CD he’d found in the bargain bin at a local store and sat down next to her.  “So…do you come here often?”
          “No.  This is my first time.”
          “Well let me give you the tour.”  He stood and held out a hand to her, which she took obligingly.  They walked slowly through the apartment.  “This is the living room.  That’s the kitchen.  Here’s the bathroom.  A spare room I’m not using at the moment.”  
           They came to the last door and Ellen opened it. Glancing back at him she went in the room and settled on the bed.  “Won’t you join me?”
          “Hell yes.”  He downed the rest of his wine and left the glass on a table in the hallway. This time she didn’t mention the language.  He sat next to her and pulled pins from her hair, setting them on the bedside table. Then he put an arm around her and just sat.
          “Henry?”
          “Yes?”
          “Aren’t you going to unwrap your present?”
          “You mean it’s not going to unwrap itself?”
          “It’s an old-fashioned present.” 
          “Oh, I see.  Well then I’d better get to work.”



That's it.  Leave a comment before 11:59 pm US Central Time on the 14th.  Winners will be chosen by random drawing.  Spreading the word, or saying nice things about the excerpt will not improve your chances of winning but will endear you to me greatly. :o)

Kate

(*among novels set in Wisconsin and featuring one or more dentists in a romantic role)




 

Welcome to another special February edition of Weeked Writing Warriors in KateWarrenLand.  Thank you to everyone who came here last Sunday to read, and comment.  I'm sorry I didn't get all my usual visiting done.  Was struck down with a cold.  Hopefully, I'll do better this week.

That said, it's time to introduce this week's eight sentences.  From Chapter 13, I give you a secret admirer and a sonnet.




          A hand reached out from the bushes and pressed a scrap of parchment into Lilia St. Robert’s hand.  She glanced around quickly but no one appeared to be present.  With quickly beating heart, she strolled as calmly as possible to a shaded corner of the gardens and read the writing.

          The sun in brightness pales to see thy smile.
          The stars are envious of thy shining grace.
          The moon is dimmer than thy glow of youth.
          My heart doth beat but to behold thy face.
          If only thou return my love, my sweet,
          I’ll lay the world entire at thy feet.




That's all from me for this week.  Please join me in visiting the talented authors who participate in WeWriWa. 

Kate

Last Sunday saw the end of Six Sentence Sundays.  Even the website isn't the same.  I went there later in the week to try and get to some of the Sixers I missed on Sunday and the list was gone.  *sniff, sniff*

This Sunday however, brings a new beginning.  Weekend Writing Warriors is similar to SSS in that you post on a Sunday and there is a limit.  Anyone can participate, any writer, published or unpublished, serious or frivolous, professional or amateur, no matter the genre.  WeWriWa has a limit of eight sentences, so that's what you're going to get.  Eight sentences--no more, no less.

For the month of February I will be posting exclusively romantic excerpts. Today's excerpt comes from Chapter 7 of my current WIP The DeFord Chronicles, Part II.  Anton DuClerque has requested the hand of Baron Spencer's granddaughter.  The two families are discussing the possibility of a marriage.  Spencer speaks first, having commented that there is rather little in the way of a dowry.


          "...I mean no disrespect to Anton.  I merely wish him to understand the situation fully.  I know that money is not his motivation, which leaves me to wonder what is. Surely my lords you can not argue that the boy might have his choice of nearly any maiden in Frandia.”
          Anton looked Baron Spencer square in the eye.  “I do not want any maiden in Frandia.  I want Graciela.  I swear to you that I shall honor her and protect her with the last breath in my body.”



*sigh*  Hope you enjoyed my eight.  I have an afternoon meeting that will interfere with my WeWriWa visiting, but rest assured I shall make the rounds. 

Kate