Interview & #Giveaway with Rachel Brimble, author of Love's Debt!

Please help me welcome author Rachel Brimble to Reading with Holly! :)

Holly: Hi Rachel! Would you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Rachel Brimble: I am a Brit living in South West England, near the famous Georgian/Regency city of Bath. Married to my fabulous husband for almost 15 years, we have two daughters (13 & 11) as well as a canine son who pretty much rules my life.

When I’m not writing I like to read, walk the English countryside, socialize or watch TV. Oh, and love a glass of crisp white wine whatever the occasion!

Holly: When did you realize that you would like to write and publish a book?

Rachel Brimble: I have always love writing stories ever since I was a child. I was the kid forever in the library or at home writing stories and then binding them with a hole punch and ribbon! I had ambitions of being a journalist in my early teens but eventually ended up working in a bank for 10 years.

When my second baby was born, it was ‘now or never’ moment so I started writing and submitting short stories. Six years later, I wrote and sold my first novel to The Wild Rose Press and haven’t looked back.

Holly: Can we expect more novels from you in 2012?

Rachel Brimble: Unfortunately, this will be my last release this year but 2013 will be hugely busy! I have had two books with my agent during 2012 while continuing to write so things have suddenly gone a bit mad now they’ve sold. I have signed two romantic suspense novels with Harlequin Superromance and two Victorian novels with Kensington.

I am so excited about 2013! :D

Holly: Do you think you may ever go into another genre?

Rachel Brimble: I have written and sold mainstream contemporary romance, romantic comedy (with another due for release in 2013), romantic suspense and Victorian romance. I think that’s more than enough to be going on with, lol!

If I was to try something out of the romance genre, then crime would be my next choice. I love writing suspense and sometimes feel the pull to write a gritty police procedural. I am obsessed with US crime dramas such as Rizzoli & Isles and Castle and would like to do something along those lines – serious crime mixed with humorous characters.

Holly: What is the hardest part of writing in your opinion?

Rachel Brimble: For me, it’s plotting every time. I tend to write a synopsis before I start and change it as I go along. I have to start with an outline and character sketches but I always get to around the 40,000 word mark and find myself wondering what to do next.

When I get to that point, I force myself to write through it, knowing in draft two I’ll have some work to do but at least I have a starting point!

Holly: Can you tell us a little about what attracted you to the Victorian genre?

Rachel Brimble: My love of the UK period dramas set in that time and my favorite Victorian romance author, Jean Fullerton. I love Jean’s books and can’t recommend them enough. Jean is a UK author who I met at the 2010 Romantic Novelists Association conference in Greenwich, London. Her books are fabulous!

Series such as Bleak House, Cranford, North & South and Tipping the Velvet were all hugely inspiring for me to write something set in that period. My first book, “The Arrival Of Lily Curtis” was released in 2010.

Holly: Do you have anything you would like to say to your readers?

Rachel Brimble: Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your support over the last five years. I really feel as though I have grown with each book and know I have many readers who have read my work from the start. Also, my blog is open to guest authors every Tuesday and Thursday if any writers out there would like a spot for posting or an interview J

Holly: What is your take on editing your work (pre-edits I suppose before it gets passed to an editor)—do you hate it? Is it a strong point for you?

Rachel Brimble: I love them! This is the ‘make or break’ moment of my work in progress. I tend to write a ‘crappy’ first draft from start to finish without looking back. I just get the story down on the page. The whole thing is creative and instinctive. During drafts two and three comes the real work – the polishing, deleting, adding and embellishing until I’ve got a book I can be proud of.

Then I submit it to my agent or editor and wait for the inevitable doubt about every single word to set in, lol! J

Random Quickies!

Holly: Favorite color?  

Rachel Brimble: Red

Holly: Pepsi or Coke?

Rachel Brimble: Diet coke

Holly: Favorite book?  

Rachel Brimble: Gone With The Wind/The Help/Lovely Bones

Holly: Cats or dogs?  

Rachel Brimble: Dogs

Holly: TV Shows or Movies?

Rachel Brimble: TV shows

EXCERPT:

Joseph Jacobs closed the tavern door behind him and paused a moment to take in his surroundings. As a man used to looking over his shoulder and sensing trouble, experience taught him to be aware of others before they became aware of you. He narrowed his gaze. The meager number of patrons at the tables surprised him at an hour when he expected the bar to be fairly busy. He glanced at the clock; maybe it wasn’t time for the workers yet.

He shifted his gaze to the woman standing beneath the clock and his heart kicked. Her green-gold eyes held him where he stood. She stared and Joseph swallowed, willing some words to come forth from his frozen tongue or at least a smile to curve his paralyzed lips.

She lifted her eyebrows and slowly pulled a cloth from her shoulders. Her hair was a mass of fire-tipped curls around her oval face, her skin creamy-white and her parted lips, a soft delicate pink. Joseph cleared his throat and belatedly removed his hat.“Good evening, miss.”

Her smile slipped easily into place. “Good evening to you, sir.” Her voice was smooth, clear and full of confidence. “Are you looking to quench your thirst or just planning on soaking up the atmosphere?”

Joseph inhaled a long breath through flared nostrils as if trying to smell her. Something told him she’d smell of lavender…or maybe musk. Something to throw a man off guard, to lower his defenses.

He stepped forward. “Neither. I am looking for the landlord. Would you happen to know if he’s available?”

Her gaze lingered on his a moment longer before she looked to the four glasses at the table beside her. She grasped them expertly between her fingers and carried them behind the bar without answering his question.

Joseph couldn’t take his gaze from the natural sway of her hips beneath the deep burgundy dress she wore, the bustle a little too prominent for the current fashion showing her lack of money to afford better. Why else would a woman with the features of an artist’s model be working in a tavern unless necessity demanded it?

Title: Love's Debt

Author: Rachel Brimble

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Length: 91 pages

Genres: Historical Romance

BUY LINK(S):

The Wild Rose Press - http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=4967

BLURB:

To keep herself from the depths of poverty, Milly Shepherd needs to be appointed manager of the Red Lion Tavern. The elderly owner is in failing health and has promised her the job permanently if no one more suitable applies. Milly will fight with her entire being to make the job her own.

Joseph Jacobs needs to supplement his income to pay off his father’s creditors and save him from debtor’s prison. Though the job as manager of the local tavern looks promising, Milly is favored by both the owner and customers.  Instead, Joseph swallows his pride and agrees to tend bar.

As they work together, their attraction grows, their goals cross, and both Millie and Joseph find they must face their fears …the question is whether they face them alone or together?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rachel lives with her husband and two young daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK.  She started writing short stories about eight years ago but once her children were at school, she embarked on her first novel. It was published in 2007. Since then, she’s had several books published with small presses as well as securing her first contract with Harlequin Superromance in May 2012.

Represented by US agent Dawn Dowdle, of Blue Ridge Literary Agency, Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America, When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family.  Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West England. And in the evening? Well, a well-deserved glass of wine is never, ever refused…

Contact Rachel at:

Website - http://www.rachelbrimble.com

Blog - http://rachelbrimble.blogspot.com

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/rachelbrimble or @rachelbrimble

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Brimble/181873201887441

GIVEAWAY

Enter below to win!

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Follow along with the rest of the tour HERE.

Excerpt of Banished Sun (Highland Home #4) by Shari Richardson!

Excerpt:

Chapter 1

"Will you let me take you away for the new year, Mairin?" Mathias asked as we made our way out to the parking. The bell had just rung, putting an end to the last day of school before Christmas break began. I wanted to rush out of the building to escape the inevitable, "Have a nice break," and "Merry Christmas" conversations, but Mathias was moving disturbingly slow. His question brought our progress to a standstill as I stared at him, stunned. This was the first time he'd ever suggested we go anywhere together outside of Highland Home or East Hampton. I certainly wasn't going to count that ill-fated trip to England as a vacation, so what was he up to? "Just the two of us, or are you planning on dragging my entire family along as chaperones?" I asked. For over a year, I had felt as though I'd slipped back in time to the 19th century. Mathias was annoyingly old fashioned when it came to private time for the two of us. He saw it as an affront to his status as a gentleman if there weren't others in the room with us at all times. The fact that my friends and the family members who knew Mathias was a vampire insisted on watching our every move made Mathias' preferences for chaperones easy to maintain. I, on the other hand, hated the lack of alone time or intimacy forced upon me by my boyfriend's antiquated ideas on dating and the over-protective nature of my family.

"If your mother and Tawnya will permit it, I would like it to be just the two of us," he said. The tiny, shy smile I loved best lifted the corners of his lips and I felt myself twirling down into a beautiful fantasy of alone time and no chaperones and maybe a little less refined behavior on his part. As the fantasy got into full swing, I shook myself. No matter if we could go away together or not, what I wanted from Mathias he would never give me.

"You really want us to go away...together...alone?" We were stopped beside the monster SUV Mathias had borrowed from Alfred. Mathias was perfectly capable of driving his sports car in any weather, but Tawnya's disapproving stare the last time he'd brought me home in a snow storm had been enough. He put the sports car in the garage and drove the beast of an SUV to please my family. That was Mathias in a nutshell actually. He'd do anything to please my family, even if it meant I was the one frustrated by his actions. The thought that he might be willing to push the envelope suddenly was a pleasant surprise. "What about my reputation and all that?" "If you are concerned, I will withdraw the invitation," a teasing smile lifted his lips and he laughed as I frowned at him. He still hadn't learned not to laugh at me when I was trying to be serious. Something told me he never would break that habit. "You know that's not what I meant, jerko." I sighed. "I meant what's changed since the last time I suggested we do anything without at least six vampires and three humans as chaperones?"

"I find I wish to have some time with you that does not include a minimum of six vampires and three humans," he said, lifting me into the cab of the SUV before rounding the vehicle and settling into the driver's seat. "With the constant stream of visitors and Alfred's incessant whining, I feel as though I have not had a moment of time with you since the summer."

Get All The Books In The Series:

Mourning Sun

Captured Sun

Seven Days

Banished Sun

Nine Lives

Title: Mourning Sun (Book 1, Highland Home Series)

Author: Shari Richardson

Publisher: Astral Plane Publishing

Genres: Paranormal YA

BUY LINK(S):

http://bitly.com/bundles/shareinpa/9#

BLURB:

I should have known when he walked into my life that things would never be the same. Hadn't I dreamed of him and the things he'd done before I was born? If only he weren't so fascinating, so beautiful, so much more than any other guy. Maybe then I could walk away.

Mairin Cote is a magnet for weird. Her dreams come true, she can see auras and her mother is in love with an angel. Now the monsters are finding her too. Vampires, demigods and werepanthers have flocked to this small town girl who must find a way to keep her family safe, love the man of her dreams, and navigate the shark-infested waters of Highland Home High School.

~ @ ~

Title: Captured Sun (Book 2, Highland Home Series)

Author: Shari Richardson

Publisher: Astral Plane Publishing

Genres: Paranormal YA

BUY LINK(S):

http://bitly.com/bundles/shareinpa/9#

BLURB:

My first kiss was going to be my last, but it was worth it. His cool lips, his sweet taste, they were my salvation. I would never regret it, no matter what happened.

Mairin Cote thought loving a vampire was hard, but losing him to others of his kind was worse. When the death toll in East Hampton points to a rampaging vampire, the vampires and werepanthers must form an uneasy alliance to stop the destruction. To save the love of her life, Mairin must decide if living life without Mathias is worth risking an eternity with him.

~ @ ~

Title: Seven Days (Book 3, Highland Home Series)

Author: Shari Richardson

Publisher: Astral Plane Publishing

Genres: Paranormal YA

BUY LINK(S):

http://bitly.com/bundles/shareinpa/9#

BLURB:

The pain was sharp and deep, but it was nothing compared to the anguish in Xavier's eyes. I wanted to tell him I would be okay, but the words wouldn't come. The pain kept them at bay and even if I could have spoken, I knew the words would be a lie.

Kerry Cote has a pretty normal life for a teenager. Of course normal is a relative term. Her sister dates a vampire and her boyfriend turns furry once a month, but that's not the problem. It isn't until she meets the father of the man she loves that her whole existence narrows to a mere seven days.

~ @ ~

Title: Banished Sun (Book 4, Highland Home Series)

Author: Shari Richardson

Publisher: Astral Plane Publishing

Genres: Paranormal YA

BUY LINK(S):

http://bitly.com/bundles/shareinpa/9#

BLURB:

Eternity. How many times since Mathias came into my life had I considered it? Had I not taken risks that would have left us together for eternity? What I hadn't expected was to have the choice taken from us. Vampires are independent creatures and the old ones definitely don't like being bound to a human. When an ancient vampire comes to Highland Home bent on Mairin's destruction so he can free himself from his bond to her, Mathias is forced to choose between what he is and who he wishes to be.

~ @ ~

Title: Nine Lives (Book 5, Highland Home Series)

Author: Shari Richardson

Publisher: Astral Plane Publishing

Genres: Paranormal YA

BUY LINK(S):

http://bitly.com/bundles/shareinpa/9#

BLURB:

I felt a familiar ripple and knew it was too late for me. I saw her, so tiny, so perfect and I knew that I could die content. When Xavier admitted his love for me, I was complete.

Kerry Cote's story may sound familiar, but it's not. Sure there are a lot of unmarried, pregnant teenagers in the world, but how many of them know the child they carry is a miracle? How many have a vampire body guard? How many are alone because the mother of us all and the father of all vampires has a jealous daughter who covets the baby's father? Kerry must survive to bring her child into the world, for if she fails, humanity may not survive.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Shari Richardson holds a master's degree in English Education and has spent much of her life teaching students the joy of reading and writing. Her love of writing began when she was in elementary school and has carried through her entire adult life. Shari lives in Pennsylvania with her two Chihuahuas.

Contact Shari at:

Website: http://www.astralplanepublishing.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shari-Richardson/344353211751

Independent Author Network: http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/shari-richardson.html

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4737174.Shari_Richardson

Author’s Den: http://www.authorsden.com/sharirichardson

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Shari-Richardson/e/B004TGUKV0/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Astral Plane Publishing: http://www.astralplanepublishing.com

LINK TO FULL TOUR SCHEDULE.

Interview & Cover Reveal for Rise of the Infected by Monique Morgan

I am so excited to be part of the Rise of the Infected cover reaveal and have author Monique Morgan here on Reading with Holly today with an author interview! Also do not miss the giveaway below! :)

Holly: Hi Monique! Would you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Monique Morgan: I am married with three kids, two girls and a little boy. I live in Utah, and I have a fat orphaned cat that we found three years ago at a gas station, and a pure bred Siberian Husky, that is currently my tormentor.

Holly: Can you tell us a little bit about your book Rise of the Infected?

Monique Morgan: Rise is about a dystopian world set in the future. The majority of the world has been destroyed, the temperatures of the earth deadly for humans. Where this is little land, the survivors will kill to live. The eastern continents unleash a weapon that they believe will wipe out the survivors, but something goes horribly wrong, when the dead rise as the infected.

Holly: Which came first for you, the characters or the plot?

Monique Morgan: River Black, the main character came first. She is a tough, brutal girl that could exist in nothing other than the world of Rise..

Holly: Can we expect more novels from you in 2012?

Monique Morgan: Actually yesJ The second book in the Alwahi Series, Dreamer, will be releasing around the same time as Rise of the Infected will.

 

Rise (what I like to affectionately call it) actually cut right in while I was in the middle of Dreamer. It was story that had to be told, and it wasn’t waiting until I was finished with Dreamer.

Holly: Are you working on anything at the moment?

Monique Morgan: Yes, I am. I’m putting the last few chapters of Dreamer together, and I have also started a new work in progress that goes along more with the genre of Rise. My WIP is set in another Dystopian style world, where cybernetics and genetics meet.

Holly: Do you think you will have a follow up book to this novel or is it just a stand-alone novel?

Monique Morgan: There will be more than one book in this series, I do not know exactly how many, but the story of River Black has not ended.

Holly: If you are self-published, why did you decide to take this route of publishing?

Monique Morgan: I took this route because I am a control freak who likes do everything herself! Haha. Really it’s true. I have NEVER liked working in groups, and would even offer to do all the work myself, just so I would have total control. I have not queried, one publisher, and probably never will. I like having the freedom to write whatever, whenever I want. I love being able to develop everything, from the story, to the cover images, to the ways that it is marketed.

Holly: What is your favorite part of writing?

Monique Morgan: The worlds that are created. While I am writing them I exist in their reality, if only for a brief moment in time.

Holly: Do you have anything you would like to say to your readers?

Monique Morgan: That I can only hope that I am conveying the story with the beauty that it deserves. Because it’s really all about the story. It’s not me telling a story but the story using me to tell itself.

Holly: Where can we purchase Rise of the Infected?

Monique Morgan: Rise will be available through all the major retailers, Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, Apple, Sony, etc.

Random Quickies!

Holly: Vampires or Werewolves?

Monique Morgan: Vampires all the way.

Holly: Witches or Zombies?

Monique Morgan: Zombies. I absolutely love Zombies.

Holly: Favorite color?

Monique Morgan: Black

Holly: Cats or dogs?

Monique Morgan: Cats!

Holly: Night or day?

Monique Morgan: Night

 

Releases October 31st

River Black lives in a world where only the strong survive. The earth has changed to a brutal climate and the survivors will do anything to live. The eastern continents unleash a biochemical weapon on their enemies, and directly onto River’s world. She will have to leave her quiet existence in the forest and venture to the slaver fortress and further beyond, into the deepest part of the surviving cities. If she doesn’t die first, or rise infected…

Excerpt:

Aspen was the first to speak, all of us still slightly in shock at what we had just witnessed.

“We have to clear out the house. I don’t know if all of them left, or if some of them got in, but we have to know for sure,” he said, the urgency in his voice clear.

“I’ll take upstairs,” I responded immediately, wanting to get a familiar perch from above, and recalculate our current situation.

The fire still burned in the pit in the entryway, illuminating the three of us as I walked up the curved stairs. I quickly lost sight of them, the wall turning smoothly into a hall. The hallway was covered in shadows, the dying embers of fire pits casting light through the open doors of the rooms.

“Hello,” I called out weakly.

I didn’t like the idea of going blindly into each room, possibly ambushed at any moment. It would be better to draw them out into the hall, and cut them down as they ran towards me.

I waited, my body tense and fluid at the same time, ready to spring if needed. But nothing came. I spoke louder a second time, my ears straining as my voice traveled down the hall. Once again nothing came out of the rooms and I walked forward, entering each one and searching every corner, my rifle always ready.

A few were bedrooms, which I frowned upon. It was a bad omen to have bedrooms aboveground. It was obvious that the townspeople had become lazy. I entered one more room that was a study, a desk crammed into the corner, covered in books. Even in the most stressful situation, I found myself becoming excited at the plethora of reading material that was before me. It was rare to see one book, let alone dozens.

The last thing in the hallway was the stairs leading to the final floor. Once again I walked the smooth curve of the stairwell, the stone giving off a sense of protection, although it would do nothing to help me if I was attacked by the infected.

It was dark down the long hallway, only one room at the far end giving any light, the rest of the doors closed. Once again I called out and waited, keeping my eyes on the farthest room. I was greeted only by the sound of my own voice.

Taking a breath, I pushed open the closest door, holding my gun out in front of me. I knew the moment I stepped in the room that I was not alone, there was a presence in the room, a presence in turmoil. I could almost hear the chaotic thoughts, trapped and angry. I knew when I heard the low animalistic growl, that I had walked into the room of one of the infected.

My shoes slipped on the floor as I walked towards the sound, a trail of blood beneath me, as though someone had dragged themselves to the door and shut it. I walked around the bed towards the continued hissing, expecting the creature to come sprinting at me. But it remained in the corner. I walked closer, and finally saw white gleaming eyes as it stared at me, a hideous grin on its face.

It was a woman, or what was left of a woman.

These rooms were bare compared to the extravagant rooms below. I could only imagine the ones belowground. Logic would say that they belonged to servants, possibly even slaves. It was clear that even with the thick window covering the rooms would quickly get hot during the extreme heat. It would be torturous to be forced to live up here. On a beautiful day like this, they had all probably had their windows open, the first to succumb to the plague that had been dropped upon us.

I almost tripped over the two severed legs that were littered on the floor. It looked like someone had taken an axe to them, and the brutality of the scene shocked me. Instead of dying, the woman’s wounds had almost healed, the blood stopping its flow.

The growling increased as the woman dragged herself by her arms towards me. Her mouth had started the rabid chomping that seemed a telltale trait of the infected. Bloody fingers reached for me, just as I lifted the rifle once again and placed it to the woman’s temple, pulling the trigger with a quickly flick of my finger.

I took a closer look at the carnage around me, the bloody legs and the limp body of the infected woman. “Yup, looks like a Zombie to me.”

I wiped the blood from my boots in the hallway, leaving a creepy trail of red footprints. There was one more room before the open one at the end, and my hairs rose as I pushed open the next door. I was greeted by silence, the room empty. Even the shutters were closed, and from the dust on the furniture I could tell it had been some time since anyone had been here.

I moved back out into the hall and walked towards the last room, the light was not coming from a burning pit but from an open window, the sun shining into the room. My trigger finger tensed once again, concentrating on everything in front of me. The first thing I saw was the bed, covered in blood. Another servant was there, axe marks evident on her body.

But this one was clearly dead, its head lying a few feet from the body.

“I doubt you will be getting up,” I said, and that’s when I realized there was someone else in the room.

It was another woman, her hair dark and her clothes fine. She was not some servant, but a mistress of the house. She was young, not much older than I was, and she carried an axe that dripped blood onto the floor as she stared at me.

Look for Rise of the Infected

October 31^st 2012

To learn more about the author visit moniquemorgan.com

Welcome to the reality of River Black 

Here is a chance to win signed swag and a free e-copy of Rise of the Infected. A special thank you goes out to all the blogs participating in the Cover Reveal Blog Tour.

GIVEAWAY

Win signed Rise of the Infected swag: signed cover photo and signed bookmark

Win signed cover photos of all of Monique Morgan’s books: Pursuer, Dreamer, and Rise of the Infected.

Win a e-copy of Rise of the Infected when it is released October 31^st 2012, and all signed swag!

Enter Now

a Rafflecopter giveaway