Welcome Trish McCallan & Norah Wilson

Today I have not one, but two lovely and talented Montlake authors, both of which have releases today. 

Welcome to my corner of the blogging world, Ladies. Thank you both for coming today. I love this two authors with one interview gig… I know you both have books launching today so let’s get started.

·          How has Amazon Montlake been to work with?

NORAH: Remarkable! The Montlake experience has blown me away with its author-centric approach. And there’s a whole author team behind me!

Trish: I couldn’t be happier with my Montlake team. I love being directly involved with my cover design, and having so much freedom during revisions. I was afraid I’d regret giving up control over the production of my Montlake titles, but so far I don’t feel like I’ve given up control over anything.

·          What do you think about self publishing?

NORAH: I love it! The control over the product, the speed, the dexterity … no waiting months or years for your story to reach readers. The big challenge for a self-pubbed author, of course, is discoverability. And it’s a lot of work!

Trish: There is so much in self-publishing to love. For me, however, I love it because of its challenges. I love analyzing what books are selling and trying to figure out why. I love watching how certain books perform after various promos. IMO- self-publishing is like a three dimensional chess game. And I enjoy watching and analyzing the vast board, and putting my pieces into play once I’ve noticed a trend.

·          What do you love about being a writer?

NORAH: Typing “The End” after wrestling a 90K or 100K story to the ground.

Trish: I love bringing the characters in my head to life and seeing the story come alive as I write it. I love those far too few moments where the story and words are flowing faster than my fingers can type, and I know that the scene is good. But like Norah, most of all, I love typing “The End.”

·          What do you hate about being a writer?

NORAH: Writing everything that comes before “The End”. Joking! Well, sort of. It’s the toughest work I’ve ever done. Also the most profoundly rewarding.

Trish: The thing I hate the most about being a writer, are those days where I know I need to write, but the creativity just isn’t there. So the words dribble out one frustrating letter at a time. I can sense the story and characters are still there, but they’re blocked behind a brick wall in my mind. So Frustrating!

·          If there was one thing about the industry you could change, what would it be?

                NORAH: The thing I would change is already changing. Authors are beginning to gain more control, earn more money for their toil, and gain access to readers. Self-publishing has helped create that change, as have progressive publishers like Montlake who pay higher digital royalties.

             

                Trish: Yes, I agree completely with what Norah said. What always bothered me about the publishing industry was how little control and how little respect authors seemed to receive. Considering there would be no books without writers, this always felt skewed to me. But this is changing. Writers can take control of their own destiny now, write what they want, how often they want and chart their own path.

·          Nearly all romance novels have shhh, sex, in them. How do you answer the never ending question, Why do you write THAT kind of book? Or even better… How do you do your RESEARCH?

NORAH: I tell them they should read one. Today’s romances feature heroines who are the central actors in their own lives. They aren’t waiting around to be chosen. And as for sex, it’s a fundamental part of the process of falling in love. It’s chemical. It’s spiritual. And IMO, absolutely necessary to bond the lovers for a believable HEA. And when I get that question about researching the sex, I laugh and say no special research required.  I’m not inventing anything new; I’m just choreographing the old stuff better.

Trish: When people ask me why I don’t write real books, like real thrillers (someone at a new writers group just asked me thisL) I ask them if they’ve ever read a romantic suspense. The answer, of course, is always no. So I encourage them to try one and tell them I write romances because I want to celebrate the human spirit, our resilience, our capacity to not just survive adversity but flourish because of it. But most of all I want to celebrate our capacity for love

·          What do you like better, Twitter or Facebook? Why?

NORAH: I know FB is reputed to be a better vehicle for authors, but I love Twitter! It’s fast, it’s fun, and you never know who you’re going to start a conversation with.

Trish: I like Twitter much better, maybe because it’s more fluid, you can share immediate interactions with other people. I even forget I have a Facebook account for long periods of time, sometimes months. L

·          And the most important question ever... Do you roll your toilet paper over the roll or under the roll?

                NORAH: Gotta be over! And since I’m the only one in my household possessed of the arcane TP-roll-changing knowledge, it’s always mounted properly.

               Trish:  Neither, I don’t use toilet paper—LOL—just kidding. I have no idea, I just grab and pull, and I never pay attention to how I install the roll.

Tell us about your latest release and were we can find it.

NORAH: Every Breath She Takes releases today! Previously published as Lauren’s Eyes, it’s set in Alberta’s foothills. My psychic heroine has visions of murders yet to happen, through the murderer’s eyes. Frustrated by her past failures to help, she follows clues from her latest vision to the Foothills Guest Ranch. The ranch, of course, is owned by our beleaguered hero Cal Taggart, who doesn’t need yet another complication in his life. But things are going to get complicated – not to mention hot and dangerous – as Lauren tries to solve the murder before it can happen.

Trish: I had the most excellent luck to share a release date with Norah, so Forged in Fire releases today too!  In this high-octane romantic thriller, an elite Navy SEAL and a beautiful stranger are brought together by premonitions of global disaster—but neither can predict the passion that fate will unleash. This book can be purchased through Amazon in Kindle, paper and Audio format and through Barnes and Noble in paper format.

I'm all about twitter and facebook, so can you be sure and add your handles and links here....

Norah’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/norah_wilson  (@norah_wilson)

Norah’s Facebook Author Page:  http://www.facebook.com/NorahWilsonWrites

Norah’s Website:  http://norahwilsonwrites.com

Trish’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/trishmccallan

Trish’s Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/trish.mccallan

Trish’s Website: http://trishmccallan.com/

Trish’s Blog: http://trishmccallan.blogspot.com/ 

AMAZON LINK: Forged in Fire 

AMAZON LINK: Every Breath She Takes

iPad GIVEAWAY 

Norah and Trish are giving away an iPad

HERE is the link for details.