Please welcome one of my "Unsinkable" sisters from 2010's RWA Golden Heart® contest.
Name? Hope Ramsay.Where are you? Alexandria, Virginia (suburb of Washington, DC), USA.
How many years have you been a member of RWAmerica? I've been a member of Romance Writers of America for about 10 years.
What genre do you write? Contemporary Single Title.
Who are your favourite authors? This is a ridiculously hard question. In romance, my faves are:
LaVryle Spence, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and Jennifer Crusie.
I read widely in other genres. I have other favorite authors, among them: Ernest Hemmingway, T.H. White, Ursula LeGuin, Terry Goodkind, Sarah Douglass, and many, many others.
What inspired you to write romance? I've always loved books with strong romantic elements. My first keeper book was JANE EYRE, even though I didn't realize it was a romance at the time. I remember loving every single one of Leon Uris's novels, because they all had amazing (and usually tragic) love stories in them. I don't think I read a book that was a "romance" per se until some time in the 1990s. Then I was immediately hooked on the happy ever after endings.
I've always wanted to write novels. So, of course, when I finally got around to actually doing it, I decided to write what I loved to read.
Who's your dream agent and/or dream publisher? My dream agent is my wonderful agent Elaine English, and I'm currently having a love affair with my publisher, Forever Romance.
What's the best thing about going to conference? I love going to romance conferences because it's a chance to meet up with friends who share a passion. And also, writer friends are so simpatico. They actually understand when you talk about the voices inside your head, instead of looking at you like you're an escapee from the funny farm.
And lastly, finish these statements...
My greatest strength as a writer is...my ability to craft complicated and somewhat quirky characters.
A sexy hero needs...to have a serious heart and look good in a pair of blue jeans.
My latest WIP is...HOME AT LAST CHANCE, which will be in bookstores in the fall 2011. This is a story about a good ol' boy NASCAR driver whose car has been painted pink in order to advertise disposable diapers. The poor boy has to don a pink driver's suit every week with a snuggle bunny on the back. The heroine in the story is the marketing genius from up North who wrote the memo that put him in a pink car.
When I write I like to...listen to music.
I have a playlist for every one of my books that usually includes a touchstone song that gave me the initial idea for the book. In the case of HOME AT LAST CHANCE, the touchstone song is "From Good to Bad to Worse to Gone" by Ricochet. For WELCOME TO LAST CHANCE, which will be in bookstores on March 1, 2011, the touchstone song is "God Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts. As you can see I'm a big fan of country music.
My best writing milestone to date is...selling a four book series to Grand Central Publishing -- Forever Romance. The series focuses on the small town of Last Chance, South Carolina and features the children of Elbert and Ruby Rhodes. The first book in the series, WELCOME TO LAST CHANCE will be available in stores in US on March 1, 2011. Here's the back cover blurb:
Dear Reader,
Yes, our town is way off the beaten path, but strange, wonderful miracles happen a lot around here.
I've owned the Cut 'n Curl beauty shop for years, and I've seen folks come for a visit, then stay for a lifetime. Take Jane-that pretty firecracker of a girl who just arrived in town. I would swear she's running from something. She came with only five dollars in her pocket but she's worked real hard to make a fresh start. She's turned my son Clay's life upside down without even realizing it.
And thank goodness for that! Ever since Clay left his country western band, he's played everything too safe. He needs to take a chance on Jane. Besides, the more he tries to keep his distance, the more he'll realize that he and Jane are singing the same tune.
But I should quit ramblin' and go check on Millie's permanent wave. Next time you're in Last Chance, be sure to swing by. We've got hot rollers, free coffee, and the best gossip in town.
See you real soon,
Ruby Rhodes
Click here to read an excerpt from this book.
Hope, thanks for joining me today. For anyone interested you can find Hope and other information about her on her website and Facebook author page.
She also posts regularly at The Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood blog.
Posts
I thought I'd pop in to say that I'm delighted to be featured on Kylie's blog today. I know it's ridiculously early there, but it's getting on to quitting time here a day behind. I'll be getting up early tomorrow morning -- but my comments may be late in the afternoon for all of you.
ReplyDeleteI do love how this medium shrinks our world, though. See you all in the morning.
Morning, Hope, my lovely Ruby-Slippered Unsinkable Sister! Hi, Kylie! Another fabu interview.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the release of LAST CHANCE! Gotta love that milestone. :) I hear you on getting together with other people who understand what it's like to hear those voices.
I know Hope is doing an insanely mad blog tour at the moment, so she's going to be one busy lady over the next couple of weeks but I'm sure it'll be worth it!
ReplyDeleteI've forgotten to add my congrats on your release day, Hope! We wait for it so long and then it hits with the speed of an express train and is gone before we have the chance to enjoy it because of the manic time surrounding promotion of your book.
I hope you're able to take five and savor the feeling, even just for a little bit. :-)
Hi Hope!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the three book deal! And I agree, there's nothing quite like a happily ever after.
Congratulations on Last Chance, Hope! The little town I'm from in Nova Scotia actually has a Cut N' Curl. Looking forward to the series:)
ReplyDeleteI'm so very excited for you, Hope. Congratulations on bringing Last Chance into our lives. It sounds like a fun place to stay for a while.
ReplyDeleteLet me do a little promo here and say, having read Welcome to Last Chance, it's a keeper! I laughed, cried, and gasped for breath more than once. There aren't any characters in this book; these are people you know. A great debut, Hope. Can't wait for #2!
ReplyDeleteHi, Hope! Nice to see you here! Congrats on the deal and the book sounds lovely. As with Bev above, we also have a Cut(s) & Curl(s) in our little town here in Oz. Small things to make a big world knowable anywhere...
ReplyDeleteAnd aren't those voices wonderful? LOL. XD
Michelle de Rooy
Hey, everyone, great to see you here!
ReplyDeleteHope, you certainly can't ask for a better recommendation than the one Gwynlyn gave you!
Hi everyone, sorry I missed many of you yesterday. It was a day from Hades -- an not because of my mad blog tour. My day job rose up and did me in.
ReplyDeleteThanks you all for your well wishes and for stopping by to comment.
To be honest, there is a Cut 'n Curl in the little town of Denmark, South Carolina, too, which is the one that gave my fictional beauty shop it's name.
I was determined NOT to use the usula Curl Up 'n Dye. :)