Cate: Please welcome Colleen Love. Colleen, will you please share a short bio with us?Colleen: Sure! I live in NW Washington, in a small farming community. My nest is here, my roots are here, and I have no desire to be anywhere else. For fun, we hike mountain trails, go to the beach, bird watch, or just stay home and play with our own critters. I assist with eight horses, when needed (by them or their owner) and find no greater satisfaction then gaining the trust of these fine animals.
I am still new to publishing, my first release was in 2007, and I find the whole industry exciting and fascinating. Writing is the first thing I think about in the morning and the last at night. It has become something I live and breathe for.
Thank you for having me to your blog, Cate! I look forward to meeting your readers and having some fun today!
Cate: Tell us about your latest release and where it's available.
Colleen: My last release was Eden at Twilight available through The Wild Rose Press. It’s in both e-book and print and can be found here:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/colleen-love-m-262.html
Cate: Such a lovely cover. Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.
Colleen: Would love to!
EDEN AT TWILIGHT is the story of Lily, a woman who wants love, and Leaf, the man who risks it all to love her. Lily Moore is an ordinary accountant who works long hard hours, leaving room for little else. After strange occurrences begin haunting her, she’s convinced by a motherly friend to take a vacation in Scotland. While there, she meets the man of her dreams, a handsome stranger with shifting hazel eyes.
Leaf falls for Lily the moment he sees her, love at first sight. Never has a woman taken his heart so quickly. When trouble stirs and threatens her, he stands by her side, traveling through time and dimension to reclaim her from a deadly Drow leader. Lily has no choice but to trust him and hope his strength will pull them through. But is his strength alone enough?
Cate: What inspired you to write about the theme?
Colleen: Viggo Mortenson… lol… This book is affectionately called my Viggo book. :) This man fascinates me to no end. He has this Zen exterior and raging passion inside that really shows in his acting. I love it and find it inspiring.
Cate: I'm a Viggo fan also. How do you develop your plots and characters?
Colleen: My Notebook! And I do mean a notebook with paper and a pen. :) I use rough outlines to sketch out the story and plot the path it will take. I also use astrology to make my characters. From there, the story just falls into place and I move forward. Sometimes it seems to be a chain reaction, or a movie that plays out. I call myself a plotting pantser. :)
Cate: Do you feel as if the characters live with you as you write? Do they haunt your dreams?
Colleen: Yes, I feel like the characters are completely alive and think maybe they are, in my own little twisted dimension. Hehe I’ve lost many a night’s sleep over my characters goading me up to write. It’s such a bittersweet thing to be the victim of your own Muse.
Cate: What's next for you?
Colleen: I have three finished works now, just deciding where to put them. I don’t think I’ll ever run out of story ideas. My imagination is much too active for that.
Cate: Any other published works?
Colleen: Yes, I have three others.
Thief of a Goddess’ Heart, and Hearts Afire: June, with Liquid Silver Books. Autumn Windsong with The Wild Rose Press
Also free read stories in two anthology’s on my website.
Cate: Describe your writing in three words.
Colleen: energetic, descriptive, fantasy
Cate: What’s the most challenging aspect of writing? Most rewarding?
Colleen: The most challenging would be finding the time I want. Mundane life wreaks havoc with my fantasy world at times. The most rewarding is when a reader/reviewer tells you how much they enjoyed escaping into your world.
Cate: What’s the most interesting comment you have received about your books?
Colleen: I’ve gotten some good and bad, like any author, I guess. One good one I really liked was that Eden at Twilight appealed to a reviewer, because after reading so many erotic stories, she enjoyed the break with something a little sweeter. On the other hand, I had a reviewer say I’d ruined an entire anthology with my one little story. That’s a lot of power there, my friends!! :) hehe The same story got glowing reviews elsewhere, so it’s all just a matter of opinion. :)
Cate: Who are some of your favorite authors and books? What are you reading now?
Colleen: Right now, I’m reading, and studying Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. I love and savor every word. Some of my others are Denyse Bridger, who can’t write a bad sentence if she tried. Bridget Aine’s Torrent series, Antonia Tiranth’s dragon stories, and R.L. Stuemke’s paranormal tales are very well told. Just love them all! :)
Cate: Where can readers find you on the web?
Colleen:
www.colleenlove.webs.com
www.colleenslovenotes.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/#!/authorcolleenlove?ref=profile (Friend Page)
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fauthorcolleenlove%3Fv%3Dfeed%26story_fbid%3D388897414467%23!%2Fpages%2FColleen-Love%2F166361852353&h=3b481 (Fan Page)
Cate: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Colleen: I would love to know what readers love to read and why.
Cate: Readers, Colleen is giving away a book to a random commenter... so start commenting. She'll pick a winner on the evening of Thursday, 4/29.
Thanks again for being my guest, Colleen! Best of luck.
