Wednesday Promo- Terri Reed

At an early age Terri Reed discovered the wonderful world of fiction and declared she would one day write a book. Now she is fulfilling that dream and enjoys writing for Steeple Hill. She is an active member of both Romance Writers of America and American Christian Fiction Writers. She resides in the Pacific Northwest with her college-sweetheart husband, two wonderful children and an array of critters. When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, gardening and playing with her dogs.

You can e-mail her at terrireed@sterling.net or visit her online.

What inspired Chasing Shadows? I was looking for a retirement center for my mother when I thought “What if…” What if people started disappearing? From there I started playing with ideas of who would notice first and who would do anything about it. I thought about having one of the employees at the center be the first to notice but then thought, what if another resident notices but no one believes her...except her granddaughter? Kristina Worthington was born out of that musing. I already had Gabe Burke in mind for a hero, ever since he appeared in my February 2007 book Double Deception. And he and Kristina seemed a perfect fit.

How many books have you written for Love Inspired? I’ve have fourteen books out on the shelves, two online reads at eharlequin and four more novels scheduled: May 2010, August 2010, November 2010 and January 2011.

Do you find coming up with ideas for stories harder or easier than when you started out? A little of both. Ideas have always been easy for me. I sometimes live too much inside my head, or so my husband tells me. LOL. But when trying to put together connected stories that’s a bit more work because once you set a character a certain way, you can’t change him or her in the next book so you have to be really satisfied with the characters. And sometimes my characters develop as I write them which is fun and keeps me interested in the story I’m working on.

Blurb for Chasing Shadows
When senior citizens start mysteriously disappearing from a Boston retirement home, heiress Kristina Worthington is suspicious. Especially since she fears her beloved grandmother is next. Without solid evidence, she's forced to turn to the one police officer who might listen—her former love, Gabe Burke. Now a seasoned cop, Gabe still sees her as the rich girl whose family thought he wasn't good enough. And though he takes on the case, Gabe seems convinced he's chasing shadows. Until they start dodging threats, bullets…and their own rekindled feelings.

Purchase Chasing Shadows here

Wednesday Promo- Harlequin Love Inspired author-Terri Reed

I'm pleased today to be promoing an author who I met several years ago. She and her two critique partners came to my RWA chapter meeting and did a presentation on critiquing. After that, even though I was a nobody and a person who is quiet and tends to stand in the corner by myself at large gatherings, every time one of those three saw me at a conference they made it a point to say "hi" or come sit by me. And all of them were published authors. Their openness and friendship made me a fan. And after I was published I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel at a librarian's conference with Terri. That was a thrill! And now without any more of my chatter here is some info about Terri Reed, Harlequin Love Inspired author.
BIO:
At an early age Terri Reed discovered the wonderful world of fiction and declared she would one day write a book. Now she is fulfilling that dream and enjoys writing for Steeple Hill. Her second book, A Sheltering Love was a 2006 RITA Award Finalist and a 2005 National Reader’s Choice Award Finalist. Her book Strictly Confidential, book five of the Faith at the Crossroads continuity series, took third place in the 2007 Book of The Year Award. Her December 2007 book, Her Christmas Protector, took third place in the 2008 Book of the Year contest. She is an active member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. She resides in the Pacific Northwest with her college-sweetheart husband, two wonderful children, and an array of critters. When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, gardening and playing with her dogs.

Being an author for Love Inspired and Love Inspired Suspense which line do you feel is the most challenging to write for and why?

Wow, tough question right off the bat. Each line is equally challenging for different reasons. In my opinion the Love Inspired romances focus more on the character arc. For me this is challenging because I tend to write more plot driven stories so I find I have to reel back the action and up the emotional quotient.

For Love Inspired Suspense the challenge for me is to remember the romance amid all the action. I have to work hard to balance the character arc with the plot.

What brought you to the decision to write Inspirational romance?

I didn’t know about the genre when I first started writing romances. I had read mostly historical romances at the time and that was what I started out writing but quickly deduced I needed to write a contemporary because doing the research for a historical required trips to the library which were difficult with a baby attached at the hip. So I targeted Silhouette Romance. Not long after that I heard that Harlequin was starting a Christian fiction line. At the 96’ RWA conference in Dallas, I went to the spotlight on Steeple Hill and decided to focus my energy toward Love Inspired. It only took eight years to finally sell to the line.

You are a mom, an author, and a regional director for Romance Writers of America, how do you find a balance and keep your sanity?

Sanity? Ha! Some days sanity is in short supply. I write/ do RWA business and my own personal business (such as writing blogs and email) during school hours. I try not to let my “job” as a writer interfere with my family life. Mostly what keeps my life running relatively smooth is prioritizing and not letting myself get bogged down by too many details that I can’t control.

Fall in love again with these uplifting stories from Terri Reed.

Love Comes Home

Twelve years ago, Dr. Rachel Maguire followed her faith into medicine, choosing her career over love. But time never diminished her feelings for Josh Taylor, and now God is giving Rachel another chance—if she can overcome the pain of the past.

A Sheltering Love

With her faith as strong as her shoulders, Claire Wilcox opens a shelter for runaways. But it's her mysterious handyman who causes her sleepless nights. As their attraction grows, Nick Andrews must decide if he can trust in God's power to heal.

As I did the research for this story, I was touched by the plight of homeless teens. The many stories I read brought me to tears. And I discovered that homelessness among the youth in this country is reaching crisis proportions in every city in every state. Young people are routinely sleeping in parks, abandoned buildings, alleys and doorways. Lacking guidance, many turn to drugs, crime and violence. Without intervention the street culture becomes home and family.

But there are many, like Claire, who've stepped up to the plate and are trying to make a difference by supporting their local teen shelters.

Paty, Thanks for having me!

You can purchase this book here.

Happenings

Last week I was notified that Outlaw in Petticoats was this month's read at an online e-book club. The person in charge for the e-bookclub also puts out a newsletter and she asked me if I'd like to do an interview for the newsletter. Well, heck yah! You know me,if I can do promotion without being in person, I love it! The other good news is being the read for this club boosted my sales and pushed me(last week) to #1 in historical book sales and #5 overall. I've received great reviews for Outlaw in Petticoats, and was worrying the book hadn't been hanging in the top ten for awhile. But those numbers are just for sales at the Wild Rose Press site. I won't know what it's been doing in other places until I get my quarterly report in the next couple of weeks.

Other news, If any or you are in the Spokane area, I'll be at the Inland Empire RWA conference on Saturday March 14th, both giving a workshop on characterization and at the book signing in the evening. I'd love to meet you! It's at the Hilton Garden Inn.

And this week, on my promo Wednesday we have Harlequin Love Spells author Terri Reed talking about her latest release. Terri is a wonderful author and person. I'll tell you more about Terri and I on Wednesday.

So how's your week shaping up? A lot on your plate or just enough to keep life interesting?