Guest Author Interview: Calisa Rhose

Today we are interviewing Calisa Rhose, Romance author.

Alexis: Hi Calisa, Thank you for visiting Happily Ever After Thoughts :-) 

Calisa:  What a treat to be here Alexis! Thanks for the opportunity to talk about my debut release, HOME.

Alexis: You have a lot of stories in the works. What subgenre of romance do you feel most at home in?

Calisa: I do. Between contemporary cowboys, firemen and my paranormal series I stay busy. And then, of course, there’s my one-time vintage historical, HOME. But I am probably most comfortable writing contemporary. Paranormal is relatively new for me but I’m having a blast figuring it all out.

Alexis: Hmm, so HOME is your one-time vintage historical.  Now, I'm curious. Can you tell our readers a little bit about your new release, HOME?

Calisa: I wrote HOME as part of a series Tales of the Scrimshaw Doll. In sequence my book would come in around the fifth book I think, but it was the first release in the series so they are not coming out chronologically. My story is about a Vietnam veteran and a gypsy who have nothing more in common than growing up in the same town. 

When Sam returns from his stint in the war it seems the town who idolized him as their football hero before the war not has turned its back on him. Only Poppy steps up and accepts him home with open arms and love grows between the unlikely couple. Poppy has her own stigmas just being a gypsy in a time when her ‘kind’ are frowned upon and Sam realizes they aren’t as different as he’d always thought.

Alexis: Interesting premise. Where did you get the idea for this story?

Calisa: I honestly don’t know. I don’t write historical. Though I grew up as a little girl in the 60’s, I don’t remember much so when these two came to me asking that their story be told I was kind of surprised. But I had so much fun writing HOME.

Alexis: Ah, then it must have been fate :-) What are your favorite character traits of Poppy and Sam?

Calisa: I love Poppy Tippen’s seeming unflappable nature. She’s been through a lot as an outcast, but she doesn’t give up on her secret love for the town hero. 

I learned to respect Sam Callahan for his ability to accept who the war made him and to fight to overcome the dark that threatens to rule his life. In the end they both become a strong force of support for one another and that’s important in any relationship, in any era.

Alexis: So, what made you choose this particular era?

Calisa: Again, I don’t think I chose it so much as it chose me.

Alexis: I love that! It's a story that needs to be told. What can we expect next from you? Do you have any new releases coming or a work in progress?

Calisa: Nothing up for release just yet. Life kind of got in the way since HOME sold and I haven’t been able to write as much. But I do have a couple of things in the works. When TWRP put out a call for cowboys for the Honkytonk series I jumped at the chance to write what I love most. I’m writing a story that I hope will be contracted for this series. It's called CHAMPAGNE TIGER.

Kelly Donovan is running from an abusive husband who wants her dead and hides behind the law enforcement he works for to avoid prosecution. Mace Dalton is a small town sheriff who rescues a stranded stranger and realizes how easy she is to fall in love with. When Kelly discovers Mace is the same type of man (lawman) she’s running from she has to make a choice. Trust the law that has always betrayed her and let Mace save her, or keep running and take her chances that her husband will eventually be stopped. There’s a little twist that I won’t spoil for readers.

Alexis: CHAMPAGNE TIGER sounds promising. I wish you luck with it :-) Thank you so much for sharing your romances with us. It's a pleasure having you visit.

Calisa: Thank you! I’ve had a wonderful time today.

Alexis: For a chance to win a PDF copy of HOME, be sure to leave a comment for Calisa.  If I have contact information I will let you know when you win, otherwise, check the side column for your name on Wednesday under WINNERS :-)

For more information on Calisa’s Romances go http://calisarhose.wordpress.com/ 

Alexis: Check out this excerpt from HOME.

Excerpt:

 “I’ll always want you, Poppy.”

Her head shook in automatic denial. “You’ll want a girl who fits your life. Not some gypsy with no family lineage to brag about. Your momma won’t accept that, either. She’ll make you choose someone like Connie, someone who fits into your world. Not the girl everyone avoids and whispers about behind her back. You’re gonna be the town’s doctor. You need an uppity wife who will make you proud.”

When Sam laughed, his chest shuddered against her back. Deep, husky, real. He turned her in his arms and looked down at her, smiling. “Poppy, do you honestly think I give a damn what people think? Look at me! I’m the town outcast, the survivor who should have died saving the others, not be here planning a future that includes a wife, a medical practice. “I shimmy under park benches, run from my mother’s lipstick, for God’s sake. I wake up screaming and crying over nothing in the middle of the night, crawl under my bed and hide, shaking, until morning. Hell, I can’t even be a doctor because I haven’t finished school yet.”

 

“I didn’t know. It must be awful for you.” No matter how it hurt Poppy to know he used her, it felt much worse to know how he hurt alone. “The only time it isn’t awful is when I’m with you. When I think of you.”

You can get your copy of HOME at The Wild Rose Press and Amazon and B&N.

Small-town country girl Calisa Rhose lives in a semi-remote area of Oklahoma with her husband, four small dogs, one cat and a horse. All three of her daughters and their families live within throwing distance. She’s a member of RWA and the local chapter OKRWA. She intends to nurture and continue to grow as an author with the help of her family and supporters.

Follow Calisa on twitter @Calisa_Rhose and Facebook/Calisa Rhose  She loves to hear from readers so drop her a line at calisa.rhose@gmail.com

And don't forget, for a chance to win HOME, leave Calisa a comment :-)

Guest Author Interview: Kim Watters

 Alexis: Hi Kim. Welcome to Happily Ever After Thoughts.  Thank you so much for coming and giving away a copy of On Wings of Love.  Can you start by telling us why you write inspirationals?

Kim:  Wow. Great question. I think the inspirational market picked me. I tend to write a little sweeter story and characters. I was at an impasse with Harlequin, having submitted to Super Romance and American and kept getting rejections so I had a conversation with God. He gave me the talent to write, but I needed a little help in finding a home for it. The next day, one of my loops announced that the Love Inspired line was going to six books a month and looking for submissions. Duoh! Homer Simpson moment. It didn’t get any clearer than that. I revised the manuscript and added the faith element, which wasn’t a stretch since I’m a Christian, and viola. Within months I sold.

Alexis: I think there might have been just a tad bit of Divine intervention in that sale J I loved the blurb on your website about Home Sweet Home. Can you tell our readers a little about this latest release ?

Kim: Sure. It’s about finding a home for Abby and forgiveness for Cole. The blurb says it best though. As creative as I am, I’m brain dead right now.

“Finally ready to settle down, Abby Bancroft has just inherited a place to put down roots. But her hopes for a successful bed-and-breakfast are placed on hold when she learns that her grandparents' run-down inn is in serious need of TLC. So is Cole Preston, the handsome contractor who offers to help make her dream a reality. His past mistakes won't let him consider settling in the close-knit town. Yet as he and Abby work together to repair the house, they also begin to mend each other's hearts. And they just may find that consulting their hearts is what creating a home is all about.”

Alexis: Where did you get the idea for this story?

Kim:  After my last story, which dealt with the subject of organ donation, I wanted to do something lighter. I’ve always loved Victorian mansions and thought it would be cool to own one and run a Bed & Breakfast. Since I can’t really do that, I decided to write about it.

Alexis: Great idea.  I’ll have to keep that in mind for my own writing; things I’d like to do but can’t J So with this book, who did you have more fun writing, Cole or Abby?

Kim:  Abby. She’s had so many tough breaks in life that every time I turned around, she had something else that she needed to tell me about her past. I had no idea she was a life guard in LA, or that she never really had a permanent home until she inherited the mansion from her grandparents.

Alexis: Don’t you just love it when your characters have a whole past life to delve into? But this isn’t your first published romance. Can you tell us a little about your other books?

Kim: Sure. Home At Last was my first novel published by Avalon Books.

Stake Your Claim also published by Avalon Books revolves around a small mining community in southern Arizona.

On Wings of Love, my first Love Inspired novel, deals with the subject of organ donation as I mentioned above.

I’ve also written a few short stories and will be putting them up on Amazon soon.

Alexis: Which of the books you’ve written has your favorite hero? Heroine?

Kim: Not a fair question. I love all my characters, although I really have a soft spot for all my heroes. I mean what’s not to love about them? I instill them with all the qualities that make the perfect hero with a few quirks and conflicts along the way. As for heroine? All of them as well. I can’t pick one as there’s a tiny piece of me in each one of them.

Alexis: You are such a good Mom.  No favorites for you ;-) Do you have any other romance novels in the works that we can look forward to?

Kim: I’m currently under contract with my third Love Inspired. I don’t have a release date yet as I’m still writing it. The tentative title is A Father’s Love and it deals with a child with leukemia.

Alexis: Wow, you definitely don’t shy away from the tough subjects.  I admire that and I think our readers will too. Thank you so much for visiting Happily Ever After Thoughts. We like talking about romance novels here and learning about the great people who write them J

Kim: Thanks so much for inviting me here. I love to hang out with you gals. Especially if there’s a beach , a pina colada and cabana boy to go along with it. J

Alexis: But of course!!  “Cabana boy!  Another round of Pina Coladas for the author and readers please.” While the cabana boy is getting the drinks, check out the excerpt below from Home Sweet Home.

Excerpt:

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."—Luke 6:37

"This is it?" Wide-eyed and a little confused, Abby Bancroft stared out the passenger side window of the Ford Escort parked in front of the large Victorian house. Her stomach churned as her gaze flipped between the obviously outdated brochure in her cold hand and the three-story wooden structure to her right in need of a new paint job and some other cosmetic work. If the outside reflected the inside, her vision of reopening the Bancroft Bed-and-Breakfast by the Founder's Day Festival the first weekend in May died a quick and painful death.

Disappointment pooled around her shoulders and matched the dismal early March skies. Puffy gray clouds threatened more snow in the sleepy town of Dynamite Creek in northern Arizona. The bare limbs of the tree standing guard by the long porch running along the front of the house looked more inviting than the empty windows that stared back at her. She should have guessed the house would be as welcoming as the people who once lived inside.

"Yep. This is it. We're here." Delia Wentworth, the receptionist from her late grandmother's attorney's office unbuckled her seat belt and opened the driver's side door. Frigid air blew through the interior, making Abby shiver inside her inadequate jacket and miss the warm Southern California weather. Here wasn't exactly the picture perfect place she'd expected to find as she sat frozen inside the car.

"It's really a great house. It just needs a little TLC," Delia responded enthusiastically before leaving the car.

"A little?" Abby's skepticism showed in her voice. She knew nothing about general construction, but she had eyes, unless something in her brain had gone haywire in the long drive between Los Angeles and Dynamite Creek. Maybe she needed a pair of rose-colored glasses like Delia wore because Abby didn't quite see the old Victorian in the same way.

Pulling her collar around her neck, Abby grabbed her purse, exited the car and walked to where the young woman stood. Abby held up the brochure and compared it with the house. Then she flipped the piece of paper over. The photo credit was from 1987. Figures. Over the years, beautiful and welcoming had morphed into dismal and uninviting. The yellow paint had faded over time and had begun to peel in several places and some of the porch railing sagged. And that was just what she could see.

A gust of wind frosted her legs and whipped a loose strand of hair into her eyes. Abby should have waited until May to collect her inheritance, but the letter from the attorney's office hadn't really given her much choice and she wasn't fool enough to walk away from a place she could finally call home. If she found a way to fit into Dynamite Creek.

Alexis: And don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of On Wings of Love.

To learn more about Kim Watters, go to www.kimwatters.com