Melissa Keir-Small Town Romance Author
  • Welcome
  • Blog
  • Melissa's Books
  • Missy's Children's Books
  • Contact me
  • Privacy Notice
  • Welcome
  • Blog
  • Melissa's Books
  • Missy's Children's Books
  • Contact me
  • Privacy Notice
Search

Melissa's Musings

Let's Welcome Sophie Greyson to our party!

7/25/2012

 
I'm excited to share a new friend with you. Sophie is a wonderful author with a fun sense of humor! Just read her responses to my questions!  I hope you will enjoy her books as much as I do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello Sophie and thank you for visiting today.  Tell us a little about yourself. 
I live in Texas with my husband and several saltwater fish. 
I am the mother of two grown children – one of whom gets married next summer!  In addition to my writing, I do have a fulltime job in accounting and human resources management. When I’m not working, I enjoy reading, movies, hanging out with family & friends, and watching my two favorite TV shows – The Voice and Once Upon a Time.


Thanks!  It sounds like you have an interesting life.  Now on to some personal questions.  
If you could go back in time to when you were seven years old,
what wisdom or advice would you pass on to yourself?
Spend a lot of time with your father and tell him you love him every day.  My father drowned in a fishing accident when I was 21.  I’ve often thought “if I could have just one more
day…”


I sympathize. I'm always wishing for another moment with my mom. For what are you grateful?
My family, our good health, our good jobs,  our safe community, and our freedoms as Americans.  
 
If a zombie virus took over the world, how many days do you think you could last before you were infected? And what would you do to postpone the inevitable?
My son and his friends once mapped out a plan for the possibility of zombies taking over the world.  I wasn’t in on the meeting, but I’m going wherever they’re going.  :)  My husband and son are good survivoralists so I would imagine we would be
one of the last to be infected.  We picked up a lot of good ideas from Will Smith in I Am Legend so, we’re in the game.  Plus, I come from a family of medical people, so I will have them hard at work coming up with an antidote.   We will not go down without a fight!  


Isn't it funny that our children have plans for this actually happening?  My family likes to be prepared and take that seriously. What’s your favorite thing to do to relax?
Read!  I wish I had more time to read.  If I am totally brain dead, I will watch a movie.   

Let’s find out a little bit about you as an author. Did you always want to be an author?
No actually, I didn’t.  Writing never occurred to me until my brother published an article in an automotive magazine.  I had won numerous writing awards throughout middle school and high school, but never considered writing professionally.  

What authors had an impact on you growing up and as an adult?
I didn’t read much growing up – I was into sports so the only
reading I did was for school.  I started reading for enjoyment when a librarian introduced me to Harlequin romances in high school.  After that, I carried one with me daily.   The author that has had the most impact on my writing is Alicia Rasley.  She has a way of teaching craft that gets through this thick, blonde skull like a surgeon’s knife. 


Do you have any “must haves”with you while you’re writing?
A drink - usually Vitamin water or iced tea.  Cinnamon pita chips are a must when I’m writing all day long. My Thor flash drive is a must for backups.  :)

Do you have a common theme or item that appears in each of your books?
My books tend to focus more on the hero’s POV than the
heroine’s.  Don’t ask me why.  My heroes are always alphas, and they curse a lot.  :)

  
What have you learned the most from being in the writing business?
~Working your tail off doesn’t guarantee success.   
~You cannot put a tight deadline on creativity and imagination. 
It needs room to breathe.  
~Really great authors get rejected every day. Grow thick skin and believe in yourself.

Picture
Heaven Scent
As a child, my heroine, Tarin, is deeply affected by her mother’s death. Her mother’s deathbed advice creates a woman in Tarin that is beyond her time.  She is a titled woman destined to move women beyond the constraints of 1848 American society.  A woman determined to have it all despite what her noble father, or society in general,
says is proper.  But she has an uphill battle ahead of her and she cannot afford to be distracted from her goals.

In comes my smokin’ hot hero, Rafe Sutherland, the rebel son of a local shipper, who has returned home after ten years away.   Rafe’s time spent serving in the Texas Rangers makes him unlike any other man in Boston.  His outlook on life and
women’s place in society is curiously different - so are the circumstances behind his father’s death.  But, he has scars of his own –both inside and out – and cannot allow himself to fall for any woman, much less a woman as beautiful as Tarin.

Yet, despite the odds that seem to mount as their love grows, the couple has an ally in Tarin’s mother, who has a big heavenly goal of her own.  


How did you decide on your story plot?
The inspiration for the book was the last of my children moving out of the house.  I realized they were all grown up and I questioned whether I had given them everything they needed to have a happy, fulfilling life.  I wanted them each to have jobs that they loved, to marry a spouse they really loved, and to just be happy.  You will see the emotions behind that train of thought in the prologue of my book.  

As for the plot, it literally developed before my eyes through historical fact.  I wanted my heroine, Tarin, to be a doctor, but women were not allowed to be doctors in 1848 America.  After
researching how women got started in medicine,  I had an external GMC, and historical facts to back it up, for my heroine.

As for my hero, Rafe, the Mexican American war happened to end the year the first female medical college was opened. 
He is a Texas Ranger returned home to Boston after barely surviving the war.  Again, historical facts helped create his history and GMC, and miraculously, the two stories meshed well together.   I call it divine intervention.  :)


Do you have a favorite scene? Why?
Yes, the ball and subsequent garden scene are my favorites.  The banter between Tarin and Rafe in the ballroom makes me laugh.  She is being stubborn about accepting his offer of courtship and he has had it with waiting.  He eventually
gets her out to the garden where they make up for time away from each other - if you get my drift.   The garden scene is very touching and romantic, whereas the ball is more active and
direct.  But all of my scenes are heavy with emotion.

Let our readers know how they can get a hold of you…
Of course!  My website has the latest news: 
http://www.sophiegreyson.com  You can also connect with me on Facebook and Twitter at:  http://www.facebook.com/sophiegreysontx
and
http://www.twitter.com/sophiegreyson  

Is there anything else that you want to share… feel free!!
I will have a romantic comedy out later this year called
Flirting
for Dim-Wits
.  It involves cowboys, a runaway virgin princess and really bad pickup lines.  I have had so much fun writing it.   Check back with me soon for the release date!

Thanks so much for having me here today!

Thank you Sophie. Your latest release sounds like another great story! I hope everyone checks out Heaven Scent!

 

Jolene Navarro link
7/25/2012 01:15:33 pm

Great interview. What is it with Zombies - My almost grown kids have an emergency plan too. Forget fire or flood (we live in a wooded area by a river) they plan for zombies. ;) The Garden scene is very niiicce!

Melissa link
7/25/2012 01:53:37 pm

Jolene,
I don't know what it is about Zombies these days. My son got me the Zombie survial handbook for my birthday present. I do wonder if there is any way to make Zombies romantic. We might have a new type of paranormal story!

Sophie Greyson link
7/25/2012 01:52:17 pm

Jolene,

I think there are way too many zombie games, movies, television shows, etc. around right now. It was vampires a few years ago. What will be next? Maybe angels? :)
Thanks on the garden scene. Yes, Rafe made me fall in love with him in that one. :) He was such a great hero to write.

Sophie

bn100
7/27/2012 05:09:48 pm

Very fun interview. Your current and upcoming book sound good.


Comments are closed.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Melissa Keir

    Gator Girl Extraordinaire

    RSS Feed



    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011

Proudly powered by Romance
Melissa Keir-Author

Photos used under Creative Commons from emilyonasunday, imagesbyk2 Photography, Beverly & Pack, thisreidwrites, jDevaun, Ken Wilcox., jan_krutisch, wiesiek_kr, ginnerobot, Tim RT, erasergirl, wheatfieldbrown, fivehanks, Ⅿeagan, theilr, symphony of love, Abhishek Singh Bailoo, Max Braun, Daniel Leininger, EliJerma, sean_reay, DafneCholet, Pablo Tocagni, kevin dooley, CarbonNYC, Loren Javier, marco monetti, shannonkringen, Peter Werkman (www.peterwerkman.nl), tekkbabe, Aditya Rakhman, MilitaryHealth, almarWho, raganmd, snowkei, wuestenigel, Amal Hathaway, augustineisnotmyname, digitizedchaos, photologue_np, -stamina-, Jessica_Branstetter, I woz ere, Erháld, Tostie14, kdinuraj, feline_dacat, RobBixbyPhotography, glaciernps, aussiegall, Pink Sherbet Photography, Poul-Werner, Loren Javier, Diamond Farah, AForestFrolic, williamcho, shannonkringen, gagilas, ben.fitzgerald, Tony Fischer Photography, rufusowliebat, emilianohorcada, George Deputee, LadyDragonflyCC - >;< - Spring in Michigan!, brick red, citymaus, Emery Co Photo, midiman, Thragor, jdegrazia, dane brian, sibikos, nan palmero, r.nial.bradshaw, US Army Africa, bambe1964
  • Welcome
  • Blog
  • Melissa's Books
  • Missy's Children's Books
  • Contact me
  • Privacy Notice