Friendy Friday with Holley Trent, Giveaway, and updates...
It's Friday...If you're reading this, it means I survived my first week back at work and my two teenagers' first days of 9th and 12th grade. It's been a rough week. Those of you who follow me on Facebook may recall my teachers' union went on strike for 14 days in May. Heading back was tense, but it was all better when I met my students last night at orientation. I absolutely love educating America's youth. If that's all I had to do to be a teacher, work with kids, I'd do it forever. I can't wait to talk books with my students and start up a book club. I'm debating between Ghetto Cowboy (movie tie-in is a good way to rope them in...haha see what I did there?) or the memoir The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande who I was lucky to get to hear speak at a conference in June. Both look amazing. Anyone have a recommendation for either one? Anyone want to join me in reading them? Comment below!
There was one thing that perked my week up in a way you reader-types will totally get... The fabulous Holley Trent released the follow-up to Writing Her In. I devoured the first book, a luscious tale about a persnickety writer, an adoring cover model, and his devoted wife. It's in my top books of 2019 hands down. I hated finishing it because THE WAITING IS SO HAAAAARD.... But then, just when I needed a pick-me-up the most, Three Part Harmony slid into my kindle all nice and smooth and...I digress.
Holley very graciously agreed to answer my interview questions, so without further ado...
1. Give us a visual of you dancing. The Carlton? Napoleon Dynamite? Solid Gold?
I'm a Fly Girl through and through. Minus the wardrobe. There's a video somewhere on Twitter of me dancing to a Baby Shark remix.
Excellent...heh heh heh
2. What’s one thing every reader should know about you?
Sarcasm is my love language.
Huh. Kinda sounds like Stacia from Writing Her In. Coincidence?
3. What’s your worst habit as a writer?
Twitter.
Procrastitweeting is a thing. And then following the latest threads is often painful and heartbreaking. You really can't win over there most of the time...and yet...
4. Ever get caught reading/writing sexy times in an awkward place/time/situation?
No, but I've definitely been caught doing sexy times in an awkward place/time/situation. :(
Ummmm oops?
5. What is the best reader response you’ve ever received?
"I cried." Which floors me every time because I used to be that author whose whole oeuvre was cheap laughs.
Same. Wow. But cheap laughs? Really? I don't see that.
6. What is the most fascinating/creepy/disgusting thing you’ve discovered because of writing?
I made a pretty revelatory genealogy discovery while doing totally unrelated book research. I'd been trying to figure out an ancestor's origins and found a possible answer while tracing trading routes.
Fascinating, disturbing, I'm sure so many other awful descriptions...
7. Name a book that scared the bejeebers out of you and why it scared you.
Nothing floats to mind, but I imagine the last thing to terrify me was non-fiction.
Truth is often more frightening than fiction.
8. What music inspires you?
Depressing show tunes (looking at YOU, "She Used to Be Mine"). Makes me want to make characters a little more miserable during that dark moment.
<Heads to nearest music device> The one that gets me is "Easy To Be Hard" from Hair, my favorite musical.
9. Did a teacher in school ever encourage or discourage your desire to write? Care to share?
Actually, yes. The TA instructing my level 2 composition class in college had some lovely things to say.
10. What's your favorite genre to write? And...what's a genre you haven't written but would LOVE to write?
Subgenre, really, but I like playing in paranormal romance because I can create worldbuilding that's less hostile and inequitable than reality. I haven't written historical rom (outside of my PNR series) yet, but it's on my list.
I love your paranormal and your sci-fi. I admire that you write across genres and slay at them all. I aspire to slay in this manner.
11. What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Still being able to write anything at all. This industry is a roller coaster, and not the kind with cushioned harnessess and gentle brakes. It's the kind with raggedy straps and rusted tracks. It's a wild ride, but sometimes it can hurt you.
Excellent description.
Thank you so much for joining me today Holley! I highly recommend you follow Holley in all the places:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/holleytrent Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writerholleytrent Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/holleysees Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/holley-trent
For this week's giveaway, I'd love to give a copy of both books in this series to a random commenter below. All you gotta do is follow both Holley and I on Bookbub (you can find me here) and comment below that you did as well as letting me know which of the books I've recommended sounds like it could be your next best read! (HINT: Writing Her In is one of them ;)
UPDATES: Bookstore Romance Day was AH-MAY-ZING and I have so much love for Renee at Books on B in Hayward. We had a great time, ate lots of sweets, and talked about why romance is relevant to today's readers. I'm grateful to Stacy Finz, Eva Moore, Sheryl Lister, and Diane Rinella for joining me on the panel and Reina M. Williams, Angela Lam, Ellay Branton and Sherry Ewing for coming out to sign books. I'm hoping to make the event bigger and fabulous-er next year. Here are a few pictures:
Panel, Me and Renee, Ellay Branton and Diane Rinella, lovely goodies from Renee, a mouthwateringly awesome spread of treats and hot books, and our audience members!
My other news update, sadly, is that The Romance Retreat has been cancelled. I'm very disappointed to not be meeting up with readers and hope to add more appearances to my calendar. At this point I can tell you for sure that I will be attending Booklovers Con in Nashville in March and RWA in San Francisco in July! Other than that, I will be looking out for other opportunities to get out there and mix 'n' mingle!
Stay Tuned for more Rock 'n' Romance...
