Special Guest Chris Redding!

Today's Special Guest is my good friend Chris Redding!! Check out her Interview and Book Excerpt!

Why did you start writing and when did you decide to go professional?

I began writing when I was ten. I began again when I was pregnant with my second child more than sixteen years ago. At that point, I figured if I was going to put in the time I might as well try to sell it.

Do you write in more than one genre? Which ones and which do you like the best?

All of what I write comes under the heading of romance, but I write in two sub genres, romantic suspense and romantic comedy. I like both equally. It’s nice to write a rom com after the darkness and heaviness of a romantic suspense.

What is the most difficult part of the entire writing process for you? Queries, pitches, editing..etc.

The marketing. That is not how my brain works, but it is necessary if I expect to be successful, I need to do it. Books are a product and if you don’t tell people about them they won’t know to buy it.

ON SALE .99c License to Nerd (Book 1 in the Nerds Saving the World Series) http://amzn.com/B00M9O0QZ4

Book Excerpt:
"He just has to help me," she said to no one. Because no one occupied the alley.

Until a man rounded the corner.

The way the man slammed into her, she knew it wasn’t an accident.

He could have gone around her, but he didn’t. She turned to give him a good Jersey Girl dressing down, when he grabbed her arm. He jerked her close. She looked up into deep-set eyes that held no soul.

The snarky retort died on her lips.

“We want the package, Madison.”

Holy crap. How did he know her name? How did he know about the package? Her heart jumped into her throat. She yanked on her arm, looking around hoping for witnesses.

No one else walked this stretch of the sidewalk. Odd since it was lunchtime. Maybe this man made this happen. His blocking of the road meant power.

Turning back to him, she asked, “What package?”

Madison wanted to snarl at him, but she needed to play the innocent so she shuddered.

“The one your husband sent you,” in a voice that spoke of years of cigarette use.

“I don’t have any package.” Her words tumbled over themselves as he gripped her tighter. His hot, spicy breath wrinkled her nose.

“We know it arrived. You have it. We want it.”

What the hell was Charlie into? Why did he send her that package? Damn him. She would like to give Charlie a nice roundhouse kick, but she after she dealt with this asshole.

“Uh, I don’t have it.”

“Yes, you do.”

Chris Redding lives in New Jersey with her husband, two kids, one dog and two show rabbits. Her youngest son is a member of 4-H, hence the show rabbits.

Chris graduated from Penn State with a degree in Journalism and is still a diehard Nittany Lions fan. In fact, she bleeds Penn State Blue!  Her dream is to get her Masters in Education degree and teach creative writing at Penn State.

Her books are filled with romance, suspense and thrills. She also dabbles in copywriting, including web content and product descriptions. When she isn’t writing, she works for a local winery.

Email: chrisreddingauthor@gmail.com
Website: www.chrisreddingauthor.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/253606058045505
Twitter: www.twitter.com/chrisredding
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/101743269602364199911/posts
Skype: Chris.Redding.Author
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/chrisredding/

Teaser Tuesday with Chris Redding!

Today's Teaser Tuesday is with Author Chris Redding!

Enjoy & Comment!

License to Nerd

Madison West appears on Peter Quincy’s doorstep as expected, when her husband, Charlie, disappears. Peter had been her husband’s best man and had promised to take care of Madison if something happened to him. Neither Madison nor Peter are what they seem, but will their lies to each other to save the world, instead fail to save them from each other?

   

 "He just has to help me," she said to no one. Because no one occupied the alley.

     Until a man rounded the corner.

     The way the man slammed into her, she knew it wasn’t an accident.

      He could have gone around her, but he didn’t. She turned to give him a good Jersey Girl dressing down, when he grabbed her arm. He jerked her close. She looked up into deep-set eyes that held no soul.

     The snarky retort died on her lips.

     “We want the package, Madison.”

     Holy crap. How did he know her name? How did he know about the package? Her heart jumped into her throat. She yanked on her arm, looking around hoping for witnesses.

      No one else walked this stretch of the sidewalk. Odd since it was lunchtime. Maybe this man made this happen. His blocking of the road meant power.

     Turning back to him, she asked, “What package?”

     Madison wanted to snarl at him, but she needed to play the innocent so she shuddered.

     “The one your husband sent you,” in a voice that spoke of years of cigarette use.

     “I don’t have any package.” Her words tumbled over themselves as he gripped her tighter. His hot, spicy breath wrinkled her nose.

     “We know it arrived. You have it. We want it.”

     What the hell was Charlie into? Why did he send her that package? Damn him. She would like to give Charlie a nice roundhouse kick, but she after she dealt with this asshole.

     “Uh, I don’t have it.”

     “Yes, you do.”

Chris Redding lives in New Jersey with her family and various animals. She writes romantic suspense and romantic comedy. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in Journalism. When she isn’t writing, she works part time for a local winery.

http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/chrisreddingauthor

www.twitter.com/chrisredding

Buy Link License to Nerd:

http://amzn.com/B00M9O0QZ4

Teaser From Chris Redding...

Special Guest Blogger today, please welcome back Chris Redding!

What if your past comes back to haunt you?

Chelsea James, captain of the Biggin Hill First Aid Squad, has had ten years to mend a broken heart and forget about the man who'd left her hurt and bewildered. Ten years to get her life on track. But fate has other plans.

Fire Inspector Jake Campbell, back in town after a decade, investigates a string of arsons, only to discover they are connected to the same arsons he'd been accused of long ago. Now his past has come back to haunt him, and Chelsea is part of that past.

Together, Chelsea and Jake must join forces to defeat their mutual enemy. Only then can they hope to rekindle the flames of passion. But before they can do that, Chelsea must learn to trust again. Their lives could depend on it.

Excerpt 

A sinister scene from her younger days crept into her conscious mind. Another fire, or a bunch of them, that had been set. Accusations had swirled. Her bravado of moments ago left her.

Mark made a noise that brought Chelsea back to the present.

She gauged they’d been in the house fifteen minutes, and her air should be running out soon. She motioned for her partner to move forward, then she thought better. She wouldn’t be a hero and risk her life for a house. She shoved Mark toward the door.

Someone had torched the place. She had no doubt. Her heart pounded in her ears. Sweat snaked its way down her back and she swallowed through a dry throat. The person had poured the accelerant in a deliberate pattern. As if mocking her.

Her lungs struggled to pull in enough oxygen for her body to stay on the job. Her adrenaline had taken the last train to Clarksville.

Chelsea squinted as a flash appeared and a wall of flame shot up between her and the guys on the other line. “What the hell?” She shoved her partner and the hose back toward them.

“Flashover.” The deafening roar obliterated her voice. She shouted louder.

The wall to her right burst into flames. She redirected the spray until the fire died. What would she encounter next?

She labored for every breath as if the air came through felt.

“Chief, I can’t see Jay and Wagner.” Clutching the hose with now achy fingers, she willed the fire back as if it were a demon that rose from the ashes of her past.

With teeth clenched, she hosed down the base of the flame, eager for it to die.

“Wagner’s down,” she heard and knew the demon insisted on winning. Her SCBA buzzed. Five minutes before she’d have no air. Or less.

She motioned for Mark to help Carl Jay pull his partner out of the fire.

“Get out. The roof’s caving,” the chief yelled.

Mustering the last of her strength, Chelsea followed the other three to safety. Behind her, a loud crunch issued from the house like the last gasp of the demon they’d been battling.

The house fell with one final groan.

www.chrisreddingauthor.com

http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com/

Chris Redding Guest Post & Giveaway!

          Even if you don’t describe it explicitly, every story has a context. A novel is its own world. Living, breathing, changing.

          You must build this world. The world in the novel goes beyond descriptions of rooms and landscapes. It includes fashion, history, outlook and mood.

          Physical surroundings can have a psychological influence. The beach always makes me happy. I have a room in my house that I and most people find very soothing. I usually nap in that room.

          A setting can have an impact on characters. I’ve talked about the conflict arising from the setting, but how does your setting make your characters feel? That is more important than what it looks like. You can illustrate a place by how a character’s views of it changed.

          I used to hate hospitals. I once almost passed out from the smell. Not really sure why I had this aversion. Now, I work in a hospital.

          Give place an active role in the story by giving character active relationships with it.

          A story needs a sense of place, but also a sense of time. As much as you can mark your character’s change in perception of place, you can mark their change in perception of time.

          The setting must be observed and then conveyed in its particulars.  The devil is in the details. Emotions are more easily evoked when the details are specific.

          Perfume a novel by Patrick Suskind is set in 18^th Century France. How it really was. No one bathed. There was raw sewage. In other words it stank.

          In the period of which we speak, there reigned in the cities a stench barely conceivable to us modern men and women. The streets tank of manure, the courtyards of urine, the stairwells stank of moldering wood and rat droppings, the kitchens of spoiled cabbage an mutton fat; the unaired parlors stank of stale dust, the bedrooms of greasy sheets, damp featherbeds, and the pungently sweet aroma of chamber pots.

          The author catalogs the odors, but never describes what they smell like. He lets the reader fill in the rest.

From Layering: Not Just for Cakes

Chris Redding lives in New Jersey with her husband, two kids, one dog and three rabbits. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. When she isn’t writing and giving workshops, she works part time for her local hospital.

Her latest release is Blonde Demolition out November 15, 2011.

You just can't hide from the past...

Mallory Sage lives in a small, idyllic town where nothing ever happens. Just the kind of life she has always wanted. No one, not even her fellow volunteer firefighters, knows about her past life as an agent for Homeland Security.

Former partner and lover, Trey McCrane, comes back into Mallory's life. He believes they made a great team once, and that they can do so again. Besides, they don't have much choice. Paul Stanley, a twisted killer and their old nemesis, is back.

Framed for a bombing and drawn together by necessity, Mallory and Trey go on the run and must learn to trust each other again―if they hope to survive. But Mallory has been hiding another secret, one that could destroy their relationship. And time is running out.

Thank you for having me today.

For one lucky commenter I have an assortment of notecards. Winner must be in the United States.

cmr

Teaser Tuesday with Chris Redding!

Today's Teaser Tuesday is from Blonde Demolition from Chris Redding.

Enjoy & Comment!

You just can't hide from the past...

Mallory Sage lives in a small, idyllic town where nothing ever happens. Just the kind of life she has always wanted. No one, not even her fellow volunteer firefighters, knows about her past life as an agent for Homeland Security.

Former partner and lover, Trey McCrane, comes back into Mallory's life. He believes they made a great team once, and that they can do so again. Besides, they don't have much choice. Paul Stanley, a twisted killer and their old nemesis, is back.

Framed for a bombing and drawn together by necessity, Mallory and Trey go on the run and must learn to trust each other again―if they hope to survive. But Mallory has been hiding another secret, one that could destroy their relationship. And time is running out.

EXCERPT:

 The dream had come out of the blue for firefighter Cal Stedman. He didn't put much stock in the everyday dreams people had, but he knew this one meant something. He'd been tired. More tired than he should have been and came home early from setting up the fair at his firehouse.

Maybe that was why he'd dreamed.

Having lost his wife five years ago, he now lay alone in bed. His bones ached from the physical labor of moving cinderblocks and putting up snow fencing around his beloved beer tent.

The dream rolled around in his mind. The woman in it...

I thought I'd put her out of my mind a long time ago. I did worship her. Too bad she left me when I went into the military.

He shifted onto his side, noting that darkness had fallen while he'd been asleep. He saw midnight on his clock.

"You have a child," the dream woman had said.

But he didn't. He and his wife had tried for years with no heirs.

Why would I dream about a child at this late date in life?

He groaned at his ailing muscles, feeling his own mortality in their hum. Maybe it was that very sense of his growing old and closer to death that led him to think about a child. One he hadn't had with his wife.

The whole time I was a cop, I never felt this vulnerable, this...mortal.

His eyes drifted closed as his mind returned to dreamland.

What if I do have a child?

Chris Redding lives in New Jersey with her husband, two kids, one dog and three rabbits. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. When she isn't writing she works part time for her local hospital.

 Links:

www.chrisreddingauthor.com

http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/chrisreddingauthor

www.twitter.com/chrisredding

Blog Tour Day Eight! Interview with Chris Redding.

You’ve recently changed gears from writing suspense and mystery to a romantic comedy. How did the change come about and what challenges did you face in the new genre that you weren’t expecting?

It wasn't so much a change of gears. A View to a Kilt is still a romantic suspense, it just incorporates more humor than I've put into books in the past. I've tried writing romantic comedy, but there is always a dead body, so you go with what your strengths are. I knew this book was not for traditional publishing. I find smaller presses and e-publishers are more open to different types of stuff.

Your feature authors on your own blog: http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com/, what have you learned from networking with other authors and how has it benefited you and your writing?

I've learned that there are a lot of amazing and energetic writers out there. The advantage of hosting authors? I have many places to guest when I am doing a blog tour and now that I have a Kindle, I have a dearth of authors' work I can fill it up with.

Tell us more about your latest release and how you came up with the idea.

My latest is Incendiary. Years ago a friend had an idea for a story. Whenever there is a suspected arson, a police photographer will take pictures of the crowd. Then if there is more than one arson and the same face is seen in the pics over and over, they can be a suspect. My friend's twist was that the arsonist be the photographer. I took it one step further and made it someone who had even more knowledge about fire investigation. A firefighter.

I'd like to thank Jenn for letting me guest host on her blog today!

Chris Redding lives in New Jersey with her husband, kids and various animals. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in Journalism. When she isn't writing, she works part time for her local hospital.