Author Spotlight - Rachel Brimble

1.              Hi Rachel, welcome to the blog :-) Tell our readers a little bit about yourself.

I’ve been writing for publication since my youngest daughter started school full-time in 2005 and my first book (Searching For Sophie) was published by The Wild Rose Press in 2007. Since then I have written eleven more books, all published or under contract. I am lucky enough to write full-time around my husband, kids and mad black Lab in the beauty of South West England.

2.             What number book is this? First? 100th? 200th?(Nora only!)

A Man Like Him is book number ten – books eleven and twelve will be out in February and March 2014

3.             Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?

I treat my writing like a job – I think anyone who really wants to write and succeed has to do this. It’s really hard sometimes, especially when there are a million and one things vying for your attention, but I tell myself I wouldn’t be able to do them if I was employed out of the home. I write the entire time the kids are at school (from 8.30 til 3.30pm) and then do everything else afterward.

4.             What is your top promo tip for other authors?

I wish I had one! To this date, I am trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Answers on a postcard please L

5.             How does writing fit into your day? Or does your day fit in around your writing?

See my answer to question 3!

1.             Is there a book you haven't written yet that you're dying to? What genre?

Always! My next book is always playing on my mind as I work through my current project. I find myself dipping in and out of a file on my computer as more and more scenes, lines of dialogue, character quirks and situations come to mind. I’m contracted for another Superromance  (romantic suspense) which will make five in total and I cannot wait to get to that one…but also my next Victorian, which will definitely be my next project, calls to me every darn day at that moment!

2.             What was the most fun part of writing this book?

The opening three chapters – they are almost an hour-by-hour account of what happened to my family and I when we were caught up in the 2010 French floods. Just like the hero and heroine in A Man Like Him, we were rescued by helicopter from a hotel roof. It was so easy to write those chapters with emotion, lol!

3.             Which of your characters would you like to be?

The characters I would most like to be seem to be from my Victorian romances with Kensington. I relate to them so much – I think it’s because I feel so passionate about women’s rights and the issues women had to face and deal with in the 1800s. There is usually some form of liberation for my heroines in these books.

4.             Have you ever written a hero you'd be happy to run off with?

All of them! I don’t think as romance writers a hero would work for our readers unless our passion for them oozed from the page. My characters are real people to me and my heroes are as attractive, sexy and male as I can make them. I literally fall in love with them…

5.             At what point in your career did you actually start to feel like you were a writer?

When I signed my first contract with Harlequin in 2012 – that was an entirely cry-worthy moment. After writing and learning my craft for seven years and then sign with one of the biggest romance publishers in the US just felt amazing! Of course, to have an advance for the first time ever didn’t hurt either… ;)

A Man Like Him

Changing her life...again 

After two years in hiding, Angela Taylor knows her independence is worth it. As long as she can escape her past, she has everything under control. Until a flash flood hits the park where she works, and hot Chris Forrester shows up the exact moment she needs a hero. 

Chris proves he can save lives-and weaken a girl's knees. But how can she make him understand that she's off-limits, that getting close to her will endanger his life? Her happiness or his safety: it shouldn't even be a choice.

Because when you love someone, you protect them, no matter the cost. At least, that's what Angela keeps telling herself....

http://www.amazon.com/Man-Like-Him-Harlequin-Superromance/dp/0373718691/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1374137289&sr=8-7

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-man-like-him-rachel-brimble/1114668447?ean=9780373718696

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Man-Like-Harlequin-Super-Romance/dp/0373718691/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1374137395&sr=8-5&keywords=rachel+brimble

Rachel lives with her husband and two young daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK.  After having several novels published by small US presses, she secured agent representation in 2011. In 2012, she sold two books to Harlequin Superromance and a further three in 2013. She also writes Victorian romance for Kensington--her debut was released in April 2013, with book two coming in Feb 2014.

Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America. When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family and beloved black Lab, Max. Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West England.

She likes nothing more than connecting and chatting with her readers and fellow romance writers. Rachel would love to hear from you!

Links:

Website

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

Author Spotlight - Rachel Brimble

Today's Spotlight is the first with our re-vamped, New Look questions, and the author who gets the honour of breaking them in is English novelist Rachel Brimble.

1. Tell our readers a little bit about yourself.

I’m a Brit living near the famous Georgian city of Bath, England. I’m married with two young daughters and my canine son, a black Lab called Max. When I’m not writing, you will find me reading, walking the countryside, socializing or watching too much TV.
Favourite drink is a glass of crisp, dry white wine. Favourite food, scallops!

2. What number book is this? First? 100th? 200th (Nora only!)?

This is book number 8 – I’ve had 6 novels and 2 novellas published so far.

3. Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?

The only way I know how – I treat it like a job. It doesn’t matter that I work from home and lucky enough to be a full time mom. When my kids are at school or out with friends, I write. Simple. Housework, TV, shopping and everything else can be done with them there – writing can’t.

4. What is your top promo tip for other authors?

Lord, if only I knew! I have none except talk about your work as much as humanly possible. Blog, interview, visit book stores, tell friends and family, attend conferences and author signings. People are always happy to meet a ‘real’ writer!

5. How does writing fit into your day? Or does your day fit in around your writing?

Writing fits around my day, definitely – apart from my kids’ well-being, writing comes first! 

6. Do you write every day?

Yes – every SINGLE day apart from mine, my husband’s or kids’ birthdays and Christmas Day. Seriously. Sounds very sad but I make myself do it. Even 500 words is better than nothing. The trick I use is I write the first draft from start to finish without looking back. It’s amazing how much you can achieve when you shut off the ‘internal editor’.

7. Keeping fit: Do you have an exercise regime to counterbalance all those hours sitting at a computer?

No, and it’s starting to show, lol! I’m very lucky that my mum and dad have blessed me with genes where I have always been naturally slim, but as I approach 40, I can see the ‘muffin top’ emerging. A gym membership may well be on the horizon…she says ;)

8. Just for fun: a year from the end of the book, where would your couple go on holiday?

Brighton, England – as far as I can tell from my research of the Victorian era, Brighton was the place to go. Some people say it still is!

9. Could you be friends with any of your heroines?

Yes! All of them. I don’t think a writer, especially a romance writer, could create a heroine she wouldn’t be willing spend a lot of time with if she was real. These characters become real people to us who we might spend six months to a year (sometimes longer!) with, so we have to like and understand them. Plus, there’s a little of me in all my heroines and I’m kind of a nice person to be around. I hope!

10. Have you ever written a hero you'd be happy to run off with?

Again, all of them! I create heroes that I genuinely fall in love with over the course of writing their story. I understand their issues, think they’re justified and take huge pleasure in watching them change and grow. My heroes tend to be Beta heroes, with big hearts and a love of family and the desire of a shared future with one woman. Who wouldn’t love a guy like that? 

Blurb for “Love’s Debt” available now from The Wild Rose Press:

To keep herself from the depths of poverty, Milly Shepherd needs to be appointed manager of the Red Lion Tavern. The elderly owner is in failing health and has promised her the job permanently if no one more suitable applies. Milly will fight with her entire being to make the job her own.

Joseph Jacobs needs to supplement his income to pay off his father’s creditors and save him from debtor’s prison. Though the job as manager of the local tavern looks promising, Milly is favored by both the owner and customers. Instead, Joseph swallows his pride and agrees to tend bar.

As they work together, their attraction grows, their goals cross, and both Millie and Joseph find they must face their fears …the question is whether they face them alone or together?

Love's debt is available direct from The Wild Rose Press, and also on Amazon and Amazon UK.

You can find Rachel on her website, her blog, Facebook and on Twitter.